The Project Approach to Learning
586 Followers
Recent papers in The Project Approach to Learning
Сажетак: Холистички приступи у васпитању и образовању деце представљају савремене и алтернативне приступе традиционалном васпитању и образовању. Један од таквих приступа јесте и Пројектни приступ који је у овом раду представљен као... more
Сажетак: Холистички приступи у васпитању и образовању деце представљају савремене и алтернативне приступе традиционалном васпитању и образовању. Један од таквих приступа јесте и Пројектни приступ који је у овом раду представљен као интегрисани и конститутивни део курикулума у Ређо концепцији. Пројектни приступ у васпитању и образовању предшколске деце подразумева широк спектар поучавања и учења и не везује се за одређене технике поучавања или непромењиве активности, рутине и стратегије. Као начин учења, Пројектни приступ наглашава активну партиципацију деце у планирању, развијању и процењивању њиховог сопственог рада. Знање не подразумева трансмисију, већ се оно конструише међусобном интеракцијом деце и одраслих. Када се говори о знању као конструкцији, у раду се истиче и то да Пројектни приступ у Ређу инсистира на целини, односно, на холистичком приступу, јер се и на дете и на сам курикулум гледа холистички. Пројектни приступ у Ређо концепцији представља средство обликовања искуства деце и васпитача, као и окосницу њиховог заједничког учења. Своје највеће упориште пројекат проналази управо у учењу кроз делање, као и у заједничким дискусијама и расправама између саме деце и васпитача о њиховим личним искуствима у учењу, при чему се користе различите технике, поткрепљене документацијом и рефлексијом.
Кључне речи: Пројектни приступ, Ређо концепција, холистички приступ, интегрисани курикулум, заједничко учење
Abstract: Holistic approaches to education of children represent contemporary and alternative approaches to education. One of such approaches is the Project approach itself, which is represented in this paper as an integrated and constitutive part of the Reggio concept curriculum. The Project approach to education of pre-school children implies a wide range of teaching and learning. It is not related to particular teaching techniques, or unchangable activities, routines and strategies. As a way of learning, the Project approach emphasises active participation of children in planning, developing and evaluating their own work. Knowledge does not mean transmission. Contrary to that, it is constructed through the interraction of both children and adults. When speaking about knowledge as a construction, and bearing in mind that both children and curriculum are looked upon holistically, this paper also stresses the fact that the Project approach in Reggio insists on the whole, i.e. on a holistic approach. The Project approach in the Reggio concept represents not only the means of forming experiences of children and pre-school teachers, but also the framework of their learning together. The project is primarily based on learning not only through doing, but also through discussions and discourses among children themselves and among children and pre-school teachers about their personal experiences in learning. All of this is done through the use of different techniques supported by documentation and reflexion.
Key words: Project approach, Reggio concept, holistic approach, integrated curriculum, learning together
Кључне речи: Пројектни приступ, Ређо концепција, холистички приступ, интегрисани курикулум, заједничко учење
Abstract: Holistic approaches to education of children represent contemporary and alternative approaches to education. One of such approaches is the Project approach itself, which is represented in this paper as an integrated and constitutive part of the Reggio concept curriculum. The Project approach to education of pre-school children implies a wide range of teaching and learning. It is not related to particular teaching techniques, or unchangable activities, routines and strategies. As a way of learning, the Project approach emphasises active participation of children in planning, developing and evaluating their own work. Knowledge does not mean transmission. Contrary to that, it is constructed through the interraction of both children and adults. When speaking about knowledge as a construction, and bearing in mind that both children and curriculum are looked upon holistically, this paper also stresses the fact that the Project approach in Reggio insists on the whole, i.e. on a holistic approach. The Project approach in the Reggio concept represents not only the means of forming experiences of children and pre-school teachers, but also the framework of their learning together. The project is primarily based on learning not only through doing, but also through discussions and discourses among children themselves and among children and pre-school teachers about their personal experiences in learning. All of this is done through the use of different techniques supported by documentation and reflexion.
Key words: Project approach, Reggio concept, holistic approach, integrated curriculum, learning together
ÖZ. Tarihçesi 20. Yüzyılın başlarındaki Açık Eğitim hareketine kadar uzanan Proje yaklaşımı, özellikle araştırmaya yaptığı vurgu ile çocukların gelişimini çok yönlü destekleyen eğitim uygulamalarını içermektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı da... more
ÖZ. Tarihçesi 20. Yüzyılın başlarındaki Açık Eğitim hareketine kadar uzanan Proje yaklaşımı, özellikle araştırmaya yaptığı vurgu ile çocukların gelişimini çok yönlü destekleyen eğitim uygulamalarını içermektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı da Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı (MEB) 2013 Okul Öncesi Eğitim Programı kapsamında Proje yaklaşı-mının öne çıkan öğelerini vurgulayarak eğitimcilerin bu yaklaşımı Türkiye'de nasıl uygulayabileceğini örnek-lerle açıklamaktır. Bu kapsamda, Lillian Katz, Judy Harris Helm ve Sylvia C. Chard'ın çalışmalarına dayalı olarak önce Proje yaklaşımının temel özellikleri ve uygulama aşamaları açıklanmıştır. Ayrıca, 2014-2015 Yaz Dönemi boyunca, 5-6 yaş grubundaki ekonomik açıdan dezavantajlı çocuklarla uygulanmış olan Ağaç Bilimcilerin Araş-tırmaları adlı bir proje açıklanarak Proje yaklaşımının temel öğelerinin Türkiye'de nasıl uygulanabileceği ör-neklerle gösterilmiştir. Bu örnek proje uygulamasının da gösterdiği üzere Proje yaklaşımı esnek bir planlama ile MEB (2013) Programı kapsamında rahatlıkla uygulanabilir ve çocukların gelişim alanları çok yönlü olarak desteklenebilir.
ABSTRACT. With its history dating back to the Open Education movement in the early 20th Century, the Project approach include education applications supporting children's development in multiple ways, especially with its emphasis on research. Starting from this point of view, the purpose of this study is to outline the prominent features of the Project approach and to illustrate how educators can apply this approach within the scope of the Turkish Ministry of National Education's Preschool Education Program 2013 in Turkey. To this end, the main problems observed in the preschool education field in Turkey is briefly discussed and then overlapping areas of focus between the Project approach and official preschool education program in Turkey are shown. Then, basic features and phases of Project approach are outlined based on the works of Lilian G. Katz, Judy Harris Helm and Sylvia Katz. Finally, the phases of implementing The Inquiries of Dendrologists Project that took place in a publicly funded preschool is described using visual samples of activities in different phases of the project. The project was implemented with children who live in disadvantaged life conditions. As the project implementation shows, the Project approach offers flexible planning tools, therefore, it can be adapted as an effective teaching and learning approach to support preschoolers' development in Turkish Education System.
ABSTRACT. With its history dating back to the Open Education movement in the early 20th Century, the Project approach include education applications supporting children's development in multiple ways, especially with its emphasis on research. Starting from this point of view, the purpose of this study is to outline the prominent features of the Project approach and to illustrate how educators can apply this approach within the scope of the Turkish Ministry of National Education's Preschool Education Program 2013 in Turkey. To this end, the main problems observed in the preschool education field in Turkey is briefly discussed and then overlapping areas of focus between the Project approach and official preschool education program in Turkey are shown. Then, basic features and phases of Project approach are outlined based on the works of Lilian G. Katz, Judy Harris Helm and Sylvia Katz. Finally, the phases of implementing The Inquiries of Dendrologists Project that took place in a publicly funded preschool is described using visual samples of activities in different phases of the project. The project was implemented with children who live in disadvantaged life conditions. As the project implementation shows, the Project approach offers flexible planning tools, therefore, it can be adapted as an effective teaching and learning approach to support preschoolers' development in Turkish Education System.
The purpose of this multi-case study was to describe and explain teacher learning within school contexts by exploring the nature of teachers’ experiences in learning communities. This study explored the ways in which teachers participated... more
The purpose of this multi-case study was to describe and explain teacher learning within school contexts by exploring the nature of teachers’ experiences in learning communities. This study explored the ways in which teachers participated in professional development sessions using the project approach as a framework for facilitating and engaging in professional learning communities by answering: What is the nature of teachers’ experiences in inquiry-based professional learning communities? In what ways and under what conditions does documentation play a role in teacher learning? For data collection I used semi-structured interviews, audio recordings of professional development sessions, teacher documentation, teacher daily sheets, and my researcher journal. I applied a constructivist approach using a social lens for the data analysis to make sense of teachers’ learning experiences (Vygotsky, 1935; Rogoff, 1995). The findings indicated that group dynamics play a pivotal role in how teachers’ experience professional learning communities. Teacher’s struggled to foster inquiry into their own practice. The findings also indicate documenting children’s learning is essential in developing a deeper understanding of children. Despite the positive role of documentation within the professional learning community, teacher’s needed favorable conditions to continue using documentation for teacher learning.
Полазећи од промишљања постструктуралистичког приступа курикулуму, концептуализације детета и терминолошких недоумица, потом проматрајући карактеристике и недоумице у вези са применом пројектног приступа у предшколском васпитању и местом... more
Полазећи од промишљања постструктуралистичког приступа курикулуму, концептуализације детета и терминолошких недоумица, потом проматрајући карактеристике и недоумице у вези са применом пројектног приступа у предшколском васпитању и местом развоја говора у њему, текст указује на кључне промене у предшколском систему у Републици Србији. Анализа на поменутим нивоима показаће основне врлине и евентуалне недостатке програма у покушају да конструктивно учествује у његовој успешнијој примени и конкретизацији. /
The focus of this text is set on the concept of educational work that was presented within the recently adopted Fundamentals of the preschool curriculum ‘The years of ascension’ (2018). The emphasis is put on the analysis of theoretical foundations, terminology, educational tendencies, and the question of the initial education of preschool teachers in Serbia.
This recently adopted curriculum is based on the contemporary curricular theories, theoretical principles of the pedagogical and developmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other disciplines. The concept of childhood, and mainly of the child, is based on the sociocultural theories and poststructuralism. Even though this approach can be seen as modern in the context of educational work in Serbia, the curriculum seems to lack a stronger demonstration of the scope and limitations of foundations that are based on poststructuralism, as well as the socio-political conditionality that supports the designation of these foundations. In this respect, even the framework that this programme is based on (the UN and the EU documents) is not supported with the critical insight into the particularity of the national framework it was created for.
The significant part of the curriculum is dedicated to the representation of socio-cultural conceptions of childhood. The children are seen as the ‘the playful beings’ and the game as their natural relationship with the world. The project approach and the complex definition of the concept of child’s wellbeing are the core of ‘The years of ascension’. The important characteristic of the new curriculum is the introduction of a large number of new terms that can be regarded as an update and a starting point for new approaches to the problem. The possible drawbacks of the mentioned viewpoints pertain to: 1) the insufficiently specified awareness that the idea of the child represented in the curriculum is only one of many possible ideas, (2) the contradicting definition of the idea of wellbeing (with the accent on the problem with defining the correlation between safety and flexibility in educational work), (3) the possible doubts regarding the usage of certain terms (we studied the idea of authenticity, as well as the strong opposition to spontaneity in co-construction of knowledge in the process of planning the learning situations).
The presence of binary simplifications in the curriculum carries with itself a possibility that every attempt to reassess and relativize the values of opposing elements can easily be marked as regressive (evеn if it is not), if one element has a positive value and the other one has a negative value (which is often the case in the curriculum).
Little significance given to the proper preparation of pre-school teachers is regarded as a serious problem. Moving the focus away from the concrete knowledge and professional care for the developmental aspects of child’s character could easily be interpreted as the abandonment of these concepts rather than their perception in a new light – the light of decomposition and co-construction of knowledge. The newly adopted concept of foundations suggests that the competence of preschool teachers will expand and include a series of pedagogical and psychological skills and knowledge at the expense of the foundation of their competence in those sciences that form the basis of development areas (that should be encouraged with children). In contrast to this attitude, we should not forget that the academic knowledge of preschool teachers, as well as their own inquisitiveness and their willingness to learn and to explore, represents the foundation for the creative approach to preschool educational practice that aspire to timely answer the children’s inquisitiveness and to encourage their interest in better understanding of themselves and the world around them. The long-term intention of preschool education should be to develop the need for education as the integral part of both the children’s and the teachers’ characters, and keeping up with these directions (speaking competence, early literacy, etc) would increase if the key aspect of children’s character development would be operationalised and defined with standards.
The focus of this text is set on the concept of educational work that was presented within the recently adopted Fundamentals of the preschool curriculum ‘The years of ascension’ (2018). The emphasis is put on the analysis of theoretical foundations, terminology, educational tendencies, and the question of the initial education of preschool teachers in Serbia.
This recently adopted curriculum is based on the contemporary curricular theories, theoretical principles of the pedagogical and developmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other disciplines. The concept of childhood, and mainly of the child, is based on the sociocultural theories and poststructuralism. Even though this approach can be seen as modern in the context of educational work in Serbia, the curriculum seems to lack a stronger demonstration of the scope and limitations of foundations that are based on poststructuralism, as well as the socio-political conditionality that supports the designation of these foundations. In this respect, even the framework that this programme is based on (the UN and the EU documents) is not supported with the critical insight into the particularity of the national framework it was created for.
The significant part of the curriculum is dedicated to the representation of socio-cultural conceptions of childhood. The children are seen as the ‘the playful beings’ and the game as their natural relationship with the world. The project approach and the complex definition of the concept of child’s wellbeing are the core of ‘The years of ascension’. The important characteristic of the new curriculum is the introduction of a large number of new terms that can be regarded as an update and a starting point for new approaches to the problem. The possible drawbacks of the mentioned viewpoints pertain to: 1) the insufficiently specified awareness that the idea of the child represented in the curriculum is only one of many possible ideas, (2) the contradicting definition of the idea of wellbeing (with the accent on the problem with defining the correlation between safety and flexibility in educational work), (3) the possible doubts regarding the usage of certain terms (we studied the idea of authenticity, as well as the strong opposition to spontaneity in co-construction of knowledge in the process of planning the learning situations).
The presence of binary simplifications in the curriculum carries with itself a possibility that every attempt to reassess and relativize the values of opposing elements can easily be marked as regressive (evеn if it is not), if one element has a positive value and the other one has a negative value (which is often the case in the curriculum).
Little significance given to the proper preparation of pre-school teachers is regarded as a serious problem. Moving the focus away from the concrete knowledge and professional care for the developmental aspects of child’s character could easily be interpreted as the abandonment of these concepts rather than their perception in a new light – the light of decomposition and co-construction of knowledge. The newly adopted concept of foundations suggests that the competence of preschool teachers will expand and include a series of pedagogical and psychological skills and knowledge at the expense of the foundation of their competence in those sciences that form the basis of development areas (that should be encouraged with children). In contrast to this attitude, we should not forget that the academic knowledge of preschool teachers, as well as their own inquisitiveness and their willingness to learn and to explore, represents the foundation for the creative approach to preschool educational practice that aspire to timely answer the children’s inquisitiveness and to encourage their interest in better understanding of themselves and the world around them. The long-term intention of preschool education should be to develop the need for education as the integral part of both the children’s and the teachers’ characters, and keeping up with these directions (speaking competence, early literacy, etc) would increase if the key aspect of children’s character development would be operationalised and defined with standards.
In this multi-case study, we describe early childhood teachers’ experiences implementing project work in contemporary, standards-based classrooms. Focus is given to understanding how teachers interpreted work in context; that is, how they... more
In this multi-case study, we describe early childhood teachers’ experiences implementing project work in contemporary, standards-based classrooms. Focus is given to understanding how teachers interpreted work in context; that is, how they were responsive to both expanding professional knowledge about the project approach and to the existing practices valued in their particular school con- texts. We present description of project work in action in three classrooms in order to illustrate key themes from each of the three single cases. This is followed by an interpretive discussion that brings together the three cases. In conclusion, we suggest that the teachers’ experiences implementing the project approach carry implications for understanding teacher learning and professional development.
Related Topics