reviews
c e p s Journal | Vol.9 | No1 | Year 2019
doi: 10.26529/cepsj.663
Tatjana Devjak and Sanja Berčnik, Education of
preschool children (In Slovene: Vzgoja predšolskega
otroka), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education:
Ljubljana, 2018; 288 pp.: ISBN 978-961-253-219-2
Reviewed by Jurka Lepičnik Vodopivec1
The monograph Education of preschool children (authors Tatjana Devjak and
Sanja Berčnik) presents a broader insight
into the study of preschool pedagogy. The
central subject of the monograph is the
preschool period of the child’s development, which extends from the child’s birth
to entering primary school; it also defines
the notion of education as a comprehensive
concept that entails various aspects, from
caring for the child to the individual design
of the child as a personality, and the integration of a child into human society as a
collective underpinning of society and various specific individuals.
In the first chapter, Pedagogy as a science and the definition of basic concepts, the authors rightly analyse the critical concept of education and various
related theories in this context. They note that education today means ‘a holistic
activity of people, a creative process among people, a conscious activity of shaping an individual as an individual and a social subject’ (Devjak & Berčnik, 2018,
p. 10). The authors deal with the pedagogy as a science through a variety of foreign authors, including Althusser, Durkheim, Apple, and Slovenian ones , such
as Medveš and Kroflič, outlining the different views and theoretical approaches
to education with a focus on the education of that preschool child, which enables them to gain a critical understanding of education, especially the education
of the child in the preschool period, which is supported by the notion that the
modern concepts of education ‘tend to gradually abolish the management of
the individual, eliminate manipulation, to prepare the individual to be able to
set his own educational goals and develop his own personality (self-education,
1
Faculty of Education, University of Primorska; jurka.lepicnik@pef.upr.si.
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tatjana devjak & sanja berčnik (2018). education of preschool children.
not self-censorship)’ (ibid., p. 16). The next chapter contributes to the broader
understanding of education, with a historical overview of theories, concepts
and views on the education of a preschool child, ranging from ancient Greek
philosophers to various modern theorists such as Komenski, Pestalozzi, Locke,
Rousseau, Oberlin, Owen, Froebel, Dewey, Steiner, and Montessori, discussing
the history of the development of preschool institutions and the contemporary
curriculum and preschool education in Slovenia.
The chapter Understanding children, childhood and children’s rights
brings the conceptual bases for later discussion and analyses modern theoretical concepts of understanding preschool childhood, which are pedagogically,
psychologically and sociologically conceived. It is also significant that the authors introduce the understanding of the child and education as it is understood today, through the concepts of universal human and child rights (and
duties). In doing so, they emphasise the empowerment of the child, when he is
enabled to decide for himself and the concept of participation, which enables
personal growth, strengthening of responsibility and searching for one’s own
individuality and identity. In addition, they point out the problematic aspects
of child’s rights, about which Kodelja (1995, p. 53) writes that ‘they are nothing
more than a multitude of regulations that allow adults to decide on their children and shape them in their own image.’ The chapter concludes with the advocacy of children, which ‘contributes to the awareness, that the basis of organised
preschool education is built upon children’s rights and not just their needs and/
or the needs of their parents, families’ (Devjak & Berčnik, 2018, p. 94).
The critical educational activities of the child in the preschool period
take place through the child’s play. The monograph takes this fact into account
with a detailed discussion of the conceptual issues posed by play and the treatment of different types of children’s play, the importance of play for children’s
development, the role of play as a collective or social event; this framework
also includes the types and the roles of toys, in particular, the definition of a
good toy. The establishment of a conceptual understanding of play and toys
is, of course, essential for the proper education of preschool teachers. The authors also take into account a variety of theories and theoretical approaches,
while defining the main distinction between play and work, defining work as
an activity and the play as ‘a tool, developing the child’s skills, connection with
parents and the wider world, at the same time revealing the laws of the world
around him’(ibid., p. 97). For preschool pedagogy and education of preschool
teachers, it is also important to understand the environments in which the child
grows up or where the child’s education is taking place: both the family and the
kindergarten.
c e p s Journal | Vol.9 | No1 | Year 2019
In the continuation, the monograph conceptualises the family through
the review of changes in European history and through the treatment of modern forms of family, its functions and tasks, changes in family life and the influence of the family on the child’s personality and moral development. Since
institutional education in kindergarten in relation to the family also plays a
vital role in the child’s preschool age, the text also discusses various models of
cooperation between family and kindergarten (client, managerial, and partnership models), which are critically illuminated. The text also separates formal
and informal forms of cooperation with parents, identifying the roles played by
professionals or parents, which indirectly determine the model of cooperation.
In the following, the monograph focuses on the kindergarten in the various
functions and contexts of the kindergarten’s cooperation with other institutions
of society (museums, theatres, the library, health centres, etc.).
From the aspect of the conceptualisation of preschool teachers in contemporary times, it is crucial that the monograph also presents views on the
education of preschool teachers through history and their professional development today. The professional development of preschool teachers is defined
as the process of lifelong learning, which ‘is the common formula in which all
types of learning and education can be combined’ (ibid., p. 185).
In the concluding chapters, the monograph returns to a more detailed
analysis of the various current educational concepts and thematises them
through the questions posed by the reform-pedagogical movement and various
alternative educational concepts. It, therefore, deals entirely with conceptual
questions, such as the priority of development before learning, the priority of
natural education before the planned educational influence, the priority of the
orientation of the education that originates from the child before the education
that is based on cultural norms and values and, on this basis, also deals in detail
with different directions of reform pedagogy (progressive pedagogy, pedagogy
of pragmatism, and pedagogy of the working school).
The monograph Education of preschool children deals with a unified and
clearly defined subject. Its argumentation is scientifically based, extensive, and
theoretically relevant, and the text covers its subject in all key aspects and also
consistently analyses it. The monograph includes key sources and the latest bibliography from the field, characterised by rich professional terminology. It is
a transparent scientific contribution to preschool pedagogy, and it is aimed at
professional educators, students of pedagogical guidelines, planners and educators in kindergartens, planners and providers of further education programs,
other higher education teachers, pedagogues, psychologists, special educators
and the entire professional public who are interested in this kind of problem. It
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tatjana devjak & sanja berčnik (2018). education of preschool children.
provides a deeper insight into the understanding of the education of pre-school
children and will, as such, be useful as a reference work and as a book for the
professional public. The present monograph, in light of the above, represents an
essential contribution to the development of pedagogy and preschool pedagogy
in Slovenia.