THE CHILD-CENTERED CURRICULUM

Reporter: Yolanda Teves

Sobrepeña

“Children are strong, rich, and capable. All children have preparedness, potential, curiosity, and interest in constructing their learning, negotiating with everything their environment brings to them.”

-Louise Boyd Cadwell

Children are smarter than we give them credit for!

o Young children are amazingly observant

o We should never “dumb them down” and lower our expectations of their capabilities

o They are naturally curious and therefore capable of controlling their own learning

Two types of learning…

Rote memorization• Learn by hearing/drilling

the same information over and over

• i.e. letters, numbers, states and capitals, math formulas, phonics

• Rote memorization helpful to teach some types of information

• Many subjects in schools taught by rote memorization

• Learning is static• Representation of learning

is shown by performance

Discovery and personal understanding

• Learning by doing (talking, drawing, constructing, painting, touching, experimenting)

• Children understand concepts in their own way, at their own pace, and within their own developmental ability (schemas)

• Allows for deeper understanding and connections of bigger ideas

• Learning is a result of the experience and is dynamic

Two types of questions…

• Answer is either right or wrong

• Typically used with rote memorization information

• Intimidating/boring to some children

• Open ended with no exact right answer (I wonder…)

• Promotes deeper understanding of concepts

• Young children respond well to this-but lose this ability during school years.

Two types of activities…

• Expected outcome (everyone’s looks the same)

• A right and wrong way to do the activity (i.e. worksheets, matching games)

• No personal attachment or pride in the result

• Creative and individual (each one is unique)

• No right or wrong way to do the activity

• Allows for experimentation with tools and materials

• Personal pride in the result

Child-centered curriculum

The philosophy underlying this curriculum design is that the child is the center of the educational process. Thus the curriculum should be build upon his interest, abilities, purposes and needs.

This type of curriculum emerged from the extensive research carried on in the 20th century carried by John Dewey and his followers. A new respect for the child, a new freedom of action, was incorporated into curriculum building in the child centered school. Common characteristics of programs founded on the new philosophy were the “activity program”, the “unit of work” and the recognition of the needs for using and exploring many media for self-discovery and self direction.

Child-Centered Curriculum

• The focus is on the process, not the product• Through documentation (photos, children’s

drawings, transcripts) the parents will feel like they are truly part of the experience and the children will feel like valuable members of our community

• The children will be given the freedom to be who they are- young children! Time allowed every day for active outdoor play and meaningful indoor play

• It’s not all about worksheets and spelling tests!

Child Centered Curriculum

• The curriculum focuses on the whole child and integrates all of the subject areas

• The day isn’t spent “clock watching” to ensure time for all subjects every day

“Teachers facilitate children’s exploration of themes, work on short-and long-term projects, and guide experiences of joint, open-ended discovery and problem solving. Teachers listen and observe children closely. Teachers ask questions; discover children’s ideas, hypothesis, and theories; and provide occasions for discovery and learning.”

-Louise Boyd Cadwell

Teachers…

o Share the role of leader with the children—don’t always have to be “in total control” of every situation

o Ask and encourage the children to ask questions-but do not always give answer

o Use words like “I wonder” and “what do you think?”

o Are excited and involvedo Find “teachable moments” throughout the

day

 

Child-Centered.   Teacher-Centered.

Environment

Low student: teacher ratio (1:10 or less)  Higher student: teacher ratio (1:20-25)

    

Multi-age groupings with a focus on the peer modeling and reinforcement

 

One age grouping

    

Students have the same teacher for three years allowing for long-term, trusting

relationships 

Teacher changes yearly

   

Child is free to move about room, interacting with anyone

 Child is encouraged to stay seated, silence is encouraged

   

Everything is introduced experientially with manipulatives

 Manipulatives usually used only in math

   

Environment is maintained by children with a focus on personal responsibility and pro-social

skills 

Environment is maintained by teacher and custodian

   

Curriculum

Practical life activities used to develop sense of order, cooperation, concentration and independence

 No practical life

     

Sensorial activities are systematically used to refine coordination, discrimination and vocabulary

 If used, sensory activities are used sporadically and not as an integral part of the curriculum

    Writing precedes reading  Reading precedes writing

    Phonetic, sight vocabulary and whole language are all

used to meet individual needs and learning styles of children

 Language texts used (although some schools are now using whole language approaches)

    Grammar introduced in kindergarten and taught in

context 

Grammar taught out of context (from text) at older ages

    Interdisciplinary approach is used for art, music, history,

physics, ecology, zoology, botany, geography, anatomy, chemistry, foreign language, physical

education

 

Separate texts are used for social studies, science, health and music

    Math concepts and processes are introduced early  Rote learning is used to teach math facts

    Daily lesson plans are determined by each child's

needs 

Daily lesson plans are determined by teacher's manual

    Lessons are given 1:1 or in small groups

  

Lessons given to all students in a class at one time

    Use of texts are for reference; lessons and activities

are teacher-made 

Texts are used for all subjects with little individualization

Character Development

Child-centered activity and curriculum  

Teacher-centered and curriculum-centered activities

    

Internally motivated; children work because they want to

 Externally motivated; children work because they have to

    

Child chooses work and works as long as he/she wants, allowing for self-monitoring and

concentration 

Teacher chooses work

    

Work continues until a child masters a concept Pace of activities is determined by teacher's manual

    

Non-competitive processes; no reference to other students' "grades" or "scores"

 Competition for grades among peers; emphasis is on tests and grades

    

Hands are considered a pathway to the brain and a mechanism to understand abstraction

 Paper/pencil and oral explanation are used to "teach" abstraction

    

Children are introduced to concepts first; details are learned after a concept is mastered

 Children learn detailed information first, then the concept

Children rather than miniature adults, become the focus of educational efforts

Experience rather than rote learning, become the medium of learning

Research assumed significance in the planning for the developmental needs of children

Children’s motivation in learning was recognized The creative energies of teachers and children were

released Educational expectations and standards were custom

made in terms of each child’s abilities and potentials Rigid-grade organization was abandoned along with

traditional promotion policies Reporting on children’s progress became descriptive

and For the first time, teacher education on a board scale

became professional education

The weaknesses of the child-centered curriculum are chiefly in the possibilities for “misinterpretation” and in the neglect of adequate consideration of the matrix in which the education of children must occur:

1. The misinterpretation of the philosophy of the child-centered curriculum was a natural consequence of radical change. Teachers sometimes ill prepared to adapt to changing concepts of child development, Frequently created a school environment, which fostered license rather than freedom.

2.The child-centered philosophy is often conceded to be an inherent weakness. In this effort to free the child, many critics charged that the basic purposes in the establishment of schools were ignored. From the beginnings of formal education as a function of the society, conceived as a means of perpetuating the life of a people. Society supports school in order that its youth will be educated in its values, beliefs, traditions, customs, and mores. Society looked upon the child-centered curriculum and found it lacking. While the schools often became the scapegoat for ills were the correctly attributed to other social agencies, nevertheless they were frequently vulnerable to the charges leveled against them.

Thank you for listening!