As a professional, I am always looking to learn more about all sides of an issue or topic, then align myself with the view or viewpoints that I feel are most supported by fact as well as align with my personal beliefs or vision. When it comes to work, I like to do this and then apply what I’ve found and educate others.
I will be focusing for the next few weeks on the research behind early childhood education curriculum and the motivations and proven systems that work and those that don’t. There is a divide among the Directors and leaders in our company who believe that we should redesign our curriculum and move away from an established and effective method to our own homegrown curriculum – however the product created some feel miss the mark, while others are passionate about.
Exploring the following areas can help enlighten me and help in problem solving what is worth fighting for and what is going to be best for the kids and teachers:
- Pacing Guides for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Standardized Curriculum VS Emergent Curriculum
- Learning Standards VS Curriculum
Adventures of a Director 
Hi, Megan. I cannot wait to see what you find out. We are struggling with this in our newly opened Early Head Starts sites. Any particular curriculum you are supported of?
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We have traditionally used The Creative Curriculum, as it really supports the idea of flexible learning environments, small groups and learning through exploration as well as the use of enhancing the classroom to meet your learning goals. There are members of our company who would like to move towards a more traditional educational approach where we have a pacing guide and must focus on hitting those specific learning standards, despite where they are developmentally. It also becomes a challenge as children enter mid-year, or even for teachers who begin to habitually teach “by the book” instead of using their responsiveness. Some directors also struggle with the appropriateness of pacing guides for these ages, yet others are very much in support of it. We are clearly divided by both schools of thought and I am interested in what factual research backs up either side.
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