Topic

Overview of
Curriculum
Models

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1.

Describe the different types of curriculum models used in developed

countries;

2.

Compare and contrast the different types of curriculum models

discussed;

3.

Suggest its relevance in the Malaysian scenario; and

4.

Describe the different theories behind each model.

INTRODUCTION
This topic introduces students to various types of curriculum models such as
Head Start, High Scope, Bank Street, Montessori and Reggio Emilia. This gives
you a chance to learn by comparing what has been learnt from other developing
countries. Although theories about early childhood development have existed for
several centuries, curriculum models in early childhood have a more recent
beginning. The curriculum models chosen in this section was chosen because
they continue to be identified by the early childhood profession, and have been
implemented in multiple early childhood settings globally.

ACTIVITY 2.1
Name some of the common curriculum models used in Malaysia.
Discuss why some of them are more popular in Malaysia.

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HEAD START

Head start is the largest federal early childhood programme in the United States
of America (USA). The programme has evolved from just a simple summer
programme to a comprehensive set of services for underprivileged children and
families.

2.1.1

History of Head Start

Head Start was launched in 1965 to eradicate poverty in the USA. It was launched
based on the social and political struggles that were happening during the civil
rights period. There was a renewed interest on how the environment influenced
the development of economically disadvantaged children. It is now the largest
publicly funded education programme for infants, toddlers and pre-school
children. The programme includes health and medical screening and treatment,
parent participation and other services to families. Since its establishment in 1965,
it has now progressed from classroom-based to home-based developmental
services catered to low income families. Based from experience, it was found that
a childs needs vary from community to community. The curriculum needs to be
individualised with consideration given to ethnic and cultural background in
order to meet the needs of the community it serves. The following are some of the
special features of the Head Start programme:
(a)

Low child-staff ratio;

(b)

Inclusion of special needs children (10 per cent in each state);

(c)

Parental involvement as volunteers and taking part in administrative

decision; and

(d)

Constant training of teachers and staff (Child Development Associate

Credentials).

The original vision for the Head Start programme was to act as a model to
eradicate poverty and encourage families to be physically and mentally healthy.
It was at this period of time scholars such as J. McVicker Hunt and Benjamin
Bloom played a significant role in the creation of the Head Start programme.
Hunt challenged the views that intelligent was hereditarily fixed and argued in
his book Intelligence and Experience (1961) that a childs intellectual
development was determined by the quality of the environment that they live in.
Bloom, on the other hand, wrote a book entitled Stability and change in Human
characteristics (1966), and pointed out that the first four to five years of life is the
period where children undergo the most rapid change in intellectual growth.
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Hence with this new development in intellectual and brain research and the lack
of proper infant and toddler care, Head Start was spearheaded in an effort to
strengthen developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive services for
infants and toddlers.

2.1.2

Programme Goals

The Head Start programme has always had a broad set of goals meant for the
development of children from the lower income group. The main objective of the
Head Start programme has always been to get children ready for school. During
the 105th Congress, the purpose of the Head Start programme was revised to
enhance cognitive and social development of low income children in the areas of
health, education, nutrition, social and other services deemed necessary through
a family-need assessment. This was necessary to promote school readiness and
success. In the year 2000, a Child Outcome Framework of Building Blocks was
legislated. In the framework, eight domains were identified to guide programmes
in their ongoing assessment of progress and accomplishment of children. The
eight domains and their respective elements are shown in Table 2.1:
Table 2.1: Eight Domains to Guide Programmes
Domain

Description

Language
development

Listening, understanding, speaking and communicating.

Literacy

Phonological awareness, book knowledge and appreciation,

print awareness and concept and early writing and alphabet
knowledge.

Mathematics

Number and operations, geometry and spatial sense and

patterns and measurement.

Science

This domain will look into scientific skills and methods and
scientific knowledge.

Creative Arts

Elements involved are music, art, movement and dramatic play.

Social and emotional

development

Self-concept, self-control, cooperation, social

andknowledge of families and communities.

Approaches to
learning

Initiative and curiosity, engagement and persistence and

reasoning and problem solving.

Physical health and

development

Fine motor skills, health status and practices.

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Right from the very beginning, the Head Start programme has viewed families
and parents as essential partners in achieving improved outcomes for children.
Head Start has also provided many opportunities for parents to take on an active
role and be involved actively in programmes with parents constituting more than
one-half of the local policy council under the programme. All Head Start
programmes are to provide children and families with high quality standards
which are governed by the Programme Performance Standard set by the Federal
Head Start Bureau. The standards are organised according to three major areas:
(a)

Early childhood development and health services;

(b)

Family and Community Partnership; and

(c)

Programme design and management.

ACTIVITY 2.2
Compare and discuss the difference between the objectives of
Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan (KSPK) and the Head
Start Programme.

2.2

HIGH SCOPE

David Weikart started the High Scope programme in Michigan in 1962. He was
interested to know why high risk children were performing poorly in schools.
The High Scope was mooted from Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky cognition and
social interaction theory which was built on the understanding that children learn
from self-experiences through interaction with people and objects around them.
This model assists children to construct their own knowledge gained through
meaningful experiences.
The following are some of the special features of this model:
(a)

The programme gives children control over events by letting them to plan a
consistent routine.

(b)

The plan-do-review sequence allows children to state their intention, plan

with help from teachers, carry out the activities and lastly, recall and reflect
on the results (refer to Figure 2.1).

(c)

Children work with materials, interact, choose, create and share, resulting
in the ability to think and solve problems.
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(d)

Children review their work and use pictures and other modes to present
their work to others.

(e)

The class teacher will organise large and small group activities.

(f)

The teachers act as partners rather than facilitators; they share control with
children and support childrens play and ideas.

(g)

Teachers do not teach maths and reading, but provide experience and
materials to assist children in developing language and logical thinking
skills for future academic learning.

Figure 2.1: High scope wheel of learning

Source: http://ece205.wikispaces.com/David+Weikart

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SELF-CHECK 2.1
Explain how teachers in High Scope support childrens learning path.

ACTIVITY 2.3
Does learning in High Scope involve critical thinking and why do you
think so? Discuss.

2.3

BANK STREET

The Bank Street approach or developmental interaction approach focuses on the

concept of development referring to the ways in which children understand and
respond to the changes in their surroundings and how they develop and learn
from their long-term living experiences.

2.3.1

History of Bank Street

Bureau Education Experiment which later became Bank Street of Education

became the first independent education enterprise to expand with new teaching
methods and social arrangements. They were however strongly influenced by the
work of John Dewey who believed in the importance of education for the
development of a democratic society. Most of their work which was strongly
influenced by the work of John Dewey and is centred on making school learning
connected to childrens lives in a meaningful way.
The founder of the bureau, Mrs Mitchell, was a strong believer that schools should
enhance and support childrens growth by being aware of how children learn;
building on childrens interest and introducing knowledge that makes sense to
them. Two concepts of broad scopes that have been central to the evolving
developmental-interaction approach are mental health and progressivism. The
schools need to promote opportunities based on the following:
(a)

Creative and satisfying work;

(b)

Cooperation rather than competitiveness;

(c)

Meaningful and stimulating work rather than rote learning; and

(d)

Nurturing individuality.
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Basic Principles

Developmental-interaction approach is based on several basic principles such as

children development and how they interact and socialise with the people and
the environment around them. One distinctive feature of the approach (Shapiro &
Bilber, 1972, p.61) is that the growth of cognitive function...... cannot be
separated from the growth of interpersonal processes.
Development is understood as a complex stage which does not only unfold
naturally but rather changes to how a child organises and responds to his or her
experiences. He or she can be seen as the active maker of meaning. The next basic
principle is the environment being the intrinsic motivator for the child. As a child
grows, he or she tends to have a complex view of understanding the way the
world works. The previous organised experiences becomes integrated into the
advanced systems. Another basic principle is the importance of development of
the childs sense of self and as a unique and important individual. Conflict is part
of a childs growing up phase that becomes unavoidable, sometimes with oneself
and at other times with others. The process of a childs development and how he
or she resolves conflict are both largely dependent on his or her experience when
he or she interacts with others and the demand of culture. With the above general
or basic principles of development and interaction in mind, the school is seen as a
place to promote development of competence in all areas of a childs life.

2.3.3

Curriculum

In any curriculum, the differences between each approach is the difference in the
degree of exactness or specificity required in the relationship between theory or
philosophy and practice. In developmental-interaction, the philosophy is based
on principles that serve as a guide rather than determine a practice. Teachers are
expected to develop curriculum content and practices within a stated framework
of valued aims and beliefs. This approach also does not expect teachers to teach
children new concepts but rather help them to have a further understanding of
their prior knowledge based on experiences to form the basis of this approach.
The teachers role is to understand the childs development and to structure an
environment that best fulfils the childs needs and interest, thus encouraging the
child to reach her maximum potential.

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The childs first experience in a Bank Street school is to understand and master in
their respective school environment by participating in activities and chores that
contribute to their function. Thereafter, their learning experiences will be
expanded beyond the traditional classroom boundaries to communities where
they will be able increase their understanding and learn meaningful elements
that will affect their future life decisions.

SELF-CHECK 2.2
What are the main differences between Bank Street and High Scope?
Explain.

2.4

MONTESSORI

Maria Montessori (1870 to 1952) was the founder of the Montessori method of
education. As the first female physician in Italy, she was an extraordinary leader
and known for her sharpness and ability to perform detailed observations. Most
of her work was inspired by accomplished visionaries such as Jean Itard and
Edouard Seguin work. In 1907, Maria Montessori launched her first school in
Italy, called Casa dei Bambini or also known as the Children House. Montessori
grew its presence in the United States of America and became a famous method
of education until the late 1950s. Many Montessori schools had also expanded its
reach to other countries in Europe and cities in India.
Kilpatrick in his 1914 book titled The Montessori System Examined criticised
the Montessori method of education and saw it as nothing new or interesting.
This slowed down the Montessori phenomenon at that time. Now with the broad
acceptance of developmentally appropriate practices, educators are beginning to
realise that it is actually part of the Montessori system which has been practiced
many decades ago.

2.4.1

Basic Principles

As there have been no restrictions among most schools on the usage of the
Montessori word, many parents would rely on affiliation to associations such as
Association Montessori International (AMI) or American Montessori Society
(AMS) to establish the authenticity of the programme employed by the schools.
The following are some of the characteristics of a Montessori classroom as
compared to a traditional early childhood education classroom.

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(a)

There are mixed age grouping of children in the classroom example 2 to

four years old, and five to eight year old. This mixed age group provides
children with the opportunity to build their leadership skills.

(b)

The classroom is equipped with child-sized furnitures that are low with
carefully arranged materials for the children to choose from.

(c)

The tables are arranged in groups to facilitate individual or small grouped

work.

(d)

The classrooms are separated by shelves to form bays or focus areas (refer
to Figure 2.2).

(e)

The manipulative Montessori materials are designed for use by individual

student or small groups.

Figure 2.2: A Montessori classroom

Source: http://isthmusmontessoriacademy.org/index.php/programs/generalinformation/

The single most important point to remember when judging a programme is to

ensure there are a good range of children activities. The school children should
spend three to four hours per day engaging in individual or small group work of
their own choice which is facilitated by the Montessori teacher. Most Montessori
schools encourage the practice of collaboration among children and do not use
competition as a way to get children to complete their work. Students work
independently in the classroom and the Montessori didactic materials provide
inbuilt control of error to assist children in finding their own mistakes. Children
from a Montessori classroom are encouraged to ask assistance from their own
peers rather than from a teacher or a directress. All learning materials are
designed to draw children to do work that are of interest to them over and over
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again, thus increasing their concentration span. Children are bound to thrive in a
stimulating and organised environment and Montessori teachers are trained to be
observant and systematic in observing a childs work and collecting cumulative
knowledge of his or her childs progress. Lastly, a Montessori child is always
encouraged to be responsible. For example cleaning up after an activity and
keeping away all materials in its right place.

2.4.2

The Absorbent Mind

According to Maria Montessori, a child learns best when he or she by assimilates

from his or her environment. A child learns from direct contact with the
environment and this has a profound impact on how his or her mind will become
developed Maria Montessori calls it the Absorbent Mind.
Impressions do not merely enter his mind; they form it.
Maria Montessori
The absorbent mind occurs in a child between birth and the age of six years old.
This stage takes place under two phases which are of the following:
(a)

The Unconscious Mind

The Unconscious Mind phase appears from birth till the age of three years
old. At this phase, the child explores his or her environment using the
senses and movements. Children at this stage also absorb language from
their surrounding culture and try to experiment with them. At this phase
memory is formed but at an unconscious level. This is not however an
inferior or not an intelligent stage as a child is able to absorb various
sounds, rhythm and language structures from their learning environment.
Without much effort, children are able to unconsciously absorb the
vocabulary, semantic and syntax of his or her mother tongue.

(b)

The Conscious Mind

At the age of three years old, a child is able to shift her powerful absorbent
language to a conscious more purposeful type. The child becomes a
sensorial explorer and conscious learning begins, resulting in a child having
the ability to form a relationship between things and make comparative
analysis. A child is taught to then refine and classify their sensory
experiences and to make sense of many impressions that may have been
previously absorbed, hence building a childs constructive mind
progressively.
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The Prepared Environment

According to the Montessori method of education, the Prepared Environment is

designed to facilitate independent learning by a child. The prepared environment
is a well-structured and composed environment that facilitates plenty of
movement and activities targeted at children. It is specifically designed to instil
freedom and self-discipline in children. There are six aspects or principles to the
prepared environment as shown in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Six aspects of the prepared environment

Now, let us discuss the above aspects in greater detail:

(a)

Freedom
Maria Montessori believed that a child learns from his environment and
must be free to explore and follow his natural instinct. Within the
environment the child must experience freedom of exploration, freedom of
movement, freedom to interact socially with his peers without any
interference from adults. This will lead to freedom of choice which should
be the ultimate freedom for children.

(b)

Structure and Order

Although structure and order is the opposite of freedom but it reflects the
sense of structure existing in the universe. By being in a structured
environment, a child will internalise his or her learnings in order to make
sense of the world in which he or she lives in. According to Montessori,
children go through a sensitive period for order between ages one to three
years of old.
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(c)

Beauty
A Montessori environment should be beautifully located whether it is an
old house or living room. It should be in harmony, uncluttered and wellmaintained. The environment should reflect peace and tranquillity and be
welcoming for a learner to come in and work.

(d)

Nature and Reality

A Montessori school has a deep respect for nature and always encourages
teachers to take the children out. Natural materials are always preferred in
the classroom and real-sized objects such as child-sized tables, chairs,
brooms and dustpan are inculcated within classrooms which will allow
children not to be dependent on adults. All the tools including rakes, hoes
and pitchers should all fit childrens hands to allow easy manipulation and
completion of work without frustration.

(e)

Social Environment
Social interaction occurs freely in the environment which allows every child
to develop empathy and compassion As children develop, they become
socially aware and are able to work as a team. The multi-aged group
supports children to interact as a society.

(f)

Intellectual Development
The purpose of the prepared environment is to develop a childs as a whole,
not merely his or her intellectual development. Through the Montessori
didactic materials, which moves hierarchically from simple to complex and
concrete to abstract, children are given the choice to fully develop their
potential in the prepared environment.

2.4.4

The Montessori Teacher

A Montessori teacher has a special bond with the child and the environment. The
teacher prepares the environment with care using materials and activities that
entice children to learn. The teacher may guide the children but its the child
interaction with the environment that enables learning to occur.

SELF-CHECK 2.3
1.

Explain how the prepared environment helps children to learn.

2.

What does mixed-age group mean?

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REGGIO EMILIA

The Reggio Emilia educational approach was established and inspired by Loris
Malaguzzis philosophy of education which was made up of a collection of
schools. Each school takes the utmost care in cultivating and guiding the childs
intellectual, emotional, social and moral potential growth. One of the rare
practices that are visible in Emilias approach is the teachers ability to listen to
the children and allowing them to take the initiative, yet guide them a productive
way. Although the standard child-teacher approach was not imposed onto a
child, the result of their work was of utmost quality and this was achievable
through the infinite care taken with respect to any decision taken whether its
through working groups, or choosing the right colour of brush.
Believing that the potential of children is stunted when the endpoint of their
learning is formulated in advance, teachers develop an emergent curriculum
in collaboration with the learners.
Carlina Rinaldi, Director of Early Childhood Education, and Municipality of
Reggio Emilia, extracted from The Hundred Languages of Children: The
Reggio Emilia.
Emilia educators believe that children use symbolic and graphics to present their
ideas (refer to Figure 2.4). They need to make sense of what they are curious
about by using visuals and language tools which should be cultivated. The
hundred languages described by Carolyn, Gandini and Forman (1998) highlight
the many ways in which children can learn and express themselves through
speech development, writing, drawing, movement, sculpting, shadow play and
music.

Figure 2.4: A display of graphics used by children to present their ideas

Source: https://nicolastreeten.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/riba-map-drawingworkshop-at-the-nottinghamshire-county-show/
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Principles and Practices of Reggio Emilia

Malaguzzi has always mentioned several key principles used by Emilia such as:
(a)

A Reggio school consists of a special system where the well-being and

success of children is highly dependent on the equal well-being of all
teachers and parents;

(b)

Children have many potentials such as creativity, intellectual and

communication that need to be respected and nurtured;

(c)

Teachers need to learn from children and exercise a certain degree of

uncertainty to induce a collaborative learning space; and

(d)

The environment should act as a place for idea exchange and relationship
building between children, teachers and families by serving the needs of all
who utilises them.

The above described principles are currently being practiced in all Reggio
schools. The elements have marked all Reggio schools as a distinctive and unique
learning experience which are unlike other schools. Some other common features
are:
(a)

The usage of the environment to promote learning;

(b)

Curriculum inquiry-based project to promote hundred languages to

children;

(c)

Documentation as a means of observation, research and advocacy; and

(d)

Partnership with parents.

2.5.2

Curriculum as a Collaborative Exploration

A Reggio environment is considered to be an invigorating and stimulating

experience which is filled with children activities (see examples in Figure 2.5 and
Figure 2.6). The most distinct aspect of Reggio curriculum is their long term
projects known as Progettazione many of which are exhibited in a global travel
exhibition organised under the guidance of Malaguzzi.

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Figure 2.5: A Reggio classroom

Source: https://sunflowerpreschool.wordpress.com/

Figure 2.6: Investigating light

Source: https://reggioemiliaclassroom.wordpress.com/tag/reggio-blog/

Although the ideas presented are of excellent quality, it is only made possible by
the extensive nature to what appears to be constructive play. It should reflect the
result of purposeful and carefully designed early learning opportunities, in other
words an Early Childhood Curriculum. These aims will be further explored as it
has already captured the interest of the child. A typical Reggio teacher uses a
childs natural curiosity and ability to question, to promote exploration of
materials, to experiment and communicate in different ways, to test a hypothesis,
debate and lastly, negotiate multiple points of views. She creates opportunities
for children to participate in the world around them and make sense of it which
would result in children making their own interpretation. Problem-based
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curriculum such as Reggio is not easy to identify the starting point as a teacher
would need to first understand the direction that the children wish to pursue
their own question. Then children will respond by trying to solve problems
which could lead to new ideas and possibilities.

2.5.3

Parent Engagement

Parent engagement is the most central philosophy to Reggio Emilia. Reggio

Emilia played a leading role in establishing guidelines and implementing
practices which support community involvement and parent engagement in early
childhood setting. The concept of gestione sociale is premised on the essential
right of parents to be directly involved in the running of a child-care. In most
cities of Italy with Municipal early childhood programme gestione sociale is
represented in many forms of parent, teacher and citizen advising council but in
Reggio it is further extended to promote the collaborative engagement of families
in early childhood services (New, Mallory & Mantovani, 2000).

SELF-CHECK 2.4
What are the two things that make Reggio Emilia a unique approach?
Explain.

Head Start, Bank Street, High Scope, Montessori and Reggio Emilia are some
of the common curriculum models used in the world.

Head Start was launched in the United States of America in 1965 to eradicate
poverty.

All Head Start programmes are to provide children and families with an
expectation of high quality which is governed by the Programme
Performance Standard set by the Federal Head start Bureau.

The High Scope was grounded from Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky cognition
and social interaction theory which was built on the understanding that
children learn from self-experiences through social interactions and the
environment that they are in.

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Developmental-interaction approach is based on several basic principles,

primarily on children development and how they interact and socialise with
one another and the environment around them.

Bank Street teachers are expected to develop curriculum content and practice
within a fixed framework depicting valued aims and beliefs. This approach
does not expect teachers to educate children on a lot of new concepts but
rather focus on helping them to have a further understanding of the subject
matter for their own knowledge.

Some of the main characteristics of the Montessori educational approach

involves mixed-aged grouping, child-size friendly environment, Montessori
materials and teachers who facilitate and observe children in a systematic
way.

Reggio Emilia is seen as different from the other models as the teachers
ability to listen to the children and allowing them to take initiative, while
guiding them to explore their own interests.

Bank Street

Prepared environment

Conscious Mind

Progettazione

Gestione Sociale

Reggio Emilia

Head Start

Sensitive period

High Scope

Unconscious mind

Montessori

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New, R., Mallory, B., & Mantovani, S. (2000). Cultural images of children, parents
and teachers: Italian interpretations of home-school relations. Early
Education Development, 11(5), 597-616.
Roopnarine, J. L., & Johnson, J. E. (2005). Approaches to early childhood
education. New Jersey: Merill Prentice Hall.
Shapiro, E., & Bilber, B. (1972). The education of young children: A developmentalinteraction point of view. Teachers College Record, 74, 55-79.

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