Philosophy Of Emergent Curriculum

Does the world around us impact our ability to learn? Or do we acquire knowledge through self-will? Furthermore, what if knowledge begins at the start of our social interactions? Several theories have been conducted to explore the styles of learning. Three theorists, Bronfenbrenner, Piaget, and Vygotsky share differing views of how cognitive development is achieved.

Piaget’s theory supports children actively compose knowledge as they explore their environment which is one of the advantages of unschooling (Boundless, 2016). More importantly Piaget and unschooling methods both agree that children that have their own space will continue education without the need of force ( UMUC, 2016). This is different than Lev Vygotsky social cultural development theory in which he believes it’s the child’s social environment that shapes the child’s cognitive development. Rather than the child learning on its own it interactions with their environment that they learn from. I believe Vygotsky and Piaget’s theory are both equally true and both pertain to unschooling. Given that unschooling displays a freestyle approach encouraging a child to learn from their own will it also insist active learning in an environment that the child will engage and learn from.In many ways pulls from both Piaget and Vygotsky

Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson are very well known men for their different theories of development. Although each of them believe different things about how a child develops, I believe that a child can go through all of these theories and benefit from them. I also understand that not everyone is the same, and what might be true for someone could be different for someone else. In my own personal experience, I believe I went through and I’m going through all these different stages in theories throughout my life. I also work at a daycare and we use aspects from each of these theories when going about teaching children. The three different theories include: Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Vygotsky;s sociocultural theory of

Across all aspects and various lenses of development it is evident that children from birth until adolescence require guidance. In contrast, some theorists such a Piaget suggest that children are vastly independent and do not require parental or adult assistance for majority of their development. However, theorists such as Vygotsky believe otherwise. As Vygotsky was discussed during lecture, his developmental theory surrounding the methods of which children learn was a main focus. Namely, the methods of which children learn with adult

A second strength of the sociocultural perspective is the emphasis on the role of adults in childhood cognitive development through guided participation. Vygotsky introduced the idea that children learn in a zone of proximal development. Meaning the distance between what an individual can do alone and what they can do with guidance and assistance from a capable member of society (Mcleod, 2010). Any skills outside the zone would be already mastered or still too difficult to attempt alone. “To Vygotsky, learning in collaboration with more knowledgeable companions drives cognitive development (Sigelman).” This is true throughout the world. Children in many cultures learn from a teacher, from family members, and many others. In other cultures, children learn skills from relatives, members of their village or tribe, or from other skilled members in their group. This perspective satisfies the need to recognize the role of adults in

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development was one of the first steps in understanding how children become who they are as adults. In early childhood, children begin to understand symbols and representations (Berk, 2014, p. 227). Their learning shifts from sensing the world as in the sensorimotor stage to trying to find commonalities like symbols. According to Berk (2014), Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory focused on “social context of cognitive development” (p. 234). Vygotsky incorporated social context and social interactions into childhood development; in other words, who, how, and what children interact with in their everyday social environment contributes to their mental and emotional development. When it comes to both of these cognitive theories, there are many similarities and differences between Piaget and Vygotsky.

Lev Vygotsky believed that social and cognitive development work simultaneously to build and evolve on one another. He believed that social, cultural and personal experience cannot be detached from each other and many things influence the way children learn and develop, not just their own experiences, thus Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. Vygotsky’s ideas were and remain controversial as he had no specific training in psychology or children’s development. His preeminent contribution to children’s development is his recognition of the value of progressing knowledge by means of interaction with educators, peers and family (Mooney, 2000, p. 83). The major ideas of Vygotsky’s theory are scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Scaffolding is a process Vygotsky described as the framework or temporary support for children’s learning. In order for scaffolding to be beneficial, it must be responsive to the child’s needs (Coon & Mitterer, 2013, pp. 106-107).

The benefits of an emergent curriculum is that it revolves around the child, it is flexible, it offers an open environment, it offers a welcoming environment, helps create confidence in children, helps children be self-assured, builds self-esteem, creates satisfaction, and it is collaborative.

Emergent curriculum is a way of planning curriculum that is based on the children’s interest and passion at a certain point in time. Children thrive and learn best when their interests are captured. Learning occurs naturally. Planning emergent curriculum requires observation, documentation, creative brainstorming, flexibility and patience on the part of the Early Childhood Educator. Rather than starting with the lesson plan which is repeated every year regardless of the age, developmental level or interests of the children, emergent curriculum starts with the children’s interest. In short, it is a child-directed and teacher facilitated approach to planning the curriculum. Emergent curriculum summons a lot of creativity

The approach is based on the idea that an individual’s activities occurs in a cultural context and can be best understood in their historical development (Kagitcibasi, 2012). Vygotsky developed this theory with the intent of coming up with a way to explain human behavior. The theory examined various subjects including the psychology of art, thought and language; and also focused on education of students with special needs. Vygotsky believed that caregivers, parents, peers, and culture at large play an important role in developing an individual’s higher order functions. There are various modern time interpretations of this theory with one focused on explaining human development. In this context, the sociocultural theory explains that learning is a social process and the society makes a significant contribution to individual development. The theory states that learning is based on interactions with other people and once this has happened, the information is then incorporated on a personal level (Hutchison,

Child development is divided into four areas of development; social / emotional, physical (motor), cognitive, and language. Typically children develop in a sequence of stages in each area. Although development normally follows the same series of stages, there are individual differences in what age each stage occurs. Development in part depends on the experiences a child encounters. According to Wardle (2004), young children learn from their total experience in a program. For example, children not only learn during teacher directed activities, they also learn while playing in interest areas, on the playground, while riding the bus, or during meals. Vygotsky saw the child as part of an

Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that young children actively learn from their hands-on, day-to-day experiences. Jean Piaget portrayed children as "little scientists" who go about actively constructing their understanding of the world. His theories hold the essence of developmentally appropriate curriculum since Piaget believed that children undergo cognitive development in a stage-based manner, such that a very young child would not think about things the same way that an adult might. He referred to the knowledge and the manner in which the knowledge is gained as a schema. In order to build on the cognitive stages that children experience, informal learning opportunities, formal instructional sessions, and the utilized curriculum must all dovetail with a child's current cognitive stage so that assimilation of the new knowledge may occur. Working with what the child knows and experiences, parents and teachers create bridges to the next cognitive stage that are characterized by the child's accommodation. Piaget argued that optimal learning took place in this manner and that adults should avoid thinking that they can accelerate a child's development through the age-based, maturity-referenced stages. This is because a child works toward establishing an equilibrium between the assimilation and application of new knowledge and changing their behavior to accommodate their newly adopted schemas.

Sociocultural perspective is based on the position that the environment, social and cultural influences affect a person’s behaviour. The main person is this school of thought is Lev S. Vygotsky (1896- 1934) who believed that schools, classrooms, and other environment played a key role in the cognitive development of children (Valenzuela, 2002). He thought that children were able to learn through interaction with their teachers because cognitive development precedes learning. Children are also able to learn through imitation of others. After this step is accomplished, they will go on to learning from intrinsic methods such as memory.

4. I relate most with cognitive theories of development. Piaget provides the foundation by explaining the distinct stages of development. His insights allow teachers and parents to have a basis of what children are capable of during each stage. If the child drastically strays from these stages, it allows the caring adults to take action to help the child to reach the appropriate stage. With an understanding of these stages, the theories of Vygotsky can then be successfully utilized. Vygotsky stresses that with the

Lev Vygotsky believed that children learn from their own experience. As a teacher I have grown to learn that Vygotsky’s findings are true in so many ways. Just from watching the children in my classroom I see that the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding play a huge part in the development of a child.