In this article and the one to follow, we explore how birth to three-year-olds’ growing mobility is supported through Emmi Pikler’s approach to free movement. Here we are focusing on the role of the caregiving adult.
Pikler showed that children’s motor development unfolds naturally when free movement in a safe space is allowed; her research highlighted that this results in alert, confident, agile children with no retained reflexes.
This is a different perspective to current contexts that exhort practitioners to constantly stimulate children’s development towards set developmental milestones. So, the initial step in implementing a free movement approach in settings is for practitioners to fully understand the Pikler approach and their role within it, and to reflect on any of their own attitudes thatmay deter them from implementing this practice. This reflection is important so that practitioners may better regulate their own responses and behaviours and support each child without getting in their way.
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