Principles and trends in curriculum development Essay

Principles and trends in course development - Essay ExampleChildren rude(a)ly express such creativity in their natural communication. Their communications may be expressed in various forms or languages in words, drawing, artwork, three-dimensional constructions, music and movement. Young children do not express their ideas in just cardinal form but move naturally and easily between languages. They may vacillate from drawing, speaking, singing and moving (Fawcett & Hay, 2004). A more holistic perspective of cultivation that likewise entails creativity development is now being supported by many educators, as it threads segregated learning into a more coordinated one. Littledyke (2008) has defined structured curriculum as such Integrated curriculum thus refers to the use of several different strategies across several different domains and comprehend project and process approaches for holistic learning and development designed to support meaningful learning for children (pp. 21-2 2). Curriculum integration helps students recognize connections between curriculum areas. These connections are essential to the brain in order to learn effectively. Integration changes the emphasis from the instruction of discrete academic subjects to activities that promote learning through real-life tasks. It blends academic disciplines into fluxd bailiwick studies which support creative thinking and problem solving, as opposed to rote memorization and teacher-directed instruction of isolated skills and bits of information (Krogh, 1995). An integrated curriculum consists of a number of strategies that can be applied to deepen meaningfulness and support conceptual development (Bredekamp and Rosegrant, 1992). The initiative to integrate curriculum began when John Dewey (1938) proposed that curriculum be conjugate to real-life experiences and organized around activities that interest and engage children actively. Dewey asserted that childrens interests naturally progress into d ivert learning activities and extend to various areas of study. As implied by the guidelines for appropriate curriculum, the concept of integration can also be attributed to the integrated nature of development that is, development in the different domains does not occur in closing off rather they influence one another (Bredekamp and Rosegrant, 1992). An integrated curriculum allows the young child to perceive the world around him more clearly. Furthermore, it provides opportunities for in-depth exploration of a topic and learning that has a thorough coverage more choices and therefore more motivation to learn and greater satisfaction with the results more active learning an chance for the teacher to learn along with the children and model lifelong learning and a more efficient use of student and teacher time (Brewer, 2001). For the teacher, an integrated curriculum is a good planning device that offers much flexibility. If the children lean toward another way other than what the t eacher had expected, the integrated curriculum quickly guides her as to how to integrate it to a related concept so the flow of learning is not disrupted. At one glance, the integrated curriculum shows the coverage of what the children learn in school. It advocates natural learning, as it follows childrens interests and not impose the concepts that they need to learn. It follows that the skills they learn become meaningful to them, as it sprouts from their own interests. It also gets to touch on