In reality, many educators profess to use an ’emergent curriculum’ approach in their work with children, but what happens in their preschool environment can seem to be at odds with the philosophy that underpins an emergent curriculum approach.
So I would love to open this up for discussion. Please feel free to join in and help make this a lively conversation that can hopefully be of great benefit to all readers (including me!)
Here is a provocation, to help promote the conversation.
A piece of work completed by 5 year old Jordyn that was completely self-initiated and independently completed.
A piece of work that was teacher-directed with pre-cut templates and a preconceived plan.
And now some questions to ponder upon.
WHICH PIECE OF WORK:
- was intrinsically motivated/motivating?
- was open to personal interpretation?
- was likely to be the most rewarding for the child?
- was likely to provide the greatest challenge to the child?
- was likely to promote the development of problem-solving skills?
- would provide a teacher with a greater understanding of a child’s knowledge and understandings?
- would most likely promote feelings of self-worth, confidence and autonomy?
Please feel free to start or join in the discussion. Hopefully, we can help clear the ‘murky waters’ of what constitutes an ’emergent curriculum’.
Oooh, a juicy one! Using art / craft as an example, I once read that if it takes a teacher longer to prepare for, explain or supervise a creative experience it is guaranteed to be teacher directed and probably not very creative to begin with 🙂 I’d be thinking that the butterfly took some time for the teacher to prepare and there were a fair few instructions involved along the way. If, however, a child decided to use a paper roll and their own imaginations and creativity to make a butterfly, then that is a different story. It might not look as ‘butterfly like’, but it will have come from the child.
I agree Jenny, and I greatly appreciate your thoughts! 🙂
In the butterfly example, any ounce of creativity that may be attributed to it, came directly from the teacher, or the original producer of the ‘black-line master sheet’!
So, that leads to another question, “Is there a place for ‘black-line master sheets’ in an emergent curriculum approach?
we don’t use many ‘black line masters’ but do believe they can have their place in a preschool curriculum… but teachers should never ‘do’ or make a child’s project. As an art-based preschool, we use them to practice our cutting skills and allow for the child’s creative input as to color/decoration choices … often times that ‘master’ is snipped to pieces, but still incorporated and still makes for a grand interpretation of child-created ‘art’ through process. There’s not a lot of ‘either or’ at The Bee Hive … we use such a variety of materials and curriculum to allow for different learning styles and to encourage childhood joy in creativity … for “what one loves in childhood… remains in the heart forever!”
I am a kindergarten teacher from Greece and I am really interest in knowing more about emergrent curricullum and how it can be done in a classroom. I am teaching 3-4 year olds and I am wondering how it can be done with so young ages.
Great question ‘Maro’s kindergarten’. Does anyone have experience with emergent curriculum and this age group?
For Maro’s Kindergarten and Louise I have this advice. No age is too young. Even those children are not verbal can still ‘tell’ you loads of stuff if you ‘listen’ with your eyes like I mentioned in my comment above.
Younger children’s attention spans are usually much less than older children and they can be distracted much more easily. This is not a bad thing, just something you need to be aware of. Expecting a 2.5 – 3 year old to sit at a table activity for an extended period is not appropriate for that age, or any for that matter. Children’s engagement with any experience will (and should) only last as long as their interest in it is maintained. Learning opportunities beyond that point are negligible.
As for preparing children for school, forcing children to learn their numbers, alphabet, colours, shapes and other so called essentials by rote or by ‘teaching’ them will not provide the skills they need to agther and retain the information they will require in later years. Emergent curriculum means providing learning opportunites in contexts that interest the child and spark curiosity and wonder. It is through these experiences that children will develop a love of learning and the necessities mentioned above will become incorporated into these far more engaging and interesting experiences.
So sorry, no examples as I do not know your children, your setting or your context. What works for me with my children might not work for you. It might not even work for another educatore with my group of children as even us eduators are individuals with our own strengths and interests.
Hello,
I work in a university lab school with 3-4 year olds, and we use the project approach very effectively in our classroom. Each child has a journal to write in every day, and they can choose what to write about or we offer an observation opportunity that they can write about (e.g. oxidizing apples or whatever goes along with our project).
Sometimes they dictate their words, sometimes they write their own, it’s up to them. Parents are always amazed at what their little people know and can represent in this way–and usually I am pretty amazed as well.
Other than journaling, we offer hands-on activities that pertain to our project and allow practice of the skills that are required by state standards.
The children in my class make a list (written by me) of “I Wonders”, questions about the topic we are studying and we research these with small groups (sometimes we call them teams) and they report what they learned to the rest of the class. Then we talk about how to represent that knowledge. This may be in the form of a chart, photos, documentation of children’s conversations, artwork, dramatic expression, or whatever else they might come up with. The idea is that the children are involved in every aspect of the project. They essentially decide what we will learn.
I can’t stress enough how much more ENGAGED they are in learning when they are so involved.
🙂
Wow, I love the creativity and emergent literacy in this child’s work, so much more depth and sense of the child than in the prefab craft.
I am about to embark on my teacher training after nearly 15 years working with children in day care settings.
I hope I can stay true to the children and not have to resort to the work sheets and carbon copy craft.
I love seeing the children find their voice, whether it be in the block centre, the sandpit, drawing or art.
Their vision and thoughts are highly valued in my settings
We speak the same language Allison! 😉
This is a great question to ponder. Many teachers feel anxious about being perceived as less serious if recognizable “products” no not get displayed or sent home. “It’s fine once children can write, or draw representationally,” they may unconsciously believe, and therefore convey. “But parents are going to think this is a waste of time and money if I send home a bunch of scribbles day after day!”
Here is where the truly child-centered teacher takes a very different approach. If children’s work doesn’t “speak for itself”, we adults can contribute that in which we have more experience: communcation skills.
A child who isn’t yet writing words can give dictation to a teacher, to accompany her work. A teacher can photograph the process of creation. A child can be videotaped talking about his work. Importantly, photographs and videotape can be used for the essential learning experiences children have which do NOT produce a “product” at all.
Interesting point made here Grace. Sometimes educators can be pressured into providing ‘craft’ activities that are visually appealing to parents and yet of very little value to the children.
So where do our responsiblilities rest? With satisfying parents or providing a curriculum that is richly rewarding for the children?
Is it part of our job description to ‘educate’ our parents and to make learning ‘visible’ to them?
Do we need to educate parents about ‘scribble’?
Thank you for your thoughts Grace! 🙂
We have been following the emergent curriculum for awhile now both in documentation, through our practices and having alit of collated and open ended resources. I believe allowing the children to attempt anything first is important and find the emergent curriculum a way to do this. It’s important to note your interactions are something to consider as you should be guiding them it making suggestions if they are stuck but not taking over. SimetimesIfind that difficult as sometimes I assume achild can’t do something and have been shocked when they do when given a chance. I’m all for their own drawing but we have a shape book to help the children who find drawing difficult so they can learn to draw too. I used to dislike planning but enjoy it quite a lot these days.
Thanks Jade! I agree that working with an emergent curriculum approach does require careful thought and reflection upon our interactions with children.
Your comment leads me to the concepts of ‘intentional teaching’ and ‘scaffolding’ children’s learning.
What are folks understanding of these terms?
More termonology that can be broadly interpreted and misinterpreted! 🙂
You have given a lovely provocation about a matter which causes a lot of confusion amongst practitioners. I would like to add one too…
A child comes into nursery and proudly shows you his watch. Do you say “What a lovely watch” and leave it at that.
Or do you use this interest in some way by saying “Ooh.. I wonder how wearing this watch may help you today. What do you think?” and then find a box of different clocks and timers and leave it out for the child and his friend to freely explore.
I suppose what I’m trying to say, is that how we, as practitioners respond to children is part of the process too.
My other provocation is should this approach stop when a child leaves nursery?
Love that example Juliet and it immediately reminded me of this post from Donna and Sherry. Thanks for the additional ‘food for thought’ Juliet! 🙂
http://www.playbasedlearning.com.au/2010/11/tick-tock/
That really makes sense, Jenny@let children play — about how long a teacher spends prepping v. how long a child spends doing. I think this presents a really good rule of thumb to consider when planning.
It does doesn’t it Lesley! The less time we spend prepping, the more opportunity is afforded to the children to imagine, create and problem-solve for themselves. It requires educators to have the courage to relinquish control and to ‘trust’ in the innate capabilities of children. Thanks Lesley for joining in the conversation! 🙂
How do we relinquish control? Please share yor thoughts!
Renee thank you for your thoughts on ‘black-line master sheets’. I don’t use them (which is of course a personal choice) but I do understand your concerns regarding how children gain skills in the use of scissors. 🙂
Can the development of such skills be embedded in children’s self-directed learning?
My thoughts on emergent curriculum for ages under 5 is firstly creating and environment that is encouraging children to ask, share and explore freely within their environment. Then adding to this, educators that refrain from putting too many restraints on a child’s ideas/plans. Your aim is to have children feel encouraged enough to share a felling /thought/like/interest and then have the educator interact with the child in a way so that they can investigate their interest further- be it through art/craft, photography, books, technology or dialogue.
Emergent curriculum won’t be successful if educators don’t know when to sit back and observe and when to support a child’s interest with questions, factual interest comments or access to investigative techniques such as encyclopaedia or the web. Your goal is to build childrens skills to be self supportive and dynamic in their approach to learning and exploring their interests.
Absolutely Natalie! I think when we step down from the lofty heights of ‘teacher’ status and relinquish the idea of ‘us’ being the soul source of knowledge and ideas, we then start to view the learning environment through different eyes.
When we stop ‘talking and doing’ and start ‘listening and seeing’ we begin to recognize and respect the enormous potential of the child. As Malaguzzi reminded us, ‘Children have one thousand ways of knowing…’. and we can learn so much from them.
Thanks for your inspirational thoughts Natalie! 🙂
Just following up on Natalie’s comment. What ‘image’ do you have in your ‘minds-eye’ regarding an environment that promotes self-directed learning?
As a teacher who embraces emergent curriculum, I feel one of our responsibilities is to educate parents on what it not only means, but what it looks like as well. I find once parents begin to understand the process vs the product, in everything we as early educators do in our classrooms, the mindset begins to shift. A greater appreciation is seen with each piece of” work “that goes home with a child. With so many parents focused on more product defined work, our education expands to include them as well as their children in and through emergent curriculum and the hows and whys we do what we do in preschool.
Agree Nancy!
In my mind, clearly the top photo is more about the child’s interest and work but then again, I think the confusion for many isn’t whether the top photo is more child initiated and the bottom photo is more teacher initiated but rather what does it mean to be child initiated and once you understand this – where do you go from there? How do you plan ahead? And is there room for teacher guidance and ideas that perhaps the children haven’t thought of to be integrated into the planning or learning environment as long as these ideas foster independence, exploration, play, and as long as these ideas capture child interest?
At the college level, teachers are required to write a lesson plan often based on a theme that the teacher chooses. But when entering an emergent classroom, the shift from creating a lesson plan based off a teacher selected theme to instead building a lesson plan based off child interest and interactions can be a big change in teaching practice and perspective.
I have enjoyed reading the comments above and find them extremely valuable to me as a teacher. I have a quick question that I wonder if someone can address.
Since I run a part time preschool where the children only come 3 hours a day – 2 to 3 days per week and go home for the summer, it is challenging to fully observe child interests and then still have time to build on those interests. It seems like it takes all the way through December just to get to know my students. And with the day cut so short, it seems that we are limited in our ability to really investigate child interest fully or substantially.
So my question to you or others is…
Do you run a part time program or are you full day? Do you think it makes any difference in the ability to run an emergent curriculum? Not can you do it but is there a difference in the success of emergent curriculum in full day versus half day preschool programs?
Thank you Deborah for your thoughts. I agree with you 100% with regard to the difficulties that some educators experience once they have embraced the concept, in theory, of a ‘child-initiated’ curriculum. “How do I get started? How do I plan?” I can only speak from my own personal experience here of course. I started my ’emergent curriculum’ journey probably about 10 to 12 years ago when I was first introduced to ‘Reggio Emilia’ (You might like to take a peek at my “About Me” page to see what other approaches have really influenced my practice :)). And it would be fair to say that my journey still continues, as one thing is for certain, we all stop learning when we think we have acquired all the answers!
Now I can tell you that while I was without question inspired by the Reggio approach to EC curriculum, it did cause me great discomfort and brought about feelings of unease. Why? Because it made me confront my own personal philosophy of teaching and challenged it’s very foundations. It made me question every principle and understanding for which I had held true. It was the catapult for change, and let’s face it, not many of us like change. But for me, change it had to be, because deep within me, I felt that it was right and that I owed it to the children whose lives I touched, to provide them with the best opportunities it was in my capacity to give them.
Making the change from largely teacher-directed to child-directed was without doubt challenging. There were days when I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff about to free fall into what could surely only amount to chaos! It makes me smile now to reflect back on those emotions. In the end I landed safely, and now, I could not imagine working with children in any other way.
So I guess what I am saying is, for some of us, embracing an emergent curriculum can be a real leap of faith. Yep, it’s true. We have to particularly put our faith in the un-limited potential of children and believe me, they will never let us down!
My suggestion for those folks unsure about ‘where to begin,’ is to read. Read a whole lot. Emerse yourself in reading anything you can get your hands on about emergent curriculum. “The One Hundred Languages of Children”, is where I started, and It was an unforgettable read. Eventually, it will all start to make sense to you and for you.
Deborah, I have always worked in a sessional preschool where the children come 3 days per week. Just 3 years ago, we were running 3x sessions totalling 10 hours per week and have been gradually increasing those hours each year. Next year we will be operating a program of 3x 5 hour sessions totalling 15 hours per week.
What have other folks experiences been like in embracing an emergent curriculum approach?
I would love to hear them, and maybe, just maybe, they will help encourage others to take that leap of faith! 🙂
Hi, i’m loving the top photo as it appears to be child initiated and I find having the children talk to you about what they have done, you can then extend on this and it could possibly turn into a project. I have older toddlers and I find if I go through the photo’s of the day, they will actually tell you the story and whats happening in each of the photo’s, its all about the interactions you have with the children. I dont have a problem with the second photo but why cant you have a photo or image up for the children to observe and put to paper using paint. pencils ect so have the image as a provaction?
The children as well as the parents at times have the expectations of product orientated work as they feel that their children arent learning enough and begin to question us n what we are doing and are we getting them ready for school! I have some parents who are putting preasure both on us and the kids to know their abc’s and to write ect and they are still only toddler age! Its crazy, is there a document you can give the families to explain properly this curriculum? I felt i was embracing it at the beginning of the year and towards the end of the year the children wanted more challenges and the only way I felt i could do this is by giving the occasional template with a purpose as this is what the preschool children were getting! I am the room leader of a 2.5 to 3.5 age group! Suggestions please!!! 🙂
Are you in Australia Louise? If you are, feel free to email me at kaz59.KG@gmail.com and I can help you out with some ideas for helping out with parents if you would like. 🙂
I think we would all do well to take off our teachers’ hats for a moment while we consider this question of emergent curriculum. Instead of being pushed along by our own preconceived ideas of what a teacher is and what a teacher does, we need to be more parent-like in early childhood and think in terms of our relationship with the child.
The pushed-down literacy-numeracy curriculum cuts off that relationship with the child (which is why it’s not appropriate in early childhood), as does a pre-ordained activity such as the butterfly in Karen’s post. This activity has nothing whatsoever to do with the child’s learning, and everything to do with the teacher’s reputation and the image they put out to the parents. The teacher is saying to the parents “Look, I am in control. I can make your child conform.”
The first artwork, on the other hand, is much harder work for the teacher and parent as they have to engage with the child in relationship to find the meaning in what has been done. What is the child’s initial? (J.) What is that squiggle? (A reversed J.) Interpretation and investigation is required, because the teacher doesn’t know what is happening- it is about the child’s creativity and what the child finds meaningful.
This artwork tells you something about the child himself, if you bother to look closely; the child is interested in his identity, in writing his own name.
To find meaning in the rest, it’s necessary to engage with the child and ask leading questions. “Tell me about these wavy lines. Tell me about these pictures.” This requires a relationship, not didacticism. The teacher is learning about the child, in order to present learning opportunities in the future which the child will pick up joyfully because he’s interested.
From the butterfly, we learn nothing whatsoever about the child- except possibly whether he can follow instructions (don’t fool yourself that this is art, because it isn’t). It is not a learning experience at all. It’s pretty much an experience in forgery- copying a template. The child himself doesn’t get a look in.
Brilliant Candy! I would have to agree with you about the butterfly. It is definitely more about presenting an image to parents. ‘Look I am a good teacher, see what I got your child to do’!? It is one of those projects that children learn to do for ‘external’ reward, not for the ‘internal’ reward that true creativity provides. Exposure to too many butterfly type projects and children’s creativity can be lost in the depths of conformity. Thank you for your input Candy! 🙂
That is a good point Candy raises. I see myself as somewhere between the two endpoints of parent and the traditional idea of teacher. Early childhood professionals need to distaance themselves for the most part from the primary/elementary conept of teacher as the imparter of knowledge. There is a place for that, but during the early years our role is much more valuable to children as facilitators, observers and role models.
I do believe the name explains much in itself. The curriculum is emerging, from the ideas, thoughts and interests of the children, from provocations provided by educators, familes, community members and other children, and from spontaneous events and experiences.
There is a slow, but steady shift here in Australia in primary schools where the first year (and sometimes more) are looking more toward what is happening in early childhood settings. In these cases the first year(s) of school for children is much less daunting and a smoother transition tends to occur.
Listening to the children is perhaps the most important aspect of emergent curriculum. You can ‘listen’ with your ears or your eyes. However, the best part of each day for me is upon arrival I have several children running up to me wanting to tell me their latest piece of exciting news. It might be as simple as having sausages for dinner last night, but it’s important to them so it’s important to me.
There is so much childhood taken away from children these days that often our settings are some of the few opportunities children have to actually be children; to enjoy being part of the world aound them; to be part of the preschool/childcare community; to just be.
So true Greg. If it is important to them, then it should be important to us. Rule number 1 I think when embracing an emergent curriculum! 🙂
I have a small childcare of my own and am an early Childhood educator and my question is – why cant we do both? The program I run is based on emergent curriculum and I let all families know that i am a strong believer in hands on learning thru play… However, I also choose activities similar to the butterfly above. Really I just do what the children in my care enjoy and offer them a wide range of experiences and materials. I have seen children VERY happy to have made a finished PRODUCT like this butterfly and equally proud to have made a book of pictures cut and pasted from magazines (self led). Although I should add that even when we do more teacher directed crafts I allow the children to decorate etc themselves and always ask them to cut themselves so there is some skill building tasks involved…
Bev I guess you can if you want to and if it does not contradict your state/region/country curriculum documents or regulations. Here in Australia, a prefabricated activity such as the butterfly above would not be acceptable.
From a personal point of view, it is something I could never provide for children within my care because I believe such activities can zap children of their own creative talents and are a little mind numbing.
I agree with you that children sometimes love these activities. Colouring in books can be very popular with children. But I think that these probably tap into another need. Colouring in, for example, can be a calming and relaxing experience and allows children to de-stress. Often when children are colouring in they engage in quite conversations with those people around them which can also be pleasurable and comforting.
So for me, maybe fine for home, but not in an educational setting. 🙂
i run an emergent curriculum and thought i would never provide black line masters-until a child brought in a new coloring book that all the group where interested in, so i ran a few copies for those who wanted to do a coloring in. Although on one level this goes conflicts with my philosophy, it also supports it in that i was following the children interests, Generally though, in terms of art, i strive to provide artistic experiences, not ‘crafts’ where there are 25 duplicates of the same finished product. How boring! I always find children take open ended experiences in directions even i had never dreamed of! An example of this- to mix up the making table last week,i added some paper cups, eyes and wool. As a few of the children had shown an interest in puppets and robots I thought children may make these. One child stuck two cups together, then another child did the same with the yes inside, whilst another did the same with the wool. The same followed with other objects- cellophane, hooks, paper, corks etc.We predicted which objects would make the loudest noises. Most of the group ended up making a ‘shaker’ and we used them as instruments to a song at the end of the session-I would never have thought of such a simple idea, and there was so much rich discussion, experimentation and learning- now isnt that so much more interesting than 25 paper cup puppets?!
Hi! I am a preschool teacher from Tanzania. I am really interested to learn more about emergent curriculum since the school I work for follows this system and sometimes I end up thinking if I’m on the right track as I have just joined the school and new to this curriculum. I would love to get more ideas from u. We therefore having a christmas party and I want to make sure if I’m on the right track..I have thought of some ideas and would like to share with u to know if all these are emergent.. And if u have any other ideas please share with me
1) I want to provide a hat made by myself using a sheet and then allow the children to decorate with different patterns , paste materials, paint etc which helps for their fine motor skills.
2) Gift games(wrapped gifts) by providing wrapped packages. In different sizes. They can organise from largest to smallest and I shall write numbers or letters written on it with different materials wrapped (wrapping paper, newspaper,brownpaper etc) the kids can arrange the packages in order based on the numbers or letters.
3) Discovery stockings
I am thinking of stiching red and green stockings and then place an object inside each stocking(jinglebells,block,etc) children reach into each stocking to feel and guess what is inside without taking the object out.
I am not sure if all that I’m doing is emergent but I would love to know and what other activites I can do with my children on a christmas.
Thanks
Great post and an interesting discussion. I was working as relief today in a preschool that is beginning to use emergent or child led curriculum and we talked about how the value we place of children’s play as sometimes being different to those of the children’s parent and the difficulties of balancing that. The staff had had parents question why some tables were left empty for the start of a day (waiting for the children to chose their own activity from the many resources that are now within their easy reach). One solution was to place signs on the tables stating they had been left free for ‘child choice activities’.
What an excellent idea Nichole! 🙂
I am definitely the one for the children coming up with their own ideas and that I am there to scaffold the learning – as well as to introduce new techniques, and VERY much prefer the first option. BUT I have decided to play devil’s advocate now in the hope that it sparks of some new thoughts.
The butterfly while not as organic is still a process for the child – it is still something the child will be proud of when they have finished – and to say that they are not is just ridiculous because I have seen it (as I am sure many others have) – and even though the butterflies are predetermined they will also have variation and a good teacher can ustilise this – that we, as people, all have a mouth, ears and nose – we are the same – and yet we are all different. Not one butterfly will end up being the same as another, even if the children tried to emulate each other with choice of colours etc.
Another point is that the butterfly can be an tool to show the children a new technique – they learn how they can make animals from the tube from a toilet/kitchen roll – then the teacher can expand on this – how can the children make other animals – what would they need?
I also think that sometimes, like mentioned already that it can be useful to use for cutting practice – it also shows diversity – and we as teachers can also follow a child’s fine motor skill development – especially for the children who would never usually choose to do this kind of activity of their own free will.
Colour in pictures can be used as a kind of meditation – not something to put up on the wall but to be used as a tool for children to take time to reflect and discuss. That sitting at a table with several other children colouring in pictures I often find them discussing what they had been doing during the morning, making plans for the next day, even discussing theories about why something had not worked etc – it is then up to the teacher how to place these moments – colour in can be a great calmer in the morning (In Sweden we are legally required to be open from 6am to 6pm – but follow the parents needs – where I am now we are open at 7am until 6pm – and I have children that are there the whole day from open to close although most are there between 8 and 5pm) – but of course there are other calming activities too.
As for personal interpretation – of course that can be found in the butterfly – and anyone that has worn a school uniform will know what I mean – we all tried to put our own individual look on the uniform – so despite us all wearing the “same” outfit – it didn’t look the same – and for those who feel the need to belong, who feel they are not as good at drawing a butterfly as some of their peers creating a prefab butterfly can be a relief – suddenly they have a chance of creating something that looks like a butterfly or does not feel inferior to their friends work. (its why I like modern art with young children – you give so much freedom for children to work with spaghetti painting or flower painting, or dragon skins – see my blog if you would like to know more).
And to say that children do not compare is not really being honest with the situation – its sad that they do. I had one child totally disheartened by the fact that her princess drawings were not as good as her friends – so I told her that her friend was full year older and that what we should do was put a princess drawing in her portfolio and then wait a year and draw a new princess so that she could see what a difference a year makes…
The emergent curriculum is where I find myself, the Reggio Emilia Approach flows strong within me ( it was interesting when I found out that my grandfather had marched – as an English soldier – through Reggio Emilia at the end of the war and actually saw the women and families collecting the left over German weapons and tanks to sell in order to start up the preschools there – made me feel like I was meant to “find” Reggio Emilia long before I was ever born… but I digress)
BUT I think the negative talk about the prefab stuff is maybe not completely necessary – while not my first option – and I would “hate” to see the stuff plastered all over on walls – I tentatively say that there can be a place in ECE for this kind of work, if its done for the right reason, if there is an understanding for it. I think we should be careful not to look down on this kind of work – for some teachers might not have come so far on their pedagogical journey and the prefab is their start – they are finding the things that are interesting to the children but maybe have not found a method or the courage to support the children to create it themselves – especially if they do not feel creative themselves then this can be a nerve-wracking business. I mean in ECE we do have to be an “expert” on everything if its an emergent curriculum – or at least an expert on finding things out and communicating this to the children to support the learning, the play and new discoveries. I also believe that the children are proud in EVERYTHING that they make whether prefab or their of their own design, and by looking down on the prefab stuff we are also devaluing the children’s work. Instead of being critical of this prefab way ( a sure fire way of making teachers defensive) – how can we help co-workers grow and dare to try something new?
Maybe it is time to ask the children what is meaningful to them? Has anyone asked the children which kind of activity they prefer? Which activity they feel they can show who they are? Which activity they learn from? Which activity – hmm apply all the original questions – as we are still only asking from an adult perspective here…
yikes – devil’s advocate enough for you…? Hopefully some food for thought…
I’d like to invite readers of this blog to read a short chapter in my online (free) book, Seeing Young Children with New Eyes. It’s located on my website, and I’m suggesting that you click on “Second Section” and then scroll down to Chapter 13. You’ll see work in a childcare home which emerged, first, from the teacher recognizing that a child was deeply interested in trains. Eventually another child suggested that one laundry basket wasn’t enough; that they needed more. The teacher honored the child’s idea, and purchased more. The chapter (very richly illustrated with photos from the teacher’s documentation) shows how each of these ideas (that emerged) played out, I think you’ll be glad if you go and read it.
Suzanne, I loved reading your post and agree with you. I am Primary school educator and the Pre-school emergent curriculum resonates with the inquiry-based approach in Primary.
I think that the BLM butterfly does have a place albeit not the prime one in a learning journey. For one the skills (cutting, colouring, pasting) and the knowledge (what is a butterfly, how can different skills come together to create something, etc.) can very well be combined in such an activity and used as a launch pad for discussions and further on to exploring materials. The children start with a blank canvas and experiment with tissue rolls and paper, colours, scissors and after a few engagements create a BLM butterfly. It would be good to see, if this created a scaffolding of any sort for some or all the students. Something for teachers as researchers to explore.
The BLM butterfly also helps to an extent with the transition to the Primary school where the self-directed learning gets more confined in traditional subject areas.
Having said that the self-initiated and independent piece of work is certainly, where we want our children to be.
My girl would not take any order (including pre-dotted writing or colouring in pages). She would do it herself. She is also a self-initiated learner, hardly sit down to work but once she does she could create something that surprises me (considering I have never taught her how to do such thing). Her work might not be comparable to those pre-made models but is definitely noble :).
I’m interested in the idea that children need predrawn shapes or concepts to develop cutting skills. I have not found this. I work with 3 year olds one of whom recently found a beetle in the bathroom. The children thought this was very funny because we sing a song about beetles in the basin the bathroom and they decided we needed more beetles for the bathroom. The children have access to whatever art/craft materials they need and if they can’t find what they need we go looking for it in the storeroom. We looked at pictures of beetles in books and on website and then the children created a vast array of beetles. Some children used boxes, tubes and other 3d materials. Others drew their own shapes, cut them out and added legs, wings, eyes, etc. no black line masters required and the children were intensely proud of what they had done. They talked together about the way different children had made their beetles and couldn’t wait to drag their parents into the bathroom to show them. Some beetles couldn’t be attached to the wall so we took photos of them and attached the photo to the wall.
Some children needed more help than others to implement their ideas but despite different levels of skills no one felt that there’s wasn’t as good as someone else’s. they were all different.
Totally agree. Pre-drawn sheets are definitely not required to develop scissors skills! 🙂
Hi Karen, I just stumbled upon your site and this discussion. As a parent I’ve been giving this very topic a lot of thought lately. My daughter’s been producing a lot of work that looks like the first project above. I have to say it’s absolutely heartwarming to see her engage in her work and proudly present the ideas that are represented (behind the scribbles)!
We’ve moved away from the craft example although she still enjoys working on the odd craft kit where she puts together an animal or whatever using materials provided.
This is a great discussion. I agree that it’s one that parents should be more aware of as I still see a great deal of ‘parent pleasing’ going on in preschools… sending home same same projects. My favourites were always the paintings on newsprint.. to this day I have some framed!
I do think though that there’s a time and place for some art direction and guidance but agree that it doesn’t need to be so controlled. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts around this.
Hi Lina. I am so sorry for the slow response! I have just discovered your comment and I am unsure how I missed it! Absolutely agree with the idea that there is a time and place for some art direction and guidance but I think it is all about how it is done. In the EC field what you are refering to is called ‘intentional teaching’. It is a necessary part of scaffolding children’s learning that should happen ‘naturally’ for children in any social setting (may I suggest you google Lev Vygotsky if you are interested). The key is that it should naturally evolve rather than be randomly, out of context imposed. The ‘out of context imposed’ stuff is often what you would call the ‘parent pleasing’ stuff. And sadly, sometimes even the ‘teacher pleasing’ stuff! Thank you for joining in the discussion Lina! 🙂
I am new to emergent curriculum. I just started working at a center that uses it but not very well I am afraid.
how do you implement emergent curriculum when the children aren’t all interested in the same thing.
I can see the importance of it. I am having a hard time planning for it. any suggestions for me?