| Comparing Thematic Units and Emergent Projects | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic Units | Emergent Projects | ||||||||
| Adult-generated | Adult-anticipated | ||||||||
| Teacher choice | Child-initiated | ||||||||
| Whole class | Small groups | ||||||||
| Teacher-directed | Child-directed | ||||||||
| Teacher-planned | Child investigates | ||||||||
| Time frame | Time varies | ||||||||
| One theme at a time | Several ongoing projects | ||||||||
| Document ending | Document process | ||||||||
| Disseminate, transfer knowledge | Child constructs and builds knowledge | ||||||||
2.3 “Modern” Curricula (Since the 1960s)
This section describes some of the more recently developed curricula: High Scope, Creative Curriculum, Tools of the Mind, Success for All, and Opening the World of Learning. In some respects, early childhood curriculum development over time could be interpreted as an ongoing dialogue. As you will see, the curricula described in this section were influenced by those in the previous section, but they also reflect the interpretation and application of theories and research that have emerged since the mid-twentieth century.
High Scope
While the people at Bank Street were working to reinterpret their work as the Development-Interaction Approach in the 1960s, another idea about how to apply a constructivist perspective to early childhood curriculum emerged out of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Incorporating the theory of cognitive development proposed by Jean Piaget, David Weikert and his colleagues developed the High Scope curriculum.