| CODE | EPE1007 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Emergent Curriculum in Early Years: Planning and Implementation | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Early Childhood and Primary Education | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Early childhood education policies suggest that curricular frameworks can rise quality in early years services (OECD, 2001). However, curricula can also become an issue of conflicting ideas, different philosophies, pedagogies and practice about what early childhood education is for and what are the appropriate content and context for learning and development. In this study-unit, students will examine and analyse the differences between the two main types of curricula, the pre-primary approach and the social pedagogic perspective (OECD, 2006; 2001). The students will discuss why an increasing number of countries are adopting open and flexible frameworks which focus broadly on the children's holistic development and well-being rather than on only cognitive development and closed literacy and numeracy objectives. The students will be introduced to the benefits and challenges of an emergent curriculum and a way of planning activities based on the children's interest, play, interaction, exploration and co-operative project work. Moreover, the students will be introduced to the Reggio Approach and the Project Approach which have been haled by the OECD (2004) as examples of good practice in the field of early childhood education through their ideologies of children's participation, active learning, holistic development, identity and well-being. Study-Unit Aims: The overall aim of this study-unit is to introduce students to different curricular approaches, theories and current practices of learning which are meaningful and engaging for children and educators alike. Through the introduction of a framework of planning to be used in early years classrooms, students are encouraged to implement the concept of process-oriented model that is based on children’s interests. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Distinguish and discuss the different curricula and frameworks and understand their challenges for implementation; - Outline the key characteristics which inform the curricula and approaches discussed, in order to create a nourishing classroom culture and a pedagogy based on relationships and contextualised active learning; - Identify the challenging issues in developing an emergent curriculum; - Demonstrate an understanding of the planning framework; - Reflect on and propose the different ways of involving children as partners in the learning process. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Use different curricula frameworks and approaches to inform and develop their practice; - Create a nourishing classroom culture based on active learning and respect towards children as capable learners; - Design, plan and organise emergent and flexible activities that are characterised by a process-oriented methodology through contextual learning; - Observe, assess and provide documentation for learning activities that demonstrate the children's knowledge, understanding and experiences of the children; - Modify their planning according to the new outcomes, the flow of the activities and the children's new interests. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Chaille, C. (2008). Constructivism across the curriculum in early childhood classroom: Big ideas as inspiration. Boston: Pearson. - Helm, J. H. & Katz, L. (2010). Young investigators: The Project Approach in the early years (2nd Ed.). New York: Teachers College. - Schiller, M. (1995). Reggio Emilia: A focus on emergent curriculum and art. Art Education, 48 (3), 45-50. - Stacey, S. (2009). Emergent curriculum in early childhood settings: From theory to practice. St Paul: Redleaf Press. - Wein, C. A. (2008). Emergnet curriculum in the primary classroom. London: Teachers College Press. Supplementary Readings: - Miller, L., Cable, C. & Devereux, J. (2005). Developing early years practice: Great Britain: David Fulton. - Nutkin, S., Mc Donald, C. & Stephen, M. (2013). Early childhood education and care: An introduction. London: Sage. - Wood, E., & Attfield, J. (2005). Play, learning and the early childhood curriculum (2nd Ed.) London: Paul Chapman Supplementary online documents: - Barresi, J. (u.d.) The early childhood learning environment. Early childhood/family educaton programs, Oklahoma State Department of Education. Available from: http://ok.gov/sde/sites/ok.gov.sde/files/EarlyChildLearnEng.pdf - Clearnighouse on Early Education and Parenting (u.d.) Section 3: The Project Approach on the Web. Methodology in Activity: Two examples of long-term projects. Available from http://ceep.crc.edu/eecearchive/books/projcat3/section3.html - Jones, E. (2012). The emergnet of emergnet curriculum young Children, 66 - 68. Available from http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/2012013/Heritage_v67n2_0312.pdf - Ministry of Education and Employment (2012). A national Curriculum Framework for All. Malta: Salesian Press. Available at: https://www.education.gov.mt/mediacenter.ashx?file=MediaCenter/Docs/1_NCF%Booklet.pdf - Mulqueen, M. (u.d.). Louise Boyd Cadwell and the REggio-Inspired Approach to Educatoin: Available from: http://www.i-edu,org/Articles/Reggio-Approach.pdf - OECD, (2004). Starting Strong Curricula and Pedagogies in early childhood eduation and care: Five curriculum outlines. France:OECD. Available from: http://www/oecd.otg/dataoecd/23/36/31672150.pdf - OECD (2001). Starting Strong I: Early Childhood Education and Care. France: OECD. - OECD (2006). Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. France: OECD. Available from: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/14/32/37425999.pdf - The Project Approach (2011 - 2013). Available from: http://www.projectapproach.org/ Wein, C.A. (u.d.) Emergent Curriculum. Connections, 10(1). Available from http://tachedaycare.com/Articles/Emergent%20Curriculum.pdf |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Josephine Deguara |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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