Skip to main content Skip to search
Contemporary Perspectives on Social Learning in Early Childhood Education. Contemporary Perspectives in Early Childhood Education
Format: Book
Publication Date: 2007/01/01/
Publisher: IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Sources ID: 91256
Notes: Accession Number: ED504640; Acquisition Information: IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 79049, Charlotte, NC 28271-7047. Tel: 704-752-9125; Fax: 704-752-9113; e-mail: infoage@infoagepub.com; Web site: http://www.infoagepub.com; Language: English; Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Reference Count: 0; Journal Code: APR2018; Level of Availability: Not available from ERIC; Publication Type: Book; Publication Type: Collected Works - General; Entry Date: 2009
Visibility: Public (group default)
Abstract: (Show)
Social epistemology is a broad set of approaches to the study of knowledge and to gain information about the social dimensions. This intellectual movement of wide cross-disciplinary sources reconstructs the problems of epistemology when knowledge is considered to be intrinsically social. In the first chapter, "Social Epistemology and Social Learning," Olivia Saracho and Bernard Spodek discuss the social and historical contexts in which different forms of knowledge are formulated based on the perspective of social epistemology. They also discuss the emergence of social epistemology, which guides researchers to investigate social phenomena in laboratory and field settings. Social factors "external" to the appropriate business of science have a major impact in the social studies researchers' historical case studies. Thus, social studies researchers may be considered social epistemologists, because (a) they focus on knowledge of social influences and (b) they infer epistemologically significant conclusions from their sociological or anthropological research. In addition, analyses indicate that studies of scientific paradigms are basically a struggle for political power rather than reflecting reliable epistemic merit. Social studies researchers focus on knowledge of social influences on knowledge, which is analogous to the knowledge of the social epistemologists. They also use their sociological or anthropological research to infer epistemologically significant conclusions. Contents include: (1) Introduction--Social Learning in the Early Childhood Years (Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek); (2) Social Epistemology and Social Learning (Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek); (3) Social Dynamics of Early Childhood Classrooms: Considerations and Implications for Teachers (Kathleen Cranley Gallagher, Kimberly Dadisman, Thomas W. Farmer, Laura Huss, and Bryan C. Hutchins); (4) The Development of Social Identity and Intergroup Attitudes in Young Children (Kurt Kowalski); (5) The Development of Ethnic Prejudice in Early Childhood: Theories and Research (Drew Nesdale); (6) Executive Function, Behavioral Self-Regulation, and Social-Emotional Competence: Links to School Readiness (Megan M. McClelland, Claire E. Cameron, Shannon B. Wanless, and Amy Murray); (7) Capital at Home and at School as Determinants of Child Social Adjustment (Toby L. Parcel); (8) Parenting and Schooling Influences on Early Self-Regulation Development (Abigail M. Jewkes and Frederick J. Morrison); (9) Positive Parent-Provider Relationships: A Key to Healthy Parent-Child Relationships (Angela M. Tomlin); (10) Promoting School Readiness in Foster Children (Katherine C. Pears, Philip A. Fisher, Cynthia V. Heywood, and Kimberly D. Bronz); (11) Teaching History and Social Studies to Young Children (Gary Fertig); (12) Play as Group Improvisation: A Social Semiotic, Multimodal Perspective on Play and Literacy (Stacy L. DeZutter); (13) Social Aspects in Language and Literacy Learning: Progress, Problems, and Interventions (Adriana G. Bus, Maria T. de Jong, and Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn); (14) If You're Not Like Me Can We Play? Peer Groups in Preschool (Carollee Howes and Linda Lee); (15) Social Life of Young Children: Co-construction of Shared Meanings and Togetherness, Humour and Conflicts in Child Care Centers (Elly Singer and Dorian de Haan); and (16) Social Learning as the Basis for Early Childhood Education (Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek)