INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / APRIL 25, 1989

 

 

 

Infant Development Continued

 

infants from birth to three years
of age. It has also served as a
learning ground for infant care
enthusiasts such as Gerber who
spent a number of years there
working with Pikler. Gerber, in
turn, has brought the philosophy

 

The adult’s role is one
of helping the child,
supporting him or her
and facilitating
learning - not teaching.

 

to North America, and her
Douglas College workshop will
be her first given in western
Canada.

 

One of Gerber’s students,
White Rock resident Sylvia Mc-
Fadyen-Jones, coordinator of
the Post Basic Early Childhood
Education Program at Douglas
College, notes that the adult’s
role is one of helping the child,
supporting him or her and
facilitating learning — not teach-
ing. That way the child is not
100 percent dependent on the
adult, she says, and learns to be
independent.

“Children need uninterruptive
playtime and freedom to ex-
plore. If we continuously
interfere and interrupt, we cause
them to be dependent on us and
they then make demands of us
on an ongoing basis.”

 

Early Childhood Education

Award Winners

 

 

 

 

 

Douglas College students Kathleen Wallington and Janet Bauer recently received
the Christine Young Award. In memory of Jean Hammer’s daughter, the award is
presented each year to an outstanding full-time Early Childhood Education
student. (left to right): Cathleen Smith, Kathleen Wallington, Janet Bauer, Jean

Hammer and John McKendry.

 

“Education is the process of
putting the child in charge of his
own life. Childhood is a cul-
ture unto itself. The superbabies
approach takes away from the
child the right to be a child and
enjoy the culture of childhood,”
says McFadyen-Jones. |

The public lecture Living and
Working With Infants will be
held Thursday, May 4, from
7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Douglas
College’s New Westminster
campus. The full day session
for practitioners, program ad-
ministrators and consultants will
focus on practical applications
of the RIE approach. It will also
feature program design and inter-
ventions that promote the
development of infant’s trust,
perceptions of inner needs,

 

Education is the
process of putting the
child in charge of his
own life.

 

abilities to make choices and
flexibility. Gerber will conduct
both the lecture and the
workshop.

Gerber’s visit is supported by
Douglas College, the Canadian
Association for Young Children,
U.B.C. Child Study Centre and
V.C.C. Continuing Education.

For more information on the
public lecture and workshop call
520-5479. To register, call
520-5472.