Submitted by: Submitted by stellarqueen
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Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 01/13/2014 12:33 AM
Theories of Children's Literature
There is no doubting that there are different existing theoretical models of childhood development within children's literature. Since the early ages, children's literature has been used as a means to help children be connected with the world they live in and their surroundings. Many various philosophers like Piaget believed that there are a set of stages that occur in childhood development. Each of these stages present a new challenge for a child. An example of a children's book that can be effectively used is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. J.K. Rowling rewrote the opening chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone a total of 15 times. Her mother died just 6 months after her first attempt at Chapter One of that book, and that sent her into a frenzy of rewriting, essentially changing everything. The Potter books are about death, there is no doubt about that, and they are driven particularly by the death of Harry’s parents and his miraculous survival.
Jean Piaget's view of how children's minds work and develop has been enormously influential, particularly in educational theory. His particular insight was the role of maturation (simply growing up) in children's increasing capacity to understand their world: they cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. His research has spawned a great deal more, much of which has undermined the detail of his own, but like many other original investigators, his importance comes from his overall vision.
He proposed that children's thinking does not develop entirely smoothly: instead, there are certain points at which it "takes off" and moves into completely new areas and capabilities. He saw these transitions as taking place at ...