Moving with Pleasure from the Beginning: The Importance of Observation in Early Childhood

By Agnes Szanto-Feder

It’s not many children who have had the privilege to say that he or she was a true Pikler baby. But Ágnes Szántó-Féder, was not only such a child, but also one who had an ongoing relationship – working and otherwise - with the celebrated pediatrician, Dr. Emmi Pikler (1902-1984). Indeed, Ágnes had been so profoundly affected by the woman who revolutionized infant and early childhood care that she, too, devoted her life’s work to the philosophy known as the Pikler® Pedagogical Approach.

This book will allow the reader to see infants and young children through a lens of competence. Because of this singular approach, youngsters are not coerced or forced to be – or to become - anyone other than who they truly are. This, in a nutshell, is the core Piklerian philosophy, something that is so very simple yet also undeniably deep.

Ágnes’s acute observational skills guide the reader to understand at a much greater level, what freedom and autonomy actually means for an infant. One of the author’s answers lies in the power of “balance; balance (in physical sense) of the infant in their self-initiated gross motor development, and balance in their caring and nurturing relationship with the adult who cares for them.”

This jewel of a book should be required reading for any parent, policy maker, early childcare professional or any such person advocating for the health of young children around the world…
Elsa Chahin
President & CEO Pikler/Lóczy USA

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796093742

Agnes Szanto-Feder

How did I become psychologist? Agnes Szanto-Féder … whereas I just got my degree of mathematics-physics at the Sorbonne university? That, meanwhile, I got my two children. I raised them according to the only conceivable manner for me - the natural manner, seemed to me it – the manner « Pikler ». Without questioning myself ... However, as the moms of young children do it while meeting in public gardens, the stores or at the nursery school: we speak. And there, I discovered that what I did with my children seems for them odd, unusual, exotic even (with my Hungarian accent...). Then, I sought for explanations. And I found the book of Pikler: “What Can Your Baby Do Already?” I knew it but until this time I did not feel the necessity to read it. I formed part of the group of children of which it speaks there and which Mariann Reismann photographed assiduously. However, to speak about it with other mothers, it had to be read. Then, to translate it - what I have done. As of the birth of my first child, I started to write letters to Emmi Pikler. But with the translation of the book, for me our exchanges became more and more of the reflection. And when, in 1968, I was finally permitted to return to Hungary, my first visit was for her and for « Lóczy ». It was there that she told me: in her opinion I have « something to say » in the psychology of young children and that I should start studies in this direction! Moreover, by a friend of her I got the chance to obtain a recommendation to Professor Tran Thong, in Paris, eminent specialist in the genetic psychology and the best expert of Henry Wallon. I passed with him my degree and my doctorate - both having for subject the development of the free or physiological motricity discovered by Pikler... A few words about the author: Agnes Szanto-Féder (1937…) is a psychologist, she is member founder of the “Association Pikler Lóczy de France”. She had a very early contact with Dr Emmi Pikler, since Emmi Pikler was the family pediatrician when she was born. Her mother worked with Dr Pikler during a few years just after the creation of the Pikler Institute. Agnes has been living in France since 1956, where she received, after degree of mathematics-physics, master degree and doctorate in psychology, dealing more particularly in the research of the psychomotricity development of young children. She has two daughters. She has been working since 1973; first as psychologist in different nursery’s and in the same time and till now, in teaching: courses and seminars for specialists of early childhood and at universities, in France, in Belgium, in Hungary, in Italy, in USA and in South-America; participating in international conferences. She is a founding-member and Vice-President of the Pikler-Lóczy Association of France. The Hungarian paediatrician Emmi Pikler (1902-1984), after 10 years of practice with « sufficiently good » families, founded the Institute Methodologic of Education for young children, (now Pikler Institute, known before as « Lóczy ») receiving children temporary or definitively without family. After 50 years of existence, we know that her work was exceptionally efficient, no known sign of hospitalism has been detected on children, now grown-up, who have been nurtured there. The thematic part of the present issue deals with the ideas and principles of her work. This document contributes to understand that the Emmi Pikler approach encourages a conversion: it modifies the attitude of the specialists with respect to very young children, allows a better appreciation of their capacities and gives value to what they are able to do. One basis of the reflection is the observation of very young children in the Pikler Institute to try to understand the relationship they have with adult caregivers. The same problem exists with young children in Day Care Centers because in the absence of spoken language it is necessary to use other information to understand them, to communicate with them, to look after them. It is not an observation to see where the child is in his development, but rather its purpose is to discover how he is, what he can do, what his competences are, and how we can understand each other with him. An important part of the reflection is centred on the observations made by some members of the working people with children and presented in the form of film, on their explanations of these observations and on the exchange of ideas that followed. It proves them that time spent with the caregiver is very important for young children; each child has his own rhythm and need for time with the caregiver. Another primary aspect of the Emmi Pikler approach, and the theme central of this issue, is the importance of the initiative of the child, the development of free movements and their influence on various fields: cognitive, intellectual, emotional and social. For this it is necessary to ensure an adequate environment for the child. In order for the child to have the opportunity – and the right – to choose the area of his sense of comfort, and especially the “width” of his boundaries (the lesser or greater risks he is willing to take during his experiments), he should move freely at every age, change place and play in the position he chooses for himself, proceed in his development at his own pace, and act on his own initiative. Every age group, every stage of motor development has its own set of tools for appropriately adjusting the physical balance. It is necessary to refer to the feelings experienced by adults so that in those situations where the adult is responsible for the similar experiences of the child she will be able to approach them with empathy. More precisely: we believe the adult should do her best while dealing with the child to make sure that the child can avoid any unpleasant experiences resulting from the insecurity or the losing of his physical balance. If the adult knows and comprehends these needs of the child, appreciates and respects it, it will have a deep impact on the relationship between the two of them. If the adult can listen and observe, the essence of her image of the child will be his independence, self-confidence and communication skills. The child she is taking care of will be her partner and not only the subject of her activities.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Agnes Szanto-Feder.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Translation: Alex Kajtár

Illustrations: Klára Pap: copyright permis.

Photos of Marian Reismann: copyright permis.

Translated from Hungarian:

Cover Artwork by Simon Erika Krisztina

Rev. date: 05/04/2020

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CONTENTS

Foreword by Elsa Chahin

Foreword by Myrtha Chokler

Foreword by Bernard Golse

Introduction

About The Book

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Chapter 1: Movement?...What Movement?

1.1 Do Infants Need to Be Taught How to Move?

1.2 Characteristics of Psychomotor Development in Infancy According to Emmi Pikler

1.3 And What About Adults?

1.4 Correlation between Children’s Psychomotor Development and Their Relationship with Adults

1.5 Pedagogical Significance of Free Motor Development in Everyday life of Young Children

1.6 Two Day Care Centers: Analyzing the Activity of Two Children

Chapter 2: Professionals, Children, Parents

2.1 The Quality of Welcoming, the Quality of Life

2.2 The Well-Being of Infants in a Community: Expertise and Attitude

2.3 Why Shouldn’t We Do Our Best to Ensure an Infant’s Well-Being?

2.4 What Difficulties Should Young Children Face?

2.5. Do Children Aged between Two and Three Taking Too Much Risk When Moving?

Chapter 3: Observation: How, Why, and Whom to Share It With?

3.1 Parents and Observation

3.2 Several Uses of Observation

3.3 The Role of Observation in Education

3.4 Observation of David

3.5 Observation of Olivier

3.6 Professionals and Parents: Can Adults Learn Something from Infants? And then: What Do Infants Do When They Do Nothing?

Chapter 4: Let’s Move On in Pursuit of Movement and Balance

4.1 Approaching Motor Development from Body Positions and Movements. Loose Muscle Tone – Paillard’s Principle

4.2 Quality of Movement and Physical Balance before Safe Walking

4.3 Norms and Averages Related to the Psychomotor Development of Children

4.4 Physical Balance and Movement: Safety and the Feeling of Safety

4.5 Skillfulness and Clumsiness

4.6 Observations about Laying Newborns on Their Tummy (or How to Artificially Make Children Clumsy)

4.7 The Two Faces of Moro Reflex. Early Verticalization (Analyzing Film Segments)

Chapter 5: Competent to Assert One’s Will

5.1 Autonomy and Competence

5.2 Questioning Attitude

5.3 Two Directions in Psychology. Placing Adult-Child Relationships on New Foundations

Bibliography

FOREWORD

by Elsa Chahin

I t’s not many children who have had the unique privilege of being able to say that he or she was a true Pikler baby. But Ágnes Szántó-Féder, from the moment she drew her first breath, was not only such a child but also one who had an ongoing relationship—working and otherwise—with the celebrated pediatrician, Dr. Emmi Pikler (1902–1984). Indeed, Ágnes had been so profoundly affected by the woman who revolutionized infant and early childhood care that she too devoted her life’s work to the philosophy known as the Pikler ® Pedagogical Approach.

Globally recognized as an expert in the field and hailed by many, eighty-two-year-old Ágnes was the recipient of the coveted Emmi Pikler Award in 2017. Having co-authored numerous books on the subject of childcare, she has at last published a book solely on her own, Moving with Pleasure from the Beginning, which is available in five languages, including English.

Having personally known Dr. Szántó-Féder for more than two decades, first as a student and then as a colleague, I can wholeheartedly say that my initial impression of Ágnes was that of her own indelible demeanor, a poise, shall we say, that stems from confidence and the notion of being unconditionally loved. Having been allowed to move freely from the beginning of life (outside the womb) in order to reach developmental milestones at her own inimitable pace and rhythm, Ágnes is the physical embodiment of charisma and charm, with her keen knowledge in the fields of both psychology and movement ranking her among the top experts in the world in these arenas.

It follows, then, that this book will allow the reader to see infants and young children through a lens of competence. At the same time, it sheds light on their capabilities; and in turn, it also encourages infants to be themselves. Because of this singular approach, youngsters are not coerced or forced to be—or to become—anyone other than who they truly are. This, in a nutshell, is the core Piklerian philosophy, something that is so simple yet also undeniably deep.

In Ágnes’s own words, the main thread of the book can be defined in terms of a series of questions: how to best deal with children living in average, everyday situations; how to protect their health; and how to ensure their healthy development. How can children’s safety and security be guaranteed in daycare centers and infant homes, where there are so many different needs including the well-being of the individual and of the group, and of the children and their parents, as well as that of early childhood professionals? In this book, I hope that parents can also find some ideas that can be used in their family life.

Ágnes goes on to write that the primary objective of the book is not prevention, i.e. what it is that needs to be avoided, but instead she elaborates on all positive facets of life for children in the here and now, those that are useful not only for the sake of children’s health but also for their ongoing development.

This is the precise attitude that "appreciates children the way they are, as well as valuing anything they do." In other words, Ágnes explains that this theory builds upon what children can do and what they are capable of at any given moment and at any given age. In essence, this approach holds a mirror up to children, a mirror in which they can—and do—see positive images of themselves.

Following this invitation for children to see themselves as they are, how is it that an adult can come to see infants? Ágnes’s acute observational skills and years of dedicated and groundbreaking research guide the reader to understand at a much greater level what freedom actually means for an infant. One of the author’s answers lies in the power of balance; balance of the infant in their self-initiated gross motor development, and balance in their caring and nurturing relationship with the adult who cares for them.

In fact, neuroscience has proven this to be true. In a chapter from the National Research Council Institute of Medicine’s From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development (2000), the committee writes, A secure attachment is assumed to exist when the infant or toddler explores comfortably in the presence of his or her caregiver.

Throughout her book, Ágnes’s thoughtful, prescriptive writings lay the groundwork for setting forth a most important vision for raising children into becoming mature, well-adapted adults—adults who will be among tomorrow’s best and brightest. Yes, our babies of today are our future; and if we sincerely desire a more peaceful world, it is paramount that we begin by immediately following Ágnes’s precepts.

Succinctly put, at the heart of her book, Ágnes advocates for children; and because of this, we too become enriched and transformed by her wise words. Ágnes also seems to achieve the impossible, personalizing the text in such a way that the reader feels at one with the author in the sharing of such vital, life-affirming knowledge—wisdom that is also backed up by her ongoing and significant studies.

Because of my longstanding relationship with Dr. Szántó-Féder, thus, I am able to unequivocally say that this book is a treasure, one in which the reader’s goals will not only be challenged but also expanded to the point of seeing children in an entirely new light. It is an honor, then, for me to personally recommend Moving with Pleasure from the Beginning, adding that this jewel of a book should be required reading for any parent, policy maker, early childcare professional, or any such person advocating for the health of young children around the world.

As my own life has been made richer from reading Ágnes’s book, I fully believe that you too will reap incalculable rewards from this wondrous volume. To that I add: The time is now; and through the author’s pure and noble advice, seize this moment by taking action to ensure the well-being of all children.

That said, I wish you happy reading and am grateful for your dedication and participation in making the world a better place for our babies because these wonderful tiny beings are our future. With knowledge, anything is possible; and with the knowledge found in Dr. Ágnes Szántó-Féder’s Moving with Pleasure from the Beginning, we can change the world one baby at a time.

Elsa Chahin

President and CEO Pikler/Lóczy USA

Co-author with Anna Tardos of In Loving Hands

Los Angeles, California

FOREWORD

by Myrtha Chokler¹

T his book by Ágnes Szántó-Féder, the first one she has authored by herself, is an invitation to reflect, to be conscious about certain issues, to ask ourselves questions, to be reflexive with ourselves, and to take a stand in certain questions. It also invites us to analyze our own ideas and actions with regard to those rather complex and mysterious creatures, which—as their entire body, open or fleeting gaze, clenched fists, and longing mouth reveal—carry in themselves all the secrets and potentials of human existence.

This book is actually an encouragement to uncover what lies in the background of the seemingly obvious and banal, things known to everybody and rooted in our culture, beliefs, myths, and knowledge as well as the contributions of science always oriented ideologically. It is important to reveal the hidden, unspoken, unformulated, or unconscious things and also what kind of image we have eventually formulated of a child: of a person in whose growing up we wish to or are afraid to provide help.

This book prompts the reader into essential, serious, and complex thinking. It sheds light upon what it is children experience, live though in their everyday life, starting from the very first wonderful, surprising, and vitally important moment when they feel united and identical with adults and feel—both literally and metaphorically—the support of the bedazzled adults who open up the world to them bit by bit: a world of actions, meetings, or detours. A world that integrates and disintegrates, that simultaneously includes and excludes the motions, signals, sounds, words without words, desires and anxieties, movements, emotions, and chaos adjusting to an internal, subjective chronology on the practically untraveled path that leads to them getting to know each other.

The questions Ágnes Szántó-Féder raises, partly to herself and partly to her readers, shed light upon this process, saturated with love and sometimes with suffering and lasting many years. It is a world of everyday experiences, tests, and counter-tests, scientific research, sounds, images, and projects.

Ágnes Szántó-Féder was compelled by the ceaseless efforts directed at the coherence between ideas and actions to pose questions to herself and to start analyzing meticulously, scientifically, in order to understand What do infants do when they are doing nothing? And then she poses the question to herself as well as to us, her readers: Why should we not do our best to ensure the well-being of children? She contemplates and searches for the answer to the question Is it necessary for us to teach infants and young children to move? And then what do the different possible attitudes imply in that case for them and for the adult? She rightly asks the question: What kind of difficulties are children compelled to face? All it took for this was that, in numerous cases, either directly with empathy—in families or institutional settings—or indirectly through documents, photos, and films, she observed and analyzed hundreds of children of different ages in various situations and contexts.

These studies allowed her to explore children’s interest in the quality of their movements, mimicry, emotional expressions, and attitudes and also to explore the potentials and obstacles that each of them has to face in a world full of objects, in the time-space continuum, in a system of relationships more or less consciously organized and elaborated by the adults, who take care of the children; but in the meantime, they also inevitably educate and support them in gradually adjusting to the culture and the social structure. In the course of the everyday interactions, an intimate process takes place between the adult and the child, accompanying the process of actively adjusting to reality, in the course of which not only children are transformed but also reality, as our teacher Enrique Pichon-Rivière would say. Or on the contrary, this may happen under the pressure of the hegemonic, mediatized, unjust, and inhuman set of values, which forces both the child and the adult to submit themselves passively to various models, to the anonymity of massification, to incorrect and futile exhibitionism, to banality and hopelessness.

The language chosen by Ágnes in the book is similar to the spoken language, colloquial and didactic, sometimes sarcastic, reflecting well the atmosphere of the training she holds at various levels—academic, formal or informal, and community—where mostly early childhood professionals take part. Nevertheless, this book is based on solid scientific foundations in establishing and analyzing concepts. Notwithstanding that these concepts necessarily build on practice—on historical, contextual, and empirical experience—Ágnes Szántó brings to us and explains the analysis and comparison of the data, the reflections and attempts to understand the results through the methodology of observation in different chapters. Her ideas and definitions often turn into innovative, profound, and interesting scientific results, in which she also integrates and expresses her rich mathematical and physical as well as developmental psychological qualifications.

Ágnes Szántó has not only been inspired by the pediatrician Emmi Pikler, who was her family’s consulting pediatrician from the time Ágnes was born and who also oriented her as an adult toward the discipline of psychology, but she was also guided and directed, in the course of her studies, by professor Tran Thong, who helped her discover the works of Henri Wallon, one of the most outstanding and dedicated figures of twentieth-century child psychology.

A significant part of the concepts used, integrated into systems or redefined by Ágnes Szántó, were inspired by Wallon, Pikler, physics, neurophysiology, or psychology. Such concepts, among others, loose muscle tone, postural security, balance and the perception of balance, laws of physics and psycho-physiological organizations defining them, questioning attitude and preconditions of autonomy, branches of postural development, observation and evaluation of the role of the quality of movement, as well as importance of practice, which are all discussed in the texts, play an important role again and again in the complex open process of creating knowledge, enabling us to think of a child not only as a reactive but also as an active creature starting from birth.

Because of her extraordinary scientific and pragmatic attitude, Ágnes Szántó uses the repetitions and redundancies, appearing in different moments in different contexts, to study from different points of view the aspects that encourage repeated reflection on a theoretical plane and shed light upon the underlying conceptions; she thus helps the everyday family or professional practices, which are of decisive importance at this age, gain a meaningful, consistent shape.

After Myriam David and Geneviève Appel first visited the Lóczy Institute and then started to disseminate knowledge in France about this original and unique experiment—which put into the limelight the importance of knowledge and educational models relating to children raised in institutional environments, infant homes, day-care centers, kindergartens, families, or elsewhere—Ágnes Szántó also played a key role in spreading and deepening Emmi Pikler’s ideas. Not only has she translated many of Pikler’s articles and scientific studies (data on the motor development of infants) of fundamental importance into French, but along with Anna Tardos and other professionals working at the Lóczy Infant Home, she has co-authored a book entitled Freedom to Move on One’s Own in addition to authoring numerous video recordings and publications.

As a professional committed to disseminating—further developing, expanding, and deepening the epistemological unity of Piklerian ideas and practice, as well as its practitioner and teacher—Ágnes Szántó Féder has made this school popular in almost all corners of South America, starting with Argentina and then in Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Brazil. She has been a school-creating master and a godmother, nucleo nucleante; in difficulty or desolation, she is a source of encouragement, she resolves conflicts with serenity, and she can always be counted on in creation as much as in creativity and communication. Hence, it comes as no surprise that her book was first published in Spanish as a part of the Fundari series in Buenos Aires before it was published in France, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, or, now, the United States, which are the countries where she regularly appears in various professional capacities.

Owing to the book’s clarity and consistency of ideas and proposals, it is a bastion of knowledge and a solid anchor; but at the same time, it also orients and supports us in thinking and acting together about the sufferings of overwhelmed and disoriented children and young people. It gives meaning to our everyday tasks as well as perseverance and strength for performing them. Her voice is a flash of wisdom that illuminates us and encourages us—with passion, humor, joy, and responsibility, unlike many other authors—to create as humane conditions as possible, less robotized, in which dignity, beauty, and poetry create a space in the world for the adventure of existence and growing up.

Myrtha Chokler

October 2010

FOREWORD

by Bernard GOLSE²

A s president of the Pikler Association of France, I have had the great pleasure of getting to know Ágnes Szántó, who has given me the honor of writing a foreword to her new book.

I very much appreciate her request, and I take this opportunity to express all the admiration I have for her—for her intellectual energy, her dynamism, her creativity, her talent for observing children; for the consistency of her thinking; as well as for her tireless commitment to popularizing and spreading the Piklerian approach in France and all over the world.

Unfortunately, we all know too well how many different ways children can be maltreated.

• One of the types of poor treatment, which hopefully happens only in exceptional cases, is the direct physical or sexual abuse of a child.

• A second form of abuse, undoubtedly more frequent, is represented by psychological abuse (without being associated with mistreatment in any physical or sexual sense), indicating the simple denial of the child’s existence.

• We can talk about a third, and actually very widespread and frequent form of mistreatment—which is precisely what the Piklerian approach opposes—when adults prevent children from putting into action the competences they have already mastered.

Indeed, one of the most fundamental needs of children is to bring these competences to life, to use them—not alone but in the close vicinity of adults, who support them with their presence, gaze, and thinking—without actually doing things for them; the adults respect the children’s own rhythm and have total confidence that they will be able to find their own solutions for challenges and difficulties arising in their everyday life and everyday activities in the course of their development.

It is well perceived that these ideas have something to do with the television programs made by Bernard Martino and broadcast in 1984 entitled Le bébé est une personne (The Infant Is a Person), which have become very famous since. It is common knowledge that Martino later created a very important documentary dedicated to the work of the Pikler-Lóczy Institute in Budapest called Lóczy: A Place to Grow (2001).

This book is about the living child and the thinking adult. This is only possible if the adults renounce their dominance over the children, which is subject to the adults not becoming immersed in the mental representations of the children they fear to have been. I will return to this issue later.

The Pikler-Lóczy Institute was founded in Budapest by the pediatrician Emmi Pikler in order to provide a home for children who had escaped from the turmoil of the Second World War that blighted Europe, especially Central Europe. In the institute, she wanted to utilize all her experiences acquired with families she worked with in their homes as a pediatrician.

Some of those children were literally deprived of their personal history; some did not even have a name and nobody to tell what they had survived.

The team of professionals working at Lóczy was forced to face how difficult it was to take care of children about whom nothing was known! Recognizing this, they elaborated a remarkable form of professional childcare, which, since then, has developed into a globally acknowledged school, with followers all over the world, especially in France, thanks to the work of M. David and G. Appell.³

Since its foundation, more than two thousand children have been housed in this very original institute, which, despite the long time that has passed since, still operates as a scientific research and further educational center (today as a day care center). The theoretical work in the institute has triggered the establishment of more than thirty organizations around the world. They refer to the spirit of the therapeutic environment conceptualized by Lóczy, seeking to use the supporting principles in caring for children coming from a disadvantaged background; but it is also more and more acknowledged that these can benefit other unproblematic children too.

Nowadays, there is an increasingly strong tendency in our western societies not to allow infants enough time to be infants.

Since fewer and fewer children are born, they are more and more precious. It is also true, on the other hand, that couples typically start a family later in life. Hence, children are expected to become autonomous earlier, thus being deprived of the right to be children, even though that is their fundamental right.

The quality of each stage of development obviously determines the quality of the subsequent stages, just like the foundations of a building have a decisive impact on the solidity of its upper floors.

In our societies, this concept of a child and of childhood is, in fact, profoundly ambivalent insofar as it idealizes infants (which would be our last utopia, according to some people!) while at the same time we make them prisoners via our projected anxieties and our forceful attitudes rooted in a culture of efficiency and speed.

I believe this ambivalence is linked to the ambivalence each adult has relating to their own childhood, among others, but there is also a power relationship in the background; however, it is usually difficult for adults to renounce their power for the benefit of their children.

Renouncing this power presupposes genuine trust in the children, in their internal rhythm of development (on which the harmony of achievements depends), as well as an underlying belief in the beneficial effects of free motor development; and finally, that the children can always acquire the different things at the appropriate time amid calm expectations on the part of the adults without any need for inconsiderate rushing.

Ágnes Szántó, as I said at the beginning, is an attentive observer of young children; and the experience she has accumulated is extremely precious for early childhood professionals and parents alike.

We know that the Piklerian approach basically builds on two pillars of the therapeutic atmosphere: a pillar of development—free motor development, among others—and a pillar of human relationships based on the quality of the individual human encounters in an institutional environment.

It is free motor development, the freedom of physical movement that is at the heart of this book; and it is well-known that the roots of the harmony of psychomotor development, as well as of the subsequent psychological freedom, are to be found here.

Of course, this freedom of movement can only be understood if we assume a child can be alone in the company of a talking-and-thinking adult, as D. W. Winnicott⁴ already pointed out in his time, and if we assume an asymmetrical reciprocal relationship between the adult and the infant. This relationship is considered by J. Laplanche⁵ as the anthropological situation fundamental from the perspective of the human race, perhaps playing an even more important structuring role, according to his ideas, than oedipal dynamics.

The way I see it, the real significance of Ágnes Szántó’s work is her pointing out how tightly these two basic pillars of the Piklerian approach are intertwined with each other.

The first chapter is about the motor development of the child, examining it in relation with the presence of the adult and with the quality of this presence, attention, and support. The second chapter is mainly devoted to the functions fulfilled by the adult (either parents or other professionals working with the child) while the third chapter focuses on the issue of observation.

In the last two chapters, the author deals with the issues of movement and balance positions, as well as the autonomy of the ability of will, in which, of course, the presence of the adult plays an important role.

The wealth of this book is due to the close connections between presenting knowledge about development and conceptual elaborations but always giving priority to knowledge gained from observation—the case studies of the two children, David and Olivier, could be referred to here—which adds clinical content to the more general, abstract reflections.

The book wonderfully executes the intellectual balance, in which the harmony of the balance of movement of the developing child is reflected. It is precisely this reflection that seems so powerfully enlightening to me.

Now that the operation of the Pikler-Lóczy Institute is at risk, Ágnes Szántó must be thanked for giving us such a precious document, from both a scientific and human perspective.

I am certain that the readers, be they parents or professionals, will encounter a fascinating account of the Piklerian approach in a time as complicated and often hard as ours with regard to our relationship to children. They will also find new evidence demonstrating that it would be a shame if what has been implemented at Lóczy were to be wasted since it can be of tremendous help to us in supporting our children as they grow, build themselves up, and become genuine individuals.

Please allow me to thank Ágnes Szántó for all this from the bottom of my heart!

Professor Bernard Golse

December 3, 2010

INTRODUCTION

T his work summarizes my experiences gained initially in France, and subsequently in many other places, as a psychologist working in day care centers and infant homes, then also on several occasions as a lecturer at training for early childhood professionals.

The main thread of the book can be defined in terms of a series of questions: how to best deal with children living in average, everyday situations, how to protect their health, and how to ensure their healthy development. (We are primarily talking about mental health here.) How can children’s well-being be ensured in day care centers and infant homes, where there are so many different needs: the well-being of the individual and of the group, of the children and their parents, as well as that of early childhood professionals? In this book, I hope that parents can also find some ideas that can be used in their family life.

The primary objective of the book is not prevention, i.e., what it is that needs to be avoided! Instead, I try to elaborate on all the aspects that have positive content for children in the here and now, which is useful not only for the sake of their health but also for their development.

This is an attitude that appreciates children the way they are, as well as anything they do. In other words, it builds upon what children can do and what they are capable of at any given moment at any age. This approach holds a mirror in front of children, in which they can see a positive image of themselves!

Many people around the world own this kind of approach to child development as it can add something of value to the life of every child growing up anywhere. Others who have mainly just seen the reflections of their own ideas and the results of their teaching in their children will be able to see them through new eyes once discovering the wide spectrum of things that the children are capable of independently and joyfully.

In my reflections, I build on the concepts and practice of Emmi Pikler on how I have interpreted them for myself. This is because I believe not everybody interprets them in the same way: in other words, I could say everybody has their own Pikler, which is the more or less comprehensive, partial concept they have made their own. It is only Pikler herself who could understand and interpret her own principles in their fullness and complexity. A good illustration of that is the variety with which different aspects of her principles are in the focus of practices in different countries. (Here, it is her work’s impact on family life, whereas there the focus is on the professional practices in day care centers or infant homes. At universities, for instance, the theoretical aspects of her work are taught.)

I also build on the activities of her followers, who have worked at the Pikler Institute in Budapest as well as in other places, other countries, under other institutional conditions governed by the same principles.

The most important starting point for me in Pikler’s approach is her image of the child, which is something I have never found to this extent in anybody else’s work: starting from infancy, children are active, proactive, and autonomous at their own level—and a partner for adults. I have also learned primarily from her what signs to look for in children to establish whether they are well, what and whom they need, and what is the most beneficial way of dealing with them. I also consider it very important that, starting from the moment the infant is born, any elements of our behavior—in addition to deep psychological impacts—is pedagogy or education for Pikler.

Besides my professional work in day care centers and kindergartens, I continued my studies and also conducted research: the latter has focused on the psychomotor development of young children under the circumstances defined by Pikler.

I am deeply thankful to the staff of the institute, most importantly to Dr. Emmi Pikler (who headed the institute at that time), for enabling me to gain the most significant part of my research from the data of the institute.

I also owe my gratitude to Professor Tran Thong, who introduced me to the work of French psychiatrist Henri Wallon. With his support, I acquired a global approach that must be the basis of a psychological study, the essence of which is that children themselves do not assess functions analyzed by us. They experience them and do so in synthesis with all the other functions that constitute their entire being. In other words, the unity of analysis and synthesis is the basis for psychological learning.

Tran Thong said that the analysis work constituting part of the research must be followed by a synthesis. This is what I have aimed for. The implementation of my goal was facilitated by some meetings that were important to me. First of all, meeting Dr. Emmi Pikler; then the head nurses and caregivers of the Lóczy Institute, directed by Emmi Pikler; in addition to meeting Geneviève Appell, Myriam David, Judit Falk, Katalin Hevesi, Éva Hűvös, Éva Kálló, Anna Tardos, and Mária Vincze; and besides all these people, my historic meeting with Myrtha Chokler in 1985.

This synthesis could perhaps be defined as providing a healthy lifestyle for young children in everyday life. It can apply to assessing the work of institutions taking care of children and to the subject of various conferences or professional further training as a basic idea.

It is evident for me—and it shows clearly in my work as well as in my research activities—that the self-initiated autonomous motor development described by Pikler is a discovery of vital importance in the field of modern child psychology. It plays a fundamental role both in the course of the development of the child’s personality as well as in the creation of a new approach for children!

My work and my concepts have been enriched by several sources. Now, when writing these lines, many rich ingredients of various different origins become mixed in my cauldron, to which their intended combination and their new ways of use—in other words, my own cooking skills—may add a new specific relish.

Is there anything original in the midst of all those thoughts? Yes, it is what denotes the constant optimal adaptation of the underlying principles of the Piklerian motor development to the force field of Earth (particularly to gravity). Based on my studies in physics and mathematics, I understood the influence of physics in the early stages (as well!) of motor development. With my statements (here, in chapter 4.2), I would like to lay the biological and genetic (developmental-psychological) roots of this development process into a new perspective, among other things.

Who Was Emmi Pikler?

Dr. Emmi Pikler (1902–1984) was a pediatrician and orthopedist. At the beginning of her career, she worked as a family pediatrician for ten years. Following the progressive traditions of 1930s Europe, her husband—an educator—and herself were both devoted to the new pedagogical movement. She believed that the role of a family pediatrician is more than just prevention and healing: with her medical and also educational advice, she supported young parents in preserving the physical and mental health of their children.

The 1930s were a special period in Hungary. Progressive currents swarmed in all fields; and in certain circles, modern ideas originating from all corners of the world were welcome. Some of these followed the same direction as Pikler’s own experiences; and with their help, she evolved the new modern image of the child already mentioned above: infants possess certain abilities and potential from birth, which had formerly been unsuspected since the conditions were not favorable for their appearance; or rather, they were simply ignored or perhaps not identified. These included infants’ ability to initiate in their relationship with their environment and in the course of their autonomous activity. Pikler’s most important discovery, which relates to the independent exploration of the early stages of motor development and will be discussed here at length, is also part of this.

Around a hundred children were raised according to her advice in these—to use Winnicott’s words—good enough families.

Pikler asked the parents to do the following:

1. Ensure the children’s free movement by arranging an appropriate environment while at the same time making sure that they do not rush the natural development process, i.e., not placing the children in any posture or position or not inducing them to do any movement that they have not yet mastered on their own.

2. Consider moments of care as celebrations characterized by a mutual joy of the mother and the child in getting acquainted with and rediscovering each other and in establishing contact and communication.

3. Make sure, as part of healthy lifestyle, that the children spend a lot of time outdoors.

4. Ensure a healthy diet and a balanced and transparent order of life that is cognizable for them.

What Can the Baby Already Do? is the original title of the book Pikler wrote for parents in 1936⁶. Already in this first work of hers, she published some ideas that would still be considered modern today as they are still not obvious for everyone.

The book is illustrated with sixty child photos by the photographer Mariann Reismann. The book as well as the photos depicted children who are curious and ready for action. They were balanced and skillful and showed carefulness in their movement; and thus, they were indeed able to be active.

Pikler proposed a comprehensive pedagogical method in which moments of intimacy with the child and intimate communication alternate with periods when everybody is doing their own thing day after day; in other words, the child is independent and active, which also enables the mother to have some autonomous time.

The Infant Home in Lóczy Lajos Street—or the Pikler Institute, as it was later called—was established by Emmi Pikler in 1946. Those who are familiar with the work that takes place there can see the application of all the recognitions Pikler arrived at in the course of her work with families. The underlying principle of the work at the institute is thus the novel approach to the child, in whose personality development moving and playing freely, viewing care moments as special occasions, and providing a healthy lifestyle play an important role. Myriam David and Geneviève Appell introduce this in detail and at length in their work titled Lóczy ou le maternage insolite⁷.

Several other books and studies have been published since, chronicling the important work done by Pikler and her followers (Judit Falk, Mária Vincze, Éva Kálló, Katalin Hevesi, and Anna Tardos); a rich eleven-language catalogue now bears witness of this. Nevertheless, one must highlight the detailed documentary produced by Bernard Martino, Lóczy, A Place to Grow (1998), and the book accompanying the film (unfortunately only available in French for the time being): Les Enfants de la Colline des Roses (The Children on Rose Hill) (Paris, JC Lattès, 2001).

Emmi Pikler’s ideas have inspired others as well around the world. To name just a few examples, besides many countries in Europe, Myrtha Chokler in Argentina applies the principles as an important element of her academic curriculum as well as in therapy to children with physical disabilities combined with her own experiences regarding psychomotor development, Maria Vasquez applies them in raising abandoned children in the infant home she has established in Ecuador, while Katharina Becker builds her work around these ideas in her day care center. Many Pikler associations have been established all around the world; and some of them have formed larger alliances, like Nuestra America (in South America), in order to disseminate knowledge about Pikler’s principles and their ever-broader practical applications and to provide training for those interested.

The AIPL (Association Internationale Pikler-Loczy) operated between 1997 and 2012. Then the new International Pikler Association (Pikler International) was established in 2011.

ABOUT THE BOOK

I intend this book to be a working tool . It makes no sense to read it in one go as if it were a novel. Most of the chapters stand their own ground. They can be read individually.

There are repetitions in the book; this is inevitable in such a compilation. The repeated ideas, however, appear in different contexts in the various chapters, illustrating in a somewhat different way the issue discussed in that given chapter. I believe they are vital for the coherence of the given train of thought.

These texts are primarily recommended for readers who are directly involved in raising and taking care of young children. However, especially when reading the more abstract chapters, a different kind of attention may also be required. I hope that all those who show some interest in the development of young children will also be able to follow these with pleasure.