The Ideal Curriculum in Early Childhood Education - Essay Example

Running Head: THE IDEAL CURRICULUM IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION The ideal curriculum in Early Childhood Education Name Course Institution Date The ideal curriculum in Early Childhood Education Introduction A curriculum can be described as “the planned and guided learning experiences and intended outcomes of learning and that are developed through a systematic reconstruction of experiences and knowledge in a bid to promote the wilful and continuous growth of learners, intellectually and socially (Turner, 1980). Similarly, Pratt (1980) describes a curriculum as a written document which systematically describes the planned objectives, goals, learning activities, content and procedures for evaluation. It can also be considered as the sum total of activities, experiences and events that take place within a learning environment and are aimed at promoting learning and cognitive development. A curriculum provides educators with guidance, ideas and strategies of promoting and evaluating the progress of students in learning. Devoid of the guidance of a curriculum, it would be challenging for educators to determine whether students have achieved the set learning objectives or outcomes (Blatchford, 2008). This essay seeks to describe the ideal curriculum for my professional practise as an early childhood educator. Foremost, this essay will examine the curriculum intents of the ideal curriculum in early childhood education. In this section, I will discuss what is meant by the intended curriculum in my professional practise as an early childhood educator. I will discuss the intended purposes of the curriculum, how it would be ideally developed and the parties that should be involved. Secondly, this essay will examine the enactment of the curriculum. In this section, I will discuss what is the enacted curriculum, the way in which the learning experiences of students will be selected and enacted and the possible internal and external influences. Third, I will examine the experienced curriculum. In this section, I will discuss what is meant by the experienced curriculum and what students are bound to experience so as to realise the intended outcomes. Lastly, this essay will provide a rationale why this is the ideal curriculum for my professional practice as an early childhood educator. Intended curriculum The intended curriculum refers to the set objectives or goals that are set at the beginning of planning phase of any curriculum. It establishes the specific purposes, goals and the short-term objectives that are to be achieved. The intended curriculum seeks to provide answers on what the curriculum developers want to do. It is in most cases defined by national guidelines, standards and curriculum frameworks such as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Its interpreters include, teachers, parents and administrators (Hollweg & Hill et al, 2003). Furthermore, the intended curriculum can be considered as the key goal on what students are expected to learn from their educational experiences (Kellaghan & Stufflebeam, 2003). The starting point of developing the intended curriculum revolves around recognizing the learning objectives and outcomes of the particular field. The key goal of early childhood education is to build a strong foundation for the different areas of child development such as cognitive, social, emotional, language and physical development. Some of the goals and objectives of the intended curriculum include; Cognitive development- To enable children to learn about the world, understand how things work, teach them to develop independent thinking , sustain attention and enable them to employ problem solving strategies as they engage in pretend play (Jackman, 2011). Language Development- Enable children to learn how to communicate, participate in conversations, develop receptive language, understand and use words. Show awareness for print, pictures and participate in drawing and writing (Jackman, 2011). Social and Emotional Development- Enable children to learn about themselves and others, learn to be part of a group, play with other children, regulate their behaviour and learn to use personal communication and care skills (Jackman, 2011). Physical Development – Enable children to develop and use basic motor skills and learn how to take care of their bodies (Jackman, 2011). The outlined goals and objectives are what children need to learn thus the intended curriculum would be ideally developed by putting into account these goals and objective. In addition to these goals and objectives, the intended curriculum will put into account the specific learning needs of children as identified by educators, teachers and parents since they are the one’s who are closely linked to children. Therefore, the role of teachers, educators and parents is essential in developing the intended curriculum (Jackman, 2011). Enacted curriculum The enacted curriculum incorporates the contents that are implemented day to day based on the choices or decisions that teachers make concerning the content and learning experiences for their students. It is also the content that is actually delivered in the course of instruction in the classroom or learning settings. Using this curriculum, the learning experiences for children will be selected and enacted based on their specific needs. In early childhood education, one of the best ways to study children and identify their learning needs is through observing them as they play. According to the Reggio Emilia philosophy, play is one of the most important indicators of a child’s capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, attitudes and behaviour (MacNaughton 2003, Caldwell 1997). It is during play that children demonstrate their awareness of their surroundings and their different range of cognitive skills. By observing children during play, one is able to identify indicators like the speed at which they learn new things, the child’s capabilities in problem solving and how well they are able to work and collaborate with their peers. For example, giving children building blocks to play with can provide a good indicator of observing their cognitive abilities like their hand to eye coordination and as they think and figure out how to build a structure they show their capabilities in problem (Broderick 2004). Moreover, during play, it is possible to observe the patterns of a child’s social interactions, one can be able to note whether a particular child prefers to play with others or in seclusion and whether they are comfortable sharing their materials or toys with others. By observing the interactions of children while they are playing, it is also possible to monitor their development, their willingness to learn from others and their progress in learning. Observing children play is one of the approaches that will be used to determine or select the learning experiences for children and the contents to be used. In the process of selecting and enacting the curriculum, some of the likely internal and external influences include; the set standards and instructions, needs of professional development, instructional data and the monitoring of the children’s performance against the set standards. In addition, other influencing factors include; teachers goals, teachers knowledge on the student, classroom norms, the teacher’s instructional disposition and the children’s learning disposition (Knott, 2009). The experienced curriculum The experienced curriculum can be described as what actually happens in the learning settings. It incorporates the actual procedures and the normal activities into the directed instructional situations (Marsh, 2009). In early childhood education, the experienced curriculum will be play-based. In order for children to realize the intended outcomes they are likely to experience a sense of excitement and enjoyment from play-based activities within the learning settings. These activities enable them to identity, explore and create meaning. Through play children can construct meaning from the challenging experiences that they encounter. Play helps children to overcome their social limitations by allowing them to manage their behaviours emotions and (Singer, Golonkoff & Hirsh-Pasek, 2006). In order for children to realize the intended outcomes, it is important to plan for the enacted curriculum. Foremost, play activities must be planned in advance, it is essential for me as their educator to ensure that adequate space and time is allocated for children to participate in various play-activities. This can be realised by developing a simple timetable to provide guidance on the activities that are to take place. The playing space also needs to be scheduled and prepared in advance. It is essential to provide adequate playing toys, materials and resources for every child so as to avert conflict. Thus, it is essential to budget for the required playing toys, resources and materials based on the number of children available in the learning setting (Broderick, 2004). Play-based activities as the enacted content and learning experience for children can help to realise the intended outcomes. It through these activities that children can identify problems, explore solutions and develop understanding on how concepts in the real world form and function. By comparing and reflecting on information gained from each experience during the play sessions, children can actively and independently construct knowledge on how things work in the real world. This curriculum addresses the specific objectives of the intended curriculum. For example, through a simple building play, children can explore the properties of materials through the use of different shapes, sizes and colours of blocks. In this case, they also have to develop theories on how a tower should be built, they will generate questions and new information about what works and what does not work. Even without adult supervision, they are bound to gain information and learn independently (Hoisington, 2008). In order to maximize and focus on the specific objectives and goals, the teacher or educator will be an engaged and active participant. While children are playing, the teacher will observe, support, monitor and extend the play by asking the children questions that are open-ended and that relate to the factors being explored in the play. This will challenge the children to create meaning out of their play activities. In addition to this, short periods of time will be set aside to enable children reflect and discuss about their play-experiences. The teacher or educator will document the successes, challenges and discoveries made by the children and subsequently use this documentation to remind the children about their previous learning experiences and what they learnt from these experiences. The teacher will use the documented information as a foundation for building individualised learning experiences of each child in different developmental stages. Ideally, the teacher will create a record of what children are learning by combining the documented pieces. This will enable the children, their parents and other stakeholders to monitor the learning progress the children (Hoisington, 2008). Rationale for the ideal curriculum Personally, I believe that the three elements discussed in this essay comprise of an ideal curriculum for early childhood education. Foremost, the goals and objectives in the outlined curriculum are holistic and they cover the key aims of early childhood education as set in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). These objectives touch on the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical and language aspects of child development (Jackman, 2011). The enacted curriculum is based on the set learning objectives and the specific learning needs of children. Observing children during play is the approach that will be used to identify the learning needs of children. Based on the set learning objectives and the identified learning needs of children, it is evident observing children during play is suitable in determining and selecting the learning experiences for children and the contents to be used. The experienced curriculum is play-based, these activities as the enacted content and learning experience for children can help to realise the intended outcomes. Play is an essential tool through which children can learn about themselves, others and their environment. It has an invaluable role in the learning growth of children and thus it is important for play-based activities to be incorporated within the learning settings in order to help in the holistic development of children (Clements &Fiorentino, 2004). Early childhood education provides an opportunity for building a strong foundation for children and thus the curriculum models used at this stage should be child oriented. It is at this stage that children’s values, beliefs, motor skills and social skills are developed. In order for early childhood education to give children a strong foundation for their future, the intended curriculum, enacted curriculum and experienced curriculum should acknowledge the uniqueness and diversity of children. A play-based curriculum is one of the key models that can help to realise the set goals in early childhood education (Clements &Fiorentino 2004, p114). An effectively developed curriculum in early childhood education should touch on the development of social, emotional, mental, verbal and physical aspects of a child. In most cases a curriculum that is play centered involves these aspects therefore it promotes the holistic development of children (Dimidjian, 1992). Conclusion This essay has described the ideal curriculum for my professional practise as an early childhood educator. The three elements of the curriculum discussed include; the intended curriculum, the enacted curriculum and the experienced curriculum. The goals and objectives set in the intended curriculum include, cognitive development, physical development, social and emotional development and language development. The enacted curriculum incorporates the contents that are implemented day to day based on the choices or decisions that teachers make concerning the content and learning experiences for their students. In early childhood education, one of the best ways to study children and identify their learning needs is through observing them as they play. Therefore, observing children play is one of the approaches that will be used to determine or select the learning experiences for children and the contents to be used. On the other hand, the experienced curriculum can be described as what actually happens in the learning settings. In this case the learning experiences of children were play-based. Play is one of the best approaches through which children can learn about themselves, others and their environment. Its role in the learning growth of children and there it is significant for play-based activities to be included within the learning settings in order to help in the holistic development of children (Clements &Fiorentino, 2004). References Blatchford, I. (2008). Understanding the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy and progression in learning. Hong Kong Journal of Early Childhood Vol 7, No.2. Broderick, J.T. (2004). Initiating experiences with clay and drawing as dynamic conversations. Canadian Children, 29 (2), 7-13. Caldwell, L. (1997). Bringing Reggio Emilia Home: An innovative approach to early childhood learning. New York: Teachers College Press. Clements, R. & Fiorentino, L. (2004). “The child’s right to play: a global approach”. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. Dimidjian, J. (1992). Play’s plays in public education for young children. Washington, DC: NEA Early Childhood Education Series. Jackman, H. (2011). Early Education Curriculum: A child’s connection to the World. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Hoisington, C. (2008). Lets play! Using play-based curriculum to support children’s learning throughout the domains. Retrieved on September 11, 2011 Kellaghan, T. & Stufflebeam, D. (2003). International handbook of educational evaluation: practice. New York: Springer. Knott, L. (2009). The Role of Mathematics Discourse in Producing Leaders of Discourse. New York: IAP. Hollweg, K. & Hill, D. et al, 2003, What is the influence of the National Education Standards? New York: National Academies Press. MacNaughton G. (2003). Shaping early childhood: learners, curriculum and contexts. New York: McGraw Hill International. Marsh, C. (2009). 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