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Chapter 3: Play, learning and development: How views of development shape how curriculum is framed

Chapter 3: Play, learning and development: How views of development shape how curriculum is framed

pp. 33-48

Authors

, University of Waikato, New Zealand, , Monash University, Victoria, , Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
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Summary

LEARNING INTENTIONS

This chapter is intended to help you:

  • • be able to identify the theory of child development that informs a particular curriculum

  • • make judgements about the differences between curricula in relation to child development

  • • take a close look at the diversity of theories of development and learning that inform curriculum in five countries

  • • gain deeper insights into the relations between play, learning and development in the context of curriculum theory.

  • In this chapter we will explore the concepts of play, development and learning in relation to curriculum development. It will be argued that how we think about these concepts shapes how we develop curriculum for the early years. Development, defined as an internal and evolving process, will be examined in relation to Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), and development as a culturalhistorical interaction will then be discussed in the context of changing views on early childhood curriculum. We will also consider the differing views on play in the context of a play-based curriculum.

    Development and curriculum

    REFLECTION 3.1

    What assumptions do you have about children, childhood, play, learning and development?

    When we look at curriculum documents prepared by early childhood professionals from a range of countries we notice differences in what they value in terms of:

  • • play, development and learning

  • • children and childhood.

  • These values are reflected in what they want their curriculum to do, and thus in what the outcomes for children and society will be. Five examples of curriculum statements are given below.

    In the first example, Carlina Rinaldi (2006) is being interviewed about her views on curriculum in the context of the important work being done in Reggio Emilia, Italy, for early childhood education:

    As a reaction against people who classify us in Reggio as working with an emergent curriculum, I have been thinking about a concept that might be called a ‘contextual curriculum’. Our interpretation of the concept of curriculum starts from the assumption that children have a stunning mastery of many languages and an appreciation that ‘other minds’ can share their own different beliefs and theories … If the curriculum is conceived as a path or journey, it will be a path or journey that has, in our opinion, to sustain these competences as fundamental values for knowledge and for life (p. 205).

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