3.3 Creating curriculum
- What is a curriculum in an early years program?
- Is there one curriculum that is best to follow?
- How is a curriculum for children developed?
In early learning and child care (ELCC), curriculum refers to how you organize opportunities for children to learn throughout the day….ELCC curriculum is not a list of topics that need to be taught or activities that have to be completed. It is the way you design interactions, relationships, environments and experiences to create learning opportunities. It describes your intention to support children’s learning and development” (Province of Manitoba, n.d., p. 2).
There are many different ideas as to what a curriculum can and should look like for young children. Each program is unique in accordance with the social and cultural context of the community and families it serves. Programs for young children differ in many ways, including the goals or focus of the programs, the ages of the children, whether parents are also offered support and services, whether there are multiple goals to the program, and so forth. Even though there are many variations in programs for young children, a curriculum offers a plan for designing and orchestrating the environment and experiences.
Curriculum approaches vary in how much emphasis is on the children’s initiative and how much is on the educators’ guidance and direction. Consider the following curriculum continuum.
To learn more about the role of curriculum in the provision of quality early childhood programs, read the section, Components of quality early childhood education, in the Early Years Study 3 by McCain et al. (2011, pp. 52 – 54).
The curriculum continuum graphic on p. 53 of the reading (Figure 3.3) shows that curriculum approaches vary in how much emphasis is on the children’s initiative and how much is on the educators’ guidance and direction. Using that graphic, consider an early childhood program with which you are familiar.
Are child-directed and adult-guided strategies used effectively?
Have there been situations that you think qualify as laissez-faire chaos and/or didactic
schoolification?
How might this diagram be used with educators to help them improve their practice?
The late Dr. Mike Niles, was a professor of Social Work at Arizona State University and a creator of the Indigenous Early Intervention Alliance. Listen to him talk about the idea of “best practice” and curricula in indigenous communities in the United States. His comments are relevant to how we think about creating curricula for a community rather than “applied” to a community.
Niles says he encourages educators to think about who they are, what they bring to the community and what it means to be a community member. Consider these questions and reflect on your role in the lives of children and families.
In the next video, Elder Stella Blackbird shares her vision about the need for a children’s program grounded in traditional Indigenous values. You will see the transformation of an old department store in the heart of Winnipeg’s North End into a beautiful building reflective of Indigenous cultures where generations meet, play and learn together.
Abecedarian approach
The Ecology of Childhood module has information on the Carolina Abecedarian project, which is an early intervention program that provides high quality care to children from lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods. The Abecedarian approach can be used as part of or to supplement an early years curriculum. In the next videos, Dr. Joseph Sparling, one of the investigators and developers of the program, discusses the three core features of this approach to early education: Enriched Caregiving, Conversational Reading, and Interaction Games (previously called LearningGames).
How do the strategies that Sparling describes fit with your understanding of high quality early childhood care and education?
Emergent curriculum
Emergent Curriculum is an approach to program planning in early childhood settings that is becoming a widely respected practice. Based on the interests of children, it involves careful observation, tuning in to children’s thinking and a genuine partnership between adults and children in the process of learning.
In the next clip, Marc Battle, a faculty member of the Early Childhood Education program at Red River College, explains the meaning of emergent curriculum, stressing the importance of collaborative relationships between adults and children:
In the following article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Elizabeth Jones explains emergent curriculum and contrasts it with standardized curriculum.
How would you describe emergent curriculum to someone unfamiliar with the approach?
What do you think are some of the challenges for caregivers with this approach?
The next video demonstrates an example of an emergent project, which Marc Battle participated in, centred upon children’s interest in “machines”.
Reggio Emilia
An important influence on early childhood programs in the last few decades has been the exemplary preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. These programs have impressed educators with their ability to nurture and also support childrens learning at a very high level within a playful environment. Great attention is paid in detail to children’s thinking and to how they express their experience in various “languages” — verbal, visual, kinesthetic, and so forth. In the next videos, Dr. Lillian Katz, professor emerita of Early Childhood Education at the University of Illinois, discusses two elements of the Reggio Emilia approach.
Early learning curriculum frameworks
Along with several other provinces and territories, Manitoba has developed curriculum frameworks to guide early childhood education programs. The frameworks are based on research and influenced by current thinking about curriculum for young children. They recognize the salience of play in the lives of young children. Links to other provincial and territorial childcare frameworks are included in Additional Resources on the next page.
Listening to children, being attuned to their interests, providing a rich but not overstimulating sensory environment and a secure base of attachment, together, are the essence of what is needed to support children’s communicating and learning. Policies, programs and environments for young children should be designed to support and ensure these practices.
You have reached the end of the Communicating and Learning Module. Researcher transcripts, references, and links related to the module topics are available on the next page.
