A Comparative Analysis Of The Teaching And Learning Approaches In Early Childhood Education

This study was about a comparative analysis of the teaching and learning approaches on early childhood education a case of China and Tanzania. The beginning of the school years can be scary to many parents of preschool-aged children, this is because when a child starts going to school, it means less parent involvement in day to day learning. Hence appropriate approaches are necessary to introduce a child to this learning environment and lay a foundation which a child can be able to overcome the "transitions shocks". A creative and adaptive curriculum learning approach can provide a framework for high-quality subject interaction during early childhood teaching and learning process.There are several approaches which have been used all over the world to cater for the educational needs of children at early stages. A comparative analysis of such methods has not been thoroughly done in developing countries like China and Tanzania. Hence this study has been used to improve and harmonize the present assumed and possibly varied approaches so that both countries of study can have an approach which is adaptive to global trends and individual countries needs. The study employed Reggio Emilia approach on early childhood education as theoretical frame work. There are many growing forms of early childhood education theories which have made significant impact in the early and later education quality of many children in the world. John-Dewey'Jean-Piaget, Vygotsky and Jerome-Bruner, are among the theorists of early childhood teaching theories who emphasize that much of what occurs in the class reflects social constructivist approach to early education. The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has attracted the worldwide attention of educators, researchers and just about anyone interested in early childhood education best practices because of its unique take on teaching one which makes parents, teachers and children equal shareholders in the learning initiatives. This approach is based around certain fundamental values about how children learn. The values includes teaching environment, teaching resources, parental influence and administrative roles for analysis and evaluation, the role of emergent curriculum on child learning and ongoing staff development. Hence this study utilized the core values of Reggio Emilia approach in investigating on how far does the two countries of study have adopted and make practice of those values in their early childhood schools in order to improve the quality of their early childhood educationCarefully designed questionnaires based on the core values of Reggio Emilia approach has been used to obtain data from a sample of 120 early childhood teachers from both private and public early childhood schools of China and Tanzania. Both quantitative and qualitative design has been employed in this study with the use of questionnaire and interview methods in data collection from the field while Social statistical software (SPSS 15) and Origin 7.0 has been used to analyze data and making of charts and graphs for visualization of the results.Result obtained from this study revealed that, there is reciprocal relationship between early childhood teachers, parents and children in both countries of study. Moreover, both countries seemed to be succeeded in documenting children's daily activities as well as satisfactory learning environment and playing facilities. However on the other side, the findings revealed poor relationship between parents and the role of emergent curriculum to its fully meaning was not well fulfilled as most of early childhood schools in China and Tanzania found to practising the whole class teaching where by teacher knows every thing. It was concluded that, the way children's are being taught in one country will be totally different from another country although the basic outcome of the learners should be similar, important aspect to put into consideration is people culture, environment, and their economic status accordingly. Hence there is a need for both countries of study to review their early childhood education policies in order to create better learning opportunities for all children.