Emergent Infant Curriculum

The Context For Care Primary Care Small Groups Continuity of Care Individualized Care Cultural Responsiveness Inclusion of Children With Special Needs

Image of the Child The science of child development tells us that children are born: 1. Ready to learn 2. Curious 3. Competent problem-solvers

fuel play. A window into the minds of children Curiosity Wonder Amazement Surprise

The Curious Teacher Observes Deeply To catch infants in the act of: fiddling around with things experimenting constructing knowledge What schemes / strategies are infants using to gather information or figure something out?

Two in a box….

Problem to be solved…

Problem solved…

Reading Infants What are they telling us through their play? What schemes / strategies do they use? What seems to be their interest / intent?

Teacher as Researcher Observe / Ask Hold the encounter for the infant: Document What schemes / strategies do they use? What appears to be the infant’s intention? Jot notes Take photo Collect sample

Teacher as Researcher Reflect Pose Questions What we’ll do How can we return the experience to the infant? How can we help the infant experience this in a more focused way? In a surprising way? In a challenging way?

Reflect, Question, Plan What strategies do the infants use in the play? What does this tell us? What questions do we have? How might we support or extend the play? What might happen if we add …..? How will the infants respond if we….?

Note, reflect, question Plan and implement Observe Reflective Curriculum

Zone of proximal development What child knows Role of the Teacher: Adding provocations to support infants’ socially constructing new knowledge Teacher adds objects Teacher offers experiences

Outcome Based Teaching Outcomes: Did the child learn? Belief: What matters is only the destination How the child learned

Reflective Teaching Focus: How does the child construct knowledge? and What do we see them learning? What matters is the journey as well as the destination We document what the child knows but also how the child learned.

To teach is to…. Create play spaces where infants can Apply their natural strategies for learning about the world Spaces that are evocative, generous, & easy to read (Reggio Emilia Infant Teachers, April 2003)

To teach is to see…. Each moment of the day – meals, diapering, conflicts, welcoming, departures – as becoming a part of each infant. Relationships and daily rituals as essential parts of the curriculum.

Every experience we offer will become a part of that child.

To use emergent curriculum practices is to bring….. to the center of the curriculum for infants and toddlers. Relationships & Play

Reflective Practice The art of stepping back to consider what one is observing or doing... To think about… To examine… To question...

Benefits of a Emergent Curriculum Allows for individualized care. Creates an environment where respect for culture is a “felt” aspect of how services are rendered. Supports staff in their ability to understand the meaning of behavior. Creates an environment where ongoing learning is the rule rather than the exception. Impacts the overall quality of the child’s experience.

In a curriculum that is not set in advance, we can use documentation to construct our understanding of the children’s actions and thoughts.. Documentation, interpreted and reinterpreted with other educators and children, gives the option of drafting scripts for action that are not arbitrary but instead respectful of all involved.

Teachers must leave behind an isolated, silent mode of working, which leaves no traces. Instead they must discover ways to communicate and document the children’s evolving experiences. Loris Malaguzzi

Documentation: Is the interpretation of keen observations and attentive listening, gathered with a variety of tools by teachers contributing their different points of view. Is the deliberate choice to observe and record what happens in the infant/toddler environment in order to reflect and communicate children’s discoveries.

Why document? To remember To make visible infants’ ways of learning To re-visit in reflection with others to better understand infant learning and to better plan for how we teach To hold children’s discovery for them and return it to them to continue their inquiry

Which Strategies???? The choice of observation and recording strategies must be carefully considered in the context of the setting, the questions that have been framed, and the goals.

Tools for Recording Observations: Video cameras Still cameras Audio recorders Palm Pilots Computers Notebooks Post It notes Calendars Scanners Printers

Bias, Potential, & Limits Each tool leaves out something or adds something. The way we use each tool is highly subjective. What we include or exclude in a photograph or videotape depends on our focus. Using more than one tool for gathering our observations makes a more complete record.

Communication through Documentation When teachers work together to select, organize, arrange, and identify documentation, they give new meaning to the experience that first produced them. In producing documentation, teachers see more clearly what happened before thereby, gaining further understanding.