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a0005 Early Childhood Curriculum and Developmental Theory S M-Y Lim, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore C Genishi, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

ã 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

p0005 The term curriculum refers largely to planned approaches Influenced by Plato’s and Rousseau’s images of the to teaching and learning that are guided by theoretical innately good child unfolding naturally over time, Pesta- and philosophical beliefs about the nature of learners and lozzi founded the doctrine of Anschauung (direct, concrete about the kinds of knowledge(s) that should be taught. observation), and capitalized on children’s spontaneity and From this perspective, a curriculum contains specific adult or peer-guided activity (Weber, 1984). Through object content knowledge, objectives and goals, teaching proce- lessons that encouraged children to observe and explore dures, and assessment strategies. From another perspec- objects collected from the natural environment, Pestalozzi’s tive, curriculum is less planned in advance and seen as curriculum acquainted children with form, language, and developing through interaction between teacher and stu- number classifications and encouraged children to cultivate dents. Regardless of the exact definition, it is generally their own powers of seeing, judging, and reasoning. An acknowledged that no curriculum is ideologically neutral. underlying curricular principle was to introduce abstract Curriculum makers, like other educators, have philosoph- concepts through concrete objects, always progressing grad- ical, political, and pedagogical beliefs that underlie the ually and cumulatively from the easier to the more diffi- curriculum they create (Apple, 2004). cult concepts. It was Friedrich W. Froebel who documented a curric- p0020 ulum for young children in Germany in the 1800s, based s0005 Early Childhood Curriculum: Reflections on Pestalozzi’s work. He also drew from the philosophical of Images of Children thinking of Plato, Rousseau, and Comenius, complement- ing his own religious beliefs and intuitive understanding p0010 In the field of early childhood education (for children of the child as a naturally creative and productive being birth through age 8), there is a wide range of curricular (Weber, 1984). Froebel’s enduring significance to early approaches and models that are guided by different philo- years of education was through his formulation of the sophical beliefs about young children as learners and be- kindergarten (a combination of two German words: kin- liefs about the kinds of knowledge that are worth teaching der [children] and garten [garden]) system with its children. The field (as discussed below) may be character- emphasis on play and its use of gifts (didactic play materi- ized by multiple, sometimes opposing or overlapping, als) and occupations (hands-on activities). Singing, danc- images of the child as learner: ing, and gardening were included in order to develop the whole child, although much of the curriculum highlighted  child as organism unfolding over time; the learning of mathematical concepts and symbolic rela-  child as scientific subject; tionships through manipulative objects such as blocks,  child as creative player; spheres, and cylinders. Froebel invented the kindergarten  child as active thinker; and to prove that children under 7 years of age were capable of  child as relational and cultural agent. obtaining intellectual and emotional skills through These varied imagesSEVIER of children have shaped curricular SECONDstructured forms of play PROOFand adult guidance. models for young children. Some models are closely guided The success of Froebel’s model resulted in compulsory p0025 by educational policies that serve specific groups of chil- kindergarten education for all children in the Austro- dren, whileEL others attempt to be more inclusively serving Hungarian Empire by 1872. The gradual spread of the children with a full range of learning abilities and interests. kindergarten movement can be traced across other parts of Europe and the USA in the second half of the 19th century. Its introduction into the USA is accredited to the s0010 Child Unfolding: Early Conceptualizations of efforts of educators such as Elizabeth Peabody and Susan Curriculum Blow. With the establishment of free kindergartens in p0015 One of the earliest systematic conceptualizations of cur- working-class neighborhoods in the 1870s, advocates of riculum in the field was created by Johann Heinrich Pes- kindergartens in the USA began to suggest that the proper talozzi, well-known for his school for mixed-age groups education of these children could eventually alleviate of orphans in Yverdon, Switzerland (established 1805). urban poverty.

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s0015 Child as Subject: Scientific Views and Curricula and it was a plan for systematic classroom instruction as Early Intervention to modify children’s thoughts, behaviors, and feelings (i.e., develop desirable habits). p0030 At the turn of the twentieth century, the child study Outside of the USA, in Italy around 1916, Maria Mon- p0045 movement began in the USA. Seminal publications in tessori (the first female doctor in her country) began psychology and philosophy that influenced early child- advocating for her educational method for children who hood education included G. Stanley Hall’s Contents of were then considered cognitively defective and those who Children’s Minds (1883), Edward L. Thorndike’s Animal lived in extreme poverty in Rome. Enduring initial dis- Intelligence (1898), and ’s The School and Society missal by educators, including progressive educators in (1900). Influenced by scientific observation methods, the USA, the Montessori approach is ironically still popu- especially those of Darwin in The Origin of the Species lar around the world among some middle- and upper-class (1859), Hall advocated the use of systematic and direct communities, both as an academically focused approach in observations of individual young children to inform cur- private schools and as a homeschooling method (Goffin riculum. Arnold Gesell expanded on Hall’s work by exam- and Wilson, 2001). It has also been modified to suit indi- ining the correlation of ages and developmental stages vidual culture’s values and needs while maintaining its and charting growth gradients of individual children. emphasis on the training of young children’s senses for Such scientific studies of young children in the burgeon- intellectual development. ing field of developmental psychology appealed to many early childhood educators who subsequently propagated the generalized theoretical belief that there was an opti- mal period in the early years in which learning would be Child as Creative Player: A Psychodynamic s0020 most effective. and Developmental View p0035 The Froebelian kindergarten curriculum was to remain popular until the 10-year debate (1903–1913), which In contrast to child development study that focused on p0050 marked a turning point in early childhood curricular observable behaviors and outcomes, Freud’s psychoana- approaches. The debate was between those who supported lytic theory encouraged early childhood educators to Susan Blow and Elizabeth Peabody who argued for the focus on the inner worlds of young children as biological continued relevance of the Froebelian kindergarten cur- and sexual beings. Over time however, his theory was mod- riculum in the twentieth century, and progressive educa- ified and neo-Freudian psychodynamic classrooms fea- tors such as Patty Smith Hill who were influenced by tured curricula that encouraged children’s self-expression John Dewey and Edward L. Thorndike arguing for curric- and creativity through messy play with materials such as ular revision in order to keep up with the shifting socio- paints, clay, blocks, sand, and water. Lawrence Frank, a political context of society in the USA (Weber, 1984). prominent American linked to the Laura Spelman Rock- Curriculum influenced by Dewey’s educational philoso- efeller Memorial Fund, built on the image of the child as phy placed social studies at the core of the curriculum an emotional being and highlighted the importance of since the purpose of education was for life in a democratic free play in the curriculum for healthy socioemotional society. In contrast, Thorndike’s behaviorist theory came growth. Influenced by the theories of Erikson and Freud, to underlie the image of child as subject in the context of Frank believed that emotional security and personality curriculum and of standardized testing. adjustment were keys to developing confident, social, yet p0040 Progressive educators increasingly influenced curricu- independent learners. He advocated that teachers recog- lum from the early 1900s and their work also drew upon a nize individual differences among children, synthesizing growing body of knowledgeSEVIER contributed by developmen- SECONDpsychodynamic work with PROOF the theory of tal psychologists. An example of one of the earliest eclec- (Weber, 1984). tic curricula written by an educator of the progressive By the 1930s, in part because of Frank, many child dev- p0055 movement was the Conduct Curriculum for Kindergarten and elopment institutes and their corresponding lab schools First GradeEL(1923) by Patty Smith Hill at Teachers Col- had appeared in the USA. The research carried out at lege, Columbia University. The curriculum was influ- these institutes contributed to normative views of chil- enced by the theories of her contemporaries such as dren’s growth and abilities (e.g., in areas such as motor Thorndike and Dewey and was a culmination of her development, language, and adaptive behavior). Thus, years of experimentation in loosening what Hill consid- such knowledge of average or normal child development ered to be the rigidities of the Froebelian curriculum for became foundational in teacher education textbooks and children. The Conduct Curriculum combined elements guided the development of early childhood curriculum. of Dewey and Thorndike, respectively: it encouraged both Teachers planned curricular activities that would suit the social cooperation and democratic social responsibilities assumed needs and abilities of the average child of a (a response to the changing American society at the time), certain age group. EDUC: 00087

Early Childhood Curriculum and Developmental Theory 3

s0025 Child as Subject Redux: Concern for of young children. A number of influential programs were Economically Poor Children in the USA based on Piagetian theory, the best known of which is the High/Scope cognitively oriented curriculum, initiated as p0060 In the 1960s in the USA, several scientific studies an experimental program by David Weikart, offered as a challenged the dominance of the fixed intelligence theory Head Start model in the 1960s, and now incorporated into established earlier in the century by psychologist Alfred the Head Start curriculum. The curriculum encouraged Binet, by showing how children’s abilities could be children’s and independent knowledge enhanced by positive environmental influences (Goffin construction. Other curricula, such as the Constance and Wilson, 2001). These studies eventually supported Kamii-Rheta DeVries constructivist approach and George the inception of the federally funded Head Start program Forman’s constructivist approach, demonstrate differ- as part of the War on Poverty to provide academic skills ent interpretations and applications of Piagetian theory. and knowledge (e.g., language-based and numeracy skills) Constructivist activities capitalize on children’s interests to children from low-income populations across the and provide physical experiences with objects, logico- country. Interestingly, the motivation for the program mathematical experiences, and interactivity (e.g., experi- was similar to Montessori’s a half century earlier: to mentation with peers). counter the impact of poverty through early education. Indeed, a curriculum based on Montessori’s methods was one of a number of models that researchers and educators Developmentally Appropriate Practice s0035 implemented as they tried to demonstrate positive effects and Its Critics of Head Start. p0065 Another curriculum offered by Head Start was the By the 1980s, another great debate occurred in the early p0075 Bereiter–Engelmann model (later developed into the childhood education field. This time, some leaders in the model) to help disadvantaged children field spoke out against behaviorally oriented curriculum catch up academically with their middle-class age mates. models such as direct instruction. Through the National In this approach, work and play were on opposing ends of Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the curriculum as children were rewarded by food, tokens, these scholars published a position statement on develop- or praise, when they accomplished academic tasks, that is, mentally appropriate practice (DAP) in 1986 (expanded in they got the right answers. Since the Bereiter–Engelmann 1987) for standardizing the diverse range of practices found model aimed to help Head Start children to attain some of in an array of early childhood education provision (e.g., the same skills and knowledge as their white, middle-class nursery schools, child care, Head Start, and kindergar- peers, it has been viewed as a deficit model that disre- tens). The guidelines proved to be unexpectedly success- garded any of the children’s own cultural knowledge and fulatthetimeasamuchneededtooltoprovide experiences. In the early twenty-first century, the direct uniformly high-quality services for young children and instruction approach has been foregrounded again in the families. It was supported by a few longitudinal studies USA, due to the impact of the legislation known as No that verified the positive outcomes and benefits of High/ Child Left Behind. Funds associated with that legisla- Scope, a developmentally oriented curriculum. Such sci- tion support scientifically based curricula. Thus, highly entific support appealed to policymakers and public structured lessons that are clearly taught and whose out- school leaders. The concept of DAP became a trendy comes are easily measured remain popular, especially in phrase that was eventually taken up by some proponents reading instruction, and in some special education of the direct instruction approach in the primary grades. approaches, for example, the reading curriculum Open The DAP guidelines were revised a decade after its first Court and the applied behavioral analysis approach to SEVIER SECONDpublication to accommodate PROOF the newer sociocultural per- special education. spective in developmental theory. Just as there was a major debate that created a turning p0080 EL point in Froebelian curriculum in the early 1900s, a sig- s0030 Child as Active Thinker: Piagetian Theory and nificant debate in the last decade of the twentieth century Its Curricular Offshoots centered around DAP (see Charlesworth, 1998; Lubeck, p0070 The 1960s also gave rise to curriculum models inspired by 1998). Cross-cultural studies have also shown that adults Jean Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory that chil- in different cultures could have different views of what dren’s cognition develops through the sensorimotor, pre- young children should learn or behave (see Tobin et al., operational, concrete, and formal operational stages. 1991; Tobin et al., 2009). These studies point to the need to For those persuaded by psychodynamic and developmen- expand notions of what is meant by DAP, rather than to tal approaches, Piaget’s comprehensive theory was a better fixate on a search for the one best or most appropriate fit than behaviorist approaches to improving the education curriculum. EDUC: 00087

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s0040 The Child as Relational and Cultural Agent The sociocultural emphasis of the Vygotskian approach p0095 has also been used to further the work of multicultural s0045 The Influence of Sociocultural Perspectives educators. Various multicultural curricula aim to foster an p0085 Critics of Piagetian theory have argued that children do understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity, and not merely construct knowledge in isolation from their to promote intercultural relations that may lead to con- social and cultural contexts. In the 1990s, proponents of structive social action in communities. Inherent in multi- the Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, provoked educa- cultural education is the notion that there are diverse ways tors to consider a sociocultural view of teaching and of constructing and acquiring knowledge and that one’s learning. Central to Vygotsky’s theory is the belief that cultural heritage, home language, and personal experiences human development is inseparable from social and cul- are legitimate funds of knowledge (Ramsey and Williams, tural activities. Thus, children’s development of higher 2003). Thus, the notion of school knowledge is broadened mental processes involves learning to use the tools of beyond white, middle-class European-American cultures culture, such as language and symbols, through the guid- and histories, and children are viewed as active and interac- ance of other people who are more skilled in the use of tive agents who not only learn but are capable of creating these tools. Other American psychologists who became change. Examples of established multicultural curriculum aligned with this view included and Barbara in the USA include the Anti-bias curriculum (Derman- Rogoff. The sociocultural view led teachers to use tools Sparks and ABC Taskforce, 1989). Outside the USA in and strategies to cultivate the latent abilities that lie New Zealand, the national Te Whariki curriculum (Minis- within each child’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). try of Education, New Zealand, 1996) is an example of how Such a curriculum includes extended blocks of time for policymakers and educators are determined to encourage free play, thereby encouraging children to advance their bicultural early childhood curricular practices by empow- play behaviors to utilize symbolic representations and ering Maori, Pacific Islander, and white European-origin actions, multiple and complex themes and roles (e.g., doc- peoples. tor theme merged with a restaurant theme) through the use of language to create pretend scenarios (Bodrova and Leong, 2007). Props and play materials in the classroom are to be iconic and simple rather than realistic. The Summing Up: Developmental Theories s0050 curriculum should also allow children to create and review and Their Influence their plans for play, to problem solve, and to learn from one another as a way to extend their individual ZPD. According Looking back historically, we have noted that educators in p0100 to the Vygotskian approach, learning is believed to lead the field of early childhood see the roots of developmental development, contrary to the Piagetian notion that devel- psychology in the ideas of Pestalozzi and Froebel, who opment is a prerequisite for learning to occur. These dif- believed that children’s abilities would unfold over time. ferences in perspective have inevitably shaped curricular Pestalozzi introduced careful observation, and both thin- approaches. kers specified curricular choices attuned to children’s p0090 In the early 1980s, some scholars from the USA began interests and needs. Following the introduction of the studying programs for children from infancy through age 6 kindergarten in Europe and the USA, the discourse of in the small Italian city of Reggio Emilia. Although the developmental psychology was built on the successes Italian educators do not consider their curriculum to be a of nineteenth-century physical sciences inspired by the model, many US educators have studied and tried to Darwinian revolution. Like their predecessors, develop- implement or adapt the approach. Although the approach mental theorists of the twentieth century such as Piaget is often characterizedSEVIER as focusing on art, founders empha- SECONDconstructed universalist PROOFtrajectories of human growth as size representational art as only one of many modes of dynamic, systematic, and irreversible processes. symbolic representation, which they refer to as languages Developmental psychology’s prominence in early p0105 (Edwards etEL al., 1998). Integrated learning through exten- childhood curriculum, especially in the USA, was traced sive project work is impelled by both teacher planning and back to the 1920s and 1930s when a number of child devel- children’s interests in their environment. Teachers’ respect opment institutes were established around the country. for children’s strengths, careful documentation of chil- These centers served to provide enrichment programs dren’s work, and collaborative relationships with families through nursery schools for young children from both led some early educators to cite Reggio Emilia as an middle- and low-income homes and gave developmental exemplar of blending developmental and sociocultural psychologists opportunities to further examine the role of approaches, embedded in both Piagetian and Vygotskian the classroom environment, including curriculum, on theories. The approach maintains an international follow- affecting individual intelligence. After the inception of ing, as educators visit, and are inspired by, the program’s Head Start in the USA in 1964, part of the work of devel- centers and schools. opmental psychologists was to assess the effectiveness of EDUC: 00087

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early intervention programs for young children from dis- and its view of the child as individual and self-contained advantaged backgrounds. (Ryan and Grieshaber, 2005). Indeed, curricula that have p0110 In the early twenty-first century, some theoretical and been categorized as multicultural may offer the scope curricular stances seem to have cycled back to the 1960s needed to encompass the diversity of views of children as the discourse of developmental psychology gives way and curricula globally. Some scholars argue that the most once again to a deficit orientation toward child learners. flexible curricular approaches combine a constructivist The legislation known as the theory of learning and development with a multicultural has revived the child as subject, who learns best through and activist orientation toward social justice. With a view scientifically based behaviorist curricula. This image of of children as relational and cultural agents, adults teach the child has persisted for about a century and is not likely about issues of equity and social justice and then encour- to fade away. Interestingly, however, early childhood pro- age children to act to change communities (e.g., to create fessionals such as those on both sides of the recent debate equitable rules for boys and girls within the classroom; about DAP have resisted this image and consistently start a recycling center in the school). The range of issues represented curricula as broad enough to include child addressed could extend beyond race/ethnicity, class, and choice and agency. In other words, they have opted for a gender to include religion, spirituality, dis/ability, sexual definition of curriculum that is interactive, dependent on orientation, technology and media, consumerism, envi- the knowledge of both children and teachers and not on ronmental degradation, and economic exploitation in published curricular scripts. global communities. In short, there is an increasing need for more inclusive curriculum for all children. Studies have shown that high-quality education for the p0130 s0055 Postmodernist Critique: Limitations of early years is not entirely dependent on the curriculum Developmental Theory and a View toward model that is used, despite the continued preoccupation the Future with such models. Instead, teacher quality is the most p0115 Within an international context, many societies are heading important factor (Goffin and Wilson, 2001). The way for- toward global capitalism, and are faced with much ten- ward, then, is to stop searching for the one best model – to sion created by the clash of global and local knowledge(s) pause and evaluate the images of children that underlie and cultural values. For some scholars, educating citizens value-laden teaching practices. From a postmodern per- in an increasingly globalized age is not simply about train- spective, socially just curricula (e.g., Grieshaber and Can- ing a skilled workforce capable of creating economic nella, 2001; MacNaughton, 2004; Silin, 1995) require growth and technological advancement, it is also about teachers to take the time to understand and situate indi- educating citizens who are intellectually versatile, open vidual children’s cultures and the knowledge(s) to inform minded, socially responsible, and who want to achieve their curricular choices (i.e., content, perspectives, collab- greater global tolerance and understanding of differences oration, strategies, and assessment). School leaders and in cultures and values (e.g., Burbules and Torres, 2000; policymakers, too, have the responsibility to encourage Ryan and Grieshaber, 2005). Thus, many have argued teachers to be knowledgeable enough to integrate a variety for a reconsideration of early childhood educators’ reli- of teaching approaches and strategies instead of being ance on child development theories in curriculum design implementers of fixed or scripted curriculum models. because they limit one’s view of what young children In sum, early childhood curriculum will continue to be p0135 ought to learn. influenced by divergent theories of learning and develop- p0120 Within the field of developmental psychology itself, ment and contrasting images of young children. Thus, the assumption about the predetermined and cumulative children and families around the globe will rely on the nature of human developmentSEVIER was critiqued as early SECOND as professional judgment of PROOF teachers and school administra- 1978 in the Presidential Address to the American Psycho- tors to choose curricula that are flexible enough for chil- logical Association’s Division of Developmental Psychol- dren’s unique heritages and the funds of knowledge each ogy, The AmericanEL Child and Other Cultural Inventions (Kessen, child brings into the classroom. Maintaining such flexibil- 1983). Related critiques were taken up by educators and ity is no small task; but it is a challenge that must be met, as psychologists in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Burman, 1994,). the increasing diversity within groups of children locally They urged a reconceptualization of early childhood and globally make identification of one best curriculum for curriculum so that there would be less focus on individual all an impossible and undesirable task. psychological differences and more on diversity within and across cultures (e.g., Kessler and Swadener, 1992; Mallory See also: ECEC - an overview of contemporary issues and New, 1994). (01161); Gender issues in ECEC (01165); Investing in p0125 Postmodernist critics have continued to challenge ECEC - the educational case (01170); Teaching in early taken-for-granted essentialist and scientifically biased childhood - instructional methods and child outcomes assumptions about human development and learning (01186); Developing early (01204). 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6 Early Childhood Curriculum and Developmental Theory

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Non-Print Items

Abstract: Numerous early childhood curricular approaches and models have been popularized over the last century. None is value free as philosophies and developmental theories inevitably underpin curricular practices and design. In this article the authors trace the historical birth of formalized curriculum for young children to the work of Pestalozzi and Froebel. An overview of the key pendulum-swings of curriculum that have occurred in the early childhood field is then provided. The authors conclude with some postmodern critiques that have influenced the field to reconceptu- alize curricular thought and practice for an increasingly global, chaotic, and unpredictable era.

Keywords: Culture; Curriculum; Curriculum model; Developmental theory; Developmentally appropriate practices; Diversity; Early childhood education; Kindergarten; Multicultural education; Nursery; Postmodernism; Preschool

Author and Co-author Contact Information:

S M -Y Lim Early Childhood & Special Needs Education National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University 1 Nanyang Walk, Blk 2–02–20 Singapore 637616 [email protected]

C Genishi Teachers College Columbia University Curriculum and Teaching Department 525 West 120 Street New York NY 10027 USA [email protected]

Biographical Sketch for Online Version

Sirene May-Yin Lim graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2007 with a doctor of education (EdD) in Early Childhood Education and is an assistant professor at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. Her former teaching experience led her to conduct a dissertation study on the contemporary culture of a group of 4- and 5-year-olds in a Singapore childcare center, seen through a postcolonial lens. Her academic interests include the exploration of cultures, globalization, and EDUC: 00087

social justice issues in curriculum design and teacher preparation. She also continues to explore the integration of multi- literacies, including the arts, into curriculum for young children.

Celia Genishi is professor of education and chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University. She was formerly on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin and the Ohio State University. A former secondary Spanish and preschool teacher, she teaches courses related to early childhood education and qualitative research methods. She is editor of Ways of Assessing Children and Curriculum: Stories of Early Childhood Practice and co-author (with Millie Almy) of Ways of Studying Children and (with Anne Haas Dyson) of On the Case: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research. Her research interests include collaborative research with teachers, childhood bilingualism, and language use in classrooms. She is a recipient of the Advocate for Justice Award, from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.