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THEORIES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM

INTRODUCTION

Many theorists explained the concept of early childhood curriculum if different ways. How a child learns and his or her development, the interests, strengths and needs of the child and also the family of the child and the culture of the community are helps early childhood professionals to make decisions concerning the learning of the children. Below is the view of early childhood by Lee Vygotsky in His theory of Learning.

Vygotsky believed that sociocultural environment and also social interactions influenced cognitive development and learning. He stated four influential factors of cognitive development which include; the impact of language, The Sociocultural environment, the importance of private speech and the zone of proximal development. He argued that students can learn more skills and strategies through interacting with more skilled peers in the zone of proximal development.

Vygotsky said that social interaction is a very important factor for cognitive development in a child because it is based on the existing culture. It is the work of the parents to socialize their children with appropriate social and cultural skills for them to function properly. Teachers should allow social interaction in classrooms .They should encourage discussions among the students as this will help them learn them think critically and get new information from both the teacher and their peers.

According to Vigotsky, children depend on other people especially their parents to guide them on what to do, how to do it and also why they should not do it. He said that , the first step for a child to acquire knowledge is through interaction and contact with others (interpsychological plane) and then later the child incorporates this knowledge within him/herself and also adds value to it.(Intrapsychological plane)

He claimed that nature of social interactions between two or more people with different skills and knowledge sharpens the learning experience. According to him this helps the learner to move in the next level of understanding. He regards language as an important tool in improving learner’s understanding. According to him learning process is not only the ability of the child to explore the environment on its own but also the use of methods available in the culture appropriately.

He suggested that Language which is a teaching tool should be made available and also practical to teachers. He advocates that teaching should focus more on meaning construction and not concentrating on children skills as this can prevent child from learning multiple skills which are important in the academic success. Teachers are encouraged to give task based contests which will improve the learner’s linguistic skills as well as their knowledge. He argued that task-based activity is a useful method which can be used to teach, language centered tasks, learning-centered tasks and also learner-centered tasks.

Vitogsky advocates that teacher should not engage too much in teaching concrete facts but they should also take their students in to the abstract world so that they can be able to develop new skills. He also argue that learners should be taken through different layers of understanding before being left on their own because there are tasks they cannot by themselves especially in early stages of their development.

CONCLUSION

Sociocultural theory deals with importance of social interactions and social-mediated tasks to learners whereas cognitive approaches importance of language in learning. According to the theory instructions are very important in the classrooms and should be aimed at zone of proximal development that’s beyond the learners understanding level. Education should be geared to improving learner’s skills to enable the learner to continue learning .It is should also be relevant to learner life and also develop the learner as a person.

REFERENCES

L antolf, J.P., 2000. Introducing Sociocultural theory

Mckenzie, J., 1999.Scaffolding for Success.

Parrila, R. K.,1995.Vygotskian views on language and planning in children

Kumaravadivelu, B., 2006.TESOL methods: changing tracks, challenging trends