Curriculum Development Assignment To begin, there are many current trends and policies that have impacted greatly on the Early- childhood care and education system and services in Ireland over the years. Such trends and policies include, Play. Play is a huge part of any early-childhood care and education setting in Ireland. Children are said to be at their happiest when they play. They are also supposed to be at their most vital and energetic. Aistear the curriculum framework for early childhood care and education has impacted greatly on the early years settings and the development of the curriculum. Margaret Kernan says that there is a tension in current early childhood care and education in Ireland between the vision and theory of play and also children’s everyday play experiences. Understanding the importance of play for a child is highly important, not only as a right but an actual need for their overall well-being. Play needs to be secured in all ECCE settings. As well as play, there is also another focus and that is on activity and learned centred curriculum. This is defined as allowing the student to learn by exploring, thinking, creating and being involved with his environment. Thirdly we have the Developmental model of curriculum, this model is seen as a process and uses many of the teachings from such developmental theorists such as Vygotsky, Piaget and Bruner. This model of curriculum is concerned with the nature of the child. From these theorists we learn how the childrens minds develop and how they actually learn. This also has a huge impact on the curriculum development in early years services and the way they go about their teachings. Another thing that has had a severe impact on early year’s services is the la... ... middle of paper ... ... responsibility of having animals and the caring that comes along with them. This would be a long term way of keeping the activity going but if you wanted a short term activity, something as simple as asking the children to make their favourite animal out of play-dough or modelling clay would also be a great activity. Another short term activity could also be as simple as asking the children to all draw their favourite animals. There are many ways of keeping an activity like this going. To conclude, I have discussed the current trends and policies that have impacted on the curriculum development n early years settings. I have examined the learning story and identified the relevant principles, themes and learning opportunities outlined in Aistear. I have also reflected on the learning story and identified ways of extending the activity shown in the learning story.
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
There are numerous of reasons why parents should be involved in early childhood education. According to the Constitute of Ireland, Bunreacht na hÉireann (1937) under 42.1 states that parents are the first carer and the primary educator in a child’s l...
Exploring How Psychologists Study the Role of Play in Child Development Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, New Edition, 1995 defines “play” as: “[Children] when children play, they do things that they enjoy, often together or with toys. ” Play is one of the most powerful vehicles children have for trying out and mastering new social skills, concepts and experiences. Psychologists, such as Faulkner (1995), present evidence that play is seen as a mean of developing social skills and interpersonal relationships with others. The first section of the essay will present the different approaches psychologists use in the quest to learn about the role of children’s play and their related issues. This section will briefly define the nature of play and the different types of play that influence social development.
For my first activity with the child I have chosen outdoor play. I’ve chosen this because it really focuses on most aspects of development. After researching outdoor play, I still agree with my decision, this is due to research saying that it is very good for the child. In addition to this, it’s a form of physical play which I think will really help the child’s development.
There was so much to learn about play and learning. I learned that play is very crucial to the learning and the development of a child. I knew the basics of the way we teach the children and how we are supposed to address and ask questions to the little ones to learn and be able to excel in their leaning. The understanding of why we need to is a different reason. To understand that the early childhood education plays a big role in the lives of these very young children. There is evidence that states that there is short and long term gains in cognitive, language, and the social-emotional development of the children. ( http://www.academia.edu/). I never realized that play contributes to these developments in so many ways. We as preschooler
My desire for children in my care is that their learning journey would be meaningful as they explore the ideas and activities they are interested in. This means that I believe that children are naturally motivated learners and should have the opportunity to learn through their own explorations and through collaboration with other children and educators. I believe this can be done through both teacher-initiated and child-initiated activities and supported through play. I also believe that play is a natural and enjoyable means through which children learn. In my practice I aim to encourage children’s natural ...
I think it is very important for children to engage in imaginative and creative play. The reason I say this is because, there are so many children out here in the world being forced to play the sports they dont want to play. Meanwhile, we have other teens and young adults playing the sports they want to play. Yes children need to experience creative paly to learn how to be themselves. They need to learn how to become independent responisible thinkers. With all of these things been said this brings me to my next subject.
Like all young children, a child enjoys the pleasure of play. However, many people have different views on play and what it is used for. First of all, many parents and teachers think that play is beneficial to young children in many ways. It teaches them basic skills they need to learn in life such as cooking or housekeeping. This type of role play helps exercise their creativity and serves as a “rehearsal for adult life” (Lester and Russell). It provides them with the skills needed for them to grow as independent adults. Say, a child is pretending to run a grocery store. Another child comes by the store and picks up an empty carton of milk. Children often experiment with numbers and prices and manipulate them to either create a sense of being “grown up” or to cause a reaction. With this being said, the child running the store charges
Play is a primary learning tool that allows children to develop, and is the key pedagogy used by early childhood educators to support and enhance development (DEEWR, 2009). These principles acknowledge the child as a capable, resourceful learner who plays a critical role in directing their own play (Kearns, 2010). Curriculum for infants and toddlers should be open ended and flexible so as to enable changes initiated by the children. When educators value play’s ability to encourage and combine a wide range of young children’s intellectual, physical, social and creative abilities, they follow the EYLF aims of empowering children to view themselves as competent and resilient learners (DEEWR, 2009). The framework is underpinned by the principles that play is a critical tool in promoting learning, children as producers of their own learning and educators as facilitators (Kearns, 2010). Play is not just an experience to engage in for their enjoyment; it is through play that young children’s deep learning occurs (MacNaughton,
In recent years the emphasis on academic accountability and focus on children’s cognitive skills has led to a decline in the occurrence of play in early education settings. While both approaches have those who argue for or against them, the focus remains on what is the most developmentally appropriate practice, a phrase coined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which describes the concept of matching environment to the varying needs of young children. (Crosser, 1996) According to a national study conducted for the U.S. Department of Education:
My topic links to the curriculum for Excellence as it emphasises that children learn through active play such as spontaneous play, planned, purposeful play along with investigating and exploring. (Scottish Executive Education Department,
Holistic development of young children is the key determination and through play they are able to survive and become physically healthy, able to learn, and emotionally secure and into where they progress into responsible and productive adults with positive reinforcements in the future. When there are societal issues that are barriers such as “technology, childhood obesity, culture, etc.” (Gaston, A, Module 1, Unit 1, 2016), children are then unable to revel in freedom of movement in where play is adventurous and brings out positive behavior. “Play supports the holistic development through the development of intellectual, emotions, socially, physical, creative and spiritual” (Gaston, A, Module 1, Unit 2, 2016), signifying that holistic development is an important factor to be aware of as the child grows. An example would be when in Workshop 1 of Social and Cognitive Styles of Play, we had to play in the given activity for the time being and observe our members and distinguish what kind of cognitive play it was. And one of the assigned question to
Care and education have become a part of children’s daily lives in Ireland and England outside the home in childcare services. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory curriculum framework for children up to the age of five in England. It was first introduced in 2008 and on the 1st of September 2012 a new revised document was published. Aistear, published in 2009, is Ireland’s first early year’s curriculum framework for children from birth to six years of age. A curriculum framework is a scaffold or support for the development of a curriculum that can be used in childcare settings. A curriculum framework can also be used in partnership with parents when developing a curriculum. This paper will compare and contrast these two curriculum frameworks in relation to philosophy, content, pedagogical practices and expected/targeted outcomes for children. Due to the limits of this paper, it will only be possible to develop an overview of the similarities and differences.
The purpose of early childhood education is to firstly learn about one’s self and agency, how one’s actions can affect and impact others; to develop a sense of identity; who you are and how you fit into this world. Experience a sense of belonging through interactions with peers and teachers whilst celebrating and sharing diverse cultures whilst embracing others. Children need to have opportunities to explore, experiment, to gain insight and knowledge in numeracy, literacy, science and social structure through innovative and richly supported curriculums (DEEWR, 2009). I have very high expectations of all children as I believe that this assists in building self-confidence and
Nóirín Hayes explains in her research paper Perspectives On The Relationship Between Education and Care In Ireland (2007), how demand for early years education in Ireland has increased in the last two decades for a multitude of reasons. Due to this growing demand for quality early years education the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) introduced Aistear as the early childhood curriculum framework for 0-6 years in Irish early years settings in 2009. Aistear was introduced as the curriculum framework which when practiced alongside Síolta, the quality guidelines for the early years settings environments (introduced by the NCCA in 2006), creates a nurturing and safe environment which caters to the individual developmental needs of each child within the setting. Aistear means journey as Gaeilge and symbolizes the learning process and search of knowledge as a journey. Aistear’s framework is based on four themes - Well Being, Identity & Belonging, Communication and Exploring & Thinking - as a means to develop the child in a holistic way. (Aistear principle and themes: introduction).