EMMI PIKLER – LIFE AND WORK

Abstract

The article focuses on the principles and methods invented by Emmi Pikler and offers an overview of her life and work. Emmi Pikler was a Hungarian paediatrician who designed and promoted innovative principles and practical methods of caring for and upbringing of newborns, thus significantly improving knowledge on their development. The central premise of the Pikler approach is the unimpeded and creative movement of the new-born, free from the requests and intervention of the parent or the primary adult, the formation and development of the child’s individual identity and the promotion of the child’s attachment to their primary adult. Emmi Piklers’ specific practical methods include primary care, freedom of movement and the respect for self-confidence and competence of the child. Pikler developed the belief that the child’s experience of competence depends on their self-initiated activity and the changes which result from the reactions including muscular sensations. The child’s everyday experience is what weakens or strengthens the faith in one’s own capacity – each act of physical care, movement or other ways of exploring the environment further improves the child’s experience of themselves as competent beings.