Developmental psychology and early childhood education

Abstract

SUMMARY Child psychology and early childhood education are closely related, but the relationship is very complex. This is due to the fact that ‘child psychology’ at the same time covers 1) researchers' scientific psychology, 2) writers' popular psychology, and 3) parents' and teachers' common sense psychology about child development. This article presents current trends in scientific child psychology and recent studies on parents' and teachers' common sense opinions. It is concluded that no clear relationships can be demonstrated between current theories of child development and views on the part of teachers and parents. However it is evident that parents and teachers do have views on child development and education, and even that such views exercise an influence upon their behaviour towards children. Therefore, it is argued that future investigations in this comprehensive, interesting, and complex field will be very relevant.