Educational Theorists
John Bowlby –
(born February 26, 1907, London, England—died September 2, 1990, Isle of Skye, Scotland)
Who was he?
John Bowlby was a British psychologist and psychoanalyst who believed that early childhood attachments play an essential role throughout life. He thought that children are born biologically programmed to seek and establish a close relationship with their caregiver; the connection between mother and baby developing to ensure the baby’s survival and for their needs to be met.
Bowlby developed his ideas around child development from his interest in how children separated from their caregivers, causing anxiety. After WWII, Bowlby wrote a report for the World Health Organisation (WHO) about the mental health of homeless children. This was to inform his future work and ideas around attachment.
Bowlby’s work influenced his colleague, Mary Ainsworth, whose work added to and further developed attachment theory by developing a method for observing a child’s attachment to a caregiver.
