(eBook PDF) Programming and Planning in Early

Childhood Settings 7th Edition instant download

https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-programming-and-
planning-in-early-childhood-settings-7th-edition/

Download more ebook from https://ebooksecure.com

We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebooksecure.com
to discover even more!

(eBook PDF) Programming and Planning in Early Childhood

Settings 8th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-programming-and-
planning-in-early-childhood-settings-8th-edition/

(Original PDF) Programming and Planning in Early

Childhood Settings 6th Australia

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-programming-and-
planning-in-early-childhood-settings-6th-australia/

(Original PDF) Healthy Foundations in Early Childhood

Settings, 5th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-healthy-foundations-
in-early-childhood-settings-5th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Planning and Administering Early Childhood

Programs 11th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-planning-and-
administering-early-childhood-programs-11th-edition/
(eBook PDF) Early Childhood Curriculum: Planning,
Assessment and Implementation 3rd Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-early-childhood-
curriculum-planning-assessment-and-implementation-3rd-edition/

(eBook PDF) Assessment in Early Childhood Education 7th

Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-assessment-in-early-
childhood-education-7th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Inclusion in Early Childhood Programs 7th

Canadian Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-inclusion-in-early-
childhood-programs-7th-canadian-edition/

Strategies for Including Children with Special Needs in

Early Childhood Settings 2nd Edition Ruth E. Cook -
eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/strategies-for-including-
children-with-special-needs-in-early-childhood-settings-ebook-
pdf/

(eBook PDF) Take a Look: Observation and Portfolio

Assessment in Early Childhood 7th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-take-a-look-observation-
and-portfolio-assessment-in-early-childhood-7th-edition/
 Express

programming & planning

programming

in EARLY CHILDHOOD settings

EDITION 7

STUDY
SMARTER. planning
in
GO ONLINE. EARLY CHILDHOOD
Leonie Arthur settings
Bronwyn Beecher
Elizabeth Death
Sue Dockett
BUY Sue Farmer
NEW

EDITION 7
ACCESS Express AT
CENGAGEBRAIN.COM FO
12-MO R
N
ACCE TH
SS!!

Arthur | Beecher | Death | Dockett | Farmer

Bring your learning to life with interactive
learning, study and exam preparation
tools that support the printed textbook.
Your comprehension soars as you work
with the printed textbook and the textbook-
specific website. CourseMate Express
includes quizzes, flashcards, video and
matching pairs activities, and more.

AVAILABLE
THROUGH >> Search me! – An online research library just for
CENGAGEBRAIN.COM this subject. Now it is easy to explore current
issues relevant to your studies and research your
Students located in Asia:
please go to www.cengage.com/login to access online resources. assignments, without getting lost.
INSTRUCTORS: Resources to help you teach are available for this textbook. Visit cengage.com.au/instructors or cengage.co.nz/instructors

Beecher_9780170386326_CVR.indd All Pages 23/05/2017 2:19 PM

 Guide to the text
As you read this text you will find a number of features in every chapter to enhance
your study of programming and planning in early childhood settings and help you
understand how the theory is applied in the real world.

CHAPTER OPENING FEATURES

Setting the scene

Chapter

CHAPTER 5: Developing philosop h i e s 175

CHAPTER LEARNING FOCUS

Identify the key concepts that
4 Categorise or organise ideas into focus areas that are linked and arrange the material in a
This chapter will investigate:
• government policies and priorities
• changing worlds and childhoods
the chapter will cover with the
Chapter learning focus at the
• contemporary perspectives of children’s learning
format that is clear and relevant to all stakeholders at
• whatthe setting,
contemporary including
theories mean in practice. families. This
task may be undertaken by a subcommittee and will reflect the unique ideas of each service
and its stakeholders.
5 Display this representation of ideas in a communal areaIntroductionof the setting or school, such as the start of each chapter.
foyer, for several weeks and invite all group members toall ofadd what they think
with newis important
This is the seventh edition of Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings. It
retains the chapters from the sixth edition, content in each chapter and
accompanying online materials. Since the last edition, educators in Australian prior-to-school
under the various headings/areas. Staff could encourage
settings andothers
outside school tohoursprovide
care have continuedinput. An
to work with the National Quality
Framework (introduced by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority

alternative approach, where appropriate, may be to useFramework afornewsletter

Australia; My Time, Ouror Place:email
Framework forcontact
School Age Carewith
[ACECQA] in 2012), including Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning
in Australia;
and the National Quality Standard. In some jurisdictions educators across early childhood
families, members of the community and management and schoolto gather
settings feedback.
are also working with other learning frameworks approved under the
National Quality Framework including Every Chance to Learn: curriculum framework for ACT

6 Collate the ideas as a subcommittee. These ideas can then be taken

Framework and the to an Framework
Curriculum openforforum Kindergartenfor
schools preschool to Year 10, The Tasmanian Curriculum, the Victorian Early Years Learning
and Development to Year 12
Education in Western Australia.
discussion. This process of refining, clarifying and discussing
In the school sector,ideas
educators aremay occur
working with several
the Australian Curriculum in times
the areas
of English, mathematics, science, arts, history, geography and technologies (see Australian

until agreement is reached. Curriculum and Assessment Authority [ACARA]). Since the last edition, discussions between the
Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL] and ACECQA have resulted in
teachers in Australian early childhood education and care settings beginning to be included in
7 Develop a draft philosophy as a subcommittee. ThisProgress
document can then be displayed in a
the accreditation process with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011).
towards inclusion is different across jurisdictions and is being phased in over time.
This chapter provides an overview of the policy context in the early childhood and school
communal area, sent via email or given to individualsectors.
stakeholders forworlds
It also considers the changing any furthertheories
and contemporary comment
of childhood and
children’s learning and the implications of these theories for practice. These ideas are then

n g abo u t ch i l dr e n : de v e l o pme ntor and

modifications. 77
elaborated in the following chapters.
pl ay
8 Finalise the philosophy. The final document should be officially adopted or ratified by
management (for example, committee, management organisation or council). 1

9 Communicate the philosophy appropriately to relevant groups through displays in the

BK-CLA-ARTHUR_7E-170044-Chp01.indd 1 07/04/17 3:19 PM

setting, newsletters, setting or school handbooks and other appropriate methods. This may
also mean providing translations of the philosophy as appropriate and developing a version
n interactions. They are active appropriate for sharing with children.
nd in guiding the experience
FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS
Practical ideas for philosophy development are outlined in the following sections of this chapter, as
‘people develop as
well as in the boxed feature below. A useful website for considering different approaches to developing
only in or revising setting philosophy is http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au > e-Learning videos, which
ch also EXAMPLE
includes a regular newsletter and Talking about Practice videos.
In Example 5.1, Glen Newman from the NSW/ACT Inclusion Agency reflects on the process
undertaken to develop the Inclusion Agency philosophy.
or

Example boxes demonstrate how the concepts

EXAMPLE 5.1

Reflection on the process of developing a

n, philosophy for an Inclusion Agency
ng, and and theory you are learning about have been
laying The Inclusion Agency (IA) philosophy was initially developed in late 2015 within the Hunter
Inclusion Support Agency (ISA). It was reviewed and refined through sharing with other
applied in real-life settings by specific childcare
re able
ome
Inclusion Support Agency teams. The impact of the wording led to the development of further
resources to support us in working with educators and evolved into the ‘Practice Framework’ centres and professionals.
we are using with the Inclusion Support Programme.
ontext.
the RATIONALE
FIGURE 3.4 Children learn whatFOR DOCUMENTATION
is OF PHILOSOPHY
important in theirThe
culture.
impetus for developing the philosophy came from our reflections that although we had a
t social detailed set of guidelines to work to, this didn’t connect us to our values, beliefs and experience
68). about promoting reflection and change around inclusion with educators in Early Childhood and Child
Care (ECCC) services. We had worked with numerous services to help educators to reflect on their
43
KEY TERMS
CHAPTER
philosophies and link them to everyday 2: Children
practice, but it felt like thisin the
was context
a missing of their
element for ourfamilies and c o mmuni t i e s
agency. Additionally, there was a tendency for us to focus on some of the more negative experiences
y (CHAT) – is an example we hadActivity
had in our theory
roles as opposed to the positive experiences that were by far the majority.
o as the third generation of An abbreviation for
cultural-historical
r work of Leont’ev (1978).
Inviting family membersactivity theory,ways
to suggest or in which they might be genuinely involved in the Transformative
at cultures have a history and
educational setting can strengthen CHAT. Describes
meaningfuland partnerships. These partnerships have the potential to When you see Key terms marked in bold,
relationships
es a conceptual framework explains human actions Involve educators
transform relationships (Mac Naughton & Hughes, 2003) as they challenge the traditional knowledge–
BK-CLA-ARTHUR_7E-170044-Chp05.indd 175
by focusing on culture study the Definitions nearby to learn important
05/04/17 7:01 PM
reflecting on their
power links between educators and families by acknowledging that there is not a fixed body of
and activity. interactions with families
ally framed and developed
knowledge about children that educators possess and parents lack. In transformative relationships, vocabulary for your profession. See the Glossary
and repositioning
families as experts so
but on the
thelearner
voice andas expertise
part of a of family members is acknowledged and educators and families are able to build
at the back of the book for a full list of key terms
that there is a two-way
and mediating objects
collaborative (tools) where family members are invited to ‘form policies, manage resources and
relationships exchange of knowledge
evaluate services [and to make] decisions about what and how children should learn’ (Mac Naughton & and definitions.
between the educator
Hughes, 2003, p. 269). and families.
o consider the collaborative
xample, thinkFamily engagement
about meal in children’s learning in early childhood and in the school years, and families
ay care support
context:for children’s
some tools learning at home, is critical for children’s development, particularly for children
from disadvantaged communities (ARACY, 2016). Educators can support family members in their
to be involved;
poses –role
and
REFLECTION POINTS
as the child’s first teacher and enhance collaborative partnerships between educators and
whereas meal
families by:
es in child care may be an
• involving
as possible in orderfamilies
to in the development and evaluation of the early childhood or school setting’s
Think of a
philosophy, goals, policiessituation
and program Use the Reflection points as a prompt to pause
• talking with families aboutwhere
their peers
values and their expectations for their child
has been to broaden
provided of documenting children’s learning
• including families in the processes and reflect on the material you have just read,
rbal guidance by a more
• connecting the curriculumscaffolding. What
to children’s home and community experiences and interests and on your own practices, to facilitate your
within the ZPD is what forms of guidance
• building a sense of community by providing multiple ways for families to choose how to be a part of
supporting this interaction; were provided and
the school or early childhood
whatsetting community
resulted from
ongoing learning.
e of an •expert guiding
bringing a
the broader the interaction?
community into the early childhood or school setting for events or as resources
• providing information to families about the educational program What
• exchanging information with the family about their child’s experiences, interests, relationships, strategies
do you use to
•
dispositions and learning
linking families with relevant community organisations and networks.
build families’ vii
d concentric circles locating sense of belonging
and develop
y focus on Useful resources for families include the Parent Engagement Network in Australia and the US
the interactions collaborative
Harvard Family Research Project (see the list of recommended resources at the end of the chapter for partnerships?
many and varied contexts
 require educators to engage in professional learning. Effective educators continually reflect on their
practices and seek ways to engage in ongoing learning that include professional reading, connecting
with and learning from families and communities, networking with other professionals and engaging in
critical reflection on ‘questions of philosophy, ethics and practice’ (DEEWR, 2009, p. 13). This includes
reflection on relationships and partnerships with families, the extent to which diversity is respected
and the curriculum supports high expectations and equity, and staff members’ levels of cultural
competence.

viii G U I D E T O T H E T E XT
Conclusion and reflection
This chapter outlined the role of families and communities in children’s learning and the importance of
relationships and partnerships between educators and families and continuity of learning for children.
It suggested ways of building connections with families and suggested strategies for effective
communication, taking into consideration some of the barriers to communication between educators
and families.
The chapter also emphasised the importance of respect for diverse beliefs and values, family
structures, sexual preferences, strengths and needs and families’ economic circumstances, and

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
outlined pedagogies that demonstrate respect for diversity, high expectations and equity. These
pedagogies include finding out about children’s and families, funds of knowledge, culturally responsive
education and care, resources and experiences that reflect diversity and the promotion of positive
attitudes towards diversity and difference. The chapter concludes with a focus on reflective practice and
ongoing learning.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1 What is your philosophy regarding working with diversity? How do you put this philosophy into practice?
Consolidate your understanding of the chapter
Critically examine areas such as policies, pedagogies, resources, intercultural communication and
strategies for dealing with bias and promoting social justice. Identify strengths and challenges and plan for
professional learning.
with the Conclusion and reflection section. It
2 What strategies do you currently use (as an educator or as a student) to build partnerships with families?
How do you build partnerships with the families who are more challenging for you to work with because of includes further Questions for reflection that
encourage you to develop your own philosophy and
differences in culture or language or life circumstances?
3 To what extent are fathers involved in your setting? What additional strategies could you use to promote a
more father-inclusive environment?
4 How do you include children’s funds of identity in your early childhood setting or classroom or in your
programming as a student? What additional strategies could you use to assist children to be able to
demonstrate their competencies in the setting or classroom?
explore key issues further.

BK-CLA-ARTHUR_7E-170044-Chp02.indd 66 07/04/17 7:33 PM

ICONS
Explore additional online examples when you see
Express the CourseMate Express icon in the margins of
the text.

END-OF-CHAPTER FEATURES
At the end of each chapter you will find several tools to help
you to review, practise and extend your knowledge.

164 PR O G R A MMI N G A N D PLA N N I N G I N EA R LY C H I LD H O O D SE T T I NG S

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1 How did you participate in reflective practice last week? How did it strengthen your understandings of
children’s learning and wellbeing? How did you modify your practice? How might this have influenced
children’s learning and wellbeing?
2 Which topics might you and educators that you know critically reflect upon? What might happen when
diverse viewpoints on one topic are considered in relation to philosophy, theory, ethics, research and
practice? What needs to happen so everyone openly expresses their viewpoints? What might this mean for
learners with differing cultures, abilities, capabilities and resources?
3 How connected is the philosophy and practice at an early childhood setting/school that you are familiar with?

1 Expand your knowledge by using the Search

Where is the evidence? What is the next step to strengthen the alignment of the philosophy with practice?

CHAPT ER 4 : R e f l e c t i v e and e v al uat i v e p r a ct i ce 165

1 KEY TERMS
Search tip: Search Me! Education contains using both Australian and American spellings in
Me! key words to investigate the Search Me!
Education database for journal articles and
information from both local and international sources. your searches, e.g. ‘globalisation’ and ‘globalization’;
accountability, 118 formative evaluation, 139 To get the
relationship building, 118greatest number of search results, try ‘organisation’ and ‘organization’.

2
action plan, 140 partners, 116 self-assessment, 117
action research, 154 program assessment/ strategic planning, 155
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

other materials.
critical reflection, 116 evaluation, 116 summative evaluation, 139
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2012, Assessment and Reporting:
critical reflective practice, 117 reflective practice, 116
Improving Student Performance. ACARA, Sydney, http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Assessment__
Reporting__Improving_Student_Performance.pdf, accessed 15 February 2014.
ONLINE STUDY RESOURCES Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2016, Implementation of the Australian
Curriculum. ACARA, Sydney, http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/overview/implementation-of-the-
Visit http://login.cengagebrain.com and use the access code that comes with this book for 12 months’ access to
australian-curriculum, accessed 9 January 2017.
the student resources for this text.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) n.d., The Australian Curriculum, http://
www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/, accessed 19 February 2014.

Extend your understanding with the

CourseMate Express Barnes, H 2013, Critical Reflection as a Tool for Change: Stories about Quality Improvement, Early Childhood
Express

2
The CourseMate Express website contains a range of resources and study tools Australia, Deakin West.
for this chapter, including: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) 2009, Belonging, Being and Becoming:
• online video activities • a list of key weblinks The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Recommended resources relevant to each

• online research activities Marbiner,
• a chapter glossary, flashcards and L, Church,
crossword to helpL & Tayler, C 2012, Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework : Evidence
• a revision quiz you revise terminology Paper Practice Principle 8 Reflective Practice, Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood
• matching pair exercises • and more! Development, Melbourne.
O’Connor, A & Diggins, C 2002, On Reflection: Reflective Practice for Early Childhood Educators, Open Mind
Publishing, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

chapter.
Search Me! Education
Russell, A n.d., Child Care Staff: Learning and Growing through Professional Development, Professional Support
Explore Search Me! Education for articles relevant to this chapter. Fast and Coordinator Alliance, South Australia.
convenient, Search Me! Education is updated daily and provides you with 24-hour Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development 2012, Victorian Early Years Learning and
access to full text articles from hundreds of scholarly and popular journals, ebooks and newspapers, includingFramework 8 Reflective Practice, Melbourne, http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/
Development
The Australian and The New York Times. Log in to Search Me! through http://login.cengagebrain.com and try
childhood/providers/edcare/practiceguide8.PDF
searching for the following key words:

3
• critical reflective practice • reflecting
• collaborating • reflective journals KEY WEBLINKS

Explore reputable online sources using the

• criteria • reflective practice Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), http://www.acara.edu.au/home

3
• ethics • standardised evaluation Australian Curriculum, http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Home
• evaluating • strategic planning Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-
• partners • values. Framework-Resources-Kit/my_time_our_place_framework_for_school_age_care_in_australia.pdf

list of Key weblinks.

• quality Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Overview F–2, http://www.
australiancurriculum.edu.au/curriculum/overview/f-2.
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), F–10 Overview, http://www.
australiancurriculum.edu.au/Curriculum/Overview.
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), ‘Illustrations of practice: Engaging a
parental community’, in Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-
professional-standards-for-teachers/illustrations-of-practice/detail?id=IOP00397.
BK-CLA-ARTHUR_7E-170044-Chp04.indd 164 07/04/17 4:10 PM
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-
teachers
Board of Studies, Teaching and Technical Standards, NSW, https://syllabus.bostes.nsw.edu.au/english/
Classroom Practice Continuum, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/
classrooom_practice_continuum
Code of Ethics, http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ECA-COE-
Brochure_2016.pdf
Early Childhood Policy Statements and Submissions, http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-work/
submissions-statements/
Ethical Research Involving Children, http://childethics.com/

BK-CLA-ARTHUR_7E-170044-Chp04.indd 165 07/04/17 4:10 PM

 ix

Guide to the online resources

FOR THE INSTRUCTOR
Cengage Learning is pleased to provide you with a selection of resources
that will help you to prepare your lectures and assessments. These teaching
tools are accessible via cengage.com.au/instructors for Australia
or cengage.co.nz/instructors for New Zealand.

COURSEMATE EXPRESS
CourseMate Express is your one-stop shop for learning tools and activities that help
students succeed. As they read and study the chapters, students can access research
activities, review with flashcards, as well as check their understanding of the chapter
with interactive quizzing. CourseMate Express also features the Engagement Tracker,
a first-of-its-kind tool that monitors student engagement with the content. Ask your
Learning Consultant for more details.

Express

INSTRUCTOR’S POWERPOINTTM ARTWORK FROM

GUIDE PRESENTATIONS THE TEXT
The Instructor’s guide Use the chapter-by-chapter Add the digital files of
includes: PowerPoint slides to enhance diagrams and photos into
• chapter outlines your lecture presentations and your course management
• key words and connections handouts by reinforcing the key system, use them in student
to the student experience principles of your subject. handouts, or copy them into
• student activities your lecture presentations.
• further investigations for
the student.

ix
x
x P RUO
G I DGERTAO
MTMHI NG
E O NL
& PINE
L ANNING
RE S O URCE
IN E ARLY
S CHIL DH OOD SETTIN GS

FOR THE STUDENT

New copies of this text come with an access code that gives you a 12-month
sub-scription to the CourseMate Express website. Visit http://login.cengagebrain.com
and log in using the code card.

Express

Your CourseMate Express website includes a suite of interactive resources

designed to support your learning, revision and further research.
Includes:
• Revision quizzes
• Online video activities and research activities
• Additional examples
• Matching pairs activities
• Chapter glossaries and flashcards
• And more!
Preface

This is the seventh edition of Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings. It
retains all of the chapters from the previous edition, but in a rearranged order and with new
content in each chapter and in accompanying materials online. We have updated each chapter
to incorporate current policies and practices in early childhood education in Australia and in
response to readers and reviewers. There are many new examples and new photographs that
provide real-life experiences of educators putting theory into practice.
The first edition of this book was published in 1993 – over 20 years ago. Since then we have
seen major changes in the early childhood field – both in Australia and internationally – particularly
around policy commitments, professional practice and in our understandings of children, families and
communities, and the roles of educators as they act and interact with these groups and with each
other.
Since the last edition, major changes have included the move to include early childhood teachers in
the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. References to these standards have been included
throughout the book. In addition, links are made in each chapter to relevant aspects of Belonging,
Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia; My Time, Our Place; the
National Quality Standard; and the Australian Curriculum.
The book explores the principles and practices of The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia,
the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, aspects of the Australian
Curriculum and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and how they are enacted in
practice in a range of educational settings, including schools as well as prior to school settings.
Throughout the book there is a strong focus on respect for diversity and difference, partnerships,
play-based pedagogies, learning environments, documentation and assessment for learning,
intentional teaching, reflective practice and continuity of learning.
We recognise that the book’s readership is diverse. The challenge is to cater for university-based
teacher education students as well as students in the vocational education sector and educators
working across prior-to-school and school settings. To cater for this diversity of readers, each chapter
has margin definitions of key terms and the book includes a glossary. Where possible we have
included student perspectives and the perspectives of early career educators as well as more
experienced professionals. There are also questions for reflection in each chapter that are addressed
specifically to students and the Journeys of change chapter includes reflections from a range of early
career educators as well as more experienced educators.
The structure of the book is based on the key roles of educators – understanding the broad political
and policy context of early childhood, understanding the early childhood/school setting and being
able to clearly articulate their own philosophy, working in partnerships with families from a range
of backgrounds, understanding children’s learning and development, documenting and assessing
children’s learning, making curriculum decisions based on sound understandings of curriculum
approaches and pedagogies and the role of physical and social environments in learning, and engaging
in reflection, evaluation and planning for change. All of these aspects are addressed in one or more of
the book’s chapters.
In each edition since 1993 we have renamed and re-ordered the chapters. This edition is no
exception. We have done this based on feedback from the users of previous editions. However, there
is no definitive answer to the ordering of chapters. The reality is that the book is not designed to be
read in a linear fashion from beginning to end. Teacher-educators, students and practitioners can use
the chapters in any order. To facilitate the use of the book in multiple ways, each chapter refers the
reader to other chapters in the book where relevant issues are discussed in more detail.
While we have aimed to avoid the unnecessary duplication of content, it is inevitable that some
issues are discussed in more than one chapter. This is often necessary to set the context or because
there are key issues that are explored in different ways in different chapters.

xi
 As in previous editions, the book aims to provide a range of theoretical perspectives. We encourage
students and practitioners to develop their own philosophy and their own contextually responsive
curriculum approaches and frameworks, and to engage in reflection on their own practices and in
processes of change. To facilitate this ongoing professional learning, each chapter includes a number of
questions for reflection throughout as well as questions for individual reflection and group discussion
at the end of the chapter.
We hope that the book encourages lively debate among educators and contributes to reflective
discussion, informed decision-making and pedagogical leadership.

About the authors

Leonie Arthur (B. A./Dip. Ed. University of New England, B. Ed. (EC) with Distinction Mitchell
College of Advanced Education, M. Ed. (Applied Linguistics) University of Sydney, Ed. D.
University of Western Sydney) has worked in long day care, preschool and the early years of
school as well as in the School of Education at Western Sydney University. Her research has
focused on early literacy, particularly the role of play, popular culture and technologies in literacy
learning. Leonie is a co-author of Play and Literacy in Children’s Worlds (with Bronwyn Beecher),
a contributing author to Literacies, Communities and Under 5s and co-editor of Diverse
Literacies in Early Childhood (with Bronwyn Beecher and Jean Ashton). Leonie was one of the
members of the CSU led consortium that developed the Early Years Learning Framework and
has published resources to support educators’ work with the framework, including Stars Are
Made of Glass: Children as Capable and Creative Communicators (with Marina Papic and Felicity
McArdle) and The Early Years Learning Framework: Building Confident Learners. Recent research
focuses on effective pedagogies for teaching in low socioeconomic communities, drawing on
research in Chile and western Sydney, and the role of collaborative action research in educators’
professional learning and curriculum design.

Bronwyn Beecher (Dip. Teach Wagga Wagga Teachers College, Grad. Dip. Ed. Studies Riverina
College of Advanced Education, M. Ed. Studies University of Wollongong, M. Ed. (Hons)
University of Wollongong, Ed. D. University of Western Sydney) has worked in the early years
of school. For many years, she worked in early childhood education in the School of Education,
Western Sydney University and more recently managed the KU Early Language and Literacy
Initiative (KU ELLI) in several preschool communities in Western Sydney. Her research examines
family and community partnerships, strengthening pedagogical practice and children’s literacy
learning. Bronwyn is a co-author of Literacies, Communities and Under 5s, a co-author of Play
and Literacy in Children’s Worlds (with Leonie Arthur) and a co-author of Diverse Literacies in
Early Childhood (with Leonie Arthur and Jean Ashton).

xii
Elizabeth Death (Dip. Teach (EC) and B. Ed. (EC) with Distinction Mitchell College of Advanced
Education) is a partner at Edan Consulting and the Executive Officer for the Early Learning
and Care Council of Australia. Elizabeth has a broad base in social policy and service delivery
coupled with a strong record of achievement in both the public and not-for-profit sectors.
Elizabeth has worked in ministers’ offices, government departments, universities and not-for-
profit organisations at national and state levels with a focus on education, Aboriginal affairs,
community services and remote communities, bringing a particular depth in early childhood
education. Elizabeth has held a number of executive management positions across the eastern
seaboard and the Northern Territory. While working in the Northern Territory, Elizabeth travelled
extensively to very remote Aboriginal communities and developed a strong understanding of
the unique requirements of Indigenous policy development and service delivery. Elizabeth has
represented government on national committees such as the Council of Australian Government’s
National Early Childhood Policy Group and the National Australian Early Development Census
(Index) committee. She has also represented peak early childhood organisations and service
providers in advocacy, policy and service delivery forums such as Senate enquiries into early
learning and care, and submissions to government and national forums.

Sue Dockett (B. Ed. (Pre-Primary) (Hons), M. Ed. (Hons), PhD University of Sydney) is Professor,
Early Childhood Education at Charles Sturt University. Sue has worked as an educator and
academic in the field of early childhood for over 35 years. Over many years, she has researched
experiences of educational transitions, particularly the transition to school. With Bob Perry, she
has published widely in this area both nationally and internationally. Much of this research has
focused on children’s experiences and expectations, as well as those of families, educators
and communities at times of transition. She is co-author of Transition to School: Perceptions,
Expectations and Experiences and Continuity of Learning: A Resource to Support Transition to
School and School-age Care (with Bob Perry), co-editor of Transitions to School – International
Research, Policy and Practice (with Bob Perry and Anne Petriwskyj), Varied Perspectives on Play
and Learning: Theory and Research on Early Years Education (with Bob Perry and Ole Fredrik
Lillemyr) and Families and Transition (with Bob Perry and Wilfried Griebel).

Sue Farmer (Cert IV, Assessment & Workplace Training (TAFE), Dip. Teach. (EC) Sydney
Kindergarten Teachers College, Grad. Dip. Ed. Studies, Institute of Early Childhood, M. Ed.
University of Sydney) has worked in a wide range of early childhood education and care settings
and management positions since the mid-1970s. She worked at the University of Western
Sydney for many years and more recently within the TAFE system. Sue has been involved in
many early childhood professional organisations. Her project work with the Inclusion Support
Agency (Gold Coast) focused on providing mentoring in early childhood settings to support
cultural competency and developing the publication Journeys of Inclusion. Sue has recently
worked in Early Childhood Intervention and the Inclusion Support Programme, as well as being
involved in various inclusive practice projects and support in mainstream settings.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS xiii

 Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the following people and settings for their significant
contributions and examples of practice appearing within this book:

• Arrmunbu Child and Family Centre, Gunbalanya. Thanks in particular to Andrea McNair.
• Bronwyn Glass, Botany Downs Kindergarten, New Zealand for sharing learning stories.
• Integricare Children’s Centre Homebush – Kurralee. Thanks in particular to Jenny Green for
sharing reflections on organisational climate, photographs of Diwali celebrations and examples
of pedagogical documentation proformas that encourage collaboration between educators and
families, and Carla Paszti for sharing examples of her documentation.
• Janene Rox, Cronulla Preschool, for sharing an example of a yarning circle.
• Keiraville Community Preschool, particularly Margaret Gleeson, for ongoing support in sharing
reflective and evaluative practices, philosophy and practice development, and documentation
of children’s learning. Thanks to Margaret and the staff, especially Ruth Gilmore, for invaluable
contributions, and the staff, families and children for the photographs.
• Keiraville Public School, particularly David Connor, for sharing the process for strategic planning
and evaluation.
• KU Children’s Services, including Christine Legg and Glen Newman.
• KU Hebersham Preschool, especially Kelly Keith and Debbie Weisenbach for their support and
contributions of the program. Thanks to the staff, families and children for the photographs.
• KU Killarney Heights Preschool, in particular Jane Pethers and Kylie Kennemore.
• KU Macquarie Fields Preschool, especially Glenys Gardoll and Jackie Staudinger for their
support and contributions of the program. Thanks to the families and children for the
photographs.
• MacDonnell Regional Council Children’s Services, in particular Margaret Harrison, Hannah Scully
and the families and children of Watiyawanu (Mt Liebig community).
• Mary Bailey House, Santa Sabina College, especially Jackie Baxter, Danielle Lomas, Kathryn
Graham, Kathy Dowdell, Mariam Raihani and previous staff member Cathy Merlino, and the
families and children for sharing inspiring examples of their documentation and their processes
of analysing children’s learning.
• Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Seven Hills, especially Lesley Studans and Carol Cividin.
Thanks for sharing their reflections on supporting children’s constructivist learning through
investigation, interests and family experiences in the curriculum. Thanks to the children and
families for photographs.
• Paddington Children’s Centre (UnitingCare) educators, especially Natalie Cordukes, for their
many contributions, particularly regarding philosophy development.
• Parkes Early Childhood Centre, in particular Lindy Farrant and Bronnie Dean.
• Rainbow Children’s Centre staff, including Ballina Early Intervention, for their support and
enthusiasm, examples of innovative strategic evaluation, planning and practice and individual
contributions, especially Leo Prendergast. Thanks also to the families and children who shared
their documentation and learning.
• Rebecca Leacock for her contribution to inclusive environments.

xiv
 • Tigger’s Honeypot Children’s Centre educators for their support, enthusiasm and individual
contributions related to philosophy development, especially Sylvia Turner and Jemma Carlisle.
• Tonia Godhard for her continued contribution both to this book and the early childhood
education and care profession.
• Toxteth Kindergarten children, families and staff – thanks for the children's drawings.
• Western Sydney University Master of Teaching Birth–5 Years/Birth–12 Years students Emina
Caldarevic and Jingbo Ren for sharing examples of their reflective practice and action
research, and Marem Salem for sharing her many reflective ideas and photographs within her
development of a philosophy of education, as well as her action research.

We would also like to thank the following centres for their ongoing support and inspiration over
many years and the educators who were working in these centres at the time that the examples were
provided:

• Cherry Tree Kindergarten, particularly previous staff members, Sharon Gillespie and Jodie
Edwards.
• Earlwood Children’s Centre, Canterbury Council, including previous staff Fran Bastion, Nicole
Tytherleigh, Jacqui Bolt and Marisa Rodriguez.
• Joanne Goodwin for her commitment to excellence in the area of inclusion and working
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Thanks for the many innovative ideas,
photographs and insightful reflections.
• Kingscliff Mini School for their ongoing support, encouragement and contributions. Thanks also
to the families and children who shared their involvement at the service through photographs.
• KU Phoenix Preschool staff, children and families for their many ideas, examples and
photographs, especially previous staff members.
• Summer Hill Children’s and Community Centre (UnitingCare), in particular previous staff
members, Roberta De Sousa, Averil Dudman, Emma Hawkings and Phyll Latta.

Thanks also to the staff, families, children and management of the following services for sharing
their stories, ideas and input:

• Hinchinbrook Children’s Centre; Western Sydney Institute of Nepean Centre; Liverpool City
Council; and Western Sydney Institute of TAFE, Nepean Centre.

In addition, we would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions:

• Monique Beange, Susan Montrose, Naomi Beech, Melinda Casey, Sheridan Dudley, Lynette Funnell,
Jennifer and Kieran Furze, Bronwyn Glass, Miriam Giugni, Ana Levar, Amy MacDonald, Helen
Meredith, Christie Roe, Kathryn Wallis and Rebecca Watson. Special thanks to Michele Howell (in
memoriam).

The past twenty years has seen major changes in all of our lives – professionally and personally.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have continued to support us in a variety
of roles, and to acknowledge the importance of our families and friends in reminding us about the
importance of relationships in all of our lives.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv
 We are indebted to our colleagues at Western Sydney University, Charles Sturt University and
Rainbow Children’s Centre, especially Ballina Early Intervention, with whom we have shared ideas and
sought advice, as well as to all the students who have contributed to our thinking.
Our thanks also go to our families, in particular Leo Prendergast, Toby Arthur, Bob and Will Perry,
and Allen Nash, Thom and Grace Richards for their ongoing support and inspiration. We thank them
for their patience and goodwill, their willingness to share photographs and anecdotes, as well as their
understanding.
The authors and Cengage Learning would like to thank the following reviewers for their incisive and
helpful feedback:

• Bev Adkin – Edith Cowan University

• Wendy Boyd – Southern Cross University
• Alice Brown – University of Southern Queensland
• Marilyn Casley – Griffith University
• Sue Cherrington – Victoria University of Wellington
• Vicki Christopher – University of Southern Queensland
• Olivia Harnwell – Curtin University
• Libby Lee-Hammond – Murdoch University
• Sandra Lennox – University of Notre Dame Australia
• Amanda McFadden – Queensland University of Technology
• Martyn Mills-Bayne – University of South Australia
• Tracy Morrison – Australian Catholic University
• Rosa Napolitano-Lincoln – Edith Cowan University
• Corine Rivalland – Monash University
• Vicki Schriever – University of the Sunshine Coast
• Reesa Sorin – James Cook University
• Vijaya Tatineni – Federation University Australia

xvi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Setting the scene
Chapter

CHAPTER LEARNING FOCUS

This chapter will investigate:
• government policies and priorities
• changing worlds and childhoods
• contemporary perspectives of children’s learning
• what contemporary theories mean in practice.

Shutterstock.com/Lubenica
Introduction
This is the seventh edition of Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings. It
retains all of the chapters from the sixth edition, with new content in each chapter and
accompanying online materials. Since the last edition, educators in Australian prior-to-school
settings and outside school hours care have continued to work with the National Quality
Framework (introduced by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority
[ACECQA] in 2012), including Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning
Framework for Australia; My Time, Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia;
and the National Quality Standard. In some jurisdictions educators across early childhood
and school settings are also working with other learning frameworks approved under the
National Quality Framework including Every Chance to Learn: Curriculum framework for ACT
schools preschool to Year 10, The Tasmanian Curriculum, the Victorian Early Years Learning
and Development Framework and the Curriculum Framework for Kindergarten to Year 12
Education in Western Australia.
In the school sector, educators are working with the Australian Curriculum in the areas
of English, mathematics, science, arts, history, geography and technologies (see Australian
Curriculum and Assessment Authority [ACARA]). Since the last edition, discussions between the
Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL] and ACECQA have resulted in
teachers in Australian early childhood education and care settings beginning to be included in
the accreditation process with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011).
Progress towards inclusion is different across jurisdictions and is being phased in over time.
This chapter provides an overview of the policy context in the early childhood and school
sectors. It also considers the changing worlds and contemporary theories of childhood and
children’s learning and the implications of these theories for practice. These ideas are then
elaborated in the following chapters.

1
2 P R O G R A M M I NG AND P L ANNING IN E ARLY CHILD H OOD SETTIN GS

Government policies and priorities

Early childhood and school education continue to be areas of interest and focus for government. The
existing initiatives of the Australian Government under the MyChild Child Care and Early Learning Agenda
include the:
• Australian Early Development Census
• Early Years Learning Framework
• Early Years Workforce Strategy
• Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters
• National Early Childhood Development Strategy
• National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care
• Universal Access to Early Childhood Education.
Commonwealth of Australia, 2016

Australian Government policies and priorities in the area of education focus on:
• the importance of the early years
• equity and social justice
• national learning and curriculum documents
• quality assurance
• professionalisation of teachers.
Each of these areas is discussed below.

The importance of the early years

The early years are recognised at both national and international levels as a critical time for children’s
learning (see Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; Shonkoff et al., 2009). Consequently, there is a focus at
government level on strengthening families and communities in order to provide children with a
good start in life. The importance of early childhood policy has been emphasised within organisations
such as UNESCO and the World Bank. Along with other Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) countries, Australia is committed to developing early childhood policy and
to assessing quality within early childhood provisions. The National Early Childhood Development
Strategy, Investing in the Early Years was developed by the Council of Australian Governments
(COAG) ‘to ensure that by 2020 all children have the best start in life to create a better future
for themselves and for the nation’ (COAG, 2009a, p. 4). This remains at the core of the National
Partnerships agreements that underpin the government commitments to early childhood education
and care.
One of the challenges facing such commitments is the balance between a focus on investment
in early childhood as a means of securing the future and a focus on improving the present. Dahlberg
and Moss (2005) are critical of the focus on investments and commitments motivated primarily by
economic consideration. For example, investment in early childhood can be promoted as a means
of ensuring the supply of a well-qualified workforce, both by providing early childhood services as a
support for currently working families and as a means of training a future workforce. Such a focus can
be seen in a number of Australian policy documents, where recognition of the ageing nature of the
current workforce is provided as one aspect of a rationale for ensuring that young children have access
to early childhood education.
Investing in early childhood has become a catchcry of economists, community health professionals
and early childhood educators. For example, Grunewald and Rolnick (2003) note the importance of
policymakers identifying the educational investments that yield the highest return for each dollar
invested. James Heckman (cited in Vimpani, 2005) notes similar outcomes:
 CH APTER 1: Setting the sce ne 3

People who participate in enriched early childhood programs are more likely to complete
school and much less likely to require welfare benefits, become teen parents or participate in
criminal activities.

Few can argue with the importance of supporting children and families. However, we need to
be cautious about assessing the value of early childhood programs only in terms of children’s future
contributions to society. It is equally important to focus on programs that improve the lives of children,
families and communities in the present. It is also necessary to recognise that investing in early
childhood is unlikely to solve all societal problems, and investments promoting the wellbeing of children
after they reach the age of five, and often into later life, will continue to be needed. It is critical to balance
the focus on future contributions of young children to society with recognition of the importance of what
happens in their lives in the present. The early years need to be seen as important in their own right as
well as being a foundation for life outcomes.
Much of the recognition of the significance of the early years has been drawn from research on
early brain development (see Chapter 3). Brain research also points to the significance of secure and
caring relationships in children’s early years. One possible consequence of this research can be a shift
from focusing on early childhood education and care as necessary for parents’ workforce participation
to a focus on children’s development, socialisation and learning (Press & Hayes, 2000) although the
dominant discourse and government priorities still tend to be workforce participation. The introduction
in many countries, including Australia, of national standards for early childhood education and care and
outside school hours care programs, with the aim of lifting quality, reflects governments’ emphasis on
the requirements of children. At the same time, the increasing recognition of the early years is reflected
in government policies and programs aimed at supporting children’s wellbeing by strengthening families
and communities.
For example, the Australian Government funded the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy
from 2000 to 2009. This strategy highlighted the role of families, communities, governments and the
corporate sector in building social support networks and strengthening relationships (Press & Hayes,
2000). Many programs, such as the Early Childhood – Invest to Grow, Child Care Links and Supported
Playgroups, targeted families living in poverty or isolation, Indigenous families and culturally and
linguistically diverse (CALD) families. An evaluation of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy
found that there were many benefits, including community mapping, the development of services and
programs that met community needs, the development of services that engaged hard-to-reach families,
community capacity building and improvements in parenting self-efficacy (Social Policy Research Centre
and the Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2009).
Since 2009 a range of early intervention and prevention programs have been introduced, including
Better Start to Life, Stronger Communities for Children and Children and Parenting Support. One current
program for families funded by the Australian Government and highlighted in the government’s Child
Care and Early Learning Agenda is the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY).
This is a home-based parenting and early childhood enrichment program working with children in the year
before formal schooling and the first year of school, with a focus on literacy and numeracy. The program
is targeted particularly at supporting families in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
HIPPY operates in 100 locations across Australia, working with approximately 2350 children each year
(Commonwealth of Australia, 2016).
In 2009, all Australian state and territory governments endorsed the National Framework for
Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020, which placed children’s interests at the centre of everything
educators do (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009a). This strategy aims to build family and community
capacity and includes investment in family support and child protection services and the promotion of the
safety and wellbeing of all children. This strategy has identified six outcomes:
4 P R O G R A M M I NG AND P L ANNING IN E ARLY CHILD H OOD SETTIN GS

1 Children live in safe and supportive families and communities.

2 Children and families access adequate support to promote safety and intervene early.
3 Risk factors for child abuse and neglect are addressed.
4 Children who have been abused or neglected receive the support and care they need for
their safety and wellbeing.
5 Indigenous children are supported and safe in their families and communities.
6 Child sexual abuse and exploitation is prevented and survivors receive adequate support.
Commonwealth of Australia, 2009b, p. 11

Actions associated with this strategy include:

• the establishment of child and family centres and children’s services hubs across
Australia
• an expansion of the Communities for Children program
• an expansion of family support programs for vulnerable families and children
• expansion of mental health programs such as KidsMatters and MindMatters
• universal access to early childhood education and care in the year prior to formal schooling
• a National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care
• a National Early Years Workforce Strategy
• increased funding for disadvantaged schools
• the appointment of a National Children’s Commissioner
• the implementation of a nationally consistent approach to Working with Children checks.
One of the aims of the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020 is universal
access to a year of preschool education (in a range of service types, including long day care) in the year before
formal schooling. The Australian Government is continuing to invest money to achieve this. The National
Partnership on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education has resulted in improved access to early
childhood education for four-year-olds. Most jurisdictions, except New South Wales, have close to full enrolment
of four-year-olds in preschool education in the year prior to formal schooling. Despite this, many children in
‘hard-to-reach’ communities have lower enrolments, with the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children enrolled in preschool education lower than the percentage for all children (SCRGSP, 2016).
Research indicates that regular participation in a quality early childhood program provides a strong
foundation for future learning and academic success (Sylva et al., 2004). Analysis of the data from the
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that 15-year-olds who had participated in one
year of preschool education outperformed those who had not, even after socioeconomic background
had been taken into consideration (OECD, 2014). Early childhood education is particularly important
for children from low socioeconomic communities and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
(AIHW, 2015). Arcos Holzinger and Biddle (2015) found that participation in a preschool program had a
significant positive impact on Indigenous children’s vocabulary two years later and positive impacts on
reading and mathematics achievements three to five years later.
The OECD Starting Strong report (2006) recommended a focus on early childhood education for
children in the early years, not just in the year prior to formal education. Academic outcomes are
stronger when there is more than one year spent in early childhood education. PISA data shows that
performance at age 15 tends to be stronger when there is a longer time spent in preschool education
(OECD, 2015). The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) research also found that a longer
duration of early childhood education is linked to improved academic outcomes (Sylva et al. 2004).
Children from disadvantaged communities benefit from participation in high-quality early education
and care settings in the first two years of life and all children benefit at age three (AIHW, 2015).
However, only 35 per cent of Australian children in the birth-to-two-years age group attend a
government approved early childhood education and care setting (ABS, 2016). The Productivity
Commission report (2014) suggests that this is due to issues of affordability and accessibility.
 CH APTER 1: Setting the sce ne 5

Participation of three-year-olds in early childhood education is low in Australia compared to other

OECD countries. In 2013 Australia ranked in the bottom third of comparable countries for enrolment of
children in a preschool program at age three (OECD, 2015).
The idea that a preschool program (in a range of service types) delivered by a degree-qualified early
childhood teacher prepares children for school is not new. However, few of those involved in early
childhood services see this as the only goal of these programs. In supporting calls for families and
children to have greater access to a diversity of early childhood services that best meet their needs, it is
important that all services are affordable, accessible and of high quality. A national standard for all early
childhood services is essential to ensure that all children have access to a quality program. Accompanying
this is a need to consider what is meant by ‘preparing’ children for school and the implications of this.
In this book, we advance the notion that children make a positive start to school when all those around
them are working together to promote positive, meaningful and engaging experiences, rather than a
sense that prior-to-school settings need to ensure that young children have a requisite set of skills or
abilities (Dockett & Perry, 2007, 2014). In this sense, we promote efforts to facilitate continuity of learning
and support as children start school, rather than a focus that emphasises children’s readiness (Dockett &
Perry, 2014). Clearly, a critical element of this involves educators at all levels working together to support
children in the present and the future.
The focus on the importance of the early years is also reflected in the Commonwealth and state
governments’ commitment to the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), formerly the
Australian Early Development Index (AEDI). This program has been delivered in collaboration with the
Centre for Community Child Health, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and the Telethon Kids
What is
Institute, Perth and to date has collected national data in 2009, 2012 and 2015. The AEDC is the AEDC
implemented across Australia as a population measure of children’s preparedness for school and as a community profile
means to consider funding allocations for services within communities. The AEDC is completed by for the children
starting school in
teachers of children in their first year of formal schooling. For each child, teachers are asked to rate
your early childhood
children’s overall development across five domains: physical health and wellbeing; social or school local
competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive skills; and communication skills and community? What
general knowledge. While data are collected about individual children, these data are reported at the resources and
support services are
community level, enabling communities to identify what works well, as well as ways to improve the currently available
supports provided for children and families. The community profiles generated from the data reflect in your local
the proportions of children starting school across the community who are perceived by teachers to community? What
other resources
be developmentally vulnerable, as well as those who are perceived to be developing well. would be useful
Community measures, such as the AEDC, allow communities to monitor what happens to their to further support
children and families and to plan to change local resources, provision or supports to improve children?
children’s life chances (Centre for Community Child Health and the Telethon Institute for Child Health
Research, 2009).
While the focus on population measures, rather than individual measures, of readiness is
acknowledged, there is still some concern that what is measured by the AEDC presents a very limited
picture of what is important as children cross the boundary between prior-to-school services and school.
For example, it is well established that access to community and family supports, as well as school
provisions for all children, impact heavily on school readiness (Dockett & Perry, 2009). Further, the value
of information from families, children themselves and prior-to-school educators needs to be considered in
any assessment of school readiness.

Equity and social justice in education

One of the key reasons the Australian Government developed a national agenda for early childhood and a
national school curriculum was to promote better educational outcomes for all Australians. The intention
is to provide a high-quality curriculum for children and young people regardless of where they live, their
ability or the type of early childhood service or school they attend.
6 P R O G R A M M I NG AND P L ANNING IN E ARLY CHILD H OOD SETTIN GS

All ministers of education across Australia have signed the Melbourne Declaration on Educational
Goals for Young Australians, which includes a commitment to ensuring that socioeconomic disadvantage
is no longer a significant determinant of educational outcomes (Ministerial Council on Education
Employment and Youth Affair [MCEETYA], 2008). The MCEETYA goals include promotion of equity and
excellence in schooling as well as the goal that all Australians become ‘successful learners, confident
and creative individuals and active and informed citizens’ (MCEETYA, 2008). These goals underpin the
National Quality Framework for early childhood education and school age care as well as the Australian
Curriculum for Foundation to Year 12.
One of the principles of The Early Years Learning Framework ( EYLF) and My Time, Our Place is equity
and social justice. Similarly, in the school system, terms such as ‘inclusion’ and ‘equal opportunity’ are
used in the Australian Curriculum documents to reflect this commitment to equity and social justice.
Australian Government policies and funding initiatives support inclusive practices. Inclusion refers
to the active participation and meaningful involvement of children with developmental disabilities
and additional needs in the same early childhood settings, schools and community settings as other
typically developing children. Current research indicates that the most effective form of early childhood
intervention is to support children in the environments in which they spend most of their time; that is, in
the home, community and mainstream early childhood services. The federally funded Inclusion Support
Programme (ISP) aims to address the barriers to access for children with additional needs through
the provision of inclusion support and is available to federally funded Early Childhood and Child Care
(ECCC) services (approved for child care benefit) and includes Budget Based Funded (BBF) programs,
for example Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services. This program supports educators and eligible
services to build their capacity to support inclusion and develop a Strategic Inclusion Plan. Funding is an
option available to support the inclusion of children with additional needs. Each state government also
provides inclusion support funding for early childhood services and schools.
In the past few years, policy and funding for children with additional needs has moved towards what
is known as ‘person-centred approaches’, which provide funds to families/children who are approved
to receive this funding. Person-centred funding will become a national approach under the National
Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which will be fully rolled out across Australia by 2018. During the
rollout, several approaches within early childhood intervention have been trialled and two approaches
will be put into place. Initially, families and young children will be able to connect with an Early Childhood
Early Intervention (ECEI) partner if there are concerns about the child’s development. Support, such as
information, assessing family needs and referral to relevant agencies, will be provided. If a child will be
best supported with an NDIS plan, the early childhood partner will work with the family to request NDIS
access and, once confirmed, develop a plan and support the family to connect with providers of the
family’s choice. While this approach alleviates some concerns that were identified in early trial sites, it will
be important to evaluate whether the implementation supports inclusive practice and monitor the impact
on early childhood education and care services of many varied providers of early childhood intervention.
The National Quality Standard – which mandates staff–child ratios, staffing qualifications and national
curriculum frameworks for early childhood education and school age care with underpinning principles,
practices and learning outcomes – is designed to ensure quality early education and care for all children
(ACECQA, 2011).
Grieshaber (2009) notes the importance of equitable access to quality early childhood programs
that is not dependent on family income or employment status, and not restricted by special education
requirements, language, ethnicity or race. The Australian Government’s commitment to the provision
of early childhood/preschool education for all children in the year before school aims to address issues
of access, although the cost of services is still a barrier to access for many families (Productivity
Commission, 2014; SCRGSP, 2016). In addition, culturally responsive services and staff and the availability
of qualified educators in rural and remote regions are all issues that impact on the accessibility of quality
education and care for all children (Biddle, 2011).
 CH APTER 1: Setting the sce ne 7

Ratings of children’s development were collected through the AEDC for 96.5 per cent of children in
the first year of formal full-time schooling (approximately 302 000 children across 7510 government and
non-government schools).
Comparisons of AEDI and AEDC data from 2009 to 2015 in the AEDC National Report
(Commonwealth of Australia, 2015) show that while most Australian children are developmentally
on track, there are large numbers of children who are considered by teachers to be at risk – in a
developmental sense. While there have been improvements in some areas, there still remain 22 per cent
of children considered vulnerable on one or more domains and the proportion of children considered
developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains has increased to 11.1 per cent in 2015 from
10.8 per cent in 2012. Of significant concern are the children who are living in disadvantaged and very
remote areas, where there has been an increase in the number of children considered developmentally
vulnerable.
Children living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged locations in 2015 were twice as likely
as those from the most advantaged areas to be regarded by early years teachers as developmentally
vulnerable on one or more domains at 32.6 per cent and were three times more likely to be rated as
developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains at 18.4 per cent. There are also concerns for
children living in very remote areas of Australia, where children were considered to be five times more
vulnerable in the area of language and cognitive skills than children living in major cities; 2.6 times
more likely to be rated as developmentally vulnerable in the areas of physical health and wellbeing,
social competence, and communication skills and general knowledge; and rated as three times more
vulnerable in the area of emotional maturity.
AEDC data from 2015 shows that there is a strong link between indigeneity and children’s
development. Indigenous children were twice as likely as non-Indigenous children to be rated as
vulnerable in the areas of physical development and wellbeing, social competence and emotional
maturity; three times more likely to be rated as vulnerable in the area of communication skills and
general knowledge; and considered four times more vulnerable in the area of school-based language and
cognitive skills.
Children living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, compared to those from
the highest socioeconomic areas, were twice as likely to be rated as vulnerable in the areas of physical
development and wellbeing, social competence and emotional maturity; three times more likely to be
rated as vulnerable in the area of communication skills and general knowledge; and considered four
times more vulnerable in the area of school-based language and cognitive skills. Boys and children not
proficient in English were also identified as more likely to be vulnerable in this domain.
The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth aims to reduce the percentage of children
identified as developmentally vulnerable in one or more areas to 15 per cent by 2020 (ARACY, 2013).
They argue that this requires the nation to address issues of income disparity and child poverty, as well
as family health outcomes.
While issues such as family and child poverty need to be addressed, increased support for families’
engagement in their children’s learning and children’s participation in high-quality early childhood education
can arguably support children’s development across the domains measured by the AEDC. However,
low participation rates in early childhood education services for some groups, particularly children from
Indigenous communities (SCRGSP, 2016), is a concern. Research indicates that many Indigenous families
fear discrimination and this acts as a barrier to accessing early childhood services (Biddle, 2011).
This research points to the importance of educators demonstrating cultural competence in their
interactions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities and, through
this, developing responsive educational contexts that identify and build upon the strengths of those
involved. The development of more appropriate training pathways for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander educators and the availability of culturally-competent pedagogical leaders are essential to this
strategy.
8 P R O G R A M M I NG AND P L ANNING IN E ARLY CHILD H OOD SETTIN GS

In 2008, the then Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, announced that the Australian
Government aimed to halve the Indigenous gap in literacy and numeracy achievements and in Year 12
completion within a decade (DEEWR, 2008). The Closing the Gap strategy was agreed to by all Australian
state and territory leaders in 2008 and includes targets in the areas of infant mortality, life expectancy,
education and employment. The National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education has
seen increases in early childhood education programs in remote communities. It is important to note
that the target is access rather than attendance and, as early childhood education is not compulsory, the
agreed target is 95 per cent enrolment. The most recent Prime Minister’s Report on Closing the Gap
(Australian Government, 2016) indicated that 85 per cent of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander four-
year-olds were enrolled in preschool in 2013, meaning that the target of 95 per cent was not met. This
target continues alongside the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood
Education, which includes a focus on lifting the ‘preschool’ participation rates of all Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander children, not just those in remote communities, and in early childhood education regardless
of the type of setting. Integrated services have been identified as an effective way to improve support
for vulnerable children and families (Australian Government, 2016). Strategies to support early education
in disadvantaged Indigenous communities include the national Community Childcare Fund, which aims
to integrate early childhood, maternal and child health and family support services with schools. As
part of the Better Start to Life approach, there also are a number of services focused on maternal and
child health in Indigenous communities, which include parenting and playgroup services and a focus
on strengthening parent–child relationships and parents’ capacity to support their children. Other early
intervention services include Stronger Communities for Children and Children and Parenting Support.
Analysis of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results indicate
there has been some lessening of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Comparing
the data from 2008 to 2015, there have been improvements in Year 3, 5 and 7 reading and for Year 5 and
9 numeracy. However, there has been no significant improvement for Year 9 reading and Year 3 and
7 numeracy. A closer analysis shows results vary significantly across geographical areas, with Indigenous
students in remote areas performing at much lower rates than Indigenous students in metropolitan
areas. While 82 per cent of all Indigenous students in metropolitan areas met or exceeded the standard
for Year 5 reading, only 38 per cent of Indigenous students in very remote areas met the standard
(Australian Government, 2016). Literacy programs for remote primary schools and strategies to support
family engagement with their children’s education have been identified as future initiatives.
Similar concerns are raised in the data from international assessments of literacy, numeracy and
science of 15-year-olds in the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA). While Australia has
improved from ‘high quality, low equity’ in 2000 to ‘high quality, medium equity’ in 2009 and ‘high-quality,
high equity’ in 2012, meaning that education systems are ranked as high quality and student backgrounds
have a less significant impact on performance than the OECD average, closer interrogation of the data
shows that there are still different outcomes according to class, ethnicity and geographical location.
Australian Indigenous students achieved significantly lower scores than non-Indigenous students in
reading, mathematics and scientific literacy and are over-represented in the lower end of the proficiency
scale (Thomson, de Borteli & Underwood, 2016). In scientific literacy, 42 per cent of Indigenous students
were in the low performer range compared to 17 per cent of non-Indigenous students; for literacy,
40 per cent were in the low performer range compared to 17 per cent of non-Indigenous students;
and for mathematical literacy, 49 per cent of Indigenous students were in the low performance range
compared to 21 per cent of non-Indigenous students.
Despite being ranked as ‘high equity’, PISA 2015 data shows that Australian students who have
Indigenous, rural and/or low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to achieve at lower levels
than other Australian students (Thomson, de Borteli & Underwood, 2016). For example, 30 per cent of
Australian students in the lowest 25 per cent of socioeconomic status quartile were low performers for
reading compared to 7 per cent of students in the highest socioeconomic quartile. Results were similar
for mathematical and scientific literacy. These data suggest that while government policies to promote
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
cries and vulgarities, to another place, so that their din and disorder
may not interfere with the decorum of the cultivated class. This
square in the neighborhood of the public buildings is divided into
four parts, one for boys, one for youths (ἔφηβοι), one for mature
men, and one for men beyond the military age. The hour when
these shall appear in their places is settled by law. The boys and
mature men come at daybreak, the older men when they think fit,
except on the special days when they are bound to appear. The
youths pass the night by the public buildings in light armor, only
those who are married being excused. These are not hunted up,
unless they have been ordered beforehand to appear; but it is not
thought decent to be often absent. Each of these divisions is under
the charge of twelve governors, one from each of the twelve tribes
into which the Persians are divided. The governors of the boys are
chosen from among the elderly men, with special view to their
fitness for making the most of boys, while those of the youths are
chosen from among the mature men upon a similar principle. Those
of the mature men are selected with a view to their ability to hold
these to their regular duties, and to the special commands of the
supreme authority. Even the old men have presidents appointed over
them, who see that they perform their duty. What the duties of each
are we shall now state, in order to show just how provision is made
for securing the highest worth on the part of the citizens.
"First, then, the boys, when they go to school, spend their time in
learning justice. They say they go for that purpose, just as our boys
go to learn letters. Their governors spend the greater part of the day
in acting as judges among them. It is needless to say that boys, as
well as men, bring charges against each other of theft and robbery
and violence and deceit and slander, and similar things, and those
whom the judges find guilty of any of these they punish. But they
also punish those whom they find bringing false charges. They
pronounce judgment likewise on a charge which, more than
anything else, makes men hate each other, and for which they are
judged less than for any other, namely, ingratitude. If the judges find
a boy in a position to return a favor and not doing it, they punish
him severely, believing that persons who are ungrateful will, more
than any others, be undutiful to the gods, to parents, country, and
friends. It is generally held that ingratitude, more than aught else,
leads to irreverence, and we need not add that it is the prime mover
in every form of baseness. They teach the boys also self-denial, and
these are greatly aided in learning this virtue from seeing it daily
practised by their elders. Another thing they teach them is obedience
to those placed in authority over them; and they are greatly aided in
learning this, by seeing their elders strictly obeying their governors.
Another thing yet which they teach them is self-discipline in matters
of eating and drinking; and they are greatly aided in this by seeing
that their elders never absent themselves for the purpose of eating,
until they are permitted to do so by their governors, as well as by
the fact that they (the boys) do not eat with their mothers, but with
their teachers, and at a signal from their governors. As food, they
bring with them from home bread, as a relish, nasturtium, and in
order to drink, if they are thirsty, they bring an earthen cup to draw
water from the river with. In addition to all these things, the boys
learn to shoot with the bow and to throw the javelin. Up to the age
of sixteen or seventeen years, these are the studies in which the
boys engage; after that they are transferred to the class of cadets
(ἔφηβοι).
"These cadets spend their time in this way: For ten years from the
time when they graduate from the boys' class, they sleep, as we
have already said, in the precincts of the public buildings, acting at
once as a guard to the city and practising self-denial. It is generally
agreed, indeed, that this is the age which especially requires
attention. During the day they are at the disposal of their governors,
and ready to perform any public service required. If no such service
is demanded, they remain in the neighborhood of the public
buildings. When the king goes out to hunt, which he does many
times a month, he takes with him one-half of the tribes, and leaves
the other behind. Those youths who accompany him must carry with
them bows and, in a sheath alongside their quivers, a bill or
scimitar; also a light shield, and two javelins apiece, one to throw,
the other to use, if necessary, at close quarters. For this reason they
make hunting a matter of public concern, and the king, as in war,
acts as their leader, hunts himself, and sees that the others hunt, the
Persians being of opinion that this is the best of all preparations for
war. And, indeed, it accustoms them to rise early, and to bear heat
and cold; it affords them exercise in marching and running, and
compels them to use their bows or their javelins upon wild animals,
wherever they happen to come upon them. They are often forced,
moreover, to sharpen their courage, when they find themselves face
to face with some powerful animal. They must, of course, wound the
one that comes to close quarters, and hold at bay the one that
attacks them. Hence it is difficult to find in war anything that is
absent from the chase. When they go out to hunt, the young men,
of course, take with them a larger luncheon than the boys are
allowed to have; but this is the only difference between the two. And
while they are hunting, they sometimes do not lunch at all; but, if
they have to remain beyond their time on account of some game, or
otherwise, if they wish to prolong the chase, they make a dinner of
this lunch, and on the following day continue the hunt till dinner-
time, counting the two days one, because they consume only one
day's food. And they do this for the sake of practice, so that, if ever
they should run short of provisions in war, they may be able to do
the same thing. These youths have as a relish what game they
capture in the chase, otherwise they have nasturtium. And if any
one thinks that they eat without pleasure, when they have only
nasturtium with their food, or drink without pleasure, when they
drink water, let him remember how sweet barley-cake and wheaten
bread are when he is hungry, and how sweet water is when he is
thirsty. The tribes that remain behind, when the king goes hunting,
spend their time in the same studies which they pursued as boys,
including shooting and javelin-casting, and in these continual
contests are going on. There are likewise public exhibitions in them,
at which prizes are offered; and whichever tribe contains most
young men exceptionally proficient, manly, and steady, is
commended by the citizens, who likewise honor, not only their
present governor, but also the governor who had charge of them as
boys. The young men who are left behind are also employed by the
authorities, if any such service is required as manning a guard-
house, tracking out malefactors, running down robbers, or anything
demanding strength and swiftness. Such are the studies of the
young men. And when they have passed ten years in these, they
graduate into the class of mature men.
"From the date of this graduation, they spend five and twenty years
more in the following manner: In the first place, like the young men,
they place themselves at the disposal of the authorities for any
public service requiring at once sagacity and unimpaired strength. If
they are required to take the field in war, men proficient as they are
go armed, no longer with bows and javelins, but with what are
called hand-to-hand weapons, breast-plates, shields in their left
hands, such as we see in pictures of the Persians, and a sword or bill
in their right. And all the officials are drawn from this class, except
the boys' teachers. And when they have passed twenty-five years in
this class, they are something more than fifty years of age. At that
age they graduate into the class of elders, as, indeed, they are
called.
"These elders no longer serve in war outside their own country, but,
remaining at home, act as judges in public and private cases. They
do so even in capital cases. They likewise choose all the officials,
and if any person belonging to either of the classes of young and
mature men neglects any of his lawful duties, the governor of his
tribe, or any one else who pleases, may report him to the elders,
and these, if they find the fact to be as reported, expel him from his
tribe, and he who is expelled remains dishonored all his life.
"To give a clearer notion of the polity of the Persians as a whole, I
will retrace my steps a little. After what has been said, this may be
done in a very few words: The Persians, then, are said to number
about one hundred and twenty thousand. Of these, none is excluded
by law from honors or offices; but all Persians are allowed to send
their sons to the public schools of justice. However, it is only those
who are able to maintain their sons without employment that send
them there: the rest do not. On the other hand, those that are
educated by the public teachers are permitted to spend their youth
among the ephēboi, while those who have not completed this
education are not. Again those that pass their youth among the
ephēboi, and come up to the legal requirements, are allowed to
graduate into the class of mature men, and to participate in honors
and offices; whereas those who do not pass through the grade of
the ephēboi do not rise to the class of mature men. Finally, those
who complete the curriculum of the mature men without reproach,
pass into the class of elders. Thus it is that this class of elders is
composed of men who have passed through all the grades of
culture. Such is the polity of the Persians, and such is the system of
training whereby they endeavor to secure the highest worth."
This Utopian scheme of education has a peculiar interest, because it
is nothing more or less than the old ideal of Greek education become
fully conscious of itself, under the influence of the new ideal. Let us
call attention to the main points of it. (1) The education here set
forth is purely political: men are regarded simply and solely as
citizens; all honors are civic honors. (2) No provision is made for the
education of women, their range of activity being entirely confined
to the family. (3) Distinction is made to rest upon education and
conduct. (4) The poorer classes of the population, though not legally
excluded from education, position, and power, are virtually excluded
by their poverty, so that the government is altogether in the hands
of the rich, and is, in fact, an aristocracy, while pretending to be a
democracy: hence, (5) Social distinctions are distinctions of worth,
which is just the Greek ideal.
There is, however, one point in the scheme which shows that it is
reactionary, directed against prevailing tendencies. Not one word is
said of the intellectual side of education, of music or letters. It is
evident that Xenophon, himself a man of no mean literary
attainments, clearly saw the dangers to Greek life and liberty
involved in that exaggerated devotion to literary and intellectual
pursuits which followed the teaching of the sophists and Socrates,
and that, in order to check this perilous tendency, he drew up a
scheme of education from which intellectual and literary pursuits are
altogether excluded, in which justice takes the place of letters, and
music is not mentioned.
This suggests a curious inquiry in respect to his Memoirs of Socrates.
This work has generally been regarded as giving us a more correct
notion of the real, living Socrates than the manifestly idealizing
works of Plato. But was not Xenophon, who could not fail to see the
future power of Socrates' influence, as anxious as Plato to claim the
prophet as the champion of his own views, and does not this fact
determine the whole character of his work? Is it not a romance, in
the same sense that the Cyropædia is, with only this difference, that
the facts of Socrates' life, being fairly well known to those for whom
Xenophon was writing, could not be treated with the same freedom
and disregard as those of Cyrus' life?
Before we part with Xenophon, we must call attention to another
treatise of his, in which he deals with a subject that was then
pressing for consideration—the education of women. While, as we
have seen, the Æolian states and even Dorian Sparta provided, in
some degree, for women's education, Athens apparently, conceiving
that woman had no duties outside of the family, left her education
entirely to the care of that institution. The conservative Xenophon
does not depart from this view; but, seeing the moral evils that were
springing from the neglect of women and their inability to be, in any
sense, companions to their cultured, or over-cultured, husbands, he
lays down in his Œconomics a scheme for the education of the
young wife by her husband. As this affords us an admirable insight
into the lives of Athenian girls and women, better, indeed, than can
be found elsewhere, we cannot do better than transcribe the first
part of it. It takes the form of a conversation between Socrates and
a young husband, named Ischomachus (Strong Fighter), and is
reported by the former. Socrates tells how, seeing Ischomachus
sitting at leisure in a certain portico, he entered into conversation
with him, paid him an acceptable compliment, and inquired how he
came to be nearly always busy out of doors, seeing that he evidently
spent little time in the house. Ischomachus replies:—
"'As to your inquiry, Socrates, it is true that I never remain indoors.
Nor need I; for my wife is fully able by herself to manage everything
in the house.' 'This again, Ischomachus,' said I, 'is something that I
should like to ask you about, whether it was you who taught your
wife to be a good wife, or whether she knew all her household
duties when you received her from her father and mother.' 'Well,
Socrates,' said he, 'what do you suppose she knew when I took her,
since she was hardly fifteen when she came to me, and, during the
whole of her life before that, special care had been taken that she
should see, hear, and ask as little as possible. Indeed, don't you
think I ought to have been satisfied if, when she came to me, she
knew nothing but how to take wool and turn it into a garment, and
had seen nothing but how tasks in spinning are assigned to maids?
As regards matters connected with eating and drinking, of course
she was extremely well educated when she came, and this seems to
me the chief education, whether for a man or a woman.' 'In all other
matters, Ischomachus,' said I, 'you yourself instructed your wife, so
as to make her an excellent housewife.' 'To be sure,' said he, 'but
not until I had first sacrificed, and prayed that I might succeed in
teaching her, and she might succeed in learning, what was best for
both of us.' 'Then,' said I, 'your wife took part in your sacrifice and in
these prayers, did she not?' 'Certainly she did,' said Ischomachus,
'and solemnly promised to the gods that she would be what she
ought to be, and showed every evidence of a disposition not to
neglect what was taught her.' 'But do, I beseech you, Ischomachus,
explain to me,' said I, 'what was the first thing you set about
teaching her? I shall be more interested in hearing you tell that,
than if you told me all about the finest gymnastic or equestrian
exhibition.' And Ischomachus replied: 'What should I teach her? As
soon as she could be handled, and was tame enough to converse, I
spoke to her in some such way as this: Tell me, my dear, have you
ever considered why I took you as my wife, and why your parents
gave you to me? That it was not because I could not find any one
else to share my bed, you know as well as I. No, but because I was
anxious to find for myself, and your parents were anxious to find for
you, the most suitable partner in home and offspring, I selected you,
and your parents, it seems, selected me, out of all possible matches.
If, then, God shall ever bless us with children, then we will take the
greatest care of them, and try to give them the best possible
education; for it will prove a blessing to both of us to have the very
best of helpers and supports in our old age. But at present we have
this as our common home. And all that I have, I pass over to the
common stock, and all that you have brought with you, you have
added to the same. Nor must we begin to count which of us has
contributed the larger number of things, but must realize that
whichever of us is the better partner contributes the more valuable
things. Then, Socrates, my wife replied, and said: In what way can I
coöperate with you? What power have I? Everything rests with you.
My mother told me that my only duty was to be dutiful. Assuredly,
my dear, said I, and my father told me the same thing. But it is
surely the duty of a dutiful husband and a dutiful wife to act so that
what they have may be improved to the utmost, and by every fair
and lawful means increased to the utmost. And what do you find,
said my wife, that I can do towards helping you to build up our
house? Dear me! said I, whatever things the gods have endowed
you with the power to do, and the law permits, try to do these to
the best of your ability. And what are these? said she. It strikes me,
said I, that they are by no means the least important things, unless
it be true that in the hive the queen-bee is entrusted with the least
important functions. Indeed, it seems to me, my dear, I continued,
that the very gods have yoked together this couple called male and
female with a very definite purpose, viz. to be the source of the
greatest mutual good to the yoke-fellows. In the first place, this
union exists in order that living species may not die out, but be
preserved by propagation; in the second, the partners in this union,
at least in the case of human beings, obtain through it the supports
of their old age. Moreover, human beings do not live, like animals, in
the open air, but obviously require roofs. And I am sure, people who
are going to have anything to bring under a roof must have some
one to do outdoor duties; for, you see, ploughing, sowing, planting,
herding, are all outdoor employments, and it is from them that we
obtain all our supplies. On the other hand, when the supplies have
all been brought under cover, there is needed some one to take care
of them, and to perform those duties which must be done indoors.
Among these are the rearing of children and the preparation of food
from the produce of the earth; likewise the making of cloth out of
wool. And, since both these classes of duties, the outdoor and the
indoor, require labor and care, it seems to me, I said, that God has
constructed the nature of woman with a special view to indoor
employments and cares, and that of man with a view to outdoor
employments and cares. For he has made both the body and the
soul of the man better able than those of the woman to bear cold,
heat, travelling, military service, and so has assigned to him the
outdoor employments. And, since he has made the body of woman
less able to endure these things, he seems to me to have assigned
to her the indoor employments. Considering, moreover, that he had
made it woman's nature and duty to nourish young children, he
imparted to her a greater love for babies than he did to man. And,
inasmuch as he had made it part of woman's duty to take care of
the income of the family, God, knowing that for care-taking the soul
is none the worse for being ready to fear, bestowed upon woman a
greater share of fear than upon a man. On the other hand, knowing
that he who attends to the outdoor employments will have to protect
the family from wrong-doers, he endowed him with a greater share
of courage. And, since both have to give and receive, he divided
memory and carefulness between them, so that it would be difficult
to determine which of the sexes, the male or the female, is the
better equipped with these. And the necessary self-denial he divided
between them, and made a decree that, whichever of the two, the
husband or the wife, was the superior, should be rewarded with the
larger share of this blessing. And just because the nature of man
and the nature of woman are not both equally fitted for all tasks, the
two are the more dependent upon each other, and their union is the
more beneficial to them, because the one is able to supply what the
other lacks. And now, said I, my dear, that we know the duties which
God has assigned to us respectively, it becomes each of us to do our
best, in order to perform these duties. And the law, I continued,
coincides with the divine intention, and unites man and woman.
And, just as God has made them partners in offspring, so the law
makes them partners in the household. And the law sets its approval
upon that difference of function which God has signified by the
difference of ability which marks the sexes. For it is more
respectable for a woman to remain indoors than to spend her time
out of doors, and less respectable for a man to remain indoors than
to attend to outdoor concerns. And, if any one acts in a manner at
variance with this divine ordination, it may be that his transgression
does not escape the notice of the gods, and that he is punished for
neglecting his own duties or performing those of his wife. It appears
to me, said I, that the queen-bee also performs duties that are
assigned to her by God. And what duties, said my wife, does the
queen-bee perform, that have any resemblance to those incumbent
upon me? This, said I, that she remains in the hive and does not
allow the other bees to be idle, but sends out those that have to
work to their business, and knows and receives what each brings in,
and takes care of it till it is needed for use. And when the time for
using comes, she distributes to each her just share. Besides this, she
attends to the construction of the honey-combs that goes on
indoors, and sees that it is done properly and rapidly, and carefully
sees that the young swarm is properly reared. And when it is old
enough, and the young bees are fit for work, she sends them out, as
a colony, under the leadership of one of the old ones. And will it be
my duty, said my wife, to do these things? Exactly so, said I, it will
be your duty to remain indoors, to send out together to their work
those whose duties lie out of doors, and to superintend those who
have to work indoors, to receive whatever is brought in, to dispense
whatever has to be paid out, while the necessary surplus you must
provide for, and take care that the year's allowance be not spent in a
month. When wool is brought in to you, you must see that it is
turned into cloth; and when dried grain comes, that it is properly
prepared for food. There is, however, one of your duties, said I, that
will perhaps seem somewhat disagreeable to you. Whenever any
one of the slaves is sick, you will have to see that he is properly
nursed, no matter who he is. Indeed, said my wife, that will be a
most pleasant duty, if those who have been carefully nursed are
going to be grateful and kindlier than they were before. And I,' said
Ischomachus, 'admiring her answer, continued: Don't you suppose,
my dear, that by such examples of care on the part of the queen of
the hive the bees are so disposed to her that, when she leaves, none
of them are willing to remain behind, but all follow her? And my wife
replied: I should be surprised if the duties of headship did not fall to
you rather than to me. For my guardianship and disposal of things in
the house would be ridiculous, unless you saw to it that something
was brought in from without. And my bringing-in would be
ridiculous, said I, if there were no one to take care of what I
brought? Don't you see, I said, how those who pour water into a
leaky barrel, as the expression is, are pitied, as wasting their labour?
And indeed, said my wife, they are to be pitied, if they do that.
There are other special duties, said I, that are sure to become
pleasant to you; for example, when you take a raw hand at weaving
and turn her into an adept, and so double her value to you, or when
you take a raw hand at managing and waiting and make her
capable, reliable, and serviceable, so that she acquires untold value,
or when you have it in your power to reward those male slaves that
are dutiful and useful to your family, or to punish one who proves
the opposite of this. But the pleasantest thing of all will be, if you
prove superior to me, and make me your knight, and if you need not
fear that, as you advance in years, you will forfeit respect in the
house, but are sure that, as you grow older, the better a partner you
are to me, and the better a mother to the children, the more highly
you will be respected in the house. For all that is fair and good, said
I, increases for men, as life advances, not through beauties, but
through virtues. Such, Socrates, to the best of my recollection, was
the first conversation I had with my wife.'"
Ischomachus goes on and tells how, in subsequent conversations, he
taught his wife the value of order, "how to have a place for
everything, and everything in its place," how to train a servant, and
how to make herself attractive without the use of cosmetics or fine
clothes. But enough has been quoted to show what the ideal family
relation among the Athenians was, and what education was thought
fitting for girls and women. Just as the man was merged in the
citizen, so the woman was merged in the housewife, and they each
received the education and training demanded by their respective
duties. If Athenian husbands had all been like Ischomachus, it is
clear that the lives of wives might have been very happy and useful,
and that harmony might have reigned in the family. But,
unfortunately, that was not very often the case. Wives, being
neglected, became lazy, wasteful, self-indulgent, shrewish, and
useless, while their husbands, finding them so, sought in immoral
relations with brilliant and cultivated hetæræ, or in worse relations
still, a coarse substitute for that satisfaction which they ought to
have sought and found in their own homes. Thus there grew up a
condition of things which could not fail to sap the moral foundations
of society, and which made thoughtful men turn their attention to
the question of woman's education and sphere of duty.
 CHAPTER III

PLATO

All human laws are nourished by the one divine law; for it
prevaileth as far as it listeth, and sufficeth for all and surviveth
all.—Heraclitus.

Though reason is universal, the mass of men live as if they had

each a private wisdom of his own.—Id.

Antigone. ... But him will I inter;

And sweet 'twill be to die in such a deed,
And sweet will be my rest with him, the sweet,
When I have righteously offended here.
For longer time, methinks, have I to please
The dwellers in yon world than those in this;
For I shall rest forever there. But thou,
Dishonor still what's honored of the gods.
—Sophocles, Antigone.

The circle that gathered round Isaiah and his household in these
evil days, holding themselves apart from their countrymen,
treasuring the word of revelation, and waiting for Jehovah, were
indeed, as Isaiah describes them, "signs and tokens in Israel
from Jehovah of hosts that dwelleth in Mount Zion." The
formation of this little community was a new thing in the history
of religion. Till then no one had dreamed of a fellowship of faith
dissociated from all national forms, maintained without the
exercise of ritual services, bound together by faith in the divine
word alone. It was the birth of a new era in the Old Testament
 religion, for it was the birth of the conception of the Church, the
first step in the emancipation of spiritual religion from the forms
of political life,—a step not less significant that all its
consequences were not seen till centuries had passed away.—W.
Robertson Smith, Prophets of Israel.

Still at the prophets' feet the nations sit.—Lowell.

That which is to be known I shall declare, knowing which a man

attains immortality—the beginningless Supreme Brahma that is
said to be neither Aught nor Naught.—Bhagavad Gîtâ.
The only Metaphysics which really and immediately sustains
Ethics is one which is itself primarily ethical, and made of the
staff of Ethics.—Schopenhauer.

In answer to the burning question, How can Athens be brought back

to moral life and strength? Socrates had answered, "By finding a
new moral sanction." He had even gone further, and said: "This
sanction is to be found in correct thinking, in thinking whole
thoughts, which, because they are whole, are absolutely true, being
the very principles according to which God governs the world." This
is, obviously, a mere formal answer. If it was to be of any real
service, three further questions had to be answered: (1) How can
whole thoughts be reached? (2) What do they prove to be when
they are reached? (3) How can they be applied to the moral
reorganization of human life? Plato's philosophy is but an attempt to
answer these questions. It therefore naturally falls into three
divisions, (1) Dialectics, including Logic and Theory of Knowledge,
(2) Theoretics, including Metaphysics and Physics, (3) Practics,
including Ethics and Politics.
It is obvious that any attempt to reform society on Socratic principles
must proceed, not from society itself, but from some person or
persons in whom these principles are realized, and who act upon it
from without. These persons will be the philosophers or, rather, the
sages. Two distinct questions, therefore, present themselves at the
outset: (1) How does a man become a sage? (2) How can the sage
organize human life, and secure a succession of sages to continue
his work after him? To the first of these questions, dialectics gives
the answer; to the second, practics; while theoretics exhibits to us at
once the origin and the end, that is, the meaning, of all existence,
the human included. In the teaching of Plato we find, for the first
time recognized and exhibited, the extra-civic or super-civic man, the
man who is not a mere fragment of a social whole, completely
subordinated to it, but who, standing above society, moulds it in
accordance with ideas derived from a higher source. Forecasts of
this man, indeed, we find in all Greek literature from Homer down,—
in Heraclitus, Sophocles, etc., and especially, as we have seen, in
Pythagoras;—but it is now for the first time that he finds full
expression, and tries to play a conscious part. In him we have the
promise of the future Church.
But to return to the first of our two questions, How does a man
become a sage? We found the answer to be, By the dialectic
method. Of this, however, not all men have the inclination to avail
themselves, but only a chosen few, to whom the gods have granted
the inspiration of Love (ἔρως)—a longing akin to madness (μανία),
kindled by physical beauty, but tending to the Supreme Good. This
good, as we shall see, consists in the vision (θεωρία) of eternal
truth, of being, as it is. The few men who are blessed with this love
are the divinely appointed reformers and guides of mankind, the
well-being of which depends upon submission to them. The dialectic
method is the process by which the inspired mind rises from the
beauty of physical things, which are always particulars, to the beauty
of spiritual things, which are always universals, and finally to the
beauty of the Supreme Good, which is The Universal. The man who
has reached this last, and who sees its relation to all other
universals, so that they form together a correlated whole, sees all
truth, and is the sage. What we call universals Plato called "ideas"
(ἰδέαι = forms or species). These ideas he regards as genera, as
numbers, as active powers, and as substances, the highest of which
is God.
Two things are especially notable in connection with this theory: (1)
that it involves that Oriental ascetic view of life which makes men
turn away from the sensible world, and seek their end and happiness
in the colorless world of thought; (2) that it suggests a view of the
nature of God which comes perilously near to Oriental pantheism.
Plato, indeed, nowhere denies personality of God; but neither does
he affirm it, and he certainly leaves the impression that the Supreme
Being is a force acting according to a numerical ratio or law. It would
be difficult to overestimate the influence of these two views upon
the subsequent course of Greek education and life. The former
suggested to the super-civic man a sphere of activity which he could
flatter himself was superior to the civic, viz. a sphere of
contemplation; while the second, by blurring, or rather ignoring, the
essential elements of personality in God, viz. consciousness, choice,
and will, left no place for a truly religious or moral life. This explains
why Platonism, while it has inspired no great civic movement, has
played such a determining part in ecclesiasticism, and why,
nevertheless, the Church for ages was compelled to fight the
tendencies of it, which it did in great measure under the ægis of
Plato's stern critic, Aristotle.
We are now ready to take up our second question: How can the
sage organize human life, and secure a succession of sages to
continue his work after him? Plato has given two widely different
answers to this question, in his two most extensive works, (1) the
Republic, written in his earlier life, when he was under the influence
of Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Socrates, and stood in a negative
attitude toward the real world of history, (2) the Laws, written
toward the end of his life, when he became reconciled, in part at
least, to the real world and its traditional beliefs, and found
satisfaction and inspiration in the teachings of Pythagoras. His
change of allegiance is shown by the fact that in the Laws, and in
them alone, Socrates does not appear as a character. We shall speak
first of the Republic, and then point out wherein the Laws differs
from it.
When Plato wrote his Republic, he was deeply impressed with the
evils and dangers of the social order in which he lived. This
impression, which was that of every serious man of the time, had in
his case probably been deepened by the teaching and the tragic
death of Socrates. The dangers were, obviously, the demoralization
of Athenian men and women, and the consequent weakening and
dissolution of the social bonds. The evils, as he saw them, were (1)
the defective education of children, (2) the neglect of women, (3)
the general disorganization of the State through individualism, which
placed power in the hands of ignorance and rapacity, instead of in
those of wisdom and worth. The Republic is a scheme for removing
these evils and averting the consequent dangers. It is the Platonic
sage's recipe for the healing of society, and it is but fair to say that,
of all the Utopian and æsthetic schemes ever proposed for this end,
it is incomparably the best. It proposes nothing less than the
complete transformation of society, without offering any hint as to
how a selfish and degraded people is to be induced to submit
thereto. In the transformed society, the State is all in all; the family
is abolished; women are emancipated and share in the education
and duties of men; the State attends to the procreation and
education of children; private property is forbidden. The State is but
the individual writ large, and the individual has three faculties, in the
proper development and coördination of which consists his well-
being: the same, therefore, must be true of the State. These
faculties are (1) intellect or reason, (λογιστικόν, λόγος, νοῦς, etc.),
(2) spirit or courage (θυμός, θυμοειδές), (3) desire or appetite
(ἐπιθυμία, ἐπιθυμετικόν, φιλοχρήματον). The first resides in the
head, the second in the heart, the third in the abdomen. The first is
peculiar to man, the second he shares with the animals, and the
third with both animals and plants. The proper relation of these
faculties exists when reason, with clear insight, rules the whole man
(Prudence); when spirit takes its directions from reason in its
attitude toward pleasure and pain (Fortitude); when spirit and
appetite together come to an understanding with reason as to when
the one, and when the other, shall act (Temperance); and, finally,
when each of the three strictly confines itself to its proper function
(Justice). Thus we obtain the four "cardinal virtues." As existing in
the individual, they are relations between his own faculties. It is only
in the State that they are relations between the individual and his
fellows. Rather we ought to say, they are relations between different
classes of society; for society is divided into three classes, marked by
the predominance of one or other of the three faculties of the soul.
First, there is the intelligent class,—the philosophers or sages;
second, the spirited class,—the military men or soldiers; third, the
covetous class,—men devoted to industry, trade, and money-making.
The well-being of the State, as of the individual, is secure only when
the relations between these classes are the four cardinal virtues;
when the sages rule, and the soldiers and money-makers accept this
rule, and when each class strictly confines itself to its own function,
so, for example, that the sages do not attempt to fight, the soldiers
to make money, or the money-makers to fight or rule. In the Platonic
ideal State, accordingly, the three classes dwell apart and have
distinct functions. All the power is in the hands of the philosophers,
who dwell in lofty isolation, devoted to the contemplation of divine
ideas, and descending only through grace to mingle with human
affairs, as teachers and absolute rulers, ruling without laws. Their
will is enforced by the military class, composed of both sexes, which
lives outside the city, devoting itself to physical exercises and the
defence of the State. These two classes together constitute the
guardians (φύλακες) of the State, and stand to each other in the
relation of head and hand. They produce nothing, own nothing, live
sparingly, and, indeed, cherish a sovereign contempt for all
producing and owning, as well as for those who produce and own.
They find their satisfaction in the performance of their functions, and
the maintenance of virtue in the State. What small amount of
material good they require is supplied to them by the industrial
class, which they protect in the enjoyment of the only good it strives
after or can appreciate, the good of the appetites. This class, of
course, has no power, either directive or executive, being incapable
of any. It is, nevertheless, entirely happy in its condition of tutelage,
and, as far as virtue can be predicated of sensuality, virtuous, the
excesses of sensuality being repressed by the other two classes.
Indeed, the great merit which Plato claims for his scheme is, that it
secures harmony, and therefore happiness, for all, by placing every
individual citizen in the class to which by nature he belongs, that is,
in which his nature can find the fullest and freëst expression
compatible with the well-being of the whole. Such is Plato's political
scheme, marked by the two notorious Greek characteristics, love of
harmony and contempt for labor. It is curious to think that it
foreshadowed three modern institutions—the ecclesiastical hierarchy,
the standing army, and the industrial community, in which, however,
the relations of power demanded by Plato are almost reversed, with
(it is only fair to say) the result which he foresaw.
In trying to answer the question, By what means shall these classes
be sundered? Plato calmly assumes that his scheme is already in full
operation among grown people, so that the only difficulty remaining
is with regard to the children. And this is completely met by his
scheme of education. The State or, let us say at once, the
philosophic class, having abolished the family, and assumed its
functions, determines what number and kind of children it requires
at any given time, and provides for them as it would for sheep or
kine. It brings together at festivals the vigorous males and females,
and allows them to choose their mates for the occasion. As soon as
the children are born, they are removed from their mothers and
taken charge of in State institutions, where the feeble and deformed
are at once destroyed. Any children begotten without the authority
of the State share the same fate, either before or after birth. Those
whose birth is authorized, and who prove vigorous, are reared by
the State, none of them knowing, or being known by, their parents.
But they by no means suffer any diminution of parentage on that
account; for every mature man regards himself as the father, and
every mature woman regards herself as the mother, of all the
children born within a certain time, so that every child has
thousands of fathers and mothers, all interested in his welfare; and
the mothers, being relieved from nearly all the duties of maternity,
share equally with the men in all the functions of the State.
The system of education to which the children of the State are
subjected is, to a large extent, modelled after that of Sparta,
especially in respect to its rigor and its absolutely political character.
It contains, however, a strong Ionic or Athenian element, notably on
the intellectual and æsthetic side. It may fairly claim to be intensely
Hellenic. It accepts the time-honored division of education into Music
and Gymnastics, making no distinct place for Letters, but including
them under Music. It demands that these two branches shall be
pursued as parts of a whole, calculated to develop, as far as may be,
the harmonious human being, and fit him to become part of the
harmonious State. I have said "as far as may be," because Plato
believes that only a small number of persons at any given time can
be reduced to complete harmony. These are the born philosophers,
who, when their nature is fully realized, no longer require the State,
but stand, as gods, above it. In truth, the State is needed just
because the mass of mankind cannot attain inner harmony, but
would perish, were it not for the outer harmony imposed by the
philosophers. This is a sad fact, and would be altogether
disheartening, were it not for the belief, which Plato seems to have
derived from Pythagoras and the Egyptians, that those human
beings who fail to attain harmony in one life, will have opportunities
to do so in other lives, so long as they do not, by some awful and
malignant crime or crimes, show that they are utterly incapable of
harmony. Plato's scheme of political education, therefore, requires,
as its complement, the doctrines of individual immortality, of
probation continued through as many lives as may be necessary, and
of the possibility of final and eternal blessedness or misery. In fact,
Plato has a fully-developed eschatology, with an "other world,"
consisting of three well-defined parts,—Elysium, Acheron, and
Tartarus,—corresponding to the Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell of
Catholic Christianity; with one important difference, however, due to
the doctrine of metempsychosis. While the Christian purgatory is a
place or state of purgation for souls whose probation is over forever,
Acheron is merely a place where imperfect souls remain till the end
of a world-period, or æon, of ten thousand years, when they are
again allowed to return to life and renew their struggle for that
complete harmony which is the condition of admission to the society
of the gods.
It is from this eschatology that Plato derives the moral sanctions
which he employs in his State. It is true that no one has insisted
with greater force than he upon the truth that virtue is, in and for
itself, the highest human good; he believed, however, that this could
be appreciated only by the philosopher, who had experience of it,
and that for the lower orders of men a more powerful, though less
noble, sanction was necessary. Accordingly, he depicts the joys of
Elysium in images that could not but appeal to the Hellenic
imagination, and paints Tartarus in gruesome colors that would do
honor to a St. Ignatius.
In order fully to understand the method of Plato's political education,
we must revert to Chapter III of Book I. There we saw that,
according to the Greeks, a complete education demanded three
things, (1) a noble nature, (2) training through habit, (3) instruction.
For the first Plato would do what can be done by artificial selection
of parents; for the second, he would depend upon music and
gymnastics; for the third, upon philosophy. In these last two
divisions we have the root of the mediæval trivium and quadrivium.
The Platonic pedagogical system seeks to separate the ignoble from
the noble natures, and to place the former in the lowest class. It
then trains the noble natures in music and gymnastics, and, while
this is going on, it tries to distinguish those natures which are
capable of rising above mere training to reflective or philosophic
thought, from those which are not. The latter it assigns to the
military class, which always remains at the stage of training, while
the former are instructed in philosophy, and, if they prove
themselves adepts, are finally admitted to the ruling class, as sages.
Any member of either of the higher classes who proves himself
unworthy of that class, may at any time be degraded into the next
below.
As soon as the children are accepted by the State, their education
under State nurses begins. The chief efforts of these for some time
are directed to the bodies of the children, to seeing that they are
healthy and strong. As soon as the young creatures can stand and
walk, they are taught to exert themselves in an orderly way and to
play little games; and as soon as they understand what is said to
them, they are told stories and sung to. Such is their first
introduction to gymnastics and music. What games are to be taught,
what stories told, and what airs sung to the children, the State
determines, and indeed, since the character of human beings
depends, in great measure, upon the first impression made upon
them, this is one of its most sacred duties. Plato altogether
disapproves of leaving children without guidance to seek exercise
and amusement in their own way, and demands that their games
shall be such as call forth, in a gentle and harmonious way, all the
latent powers of body and mind, and develop the sense of order,
beauty, and fitness. He is still more earnest in insisting that the
stories told to children shall be exemplifications of the loftiest
morality, and the airs sung to them such as settle, strengthen, and
solemnize the soul. He follows Heraclitus in demanding that the
Homeric poems, so long the storehouse for children's stories, shall
be entirely proscribed, on account of the false ideals which they hold
up both of gods and heroes, and the intimidating descriptions which
they give of the other world. Virtue, he holds, cannot be furthered
by fear, which is characteristic only of slaves. He thinks that all early
intellectual training should be a sort of play. The truth is, the infant-
school of Plato's Republic comes as near as can well be imagined to
the ideal of the modern kindergarten.
While this elementary education is going on, the officers of the State
have abundant opportunity for observing the different characters of
the children, and distinguishing the noble from the ignoble. As soon
as a child shows plainly that it belongs by nature to the lowest class,
they consign it to that class, and its education by the State
practically ceases. Of course these officers know from what class
each child came, and they make use of this knowledge in
determining its future destiny. At the same time, they are not to be
entirely guided by it, but to act impartially. The education of the
lowest class after childhood the State leaves to take care of itself,
persuaded that appetite will always find means for its own
satisfaction. The nobler natures it continues to educate, without any
break, until they reach the age of twenty. And this education is
distinctly a military training. As time goes on, the gymnastic
exercises become more violent, more complex, and more sustained,
but always have for their subject the soul, rather than the body, and
never degenerate into mere athletic brutality. Special attention is
directed to the musical and literary exercises, as the means whereby
the soul is directly trained and harmonized. Plato holds that no
change can be made in the "music" of a State, without a
corresponding change in the whole organization; in other words,
that the social and political condition of a people is determined by
the literature and music which it produces and enjoys. He virtually
says, Let me make the songs of a people, and he who will may make
their laws. Of the character of the music which he recommends we
have already spoken. From literature he would exclude all that we
are in the habit of calling by that name, all that is mimetic, poetic, or
creative, and confine the term to what is scientific, didactic, and
edifying. He sends the poets out of the State with mock-reverent
politeness, as creatures too divine for human use. He is particularly
severe upon the dramatists, not sparing even the sublime Æschylus.
In fact, he would banish from his State all art not directly edifying.
The literature which he recommends is plainly of the nature of
Æsop's Fables, the Pythagorean Golden Words, and the
Parmenidean or Heraclitean work On Nature. If we wished to
express his intent in strictly modern language, we should have to say
that he desired to replace literary training by ethical and scientific,
and the poetical mode of presenting ideals by the prosaic. The true
music, he held, is in the human being. "If we find," he says, "a man
who perfectly combines gymnastics with music, and in exact
proportion applies them to the soul, we shall be entirely justified in
calling him the perfect musician and the perfect trainer, far superior
to the man who arranges strings alongside each other."
There are many matters of detail in Plato's scheme of military
training that well deserve consideration, but cannot be even touched
upon here. Before we leave it, however, we may give the dates at
which the different branches of education are to begin. Care of the
body begins at birth, story-telling with the third year, gymnastics
with the seventh, writing and reading with the tenth, letters and
music with the fourteenth, mathematics with the sixteenth, military
drill, which for the time supplants all other training, with the
eighteenth. When the young people reach the age of twenty, those
who show no great capacity for science, but are manly and
courageous, are assigned to the soldier class, and start on a course
of higher education in military training, while those who evince great
intellectual ability become novices in the ruling class, and begin a
curriculum in science, which lasts till the close of their thirtieth year.
This course includes arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, the only
sciences at that time cultivated, and aims at impressing upon the
youthful mind the unity and harmony of the physical or phenomenal
universe. At the age of thirty, those students who do not show any
particular aptitude for higher studies are drafted off into the lower
public offices, while those who do, pass five years in the study of
dialectics, whereby they rise to pure ideas. They are then, from their
thirty-fifth to their fiftieth year, made to fill the higher public offices,
in which they take their orders directly from the sages. During this
period they put their acquirements to a practical test, and so come
really and fully into possession of them. At the end of their fiftieth
year, after half a century of continuous education of body, mind, and
will, they are reckoned to have reached the vision of the supreme
good, and therefore to be fit to enter the contemplative ruling class.
They are now free men; they have reached the goal of existence;
their life is hidden with God; they are free from the prison of the
body, and only remain in it voluntarily, and out of gratitude to the
State which has educated them, in order to direct it, in accordance
with absolute truth and right, toward the Supreme Good.
Such, in its outlines, is Plato's theory of education, as set forth in the
Republic. It is easy to point out its defects and its errors, which are
neither small nor few, but fundamental and all-pervasive. But it is
equally easy to see how it came to have these defects and errors,
since they are simply those of every æsthetic social scheme which
ignores the nature of the material with which it presumes to deal,
and takes no account of the actual history of social institutions or of
the forces by which they are evolved. It is emphatically the product
of a youthful intellect, carried away by an artistic ideal. It was,
however, the intellect of a Plato, who, when he became more
mature, saw, without "irreverence for the dreams of youth," the
feebleness of ideas for the conflict with human frailties, and strove
to correct his exaggerated estimate of their power.
This he did in the Laws, whose very title suggests, in a way almost
obtrusive, the change of attitude and allegiance. While in the
Republic the State is governed by sages, almost entirely without
laws, in the later work, the sages almost disappear and the laws
assume an all-important place. In writing the Laws, moreover, he
exchanges allegiance to Socrates and ideas for allegiance to
Pythagoras and the gods. In saying this, I have marked the
fundamental difference between the Republic and the Laws. While in
the former Plato finds the moral sanctions, in the last resort, in the
ideas of the pure intellect, trained in mathematics, astronomy, and
dialectics, in the latter he derives them from the content of the
popular consciousness, with its gods, its ethical notions, its
traditions. In these, as embodied in institutions, he finds the most
serviceable, if not the most exalted, revelation of divine truth.
Trusting to this, he no longer seeks to abolish the family and private
property, but merely to have them regulated; he no longer banishes
strangers and poets from his State, but merely subjects them to
State supervision; he no longer demands a philosophical training for
the rulers, but only practical insight; he no longer divides his citizens
into sages, soldiers, and wealth-producers, but into freemen
(corresponding to his previous military class) and slaves. His
government is no longer an aristocracy of intellect, but a compound
of aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy, representing, respectively,
worth, wealth, and will. His plan of education is modified to suit
these altered conditions. The children, as in Sparta, do not begin the
State course of education until about their seventh year, after which
their training is very much the same as that demanded in the
Republic, with the omission, of course, of dialectics. Though women
are no longer to be relieved of their home duties, they are still to
share in the education and occupations of men, an arrangement
which is facilitated by the law ordaining that both men and women
shall eat at public tables. In making these changes, Plato believed
that he was falling from a lofty, but unrealizable, ideal, and making
concessions to human weakness; in reality, he was approaching
truth and right.

BOOK III

ARISTOTLE (b.c. 384-322)

 CHAPTER I

ARISTOTLE—LIFE AND WORKS

Aristotle, in my opinion, stands almost alone in philosophy.—

Cicero.

Aristotle, Nature's private secretary, dipping his pen in intellect.

—Eusebius.

Wherever the divine wisdom of Aristotle has opened its mouth,

the wisdom of others, it seems to me, is to be disregarded.—
Dante.

I could soon get over Aristotle's prestige, if I could only get over
his reasons.—Lessing.

If, now in my quiet days, I had youthful faculties at my

command, I should devote myself to Greek, in spite of all the
difficulties I know. Nature and Aristotle should be my sole study.
It is beyond all conception what that man espied, saw, beheld,
remarked, observed. To be sure he was sometimes hasty in his
explanations; but are we not so, even to the present day?—
Goethe (at 78).

If the proper earnestness prevailed in philosophy, nothing would

be more worthy of establishing than a foundation for a special
lectureship on Aristotle; for he is, of all the ancients, the most
worthy of study.—Hegel.

Aristotle was one of the richest and most comprehensive

geniuses that ever appeared—a man beside whom no age has
an equal to place.—Id.

Physical philosophy occupies itself with the general qualities of

matter. It is an abstraction from the dynamic manifestations of
the different kinds of matter; and even where its foundations
were first laid, in the eight books of Aristotle's Physical Lectures,
all the phenomena of nature are represented as the motive vital
activity of a universal world-force.—Alexander von Humboldt.

It was characteristic of this extraordinary genius to work at both

ends of the scientific process. He was alike a devotee to facts
and a master of the highest abstractions.—Alexander Bain.

Aristotle is the Father of the Inductive Method, and he is so for

two reasons: First, he theoretically recognized its essential
principles with a clearness, and exhibited them with a
conviction, which strike the modern man with amazement; and
then he made the first comprehensive attempt to apply them to
all the science of the Greeks.—Wilhelm Oncken.

Aristotle, for whose political philosophy our admiration rises, the

more we consider the work of his successors, is less guided by
imagination than Plato, examines reality more carefully, and
recognizes more acutely, the needs of man.—Bluntschli.

It appears to me that there can be no question, that Aristotle

stands forth, not only as the greatest figure in antiquity, but as
the greatest intellect that has ever appeared upon the face of
this earth.—George J. Romanes.

Aristotle, with all the wisdom of Plato before him, which he was
well able to appropriate, could find no better definition of the
true good of man than the full exercise or realization of the
soul's faculties in accordance with its proper excellence, which
was excellence of thought, speculative and practical.—Thomas
Hill Green.
It is pretty definitely settled, among men competent to form a
judgment, that Aristotle was the best educated man that ever
walked on the surface of this earth. He is still, as he was in Dante's
time, the "master of those that know." It is, therefore, not without
reason that we look to him, not only as the best exponent of ancient
education, but as one of the worthiest guides and ensamples in
education generally. That we may not lose the advantage of his
example, it will be well, before we consider his educational theories,
to cast a glance at his life, the process of his development, and his
work.
Aristotle was born about b.c. 384, in the Greek colony of Stagira in
Thrace, near the borders of Macedonia. His father, Nicomachus, was
a physician of good standing, the author of several medical works,
and the trusted friend of Amyntas, the Macedonian King. His mother,
Phæstis, was descended from the early settlers of the place. It was
doubtless under his father's guidance that the boy Aristotle first
became interested in those physical studies in which he was
destined to do such wonderful work. Losing, however, both his
parents at an early age, he came under the charge of Proxenus, of
Atarneus, who appears to have done his duty by him. At the age of
eighteen he came to Athens for his higher education, and entered
the school of Plato in the Academy. Here he remained for nearly
twenty years, listening to Plato, and acquiring those vast stores of
information which in later life he worked up into lectures and
scientific treatises. Nothing escaped him, neither art, science,
religion, philosophy, nor politics. He seems, being well off, to have
begun early to collect a library, and to aim at encyclopædic
knowledge. About his methods of study we know very little; but we
hear that at times he assisted Plato in his work and was very careful
of his own attire. It is clear that, in course of time, he rose in
thought above the teachings of his master, and even rejected the
most fundamental of them, the doctrine of self-existent ideas. But he
never lost respect for that master, and when the latter died, he
retired with Xenocrates, son of the new head of the Academy, to
Atarneus, the home of his old guardian Proxenus, and of his fellow-
Academic, Hermias, now king or tyrant of the place. Here he
remained for three years, in the closest intimacy with his friend, until
the latter was treacherously murdered by the Persians. He then
crossed over to Mytilene, taking with him Pythias, Hermias' sister or
niece, whom he had married, and to whom he was deeply devoted.
He erected in Delphi a statue to his dead friend, and dedicated to
him a poem, of which we shall hear more in the sequel. About b.c.
343, when he was over forty years old, he was called to Macedonia,
as tutor to Alexander, the thirteen-year-old son of King Philip, and
grandson of his own father's old patron, Amyntas. This office he
filled for about three years with distinguished success, and it may be
safely said that never had so great a tutor so great a pupil. During
the latter part of the time, at least, Aristotle and Alexander seem to
have lived at Stagira. This town had been captured and destroyed by
Philip, and its inhabitants scattered. With the permission of the
conqueror, Aristotle reassembled the inhabitants, rebuilt the town,
drew up its laws, and laid out near it, at Mieza, in imitation of the
Academy, a gymnasium and park, which he called the Nymphæum.
Hither he appears to have retired with his royal pupil and several
other youths who were receiving education along with him, among
them Theophrastus and the ill-fated Callisthenes. It was probably
here that Aristotle adopted the habit of walking while imparting
instruction, a habit which afterwards gave the name to his school.
When Alexander, at sixteen, entered his father's army, Aristotle still
continued to teach in the Nymphæum, which existed even in
Plutarch's time, more than four hundred years afterwards. But this
lasted only for about five years; for in 335, when Alexander, who in
the previous year had succeeded his murdered father, was preparing
to invade Persia, Aristotle moved to Athens. Finding that his old
friend, Xenocrates, was director of the school in the Academy, he
established himself, as a public teacher or professor, in the Lyceum,
the Periclean gymnasium, used chiefly, it should seem, by the lower
classes and by foreign residents, of whom he himself was one. As an
alien, as the friend of the victorious Macedonians, who three years
before had broken the power of Greece at Chæronea, and taken
away her autonomy forever, as a rival of the Platonists, and as a
wealthy, well-dressed gentleman, he had many enemies and
detractors; but his conduct seems to have been so unobjectionable
that no formal charge could be brought against him. His very
numerous pupils were mostly foreigners, a fact not without its
influence on the subsequent course of thought. He divided his days
between writing and teaching, taking his physical exercise while
engaged in the latter occupation. In the mornings he gave lectures
to a narrow circle, in a strictly formal and scientific way, upon the
higher branches of science; while in the afternoons he conducted
conversations upon more popular themes with a less select
audience. The former were called his esoteric, the latter his exoteric,
discourses.
It was during his second residence in Athens, in the twelve years
from b.c. 335 to 323, that Aristotle composed most of those great
works in which he sought to sum up, in an encyclopædic way, the
results of a life of all-embracing study and thought. He had been in
no haste to put himself on record, and it was not until he had
reached a consistent view of the world that he ventured to treat, in a
definitive way, any aspect of it. Thus it was that each of his treatises
formed part of one great whole of thought. Had he succeeded in
completing his plan, he would have left to the world a body of
science such as, even in our own day, would look in vain for a peer
among the works of any one man. Unfortunately, his plan was not
completed, and even of the works which he did write only a portion
has come down to us. But that portion is sufficient to place their
author at the head of all scientific men. Some of his works, for
example, his Logic, Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics, still occupy the
first place in the literature of these subjects. How a single man could
have done all that he did, and in so many different departments, is
almost inconceivable. No doubt he had helpers, in the shape of
secretaries, learned slaves, and disciples; and it is certain that he
received from his royal pupil munificent aid, which enabled him to do
much, especially in the directions of physical and political research,
that would have been impossible for a poor man; but, after all
allowances have been made, his achievement still seems almost
miraculous.
During all the years in which Aristotle was thus engaged, his position
at Athens was becoming more and more insecure. The anti-
Macedonian party were waiting for the first opportunity to rid the
city of him, and were prevented from open attempts at this only by
dread of Alexander's displeasure. Even when it was known that
Aristotle had incurred disfavor with his old pupil, they did not
venture to attack him; but in 323, when the news of Alexander's
sudden death made all Greece feel that now the time had come to
get rid forever of the hated Macedonians, and recover its liberty,
they at once gave vent to their long-cherished hatred. How hard it
was to find matter for an accusation against him, is shown by the
fact that they had to go back to his old poem on Worth, written in
memory of Hermias (see p. 4), and to base thereon a charge of
impiety—a charge always easily made, and always sure to arouse
strong popular prejudice. According to Athenian law, the defendant
in any such case might, if he chose, escape punishment by leaving
the city any time before the trial; and Aristotle, not being, like
Socrates, a citizen, could have no ground for refusing to take
advantage of this liberty. Accordingly, with the remark that he would
not voluntarily allow the Athenians to sin a second time against
philosophy, he withdrew to his country residence at Chalcis in
Eubœa, the old home of his mother's family, to wait till affairs should
take another turn, as, indeed, they soon afterwards did, when
Athens had to open her gates to Antipater. But, ere that happened,
Aristotle was in his grave, having died in 322, shortly before
Demosthenes, of disease of the stomach, from which he had long
suffered. His remains are said to have been carried to Stagira, where
the grateful inhabitants erected an altar over them and paid divine
honors to his memory. His library and the manuscripts of his works
he left in the hands of Theophrastus, who succeeded him in the
Lyceum. His will, the text of which has come down to us, bears
testimony, along with all else that we know of him, to the nobility,
kindliness, and justice of his nature.
Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about testbank and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebooksecure.com