Customer Reviews

Moral Classrooms, Moral Children: Creating a Constructivist Atmosphere in Early Education (Early Childhood Education Series)

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In Moral Classrooms, Moral Children, authors Rheta DeVries and Betty S. Zan draw on and extend the work of Jean Piaget into the realm of sociomoral development. The authors argue that constructivist education must involve more than the special activities with which it is commonly associated (such as group games, physical-knowledge and whole language activities). Planning must also include provision for children's social and moral development, since children construct their moral understandings from the raw material in their day-to-day social interactions. To this end the authors provide a rationale for a particular type of sociomoral atmosphere in the early childhood classroom and describe the practical ways in which teachers can cultivate it.

My daughter is enrolled in a constuctivist elementary school and I read this book at the suggestion of the school. I am amazed at how well the information is communicated and how clear it is that constructivism is so important for learning. By shadowing different styles of classroom teachers, the authors tell true life stories that exemplify the effects of different teaching styles on children. Having grown up in traditional public schools, I can very much relate to the authoritarian teaching style and I remember feeling badly like the children presented in the book in those kinds of classrooms. This book makes it obvious to me that my children are very lucky to be enrolled in the school that they're in. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks that an "exemplary" standardized testing rating means a hill of beans in terms of whether a classroom is a good one or not.

I am very pleased, a great condition book for my masters in EC and speedy to. thanks a bunch!