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Geselle Institute of Human
Development
For well over fifty years the name
Gesell has been associated with better understanding of child growth
and development. Gesell research has provided fundamental knowledge
about the behavior of children between birth and sixteen years.
Gesell schedules continue to be standard benchmarks for children’s
physical growth, language development, socialization, and overall
adaptive abilities.
A major focus of Gesell work also has
been children in the school setting. For the past thirty years we
have been cautioning parents and teachers alike that schools must
not treat all children as ready for the same thing at the same
time. Differences in rates of growth should help to plan and guide
school structure and curriculum. Schools should be made to fit
children as they are, not the other way around. In our books,
articles, and training seminars, we have vigorously argued for
flexible school programs that can meet the needs of all children as
they grow and develop through the stages of childhood.
A Developmental Approach in the Classroom
Gesell Institute believes the aim of
education is to promote the total development of each child.
Language, motor, personal-social and intellectual growth must all be
major considerations in the classroom.
Unique to Gesell theory is the concept
of “adaptive” development. Adaptive development reflects the
child’s capacity to integrate all the areas of growth. It is the
child’s ability to profit by past experience and to initiate new
experience. Children show their adaptive behavior through their
intelligence, memory, and problem-solving skills. By drawing
attention to all areas of development through adaptive behavior,
Gesell theory focuses on the need for balance in a child’s school
program.
Teachers who understand adaptive
behavior develop classroom programs that seek a balance between
active, child-initiated learning and teacher-directed instruction.
The success of this approach rests on the teacher’s ability to bring
to the classroom an understanding of child behavior, developmental
learning theory, and curriculum content through the following
principles:
Respect for individual differences
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All children, but young children
especially, learn best in environments arranged with attention to
developmental levels of growth. Therefore, teachers who understand
all areas of growth as well as stage theories of development are
better able to trust children and themselves in the learning
process. Since children grow at different rates, the ability to
assess these differences is also essential to classroom planning.
Information from many sources -
Evaluation of children’s growth should
be gathered from a variety of sources: parents, classroom
observation, developmental assessment and other appropriate
records. Such information can assist teachers and administrators in
determining individual programs for children and in determining
flexible class groupings.
Keen observation of behavior -
Teachers need to be good observers of
children’s readiness for new levels of content, skills, and
activities. A clear understanding of the developmental value of
given activities and their relationship to a child’s present level
of development is essential. Teachers’ perceptions need to be
communicated beyond the classroom to parents and administrators.
Trust in children’s initiative -
Classrooms with a developmental
approach should be structured with trust in children’s natural
abilities. This encourages learning on their own through active
participation and interaction with the teacher, classmates, and
appropriate materials. Such a structure nurtures the child’s innate
drive for purpose, competence, autonomy, and responsibility.
Therefore, we encourage teaching that allows for physical movement,
freedom of expression, active communication, plus individual and
group problem-solving.
Initiative is also nurtured when all
of the classroom is accessible to the children. The resulting
choice and decision making produces interest and motivation and
leads to learning which is meaningful, relevant and life-long.
Curriculum content through
integrated learning -
Optimal learning is dependent on
children’s manipulation, experimentation, questioning, and
communication. A developmental classroom needs, therefore, to be
activity-centered, drawing directly from the child’s reality.
Integrated theme learning allows children to live and think in the
classroom as they do naturally the rest of the week. Integrated
theme learning permits art, music, and drama to be at the center of
the classroom, not on its fringes. Themes encourage spontaneous and
instructive play in the classroom and draw on the developmental
progression in content areas such as reading, math, writing,
science, and social studies.
All of these principles rest on the
assumption that children deserve to feel secure and successful in
school. Security and self-esteem are fundamental to learning and
normal development. Therefore, the classroom must ensure dignity
and respect for the child. An underlying sense of trust in the
unfolding of each child’s interests and potentials should be the
paramount guide for the teacher.
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