When I sat down to write about early childhood theorists and theories, I didn't anticipate a list of over 80 names, pedagogies and influencial people ... Some people I have never heard of, which of course led me to research them more. And what should I do with all this deep dive rabbit hole research? Write about it of course!
Although with someone who is freshly diagnosed ADHD I should have perhaps expected this. The more I worked on this list, the more I remembered the names that have influenced my thinking and career over the decades, and I of course had to add them to the list and share them with you.
Stay tuned and watch this space! The goal of this blog is to have a list of 100 early childhood theorists and influential people who have changed the landscape of early childhood for Australian children and educators. In time, I will write about, or link to each name which will in turn become a valuable resource for you.
- Lesley Abbott
- Mary Ainsworth
- Anarchy and the EYLF Pirates
- Chris Athey
- Bank Street
- Albert Bandura
- Stephen Bavolek
- Diana Baumrind
- Being, Belonging, Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia
- Jay Belsky
- Benjamin Bloom
- John Bowlby
- Pierre Bourdieu
- Urie Brofenbrenner
- T. Berry Brazelton
- Tina Bruce
- Jerome Bruner
- Bush Kinder
- Childspace with Toni and Robin Christie
- Guy Claxton
- John Comenius
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Theory of Flow
- Edward de Bono
- Valerie Daniel
- John Dewey
- Margaret Donaldson
- Mary-Jane Drummond
- Judy Dunn
- Carol Dweck
- Rudolk Dreikurs
- 8 Ways of Learning - Aboriginal Pedagogy
- Erik Erikson
- Julie Fisher
- Forest Schools
- Paulo Freire
- Friedrich Froebel
- Sigmund Freud
- Howard Gardner
- Arnold Lucius Gesell
- Daniel Goleman
- Magda Gerber + Tom Forrest
- William Glasser
- G. Stanley Hall
- Martin Hughes
- Susan Isaacs
- High/Scope
- Lilian Katz
- Lawrence Kholberg
- Alfie Kohn
- David Kolb
- Ferre Laevers
- Joy Lubawy
- Wendy Lee + Margaret Carr - Learning Stories
- Martin Luther
- Loris Malaguzzi + Reggio Emilia Approach
- Abraham Maslow
- Margaret McMillan
- Maria Montessori
- Janet Moyles
- Nature Pedagogy
- Vivian Gussin Paley
- Mildred Parten
- Ivan Pavlov
- Jean Piaget
- Steven Pinker
- Emmi Pikler
- Christopher Phoenix
- Sandi Phoenix
- Dr. Louise Porter
- Carl Rogers
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
- Kenneth H Rubin
- Barbara Rogoff
- Robert Owen
- Burrhus. F. Skinner
- Benjamin Spock
- Waldort Steiner
- Te Whariki: The New Zealand Early Years Curriculum
- Colwyn Trevarthen
- Lev Vygotsky
- Nathan Wallis
- Claire Warden
- Gordon Wells
- John B. Watson
- Margy Whalley