Emergent Curriculum Provocations Learning Environment Week 3 PDF

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Summary

Emergent Curriculum, Provocations and Learning Environments
- Jennifer Hooper...

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Emergent Curriculum Provocations Learning Environment Week 3

Emergent Curriculum (CHP 5 PG 87) - Planning a curriculum that is based off of the emerging interests of the children in your care - Ensures that activities will be of interest to the children and builds on their strengths - Allows them to learn in ways that are developmentally appropriate - Focuses on the process of learning - Arises from the play of children and the play of teachers Emerges from sources such as: -

Children’s and Teacher’s interests Developmental tasks Things in the physical environment Unexpected events Values held in school, community, family and cultures Daily living such as caregiving, routines and conflict resolution

Developmentally Appropriate activities and practices: - Relevant to life experiences - Respectful of cultural and individual differences - How young children learn if we are being developmentally appropriate - Responsive to interests and needs of children - Learning process not the end product - Thought Provoking - Stimulating and challenging - Based on philosophy that children are competent and trustworthy and can make good decisions if given the opportunity to do so

Think about it…

What might be benefits of following an emergent curriculum in early childhood education? -

Sparks learning and interests in the children More involvement and more engaged Richer social interaction with peers Learners ability to focus on a task, to manage behavior, selfregulation

How will you know what the children are interested in? - What sorts of verbs are they wondering about, the actions they’re using, (if they’re using ramps and cars then how things move and the speed or bubbles etc.)? - What are more hands on, and they can be actively engaged in?

Cycle of Emergent Curriculum Observe: - Children in play - In natural play settings - Continue to observe Document, Reflect, Question: - What kinds of things am I seeing? - How am I going to help spark and further provoke an interest I’m seeing? - What are they interested in in that experience? Plan and Implement: - Here is what I am going to play now based on those observations and documentations - I am going to create some plans and carry them out “I don’t know what the next week looks like, if I am using this cycle I can’t get too far ahead of myself because I need that observe piece to know where I am going next.”

Role of the Teacher Observe: - What strategies are the children using in play?

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- What is the intention in their play? - What do you hear them saying? Document Reflect: - How can we return the experience to the child? - How can we help the child experience this differently? - Use your observations to help you? Plan Implement: - What materials will best support their play and learning? - How will you present your idea? - Is this idea developmentally appropriate?

Teacher’s Role in Emergent Curriculum - To co-explore with the children - To provoke ideas, problem solving, and extending - To take ideas from the children and return them for further exploration

Emergent Curriculum - Involves Inquiry - Involves provocations

What is inquiry? - Inquiry-based learning is more than asking a student what he or she wants to know. It is about triggering curiosity. - Looking at the things they are interested, what they are showing you, the questions they ask you, things they are noticing, what they are watching, curiosity within it - Having inquires going on How to Support Inquiry Learning - Provide sensory rich experiences for children to explore, discover and ask questions - Provoke children’s curiosity with a variety of experiences that integrate your curriculum with your student’s interests - Ask open-ended questions to prompt deeper thinking

Inquiry-based Learning

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- Inquiry-based learning is an approach to learning and teaching that places students’ questions, ideas and observations at the center of the learning experience - Educators play an active role throughout the process by establishing a culture where ideas are respectfully challenged, tested, redefined and viewed as improvable; moving children from a position of wondering to a position of enacted understanding and further questioning” - Underlying this approach is the idea that both educators and students share responsibility for learning THEMES: Adult-Centered - Thematic units are a way to organize learning around a key concept - Themes are adult centered and adult owned - Children imitating an adult’s conception and understanding - When themes are chosen without consideration of children’s interest and development, they run the risk of being meaningless - Often use cut outs, which greatly restrict a child’s creativity and individuality

Why don’t we use themes? - We do not use themes because it restricts children and it doesn’t let the children explore their own creativity. It keeps them the same to everyone else and doesn’t celebrate their differences Provocations - Provocation is an open-ended activity that doesn’t have a prescribed outcome, instead it is designed to stimulate ideas, initiative and imagination for and amongst children, where they choose to explore their ideas alone or in groups - Provides hands-on exploration for children to practice, test, construct and deconstruct their ideas and theories - Uses a range of items that can be linked together by children or provide a jumping off point for where their imaginations

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can take them. The focus is more on developing learner dispositions rather than teaching narrower skills. There is no “wrong” as a result of a provocation - Educators use nature-based elements, loose parts, tinker trays in a multitude of ways to inspire the kinds of creativity that small people excel at, given the opportunity – because there’s no magic formula for a provocation - The best provocations are created by reflective teachers who spend time evaluating whether their ideas work for their children - https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=CCb2KD6X8BU&feature=youtu.be

Provocations and Questions Introduce a provocation - Something that stimulates or provokes thought and invites wonder, curiosity, and investigation Examples of Provocations: -

An interesting photo, picture or book Nature (specimens) Conceptual (changing seasons, light) Old materials displayed in a new way An interest that a child or children have An object (magnets) New creative mediums Questions (from any source) An event (presentation, holiday)

Think about it… How does the use of provocations align with ideas of openminded and child-directed learning? - The focus is really on the process and not the end product - Exploring and learning and having multiple ways of expressing their understanding

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- Constructing and deconstructing in order to test their theories - They’re child directed because they are based on the child’s interest, skill level and engagement, hands on with concrete materials - LOOK ON DAP TEST TYPE QUESTION Learning Environments Think about it What do you see when you go into a child-care classroom? - Infant/toddler: children not confined or restricted, open spaces, age appropriate, encourage to explore and learn new things, pictures of children and their families, furniture, freedom to explore - Preschool: Types of centers with materials, going back to DAP information to look at for environments - Developmentally Appropriate Classroom: Music and laughter, age appropriate age expectations, activities in small groups, painting at easel available daily, learn how to manage the places,

Think about it… 1. What are the core requirements of a learning/activity center? - Considering safety - Fostering creativity, choice, problem solving, independence, and active play - Developmentally and age appropriate activities - Storage of materials - Providing learning experiences in all developmental domains 2. What makes an effective learning environment? Considering Safety What are some safety considerations you have to make when setting up your centers and materials?

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Age group materials etc toddler=no small items Plug cover Safety hazards contained Cords out of reach Developmentally appropriate

Think about it… 1. What activity centers might you find in an ECE classroom? - Felt boards - Sand tables and water tables - Science areas - Painting area - Drawing areas - House centers 2. What types of activities might you see in each center? - Developmentally appropriate materials, relevant - Real objects - Patterns, designs, playing house with stores or beach etc, making their own painting of a bug etc - Language skills, mathematical skills, social skills Activity/Interest centers - A place where children interact with materials and other children to develop certain skills and knowledge - A defined space where materials are organized in such a way that children learn without the teacher’s constant presence and direction - Activities in each activity center are planned by the teacher to meet the developmental levels of the children - Home like environment that has interests for the students “Must have” Centers: -

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Art area House/Dramatic Play Area Block-building area Manipulative area Science/math area Music area

- Book and quiet area/writing area - Outside environment-accessible often

Assessing Effectiveness of Activity Centers: 1. -

How children select an area: Which are used rarely? Most often? Are they doing the same thing every day? Navigate independently? Other related things to watch for?

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How children use materials: What do they actually do with the materials? What stimulates dramatic play? Group Play? Various ways children use the same materials Are there enough materials for meaningful involvement? How children interact with others: How do they socialize? Approach or wait to be invited? Do they ask for help? Which play experiences encourage cooperative play?

Considerations for Materials and Environment CHP6 PG129-130 What things need to be considered when selecting materials?

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Versatile Stimulating Large/easy to use appropriate for age Durable Rubber wheeled riding toys Working order, don’t put broken toys out in your space Available in proper amounts, do not have overwhelming amounts or very little amounts Magnatiles Designed to encourage children to play together Safe! Simple in design Simple art materials

- Building materials: blocks, clay, cardboard and large blocks depending on age How can you set up the environment to encourage creativity? - Materials that encourage children to play together - Centers set up large enough for multiple children - Safety, we want to make sure the equipment we provide is safe - Is it developmentally appropriate? - Right sized materials, non-toxic, non-flammable, no sharp edges

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