The Future of Education
Buddhism and Early Childhood Education: Prolonging the Child’s Ethical Improvement from Antenatal Stage to Early Years of Life
Shimo Sraman, International Buddhist Studies College, Mahachualongkornrajavidyalaya University (Thailand)
Abstract
Learning is a crucial process for personal growth and human development which required long-lifetime. Education is one institution to prove both formal and informal learning. Quality and efficient education not only provides knowledge and skills to the learners also teaches moral, ethics, and builds quality humans. Education needs to begin since early childhood, and there needs to be continually learning in both home and school. Early childhood education in this paper includes all learning that is provided by parents and teachers both at homes and schools to stimulate learning with morals and ethics. This paper focuses on creating the moral environment and motivating moral learning from the antenatal stage to early years of life. Besides, this paper especially presents the roles of parents, teachers, and Buddhism that create an environment to enhance the child’s personal growth and moral development. Buddhism teaches people to be good, and can also influence good thoughts and good acts throughout one’s lifetime. Buddhism emphasizes self-responsibility to live morally, live fully and live meaningfully in life with consciousness, self-awareness, inner peace and inner happiness. Buddhism can be applied to one’s life to create quality humans since the antenatal stage. This paper introduces the method for parents and teachers to apply Buddhist ethics to early childhood education by dividing the stages of life as (1.) before pregnancy, (2.) pregnancy stage, (3.) infant and toddler stage (birth-2years) and (4.) preschool ages (2-6 years). Early Childhood education in this paper includes all learning that is provided by parents and teachers in both at homes and schools to stimulate learning with morals and ethics.
Keywords: Buddhism, Childhood Education, moral teachings, ethical improvement and happiness.
References:
[1] Bronfenbrenner, U. The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University press. 1979
[2] Dorbin, A. Ethics for Everyone: How to increase Your Moral Intelligence, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
[3] Gordon, A.M & Browne, K.W. Beginnings and Beyond: Foundations in Early Childhood Education. 2004
