My Personal Definition For School Curriculum Essay

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five years and is a mandatory framework for all early years’ providers from 1st September 2012.

“In December 2009, all Australian governments, through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), agreed to a partnership to establish a National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care (‘National Quality Framework’) for most long day care, preschool/ kindergarten, family day care and outside school hours care services in Australia. The National Quality Standard is a schedule to the National Regulations. The National Quality Standard sets a new national benchmark for the quality of education and care services. It also gives services and families a better understanding of a quality service. This enables families to make informed decisions about the services providing education and care to their child.” (NQF/NQS, 2013) Furthermore, the early childhood educator has the responsibility to guide the children towards the norms and values of the society and discipline. The respect of the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within the

The EYFS is a framework for children up to the of five, it sets out the six key areas of learning which activities that are planned for children should be based upon. It also sets the learning and development requirements that practitioners must follow for children below the age of five. The EYFS

This assignment is based upon my understanding of child development and children’s learning, considering the curriculum for the Early Years and the curriculum for the Early Years Foundation Stage/Key Stage One. I propose to outline a rationale for effectively continuing children’s learning, from the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage into Year One and include strategies to support transitions, effective curriculum delivery and links between the EYFS and the National Curriculum. Throughout the assignment I will refer not only in general but also to how my research has help me as a practitioner help my setting to effectively continue children’s learning.

Early childhood education curriculums are becoming a national curriculum in most countries. With more governments and society thinking about education of under-fives we are seeing shifts in thinking and education to meet the changing world. We are developing children skills for the future to create a society where children feel they belong and can contribute to society. Curriculums are being influenced my social, political, cultural, historical and theoretical issues that are impacting different curriculums in the world. I am going to explore and develop my understanding about three different curriculums to recognise the different influences affecting curriculums. I am going to explore the curriculums of Te Whāriki: New Zealand, Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and Curriculum for Excellence: Scotland. This will allow me to develop an understanding of other curriculums which I have not heard about to discover other way to education that I have not been taught in teacher’s college.

It sets out welfare and developmental aims and objectives for children from birth to five, setting out six key areas of learning. The welfare section covers; basic checks, ensuring staff has undergone security checks, safe facilities and equipment, suitable for children, quality of the environment e.g. access to outdoor space. The EYFS promotes teaching and learning to ensure children are ready for school and gives them a wide range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for them and to ensure that they make good progress through school and life in the future.

The purpose of the EYFS is to ensure that all children have access to quality early years education. To measure this and to ensure practitioners have a focus for their work a series of outcomes is given for each area of learning, these are the early learning goals.

The EYFS sets standards for the learning, development and care for children from birth to the age of 5.

It is agreed that educator’s philosophy, pedagogical practices and believe about topics such as gender and sexuality, socio-cultural factors and cultural diversity will influence how the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is reflected in the classroom. For example, cultural competence which is one of the eight main practices that EYLF focuses on to support children’s learning.

The main goals of EYFS are to allow all those who work in the Early Years to comply with the ECM policy and to provide 1st year primary education teachers with information regarding their progress prior to their entering the primary system. The statutory framework for EYFS states that 'Ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development process' (Statutory Framework for EYFS – DCSF, 2008, p.16). The assessment process is one of the key attributes of the EYFS and is used to determine strengths and weaknesses that children may have in their learning and therefore to plan appropriate activities that will encourage them to achieve learning goals. The culmination of this assessment-feedback process is the EYFS Profile that is generated for each child at the end of their pre-school period.

Brady and Kennedy (2010) define the term curriculum as ‘the means by which young people and adults gain the essential knowledge, skills and attributes they need to be productive and informed citizens in a democratic society.’ However the term has many varied definitions, it can be described as being the subject matter, the overall plan for teaching or the outcome of what is taught (Wiles, 2005). Marsh and Willis (cited in Marsh, 2009, p. 3) break curriculum down into three individual areas of ‘planned curriculum’, the objectives and aims, ‘enacted curriculum’, how the objectives are

The National Quality Standard includes standard 1.1 states that ‘An approved framework informs the development of a curriculum that enhances each child’s learning and development’. This is where the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is introduced. This framework is included in the National Quality Standard to help ensure the consistency in the delivery of learning programs within Australia. Within the EYLF is the Early Childhood curriculum framework which guides early childhood educators to develop quality early childhood education programs. This framework describes the principles, practice and learning outcomes which support and enhance young children’s learning from birth to five years old, and then their transition to school.

There are many thoughts about curricula and its goals that it is supposed to accomplish. Looking back throughout history there are many changes that curriculum has gone through, from No Child Left Behind to the Common Core Curriculum. If you were to sit down with teachers, parents, community members, and even law makers I don’t think that you would get the same answer between any of them about what the general goals of curricula are. For me, it is a struggle to sit down and begin to think about what the goal of curricula. As a student and a teacher that has seen the changes in curricula my experiences have definitely influenced my thoughts about what the goals of curricula should be and the roles of the teacher, student, parent, and community are within those goals.

The notion of curriculum is as vibrant as the fluctuations in the thought of society. In its narrow sense, a curriculum is merely a sorting of themes to be inculcated in school. In a complete sense, it implies the full learning involvement of individuals, not only in schools but in the community as well. Wider contexts underpin the execution of curriculum and reflect on the development of its content. These contexts require many considerations if the curriculum is to be effectively implemented. Many explanations scaffold curriculum. Therefore, the very notion of curriculum is, at times, considered fragmentary, elusive and confusing. However, light is shed on the meanings of curriculum through views, pedagogies, and political and cultural experiences (Caughley, 1928; O’Neill, 2005).

PART A: Rita Tenorio states that the curriculum is the happenings within a school. Tenorio suggests that the curriculum is much more than just books and lesson plans. Tenorio says the curriculum refers to the relationships, attitudes, and interactions that the school community participants in. When children are motivated, they are more inclined to learn. If children feel disrespected and unwanted then they won’t want to learn and continue to feel neglected. This results in the students not respecting their teacher, which then results in a lack of learning (Churchill, p. 190, 2013). This definition is easy to agree with because it focuses on the feelings of the teacher and the students. It also focuses on what the students should not be feeling when the curriculum is correctly taught (Churchill, p. 190, 2013). This definition suggests that schools are more than just books and educational purposes; Bruner (1957) states that children are pre-adapted to learning and have a natural curiosity for the unknown. This definition also states that children are active learners, which supports the idea that children are more likely to learn when they are motivated and feeling accepted into the class.