Compare and contrast the approaches to the learning and teaching in Essay

Compare and contrast the approaches to the learning and teaching in the early years utilised by Montessori with the EYFS - Essay Example She came to believe that with special educational treatment, their condition could be improved. Inspired by this new idea of pedagogy, she devoted herself to the teaching of defective children. Gradually, she began to realise that the methods she was using had nothing in them peculiarly limited to the instruction of the retarded. On the contrary, they contained educational principles more rational than those generally in use. She says, â€Å"This feeling, so deep as to be of the nature of an intuition, became my controlling idea. I became convinced that similar methods applied to normal children would develop and set free their personality in a marvellous and superior way.† Thus developed the Montessori Method, the educational system devised by Madame Montessori and which has undergone a process of birth, death and re-birth. In the last few years, innumerable books, magazines and newspaper articles have appeared in many parts of the world, singing the praises of Madame Montess ori. As a matter of fsct, a whole ‘Montessori Mystique’ has come into being. New theories have developed leading to new methods for pre-school education in different parts of the world. However, they are either adaptations of the Montessori Method, or deviations in some respect, yet, rooted somewhere in the Montessori Method. One such scheme operating in U.K. is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Theory and principles: Montessori was not a theoretician in the true sense. Montessori education is based on an empirical experiment with children in concrete life situations. Madame Montessori was so struck by what she observed that she never felt the need to build up an abstract theoretical system. More important to her were not the theories but the child itself and the revelations of its spontaneous behaviour which touched her so profoundly that she devoted the rest of her life to provide him such conditions

America Exceptionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

America Exceptionalism - Essay Example Enthusiasts of the myth of American exceptionalism need a radical change on the conception of the nation and the world around, if any efforts against racism, human right violation, and other ills are to bear fruit. The United States of America has had different descriptions in the past two centuries by some of its prominent leaders, ranging from titles like the indispensable nation, free world leader, and the best last hope of earth, the empire of liberty, and the shining city on a hill. These descriptions constitute the concept of American exceptionalism. This is an ideology that America’s political system, history, and values are unique in the universe (Jacobs). Moreover, enthusiasts of the ideology argue that the US is entitled and destined to play a positive and distinct role in the universe. The concept is an international debate among specialists and experts from all lifestyles, from law to former US government officials. Among them is Ted Bromund, a senior research fellow from Margret Thatcher Center for Freedom. Bromund advocates for the American exceptionalism ideology, mainly basing his arguments on the history of the great nation. On the other end of the debate are individuals like Harold Hongju Koh, a laws specialist and former government official in both Reagan’s and Clinton’s administrations. Koh, argues that the American exceptionalism has two facets, the good, and the bad. This paper focuses on the arguments of Koh and Bromund to assert that the American exceptionalism has both the good side and the bad side. In the article American Exceptionalism and its Enemies, Bromund strongly argues that the US is an exceptional state. Bromund begins his statement by pointing out that America has the oldest and the most capitalistic liberal democracy. He further re-asserts that it was the first nation whose foundation was on the belief of inherent human rights, also the