What are children like and how do they learn?
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Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Describe the key elements considered in curriculum development and major research efforts that have affected curriculum.
- Describe the key features of classic curricula developed prior to the 1960s.
- Describe key features of modern curricula developed since the 1960s.
- Establish a conceptual framework for making decisions about curriculum.
Introduction
Congratulations! Your interview went great! You have been offered a position in the preschool classroom of a public school in a farming community. The area has a growing immigrant population as well as many families who have lived there for generations. The school is small (one class per grade level) and most of the low-income and middle-class families and children know each other through agriculture work as well as neighborhood and church activities.
Your principal tells you that you will have two curricula to use: (1) a state-approved comprehensive curriculum with supplemental early literacy resources and (2) materials for second-language learners. The comprehensive curriculum provides guidelines, objectives, suggested learning centers, and materials. The second-language package, which contains specific printed materials and instructions for activities, was chosen to provide focused instruction for at-risk children. The principal says that you will make most of your own decisions about how to organize your classroom and will be able to choose topics of study that are relevant to your students.