Guidance and Behaviour Management in early Childhood: Need for Reform in Child Care Development Education

Abstract

Education is a life time experience acquired right from birth till the time of death. It is a life long journey which ought to start from the moment a child is born till his/she breaths his/her last. Guidance is a generic term for all the helping services provided (ideally) by the counsellor to the individual in need of direction, instruction, guide or information to enable him or her understand himself, his world, his challenges/or opportunities as a way of leading meaningful life. Behaviour management is the act of guiding both the process of behaviour development and the general behaviour manifestation of children under the childcare development programme of the Federal Government. This paper examines the concept of guidance and behaviour management with particular reference to the issue of childcare development. A critical appraisal of the concept and current practice reveals a dare need for reformation of our education system to ensure inculcation of purposive, responsible and culturally relevant behaviour in the children for whom early child care development centres are established. It was observed that there is still room for great improvement in the process of delivering child care development education and thus, the need for educational reform to be extended to this area.

Key Words: Behaviour management, Child care, Child care development education, Education, Guidance.