Curriculum Theoretical Perspective
Drawing up a proper curriculum is critical to achieving the most successful results of its implementation. Therefore, it is essential to take into account many factors and characteristics that will help create the most appropriate learning plan for children. It is worth noting that the process of its creation and consideration is of particular importance, Escayg, K., 2019). At the same time, research showed that “type of curriculum, the fidelity of curriculum implementation, and duration of intervention were found to moderate the educational effects” (Yang et al., 2019, p. 37). Thus, it is necessary to take into account the audience of the curriculum, the place and the circumstances of its holding, and what goals the educators expect to achieve.
A critical feature is the pursuit of specific characteristics that make the curriculum developmentally appropriate. This step is necessary since the training and activity program should not only correspond to the age of its participants but also take into account their needs and development characteristics. In addition, the source emphasizes that curriculum for children must include two primary components: “Children learn by playing actively and should be engaged in a play” (McLachlan et al., 2018, p. 9). This is valuable information, as the proposed training plan is intended for early childhood.
When choosing a training program, it is worth paying attention to domains which determine children’s development level. Among them are social, physical, affective, cognitive and linguistic. In order to gain an understanding of what level of development they are at in early childhood, it is important to carry out evaluation and research measures. This will help build a curriculum correctly and thoughtfully, which will consider all the features and unique features of an early age.
The collection of information about what features are inherent in the developmentally appropriate curriculum was made on the basis of literary sources. This was done because they provide evidence-based information that is reliable and well-founded. Thus, it was determined that the developmentally appropriate curriculum implies the development of such a training plan that will consider students’ cognitive, psychological, and physical characteristics. It is worth noting that each child is unique in the development of specific abilities (Brown & Barry, 2019). This fact determines the need to determine the boundaries for admission to training.
Further, several main aspects will help create a developmentally appropriate curriculum for early childhood. Hence, the first is the regulation of goals of learning, depending on which children will be taught (Tecce DeCarl, 2018). The next step is to consider age characteristics and development features. In particular, at this stage, it is possible to consider the cultural and social context, which also has a fairly significant role.
It is worth remembering that without particular challenges, achieving the most difficult tasks is impossible. Thus, the curriculum should be built in such a way that children are uncomfortable. In other words, they should always experience a challenge, even a small one, in order to keep motivated. And involvement in the process of learning new information. Like the literary review conducted within the framework of this study, all training should be based on evidence-based sources of information. Children need to get reliable knowledge during their studies. Moreover, this procedure directly provides educators with additional knowledge, if necessary. One of the most critical points is taking into account the safety of the younger generation, which is an integral component of any project.
Taking into account such physical, social, linguistic, and affective domains is essential to ensure comfortable learning and achieve the goals set by students and the teacher. Therefore, for the developmentally appropriate curriculum, it is necessary to include such things as physics, social, linguistic, cognitive, and affective. Establishing an approximate balance between these concepts is necessary since, together, they are trained to understand the seal of good educational success.
Choice of Curriculum and Assessment with Program Implementation
The next step is to choose the appropriate curriculum and assessment methods for the implemented program. Hence, the administrator must calculate several prospects and factors at once that will contribute to making a decision. As already mentioned, the training program is selected depending on the needs and needs of its participants. Thus, given the fact that a curriculum is created for early childhood, it is essential to choose a plan in accordance with this age group and its level of development. Facilitation of interest and involvement in learning is also essential in this process. Further, curriculum choice should be based on professional standards allocated to create the most successful plan. Based on them, a choice is made of which curriculum should be chosen, what assessment measures will be taken, and what tools will help in creating a positive environment. Thus, the choice of the curriculum has settled on a program that focuses on teaching language, sciences, as well as concepts of culture and equality, conducted in a playful or interactive form.
Creating a proper environment is the next important step. This is due to the fact that a favorable environment contributes to the better development and improvement of skills. Moreover, it promotes children’s communication with each other, which has a positive effect on cooperation and strengthening interpersonal relationships in the group. Thus, the environmental strategy is also created by taking into account the age and cognitive and physical characteristics of students. It will include such concepts as equality, partnership and collaboration. A properly constructed learning environment will be reflected in the formation of concepts such as team building, shared interests, curiosities, and reflections regarding curriculum.
Next, there is the need to choose a way to assess the success of the implemented curriculum. First of all, it will be necessary to determine the time when it will be held. This aspect is valuable as it provides an opportunity to evaluate the implemented initiative in the course of its use (McLachlan et al., 2018). This will result in making possible changes when finding flaws or inaccuracies in the curriculum. Therefore, conducting a survey on the satisfaction and effectiveness of the curriculum can be chosen as an assessment tool. However, this can only be done by educators and adults since this method is not suitable for children. In addition, it is possible to keep a journal with children’s individual outcomes, where the successes and failures of children will be recorded. This is to provide an opportunity to evaluate the curriculum based on the improvement or deterioration of student performance.
Regarding such aspects as interactions, connecting staff with one another, and mediation conflicts, each trainee will have to undergo specialized training. They will provide information on how to build an environment that encourages only positive interaction. In the event of any conflict, employees will have to make timely decisions to prevent it (Wallensteen, 2018). This may include many different tactics to resolve conflict situations. In this process, it is vital to determine the cause of stressful relationships between people. This will help to understand the root of the problem, which will help avoid such a situation in the future.
Employee interaction is valuable when creating a curriculum. This aspect is directly reflected in the success of the implemented program and the smoothness of its implementation. In this way, interaction and communication between staff can be achieved with an emphasis on group work. It is noted that “effective communication is essential for successful general and special education collaboration and frequently centers on critical issues related to assessment outcomes, curricular needs, and behavioral concerns” (Da Fonte & Barton-Arwood, 2018, p. 102). Thus, the importance of this aspect is to involve not only employees and educators but also other stakeholders, such as parents, in team-building practices.
Connecting Your Practice and Curriculum to State Guidelines
Utilizing the state guidelines when considering and implementing a possible curriculum is of particular value. This is supported by the fact that in case of non-compliance with these regulations and rules, the program will not only have no effect but may also be banned for use. Thus, it is vital to compile a program that will make the best use of these guidelines but still remain true to best practices for the needs of young children. To ensure compliance with government documents, Illinois’s State Guidelines will be considered in this section.
The construction of the curriculum begins with a consideration of the main aspects that must be followed and ensuring compliance with state guidelines. Thus, Gronlund (2006) states that when developing training programs for early childhood, it is necessary to use game elements, as well as such activities that include exploration and active learning. Thus, these aspects should have a mandatory representation in the provided curriculum and become the basis for the development of more complex interventions.
Regarding legislation, Illinois learning and development standards will be considered as part of this work. They provide information about such sections of teaching and programming as language, mathematics, science, and social studies (“2013 Illinois early learning and development standards,” n.d.). Moreover, it provides the necessary guidelines for taking into account children’s physical and psychological development and the corresponding learning process at these levels.
According to the legislation of the state of Illinois, several criteria must be met for the success of the training program. Hence, it should take into account all the domains of a child’s development at a certain age, and goals and results should be clearly formulated and imply the most positive trends. In addition, the knowledge and data provided to students should correspond to their level of development, skills, and desires (Whitaker et al., 2022). Regarding the environment, the curriculum must comply with specific parameters to provide a comfortable and safe process of acquiring new knowledge. Therefore, compliance with the guidelines of the Illinois legislation regarding the development and learning of children provides a development appropriate to the process of forming an educational curriculum.
Curriculum and Technology
In modern society, technology occupies one of the main places in the life of every person, regardless of age. They are used in all fields of activity and have significant advantages and disadvantages. Source states, “Technology has changed the way children learn, and when teachers integrate technology into pedagogical practices, resources, and assessment, it expands the way teachers teach” (Blannin et al., 2021, p. 1). This necessitates a detailed consideration of the contribution that technology can make to the curriculum. Moreover, when deciding to use innovations in the educational process, it is necessary to include a unique program for staff, which will help support teachers in appropriately using technology to improve children’s learning. This includes considerations of teachers caring about technology expectations in the classroom for instruction and assessment.
In any curriculum, regardless of its goals and objectives of use, consideration of tools and suitable materials for the study is valuable. Thus, special attention should be paid to the issue of the use of technology. This is due to the fact that only such measures and tools should be used in the curriculum that will contribute to improving the process of perception and memorization of new information. Technologies, due to their wide distribution and use, are familiar to every person, which becomes a plus of their implementation. This is due to the fact that educators will spend less valuable time on staff training.
One essential characteristic that innovative technologies have is to provide an opportunity to increase the involvement and motivation of students. So, specialized educational platforms and interactive tasks will be a great way to attract early childhood attention. This is supported by the fact that the process of acquiring knowledge takes place through the visual component, which is especially interesting for children. Moreover, audio elements are actively used, which also facilitate better perception and memorization of information at the early stages of a child’s development. Thus, we can say that integrating technology into working with young children is developmentally appropriate. A critical aspect is maintaining a balance between the amount of their use in the curriculum (Yu et al., 2020). Thus, the excessive introduction of technology can negatively affect the health indicators of children, as well as affect aspects such as the ability to retain attention and the perception of transmitted knowledge.
On the other hand, technologies and their implementation in the educational process have a pretty large number of advantages. Henceforth, using audio and video components contributes to better memorizing the necessary vocabulary and information. Further, innovations help to reduce the barrier to learning from students if they are available. In other words, all children, regardless of their status and financial situation, have the same opportunities and access to technology in the classroom, which facilitates equality. On the part of educators, the use of this kind of assistance provides an opportunity for a more creative and effective presentation of knowledge and data for early childhood.
Consideration requires the use of technology to conduct instructions and evaluate the learning process. Qureshi et al. (2020) emphasized that “the combination of digital devices creates an easier way to enhance the teaching and learning environment easier” (p. 38). Thus, the same thing can be attributed to the evaluation processes of the educational process. So, teachers get the opportunity to perform analytical actions regarding the curriculum and its success much faster and more efficiently since the whole process is digitalized. Moreover, technology provides more opportunities for disseminating instructions regarding the learning process and creating an environment to improve the development of children. Thus, the use of technology in the learning process not only improves the performance of students but also contributes to improving the quality of professional learning of educators.
Connecting Families and Community with Curriculum
The last section, but no less critical, is the consideration of the issue of creating a connection between families and communities with the curriculum. This is of particular importance, as a strong feeling of community within and outside of a program comes from meaningful connections people have with each other. Moreover, the creation of such relationships helps to improve not only the process of implementing the educational plan but also contributes to its smoother and more uniform flow due to the collaboration of all stakeholders in the process. Family and community are of particular importance, as these are two indicators that have a distinctive effect on the child (Epstein, 2018). So, they are reflected in the ways of his behavior and ability to perceive and remember new information. Moreover, behavior in the family and within the community is an example for children about how they should interact with society.
One of the strategies that can be particularly successful in involving the family and community in the curriculum is the formation of an online presence. In other words, administrators can create an online platform on which data and information about the training process will be provided. For example, it can display various reports on the activities carried out and the success of students. This strategy can have unprecedented success, as it is convenient for both community and families and for the educators themselves. Moreover, it requires much fewer time, resources, and spending on staff training since most are already familiar with innovative technologies.
Another more traditional way is to arrange meetings for both families and representatives of the community. This strategy can positively impact the formation of relationships with these participants, as they are given the opportunity to learn all the information they are interested in directly from administrators and educators. Thus, the level of trust in those who conduct and form the curriculum increases, as well as the quality of education increases, as families and communities understand the importance of the proposed intervention.
The involvement of the community and family environment has many positive influences on the educational process. Kamkwis and Zumo (2019) emphasize that “the lack of communication, accountability, and transparency have been observed to be some of the pressing issues affecting efficiency and performance” (p. 92). Therefore, the administration should introduce various kinds of initiatives to involve this circle of stakeholders in the educational plan.
In conclusion, this work provided information about the aspects that need to be taken into account when implementing an educational curriculum. Therefore, this process includes considerations of such indicators as the involvement of the family and community, the use of technology, accounting for state acts, and theoretical perspective. Moreover, attention was paid to the consideration of such an aspect as the process of choosing a program and how to evaluate it. Thus, it was determined that in this process, it is especially critical to take into account the level of early childhood development, capabilities, and needs. All these indicators must be met to ensure appropriate and successful curriculum development, which can be applied to achieve the most productive results.
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