Chapter 11: Educating Young Learners: Future Perspectives

It has become increasingly apparent that one’s perception of issues depends largely on his/her personal history. As human beings, professionals and other stakeholders vary in their perspectives, so do they vary on strategies and solutions. Rather than arbitrarily select issues or seek consensus among interdisciplinary but disparate groups, we elected in this chapter to examine the broader array of issues that impact the future educators of young learners, with the aim of conceptualizing effective techniques to reverse problems or difficulties. For instance, many educators have referred to the “cycles” of change in education. These cycles are based on the view that educational perspectives have their time. When they are innovative, they become the status quo, and become finally obsolete as the next group of methods, beliefs, and educational initiatives takes hold.