Curriculum in Early Childhood Education
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CURRICULUM IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Curriculum in Early Childhood Education: Re-examined, Rediscovered, Renewed provides a critical examination of the sources, aims, and features of early childhood curricula. Providing a theoretical and philosophical foundation for examining teaching and learning, this book will provoke discussion and analysis among all readers. How has theory been used to understand, develop, and critique curriculum? Whose per- spectives are dominant and whose are ignored? How is diversity addressed? What values are explicit and implicit? The book first contextualizes the historical and research base of early childhood curriculum, and then turns to discussions of various schools of theory and philoso- phy that have served to support curriculum development in early childhood education. An examination of current curriculum frameworks is offered, from both the US and abroad, including discussion of the Project Approach, Creative Curriculum, Te Wha-riki, and Reggio Emilia. Finally, the book closes with chapters that enlarge the topic to curriculum-being-enacted through play and that summarize key issues while pointing out future directions for the field. Offering a broad foundation for examining cur- riculum in early childhood, readers will emerge with a stronger understanding of how theories and philosophies intersect with curriculum development. Nancy File is Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Jennifer J. Mueller is Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Debora Basler Wisneski is Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. CURRICULUM IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Re-examined, Rediscovered, Renewed Edited by Nancy File, Jennifer J. Mueller, and Debora Basler Wisneski First published 2012 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2012 Taylor & Francis The right of Nancy File, Jennifer J. Mueller, and Debora Basler Wisneski to be identified as authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Curriculum in early childhood education : re-examined, rediscovered, renewed / Nancy File, Jennifer J. Mueller, Debora Basler Wisneski, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Early childhood education – Curricula. 2. Curriculum planning. I. File, Nancy. II. Mueller, Jennifer J. III. Wisneski, Debora Basler. LB1139.4.C874 2011 372.19 – dc22 2011010685 ISBN13: 978-0-415-88110-4 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-88111-1 (pbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-80436-0 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Taylor and Francis Books Printed and bound in the United States of America on acid-free paper by Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, MO CONTENTS Notes on Contributors viii Preface xiv PART I Introduction 1 1 “Silent Voices of Knowing” in the History of Early Childhood Education and Curriculum 3 Debora Basler Wisneski 2 Curriculum and Research: What Are the Gaps We Ought to Mind? 14 Nancy File PART II Influences on Curriculum 27 3 The Relationship between Child Development and Early Childhood Curriculum 29 Nancy File 4 From Theory to Curriculum: Developmental Theory and Its Relationship to Curriculum and Instruction in Early Childhood Education 42 J. Amos Hatch vi Contents 5 The Curriculum Theory Lens on Early Childhood: Moving Thought into Action 54 Jennifer J. Mueller 6 From Theory to Curriculum: The Project Approach 67 Judy Harris Helm 7 Using Critical Theory to Trouble the Early Childhood Curriculum: Is It Enough? 80 Mindy Blaise and Sharon Ryan 8 Using Critical Theories in the Curriculum 93 Betsy J. Cahill and Tammy L. Gibson PART III Examining Curriculum Approaches and Their Applications 103 9 Infant Toddler Curriculum: Review, Reflection, and Revolution 105 Diane M. Horm, Carla B. Goble, and Kathryn R. Branscomb 10 Creative Curriculum and HighScope Curriculum: Constructing Possibilities in Early Education 120 Sara Michael-Luna and Lucinda G. Heimer 11 A Situated Framework: The Reggio Experience 133 Andrew J. Stremmel 12 Te Wha-riki: The Early Childhood Curriculum of Aotearoa New Zealand 146 Jenny R. Ritchie and Cary A. Buzzelli 13 Publishers in the Mix: Examining Literacy Curricula 160 Mariana Souto-Manning Part IV Conclusion 173 14 The Place of Play in Early Childhood Curriculum 175 Debora Basler Wisneski and Stuart Reifel Contents vii 15 Early Childhood Curriculum as Palimpsest 188 Katherine Delaney and Elizabeth Graue 16 Strengthening Curriculum in Early Childhood 200 Nancy File, Debora Basler Wisneski, and Jennifer J. Mueller Index 205 CONTRIBUTORS Mindy Blaise is an Associate Professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Her research interests include troubling and remaking early childhood teaching and research. With Professor Marilyn Fleer and colleagues from Monash University, Mindy has designed and delivered an innovative professional learning program, Contemporary Child Development, aimed at challenging practitioners to remake early childhood curriculum and teaching “otherwise.” Her recent book Teaching Across the Early Years (co-written with Joce Nuttall) draws from critical theory and sets out to trouble the taken-for- granted assumptions and practices of early years teaching. She is currently conducting a sensory ethnography in Hong Kong and drawing from posthumanism for developing new insights on and understandings of dealing and living with difference. Kathryn R. Branscomb is a Senior Research Analyst at Applied Survey Research (ASR) in San Jose, California, where she specializes in early care and education research. Prior to her work at ASR, Dr. Branscomb was an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Oklahoma, where she taught coursework in infant/toddler care and development. She has applied experience as an infant classroom teacher and developmental assessment coordinator and conducts research in the areas of infant care, teacher preparation, and family support. Cary A. Buzzelli is Professor of Early Childhood Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. He teaches courses in early childhood education and early childhood special education. His research focuses on the moral dimensions of teaching. With Bill Johnston, he co-authored the book The Moral Dimensions of Teaching: Language, Power, and Culture in Classroom Interaction. They also have published several articles Contributors ix on this topic. Dr. Buzzelli is currently engaged in a research project examining the moral dimensions of the teaching of economics in primary classrooms. This is a joint project with his wife, who is an economist. He spent a sabbatical semester in New Zealand, during which his two sons spent a term in a New Zealand primary school. Betsy J. Cahill is the J. Paul Taylor Endowed Professor of Early Childhood Teacher Education at New Mexico State University. Dr. Cahill’s research areas include the construction of gender and sexuality of young children, and the professional development of teachers. Katherine Delaney is currently a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Instruc- tion program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to this she taught as a Lecturer in the Early Childhood Education program at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. For several years, Ms. Delaney taught three- and four-year-old children in both university and urban preschool settings. Her research interests include pre- kindergarten policy, curriculum and enactment, urban education and culturally relevant pedagogy, and the use of funds of knowledge in curriculum development and implementation for young children. Nancy File is an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Early Childhood Education program. Dr. File’s research interests focus on teacher–child interaction and early childhood curriculum. She is interested as well in teacher education issues and questions, in a theoretical sense as well as on the ground in her teaching of preservice and inservice teachers. She taught mixed-age groups of preschoolers for nine years, mostly in campus-based child development laboratory programs. Tammy L. Gibson received her MA in Curriculum and Instruction in 2006, and is currently a doctoral student of early childhood and critical pedagogy at New Mexico State University. Her interests are in feminism and gender issues within early childhood education. Ms. Gibson has taught at Dona Ana Community College and is co-director and lead teacher at the Learning Tree Preschool in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Ms. Gibson has taught early childhood for 11 years. Carla B. Goble is the George Kaiser Family Foundation Endowed Professor of Child Development and Coordinator