The High Scope Curriculum Strategy - Term Paper Example

Early Childhood Education- The High Scope Curriculum Submitted by: XXXX XXXXXX Number: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX Subject Code: XXXXX Date of Submission: XX – XX – 2009 University of XXXXXXX Introduction: High Scope Curriculum has been in use for over 40 long years and has been adopted in over 20 different countries. The approach is simple without any special requirements for equipments, materials or environment. The High Scope Curriculum, centers on recognizing and supporting the unique differences of children and utilizing these to develop their self confidence and abilities (Henniger, 2009). Early childhood education is not only essential but is also a very big challenge for parents and teachers alike. After several years of research and findings, there have been numerous educational curriculums that have been developed for this process. Of the entire curriculums one of the most effective and efficient process is that using the High Scope Curriculum (HighScope, 2009). This report will deal with analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of the High Scope Curriculum and based on the discussion the effectiveness of the approach will be analyzed. About High Scope Curriculum: The High Scope Curriculum approach has been developed and refined over the last forty years and this method provides numerous strategies and techniques that can be utilized to assist children at the early stages to become problem solvers and independent thinkers (YMCA, 2009). The approach was originally developed and introduced to assist and serve the children ‘at risk’ in the Michigan area (YMCA, 2009). A research had been conducted by David Weikart, the Director of Special Services to assess the reasons for the number of children failing in school. The research brought out results that highlighted the need for early intervention and using the theories of Jean Piaget, he discovered the need for early introduction of ‘Active learning’ (YMCA, 2009). The High Scope Curriculum involves a high degree of active learning throughout the program. The curriculum includes a few early age indicators like the need and initiative of the children to learn new things by asking questions and looking for answers and also trying to solve problems. These steps form the key development indicators for the growth and development of the children and help the educators to develop and design better active learning programs for the children (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2009). The High Scope Curriculum also takes into account the knowledge and the strengths of the children by exposing them to a wide range of learning experiences and also providing them with opportunities to learn things that interest them and learn based on experience. Also the High Scope educators allow the children to have a sense of control in terms of the events of the day and the planning of the routines. This allows the students to have a sense of planning and they are aware of what they need to expect next. As explained in the High Scope Educational Research Foundation: “A central element of the preschool daily routine is the "plan-do-review sequence"; other key elements are small- and large-group times, greeting time, and outside time” (HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 2009). Usability and Assessments: The High Scope Educational Research foundation has clearly stated the assessment style used for the programs, “The COR (Child Observation Record) is used to evaluate child progress in High/Scope infant-toddler and preschool programs. The Preschool Program Quality Assessment (PQA) is used to evaluate the quality of the program, focusing on five key areas: learning environment, daily routine, adult-child interaction, curriculum planning and assessment, and parent involvement and family services” (HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 2009). The High Scope Curriculum has slowly grown to become a major style of education in the country. Over the years more states and local school districts have tried to utilise more universal programs that would help in the education of the students. The high Scope program is very simple to use and every aspect of the classroom and the program is very carefully chosen. Special care is taken to choose the right space and material (Henniger, 2009). Also the best possible combination is utilized to promote the active learning among children while making education fun. There is excellent usage of space and equipments and in most cases the centre is divided based on the interest areas, i.e. specific areas are assigned for specific kinds of study and play. The most common of these are areas like block area, small toys area, book area, sand and water area, art area and house area (David, 1973). This arrangement, of the program, makes it very flexible and also allows it to be easily adopted by various schools and is compatible with the needs of the state standards. Since the program has been designed based on a research of the child instructions, staff development, it hence meets all the needs of the Pre – kindergarten model as well (Henniger, 2009). Benefits of High Scope Curriculum: Complete Child Care: The High Scope Curriculum that has been developed has been focused completely on being ‘child centric’. The importance of needs of children is given complete attention. According to the Early Years Reports, this, i.e. the child oriented curriculum, is a very essential factor for any curriculum. Early Years Reports are developed by a committee working across Canada and across the world to bring out what is new and what the community requires (The Early Years, 2009). The Early Years Study also brought out essential aspects like the need for the child care providers to be trained and knowledgeable staff with a compulsory certification in First Aid and CPR. The Reports also suggested the need for the teachers / child care providers to be actively involved in the professional development sessions (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2009). The underlying and main reason for this is to ensure that the children are in safe hands with high levels of care provided at all times. Child Development: Another major benefit of the High Scope Curriculum is the fact that the program is based on the development of a positive self – esteem among the children. Also the program also aims at providing the children with a fun environment where they have a choice to be the decision makers of what they want to learn. Also in this program the classrooms are built based on the knowledge of the interests and learning of the children. This facilitates better responses from the children and also allows the students to build a desire to learn in the children. This program also facilitates positive responses when an issue or conflict does occur (The Early Years, 2009). The program encourages the teachers to facilitate an issue, however the children are involved in every step and this helps them develop and grow and be able to face issues and problems with a calm mind. Parent Involvement: Early stages of learning require parent involvement to a great extent as it provides a positive growth. The High Scope curriculum recognizes this need and it views the parents as partners in the learning process. The program involves a message board which is used each day for the children to discuss the events that is important to them. There are continuous feedback sessions and surveys that are also conducted with the parents (HighScope, 2009). Also creation of a consistent daily routine allows the children to know when they can expect their parents and this creates a secure and trusting environment for the children, with lesser insecurity and fright. According to Early Years Study: "The evidence is clear that good early childhood development programs that involve parents and other primary caregivers of young children…can vastly improve outcomes for childrens behaviour, learning and health in later life. The earlier in a childs life these programs begin, the better. These programs can benefit children and families from all socioeconomic groups in society" (YMCA, 2009). Drawbacks of High Scope Curriculum: Although the program has been recognized to be so effective, there have been a few issues that have been raised by teachers and parents alike against the high scope curriculums. A few of the teachers and parents believe that this mode of teaching children leaves the learning process restricted and does not incorporate any traditional forms of learning. Also, for learning alphabets and numbers, the traditional methods are not permitted and this is top a great extent an issue and does not assist the parents to teach children at home (Henniger, 2009). Parents have also raised worries and concerns about the amount of pressure and stress. In the recent times it has been noted that schools use programs like the high scope and the programs require the students to have high levels of emotional intelligence and ability to learn more each year and grow at the same pace each year (The Early Years, 2009). This however is not possible and it leads to the children losing their childhood and becoming part of a race with high-levels of pressure and the undying need to improve at every level can leave the lead to loss of childhood. It is known that children do definitely learn; however the years of being children are lost and responsibilities are to be shouldered at very young ages, when the emotional intelligence is much lesser than that of an adult. Parents and teachers feel that the High Scope program requires reducing the stress and issues at such early ages as it is equal to forcing the children to lose their childhood and run towards being adults. Effectiveness of the Curriculum: There have been numerous researches that have been conducted on the effectiveness of High Scope. From the above discussion and based on the various researches that have been conducted in the past, it is safe to say that the overall effectiveness of this course when compared to its counter parts is relatively much higher and useful for the children and their development (Lawrence & David, 1999). While considering the overall effectiveness, it is essential firstly note the effectiveness in terms of the training and evaluation and the outcome of children (Schweinhart, 2003). In a research that was conducted by Schweinhart, a senior research scientist, it was found that high scope provides a significantly better training and the child outcome is also much higher. Schweinhart explains: “High/Scope advantages in daily routine involved implementing a consistent daily routine, encouraging children to plan and review activities, and providing opportunities for planning, doing, and reviewing. High/Scope advantages in adult-child interaction differences involved observing and asking questions, participating in childrens play, and balancing child and adult talk. Comparison classrooms had no significant advantages over High/Scope classrooms on this instrument. These findings indicate that the High/Scope classrooms were implementing the High/Scope Preschool Curriculum to a significantly greater extent than were the comparison classrooms” (Schweinhart, 2003). The figure below highlights how the program has assisted the students to perform better in overall development, initiative, social relations, and music and movement over the participants in the compared programs. Training Evaluation & Child Outcomes Overall development 3.36 3.17 Initiative 3.52 3.28 Social relations 3.58 3.49 Music & Movement 3.86 3.49 COMPARISON HIGH SCOPE Figure 1: Comparison of High Scope with counterparts for training and child evaluation Another research that has been carried out by High Scope Educational Research Foundation highlights how the effects of utilizing the High Scope Program can prove to be beneficial for the school and overall results of the school (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2009). The graph presented below is an evaluation done with participants in three different types of curriculum with the results shown. This was done at three different schools. School C did not participate in the Other School Program. The results are clear that the High Scope, once again, the children have done better, with the Same School Program in a close second High Scope Early Elementary Evaluation Achievement Test Scores School A Results 58 35 31 School B Results 45 39 36 School C Results 59 51 0 20 30 40 50 Other School Program Same School Program High Scope Program Figure 2: Comparison of Schools –Achievement Test Scores Based on the research conducted, both the researchers have highlighted that High Scope programs are very effective and widespread. In words of Schweinhart, “The evidence for the effectiveness and widespread use of the High/Scope preschool model is compelling. This model contributes to the development of a wide range of youngsters, especially their development of initiative, social relations, and music and movement ability. It helps at-risk participants achieve greater school success, socioeconomic success, and social responsibility. No other educational curriculum for children has demonstrated such a variety of important effects” (Schweinhart, 2003). Conclusion: There have been several responses to the usefulness of the High Scope Curriculum. As has been noted in the discussion the views on the topic are varied and a number of teachers believe that the use of this method for teaching could be most beneficial if it were to be combined with other forms of curriculum as well. Hence considering the original question, i.e. Early Childhood Education and the overall effectiveness of the High Scope it has been noted that the effectiveness of the curriculum alone is not as good as one which is combined. Hence although High Scope Curriculum has a number of benefits, it will be best in the interest of the students as well as the teachers to use a combined effort in the teaching process. References David, P. W. (1973). classifications in the high scope congnitive curriculum. High/Scope Educational Research Foundation , 16. Henniger, M. (2009). Basis of The High/Scope Curriculum. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from Education.com: http://www.education.com/reference/article/basis-high-scope-curriculum/ High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. (2009). The high/scope k-3 curriculum:a developmentally appropriate approach that will work in your school. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from High Scope: http://www.highscope.org/file/educationalprograms/elementary/K-3factsheet.pdf HighScope. (2009). Curriculum. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from HighScope: http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=1 HighScope Educational Research Foundation. (2009). HighScope Preschool Curriculum. Retrieved October 13, 2009, from Education.com: http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Educational_Early/ Lawrence, J. S., & David, P. W. (1999). The Advantages of High/Scope: Helping Children lead Successful Lives. Educational Leadership , 76 - 78. Schweinhart, L. J. (2003, February 21). Validity Of The High/Scope Preschool Education Model. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from High Scope: http://www.highscope.org/file/research/high_scope_curriculum/preschool_validity.pdf The Early Years. (2009). Home. Retrieved OCtober 16, 2009, from The early Years: http://www.founders.net/ey/home.nsf/home!openpage Years, E. (2007, March 13). The High/Scope Approach. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from Learning and Teaching Scotland: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/earlyyears/about/approachestolearning/highscope.asp YMCA. (2009). What is the History of High/Scope? . Retrieved October 13, 2009, from YMCA of Western Ontario: http://www.ymcawo.ca/ChildCareWeb/historyhs.html Read More