Glossary
Pedagogical terms from A to Z briefly explained
Glossary of important pedagogical terms
In the education and orientation plans for child day care in all German states, day care providers are recommended to establish a practice of observation and documentation of children's education and development processes in their facilities. Since the introduction of the education and orientation plans, observation and documentation have become an important quality feature of educational work in child day care. In North Rhine-Westphalia, observation and documentation are legally anchored in the Child Education Act (§ 18 KiBiz).
In the educational principles for North Rhine-Westphalia, observation, and with it the recording of individual prerequisites as well as the assessment of the abilities and skills of each individual child, is considered an indispensable basis for pedagogical planning in order to provide the child with continuous, individual and optimal support. It forms one of the bases for the educational, upbringing and care mission of the pedagogical professionals as well as for the information and consultation of the parents.
Educational documentation should primarily address the child and, within the framework of participation, support the participation of the child himself in his educational biography. Developmental documentation provides information about a child's developmental status (e.g., language development) and age-appropriate development, as well as overcoming developmental milestones. The documentation is used for preventive health care, information and advice to parents.
In the day care centers for children and the day care centers for children, these observation and documentation processes take place regularly, integrated into everyday life and perceptively. This means that the pedagogical professionals observe the individual children in their educational and learning processes and document what they perceive.
There are different observation procedures and instruments that are used in practice. Many of them are based on a so-called resource-oriented approach that focuses on the child's strengths. Basically, the observation procedures aim to gain insights into what the child is currently interested in thematically, whether he or she feels comfortable, how he or she engages and interacts with others.
Hopping, jumping, climbing, swinging, running: Children take great pleasure in movement. This is how they get to know themselves and their environment, develop their personality, and enhance their ability to learn cognitively. The North Rhine-Westphalia State Sports Association certifies daycare centers whose pedagogical focus is the promotion of movement with the "Recognized Movement Kindergarten" seal of approval. The clearest distinguishing feature from other daycare centers is that the promotion of movement is at the center of the pedagogical work. It runs like a thread through all areas of the kindergarten's daily routine and thus not only meets children's needs for movement and play, but also opens the door to learning. Every "recognized movement kindergarten" cooperates with a child-friendly sports club.
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In North Rhine-Westphalia, it is legally stipulated (§ 17 KiBiz) that a pedagogical concept must be available in day care for children. This concept, which is specific to the provider or facility, describes, among other things, the understanding of education. This "image of the child" and what children need for their development influences the thinking and actions of the pedagogical staff. The accompanying basic pedagogical attitude and the resulting attitudes and actions place the child with its individual development and the development of its competencies at the center of the pedagogical work.
The following basic ideas can be named for the image of the child:
- The active, creative child .
"I want to discover and explore my environment. I analyze my surroundings and draw conclusions - that's how I educate myself.
- The competent child .
"It is through my perception, sensation and action that I have experiences in order to learn something."
- The independent, strong child .
"Through safety, protection and support, I get enough self-confidence and learn how to deal with difficult situations."
- The social child .
"I want to connect with other people and need emotional security, attention and appreciation."
- The constructing child .
"Through my personal experiences and interaction processes with the environment, I construct my subjective world."
- The unique child .
"From birth, I am different from other children - an opportunity to learn with and from each other."
In current daycare pedagogy, approaches that view children primarily as beings to be protected and taught have given way to attitudes that emphasize children's rights and strengths.
Source: Ministry for Children, Family, Refugees and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (2018): Bildungskoffer NRW. Practice materials on educational principles. Freiburg i. B.: Verlag Herder.
A reading version of the educational principles for NRW can be found at KiTa.NRW
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A bilingual facility integrates another language in addition to German into everyday life. The method is called "immersion", i.e. the children experience a so-called "language bath". Immersion is currently considered a very successful language teaching method. Here, the new language is spoken by one or more pedagogical professionals in all everyday situations. These professionals are native speakers or have acquired a very high level of foreign language competence. The new language is therefore not taught, but is a colloquial language.
The attachment theory was founded in the late 1950s by the English child psychiatrist John Bowlby. In early childhood, i.e. up to the age of 3, child development is primarily concerned with building a secure attachment. If the child has experienced that the caregiver responds sensitively and sensitively to his or her expressions and that the child can rely on the caregiver, this supports the development of a secure attachment. Deep attachment relationships give the child security and are the basis for the child to actively explore the world. A secure attachment is considered the best prerequisite for the development of cognitive, emotional and social competence, which at the same time acts as a protective factor in the course of life.
In addition to secure attachment, three other attachment types are distinguished:
- A child with an insecure-avoidant attachment has repeatedly experienced that his or her (attachment) needs are not understood or accepted, and has frequently experienced rejection by the attachment figure.
- In an insecure-ambivalent attachment type, the child has experienced his attachment figure as unpredictable. His attachment behavior is therefore constantly activated. These children often have strong separation anxiety and cling to the attachment figure.
- A child with an insecure-disorganized attachment type is characterized by emotionally contradictory and inconsistent attachment behavior. On the one hand, it seeks the attention of the attachment figure, but at the same time is afraid of him (often as a result of experiences of violence, traumatic experiences).
The internalized attachment type regulates the child's behavior toward the attachment figure and later structures behavior and experience in all emotionally relevant relationships, including those with oneself. Thus, the attachment type influences the extent to which someone expects closeness and security in relationships and the extent to which he or she can allow closeness himself or herself.
Relationships between parent and child and professional and child are similar in that both attachment figures can offer the child security and encourage exploration. The expansion of the network of relationships through attendance at day care thus represents an opportunity for the child to form (further) secure relationships of an attachment-like nature. However, time is needed to expand a young child's network of relationships. At the same time, a good transition design is important, which should always be based on the child's existing caregivers. This applies to the first transition from the family to the nursery as well as to further transitions, such as the transition from the nursery to the kindergarten group (see also settling in). If the specialist can establish a relationship with the young child, this forms a positive basis for the perception of the care and educational offers.
Family Handbook. Karen Strohband, Kindergarten-Age Attachment
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Ahnert, L. (Ed.) (2004): Early attachment. Emergence and development. Munich: Ernst Reinhardt.
Susanne Stegmaier: Foundations of Attachment Theory
In the meantime, it is undisputed in early childhood education that a slow, gradual settling-in phase in the daycare center or with a daycare provider, accompanied by a parent or another close caregiver of the child, is important for the well-being of younger children in particular. During the settling-in phase, the first priority is to build up the relationship, for which parents and professionals share responsibility. The transition from the family to the first non-family or institutional care requires the development of a secure and trusting bond with a professional or daycare worker.
There are currently different models of familiarization in Germany. The oldest and most widespread concept is the Berlin acclimation model developed in the 1980s by the infans Institute (Laewen, Andres & Hédérvari-Heller, 2011), which is based on findings from attachment and brain research. Another variant for acclimation is the Munich Acclimation Model. Compared to the Berlin model, additional findings from transition research are included here.
Child day care centers that are also family centers form the center of a network of different offers for children and parents. They link childcare services with leisure, counseling or therapy opportunities for families in the district and can be a place where generations meet. Family centers have the task of increasing the quality of early childhood education and support, strengthening parents in their educational and child-rearing responsibilities, and ensuring the compatibility of family and career. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the expansion of daycare centers into family centers has been promoted since 2006. Around a third of the daycare centers in the state have developed into family centers.
Célestin and Elise Freinet, both school teachers, developed the so-called Freinet pedagogy. The four essential tenets of this pedagogical approach are the child's self-responsibility, the free development of the personality, a critical examination of the environment, and cooperation and mutual responsibility. In 1979, the first daycare center took up this approach and transferred it to kindergarten pedagogy. In dialogue with the children, the pedagogical staff supports each child individually in recognizing his or her own interests and needs and in expressing them according to his or her wishes. This happens in workshops and studios such as artist's studios, wood workshops, potter's workshops, researcher's studios or technology studios. There they can experiment freely, following their own needs and rhythm. "Mistakes" are allies in the learning process and provide impetus for development. Pedagogical professionals are responsible for the external framework, trust the children and discover what the boys and girls are capable of (see resource orientation). In children's conferences and through children's councils, the children have a say and influence. Freinet pedagogy has many points of contact with other child-centered pedagogical approaches, especially with 'open work' and Reggio pedagogy.
Kindergarten Pedagogy, Online Handbook
Website on Freinet pedagogy
Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852) is considered the inventor of the kindergarten and the founder of play pedagogy (free play). The term kindergarten he coined as a "school of play" has been adopted untranslated in more than 20 languages. In 1837 he opened the first play circle. Childlike play was considered by him to be the "purest spiritual product of man." Toys - the so-called "Fröbel gifts" - were to contribute to the child's acquisition of knowledge. The task of the adults is to stimulate the child to develop its powers. Fröbel developed an extremely modern view of the child for his time and recognized childhood as a particularly important period in life for education and upbringing: Education cannot be prescribed from the outside. The educational process takes place as self-education, as a process of interaction between "expressing the inner" and "internalizing the outer" that is controlled by the child. According to Fröbel, education creates suitable framework conditions for this and supports the educational process of the individual in the respective society. Today, the self-education of the child is the subject of discussions in educational science. The International Froebel Society Germany, founded in 2002, is committed to researching, communicating and updating Froebel's work in theory and practice.
Attributes to Froebel's pedagogy in: Kindergartenpädagogik, Online-Handbuch
International Froebel Society Germany
By signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Germany has committed itself to implementing an inclusive education system that includes everyone. Separate daycare centers and schools for people with disabilities and impairments are to become superfluous. Inclusion should not only refer to children with disabilities, but to all children who are at risk of disadvantage due to other factors such as their cultural or social background. The concept of inclusion differs from the term integration, which is often used synonymously. Integration means bringing in (integrating) a new group of people into an existing educational system. Inclusion implies a change in educational institutions so that they provide equally good opportunities for a more diverse group of people. This presupposes an educational attitude that values diversity and consciously brings it about. In the Child Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (§ 8), the right to joint support for all children is enshrined in law.
Social Code (SGB) VIII, § 22 a
The educator, geneticist and psychologist Prof. Dr. mult. Wassilios E. Fthenakis coined the approach of co-construction - learning through collaboration. With this, he emphasizes that education is a social process. Children have to construct the world and give it meanings in order to understand it (constructivism). This happens in exchange with others (children with each other or even with adults). Adults encourage the process by emphasizing the exploration of meaning more than the acquisition of knowledge. In order to engage in co-constructive learning processes with children, adults are required to closely observe children's expressions. Only then can they respond appropriately. In German pedagogy, this view has prevailed. The methodological approach that the child uses to guide its educational process is the so-called "self-education concept": the child educates itself. This approach is also anchored in the educational principles of NRW.
Prof. Dr. mult. Wassilios E. Fthenakis, Redefining Education and Ensuring High Quality Education from the Beginning.
The Kita Handbook - Three Forms of Education
A reading version of the educational principles for NRW can be found at KiTa.NRW
The founder of Montessori education is the Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori (1870-1952). In 1907 she founded the first Montessori children's house in Rome. Montessori education is offered today in many children's homes and schools in almost every country in the world. "Help me to do it myself!" - according to this motto, educational professionals have the task of supporting children to become active themselves. Maria Montessori assumed that children carry their "blueprint" within themselves. She drew attention to the so-called sensitive phases, in which children are particularly receptive to learning certain things - for example language, movement or social behavior. Through guidance and encouragement, the child succeeds in developing the strengths that reside within him or her. Free work is the core of Montessori education. The children choose what they want to do according to their own decisions. Maria Montessori developed special play and learning material to support the child on this path of development. This material, the child-friendly presentation of the offers and the good observation skills of the pedagogical staff help the child to decide on an offer. The child largely determines the rhythm of work and the duration of activity itself, and also whether it wants to work, play or learn alone or with a partner.
The idea of "open work" in daycare centers spread at the end of the 1970s. The concept dissolves the familiar home group structure. The traditional division of space into group rooms with functional areas (building corner, doll corner, etc.) gives way to a functional room concept. For example, there is a studio, a construction room, a movement room and a role-play room. Children are thus given the opportunity to choose an area of activity with like-minded people, regardless of whether they belong to a group or not. The concept is based on the assumption that children are better able to learn in contexts that they can determine themselves to a greater extent. For example, professionals observe that children are more engaged and concentrated when playing in an "open work" setting with functional spaces because they are less distracted. One criticism is that younger children can be overtaxed by an open concept that deprives them of the security offered by the group structure. Many facilities therefore work according to a partially open concept that seeks to combine the advantages of both models. Others offer group rooms for the youngest as well as fixed reference educators who also serve as a secure base for the older children, from which they can explore the possibilities of the rooms step by step.
Forms of opening daycare groups: Advantages and disadvantages
Works, photos, written down child statements and other documents are collected together in a folder and document the individual development and educational path of the child. In the portfolio, the child expresses itself first and foremost. This is done, among other things, by the professionals discussing with the child what should find its way into the portfolio and why. The children can comment on their pictures and photos and give them titles, for example. Most children love to leaf through their portfolios and thus bring the past back to life.
Portfolio work is educational work. In it, children deal intellectually, emotionally, and practically with
- their own person, their distinctiveness and identity, .
- their interests,
- their ability,
- that created by themselves,
- the experienced,
- beautiful and special.
The portfolio presented by the child is a good basis for discussions with parents about the educational and developmental processes of their child.
Britta Dehn, The portfolio or the child's I-book, a strength-oriented development documentation, in: Online-Handbook Inklusion als Menschenrecht
Tassilo Knauf: Giving Children the Word in the Portfolio
Reggio pedagogy comes from the northern Italian town of Reggio Emilia. Prof. Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994) is considered one of its most important representatives. Reggio pedagogy can be described as a philosophy of education in which the idea of the child as an inquiring being, who is able to express himself in "a hundred languages", for example in words, in pictures or in play, is represented. In this process, the pedagogical professional acts as a developmental guide with an optimistic and open attitude. In Reggio pedagogy, projects for gaining everyday skills and, above all, an understanding of self and the world play a special role. Above all, children have materials and tools at their disposal with which they can be creative. The daycare rooms and the materials offered there are considered the "third educator". Rooms should have a high "call character" and stimulate activities. At the same time, it is their task to provide places of retreat. Therefore, the rooms are predominantly designed with focal functions such as a children's restaurant, studio, construction room, role play or research room.
Lingenauber, Sabine (2016): Hand lexicon of Reggio pedagogy. Bochum: Projektverlag.
Tassilo Knauf: Reggio pedagogy: child- and education-oriented
In Germany, Reggio pedagogy has been promoted since 1995 by Dialog Reggio e. V.
Resilience is the human ability to cope well and constructively with stressful situations. Many children today grow up under difficult conditions. They are affected by a wide variety of stresses (poverty due to parents' unemployment, parents' divorce, and many more). These stresses represent a risk and have an impact on the child's development. Some children can hardly withstand the stresses, but others develop very well. Children who develop well despite these risk factors are called "resilient"
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Whether individuals have this capacity depends on a variety of factors. Pedagogy in day care centers can help to strengthen such factors. For example, if children experience that their opinion counts and that they are allowed to discover and contribute their strengths and abilities, they develop the conviction that they can shape, influence and change their environment. This feeling of "self-efficacy" is an important basis for successfully overcoming challenges. Other resilience factors include: a positive self-perception, the ability to manage oneself well, social skills, appropriate handling of stress, and problem-solving skills.
"What is resilience?", information on the website on resilience of the Center for Research on Children and Youth at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg
Rönnau-Böse, M. & Fröhlich-Gildhoff, K. (2010): Resilience promotion in everyday daycare. What makes children strong and resilient. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder.
"What does a child still need to learn?" This question has long been at the forefront of child observation in educational settings. Today, this deficit-focused approach is increasingly giving way to a resource-oriented one that focuses on children's competencies and abilities by asking "What can the child already do?" In this way, the focus shifts to the children's educational development, which no longer has to be measured against an ideal-typical standard. Pedagogical professionals thus have the opportunity to introduce children to developmental tasks based on their strengths and special talents. If the child and his or her abilities are in the foreground, a positive attitude toward the child emerges in comparison to the one-sided focus on deficits. If the pedagogical specialist or teacher lets the children experience where their resources lie, it makes it easier for the children to fall back on their resources in certain situations and to make use of them for themselves. Strengthening strengths and the self-confidence that comes with them can then also help weaker abilities to develop in a positive way. The term resource orientation is also used in other contexts. In daycare centers, it can also mean that the professionals recognize the children's family or social contexts or the opportunities offered by the social environment as resources and use them for the daycare center work.
The situational approach, developed in the 1970s, has shaped the self-image of many early childhood educators in Germany for around 30 years and forms the basis for many educational concepts. It is based on the idea that everyday topics as "key situations" in children's lives hold special learning potential and prepare them in a special way for their future lives. Such topics and situations, which the children bring with them from their everyday lives, are taken up in the daycare center and worked on in projects. The situational approach aims to support children from different social and cultural backgrounds and with different life experiences in understanding and shaping their living environment. Important principles are the children's co-determination in everyday pedagogical life, the creation of a stimulating learning culture and the cultivation of relationships with the social environment. The approach is particularly suitable for shaping an inclusive pedagogy that deals sensitively with diversity and excludes no one.
The situational approach is similar to the situational approach. The difference is that Armin Krenz, founder of this approach, assumes that children, in their behavior, play and other forms of expression, process experiences and events that they have experienced in the past. By taking up the themes expressed in them and by working on them in a variety of ways in projects, the children process and understand them. Through this different derivation, the situational approach is individually oriented, while the situational approach is a group pedagogical concept.
Bianca McGuire, Cindy Benkel, and Armin Krenz: The Situational Approach
Language is one of the most important key competencies for lifelong learning and later success in school and education. Especially for children at the beginning of their language development and for children who grow up multilingually, early language education and support of linguistic competencies is of crucial importance. As a central educational task, the promotion of linguistic development thus rightly assumes a high priority in the elementary sector. The scientific findings and practical experience gained in recent years show that it is above all systematic language education integrated into everyday life that promotes children's language development. A language-stimulating environment in the daily pedagogical routine of child day care offers many opportunities for this. Language education should begin as early as possible and reach all children from the beginning. In this process, the creation of a successful educational partnership between parents and pedagogical staff is of decisive importance. The family environment is still the first place of language acquisition. The exchange of ideas, knowledge, experiences and resources helps to develop a common understanding of upbringing and education.
Flyer for parents provides information about "Everyday integrated language education and observation for children in daycare facilities in NRW"
Federal program "Sprach-Kitas: Weil Sprache der Schlüssel zur Welt ist" information on the website of the initiative "Frühe Chancen"
The idea for forest kindergartens comes from Denmark, where the first daycare center of this kind was founded as early as 1954. In 1968, the first forest kindergarten was established in Germany. Forest kindergartens differ from other facilities primarily in that the children spend their time almost exclusively and in (almost) any weather in the forest. There are no prefabricated toys in forest kindergartens - except for a few tools. The natural environment constantly creates opportunities for movement, play and learning that do not have to be created artificially. It promotes creativity, imagination, free play and social interaction. So-called nature kindergartens use not only forests, meadows and fields, but also other natural areas such as the sea, beach or dunes. In extreme weather, groups can usually use a retreat (for example, a forest hut or construction trailer).
The so-called Waldorf education was founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and is based on the study of man he developed, anthroposophy. In 1926, the first Waldorf kindergarten was established in Stuttgart. It was affiliated with the Waldorf School opened there in 1919. Steiner assumed that during the first seven years of life the human body and the internal organs are formed. During this phase of life, children absorb the world primarily through imitation. Kindergarten education in Waldorf institutions is characterized by regularity and repetition, which gives children a sense of security. Artistic and handicraft activities are in the foreground. In free play the children show their personality. Relationships, joy and movement are considered important foundations for learning. The task of the educators is to help the child discover its own individuality.
Association of Waldorf Kindergartens North Rhine-Westphalia Region