This article describes an early education program based on the personality theory of William Emet Blatz and his concept of security. It describes the development of the laboratory preschool at the University of Western Ontario, my understanding of theory as proposed by Blatz, and its relationship to attachment theory as developed by his former student, Mary Salter Ainsworth. The article translates the theory into practice. It describes the critical variables in creating the conditions that allow children to develop the inner strengths and the problem-solving styles that define the concept of security. Keywords: theory, attachment theory, early childhood education This article describes the to Early Childhood Education and the psychological theory on which it is based, at the University of Western Ontario (U.W.O.) in the Psychology Department's Laboratory (Lab) preschool. In a book by the author on the U.W.O. Preschool Project (Wright, 1983b), it was called A Canadian Approach with no explanation. In 2007, an explanation suddenly seemed imperative. I was compelled to produce it. The initial trigger was an administrative decision made by the university to move the school from its original, carefully designed facility to a former student residence in a remote area of the campus. I feared this might be the first step in phasing it out, a fate that had been met by a number of other Lab schools in other universities. The final motivator was the successful transplant of the school to its new quarters with its approach and mission intact. The approach is based on the personality theory developed by William Emet Blatz. Blatz was the founder and first Director of the Institute of Child Study at the University of Toronto (1925). My long-time friend and colleague, Mary Salter Ainsworth, whose work on attachment theory has received wide acclaim, was a student of Blatz. Her doctoral research was on his theory. Prologue The Beginning The University Lab School opened in 1973 as a preschool and a laboratory for research in child development. It was located in the U.W.O. Social Science Centre in the heart of the Department of Psychology. I am the founder. I was appointed Chair of the Department of Psychology in 1960 and after working diligently to acquire and accommodate a hardscience, research-oriented faculty, I was able, in 1967, to persuade the university to support the establishment of such a school. It would be in a new building still in the planning stage. I had been longing to create the perfect preschool for a quarter century. It was during World War II that my ambition in this regard was generated. In 1942, 1 was the junior member of a six-person team from the Institute of Child Study at the University of Toronto that went to Birmingham, England, to set up a training school for childcare reservists. These reservists were persons who would work in new facilities being created to meet the needs of children during war-time conditions (Northway, 1973). This group was led by the Director of the Institute, Dr. Blatz. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Blatz had developed a theory of personality development. The theory included a plan for guiding the development of children. The goal of the plan was the ultimate attainment by the child of robust mental health - a kind of health based on inner strengths that would yield a peaceful state of mind as well as effective coping styles. These ideas came to be known as his security theory. During this period, Blatz and key members of his staff - notably Dorothy Millichamp and Margaret Fletcher - worked together to put into practice the teaching styles supported by the theory. It was a most productive period. Many books and articles were published, and the institute earned wide recognition both at home and abroad (Northway, 1951). It was this trio that led the group that went to Birmingham and set up a training program and demonstration daycare centre on Garrison Lane Street. …
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Jan 1, 2011
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