A Panoramic View of the Curriculum
In the changing world, where education is evolving every moment and so is learning, it is time to re-examine the teaching-learning process. We need to place the “Child is the Curriculum” in a fresh perspective. Every child is unique and has his/her own way of acquiring knowledge, attitudes, values and skills. The charm and challenge lies in how effectively an educator can address every child's diversified learning need and sense of enquiry, to enable a child to discover, derive and further explore.
NatureNurture's integrated curriculum is a thematic learning programme that builds on the child's existing knowledge through establishing a correlation with different domains of learning. It transports them to a higher level of thinking & provides them with a plethora of opportunities to be meaningfully engaged in tandem with their interests and intelligences. This gives the children multiple ways of expressing themselves.
Experiential learning with real life associations and scope to generalize learning, to be able to solve problems, make decisions, forge constructive and meaningful relationships, communicate effectively, etc. are some of the skills that children need to acquire, to be successful in life. In this journey and quest to build up their competence, the home -school connection is of paramount importance for the child. So, keeping yourself abreast and aligned with the educational methodologies and approaches will take your children one step ahead in this endeavour.
Education is not about making them literate, restricting them to writing and reading; it's about expanding their mental horizons, broadening their thinking, enriching their experiences, empowering them with knowledge and skills, inculcating values, developing their personal and social skills, making them self reliant and regulated, imparting awareness about health and safety, building a sense of physical wellness, igniting their enquiry skills and creating a need for citizenship. It is necessary for them to be technologically savvy and strengthen their mathematical acumen, in order to make them the prospective leaders of tomorrow.
We need to nurture within them, a rational approach, a progressive attitude and the ability to say YES to life always! We need to fill them with vigour and enthusiasm to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
The Department of Education and experts in the fields of education, psychology, child development, behavioral science link elements of curriculum framework, instruction, materials & resources, fair assessment, interventions and learning standards to children’s engagement in learning and their school success.
Curriculum Framework
The curriculum at the NICE school is based on the National Curriculum Framework that reminds us as to what information should be given within each of the Key Learning Areas. It assures the continuum of learning that begins at birth and continues through graduation. The curriculum framework includes big ideas, essential questions, vocabulary, concepts and competencies that further define the learning standards.
Clear Standards
Learning standards provide the framework for learning. They provide the foundational information for what children should know and be able to do. A NICE school’s standards are based on the National Curriculum Framework and built on information learnt previously creating a continuum of learning and linked learning that begins in infancy, gradually getting more challenging as it extends through high school.
Materials and Resources
Every learning classroom, whether it is in a home environment or centre based setting must be a comfortable, safe and nurturing environment where children can interact with manipulatives and materials to enhance skill development. In a NICE, school children discover and understand science, social studies and math information when they actively explore materials and ideas that are guided by teachers who intentionally design activities that engage children in critical thinking and processing. Children also learn about their own abilities and learning styles and how to get along with others through a diverse set of materials and experiences. Offering an engaging approach to learning processes can help in adding values to the complete home school curriculum as it encourages children to experiment with their thinking capabilities and innovate ideas that can help them in learning things quickly.
Instruction
In a NICE school, learning occurs within the context of play and active learning strategies where children are engaged in concrete and hands – on discovery, experimentation and interaction with materials, their peers and nurturing adults.
A NICE educator helps construct knowledge during these active learning times by designing activities that build on children’s prior knowledge to create understanding and information. Educators ask open ended questions that encourage children to think about what comes next or to know more and they support children’s creativity, problem solving, intuition and inventiveness by challenging and encouraging them. The schools usually follow the CBSE curriculum in India, which focuses on imparting theoretical knowledge to children. The NICE school always emphasizes on encouraging innovative thinking, better understanding of complex processes, and creating a community that works together for finding solutions for common problems.
The instruction is based on the following pedagogies and ap-proaches :
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Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning
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Regio Emilia’s Fundamental Principles
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Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
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Howard Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligence
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Maria Montessori’s Methods of Education
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Kohl Berg’s Theory of Social Development
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Erikson’s Theory of Social Development
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Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development
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Baron – Cohen’s Theory of Mind
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21st Century Skills
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Constructivist Theory
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TPACK
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SAMR
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Whole Brain Theory and many more.
Fair Assessments
In a NICE school the children are assessed formally as well as in-formally. Formative assessments provide information about how children are progressing in the classroom and allow the educators to make adaptations or adjustments. The assessments are fair and aim at assessing the teaching – learning process and are documented to be used as information to formulate individualized learning plans. The assessments are prepared from extracts of curriculum for junior schools, curriculum for primary schools, and curriculum for middle schools to ensure that each child gets evaluated on his /her learning capabilities. NICE educators design specific plans and road maps for development of a child in a particular area to help him/her in coping with the upcoming learning sessions and others in class.
Interventions
A NICE educator observes and assesses children’s abilities, interests and achievement using standards as a guide. The interventions are part of everyday’s practice. The educator revises activities, adjusts lesson plans and accommodates children’s individual differences which allows children to master skills at their own pace.
Complete Customized Integrated Curriculums
Customizing content and learning materials as per student’s capabilities can help in making learning fun. Shifting the focus from just serving the basic purpose of being textbook centric, the complete customized content solutions helps your child to be better groomed and prepares him/her for upcoming challenges.
Life Skills Education
Ethics and manners play a great role in building the personality of an individual; hence, both of them are the two strong pillars of the modern grooming process. Learning various aspects of societal behaviors, overcoming day-to-day challenges, and staying motivated throughout unfavorable conditions is something that is taught in these classes.
Bloom's Taxonomy
Bloom's taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The three lists cover the learning objectives in cognitive, affective and sensory domains. The cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives, assessments and activities.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy and pedagogy focused on preschool and primary education. This approach is a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments. The programme is based on the principles of respect, responsibility and community through exploration, discovery and play.
At the core of this philosophy is an assumption that children form their own personality during the early years of development and that they are endowed with "a hundred languages", through which they can express their ideas. The aim of the Reggio approach is to teach children how to use these symbolic languages (e.g. painting, sculpting, drama) in every-day life.
Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget proposed that cognition developed through distinct stages from birth through the end of adolescence. By stages he meant a sequence of thinking patterns with four key features:
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They always happen in the same order.
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No stage is ever skipped.
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Each stage is a significant transformation of the stage before it.
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Each later stage incorporated the earlier stages into itself.
Basically this is the “staircase” model of development mentioned at the beginning of this chapter.
Piaget proposed four major stages of cognitive development, and called them
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sensorimotor intelligence
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preoperational thinking
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concrete operational thinking, and
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formal operational thinking.
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Each stage is correlated with an age period of childhood, but only approximately.
Howard Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligence
Gardner proposed that there are eight intelligences, and has suggested the possible addition of a ninth known as "existentialist intelligence."
Montessori Method of Education
The Montessori Method of Education, developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori, is a child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children. The method views the child as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment. It attempts to develop children physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Social Development
Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist Jean Piaget to explain the moral development of children, which he believed follows a series of stages.
Kohlberg defined three levels of moral development: pre-conventional, conventional, and postconventional. Each level has two distinct stages.
Erikson’s Theory of Social Development
Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.
Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development
Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' is the distance between the child's actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving, and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.
Baron – Cohen’s Theory of Mind
A theory of mind is the ability to imagine other people's emotions and thoughts, and it is a skill that according to Baron-Cohen's research is typically delayed developmentally in children with autism.
21st Century Skills
Constructivist Theory
The constructivist theory posits that knowledge can only exist within the human mind, and that it does not have to match any real world reality (Driscoll, 2000). Learners will be constantly trying to develop their own individual mental model of the real world from their perceptions of that world.
TPACK
TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. It is a theory that was developed to explain the set of knowledge that teachers need to teach their students a subject, teach effectively, and use technology. We'll get into more details in just a minute, but let's look at where this started.
SAMR
The SAMR Model is a framework created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura that categorizes four different degrees of classroom technology integration. The letters "SAMR" stand for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition.
The Whole Brain Model
The Whole Brain Model was developed by Ned Herrmann. Herrmann created this metaphorical model to illustrate that each person's brain basically has four quadrants when it comes to the process of thinking and learning. Each of these quadrants are characterized by different learning or thinking styles.
