Rheta Goolsby DeVries (1 September 1936, Arkansas – 28 May 2012, Little Rock, Arkansas)[ Rheta DeVries at Find A Grave (with obituary)][ Obituary at the University of Northern Iowa.] was a professor at University of Northern Iowa's Regent's Center For Early Developmental Education,
Constructivist approaches
Like Kamii, DeVries studied under
Jean Piaget and they shared the same interest in children's sociomoral development, construction of numbers and arithmetic, and understanding of reading and writing.
Drawing from Piaget's theory, particularly, his ideas on moral, social, effective, and cognitive development, they began developing several approaches to constructivism.
Piaget recognized their works constituting three books, which outlined a program that allows the young learner free choice of activity in a wide range of games and experiments.
DeVries also collaborated with other scholars such as Carolyn Hildebrandt and Betty Zan on works that focus on the application of Piagetian theory and the constructivist approaches to classrooms.
Selected bibliography
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Programs of early education: The constructivist view (1987)
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Constructivist Early Education, Overview and Comparison With Our Program: Overview and Comparison With Other Programs (1989)
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Moral Classrooms, Moral Children: Creating a Constructivist Atmosphere in Early Education (Early Childhood Education Series) (1994)
