“Active Child” and “Active Teacher”: Complementary Roles in Sustaining Child-centered Curriculum

Abstract

As research in child development becomes more advanced, children's amazing inherent abilities are demonstrated again and again. All children are born scientists, learners, doers, makers, and empathizers. It is the role of teachers, parents, and community members to help foster and build on these existing aptitudes in children. In light of the research, over the past 60 years or so, curriculum and pedagogy have shifted from a teacher-directed, didactic approach to a child-centered model that recognizes the role of the child at the center of teaching and learning. Studies have consistently shown that high-quality learning is best achieved when the child feels a sense of ownership and agency over his or her learning. However, in many cultures, this notion has represented a sea change that has left some teachers, parents, and policymakers struggling to incorporate child-centrism into existing education systems and practices. In this article, the author acknowledges this history, and gives examples from Hong Kong of how both child and teacher can be active participants in quality education.

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Notes

1 In Hong Kong, early childhood education for children under age 6 is called pre-primary education, and pre-primary education institutions that are supervised by the Hong Kong Education Bureau are called kindergartens. Kindergarten education in Hong Kong is offered at three levels: Kindergarten Level 1 (K1) for 3- to 4-year-olds, Kindergarten Level 2 (K2) for 4- to 5-year-olds, and Kindergarten Level 3 (K3) for 5- to 6-year-olds.

2 Assimilation and accommodation are cognitive processes through which children integrate new perceptual or conceptual ideas into an existing mental image of objects/schemata (assimilation), create a new schema, or modify an existing schema to fit the new stimulus (accommodation).

3 Collecting data from different sources enabled data triangulation and improved data reliability and validity. Participation of kindergartens and teachers was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained. Anonymity and confidentiality were guaranteed and pseudonyms used.

4 The interviews were audiotaped with the teachers' consent, and then transcribed, categorized, and coded following Strauss and Corbin's (2008) open coding method. All six interview transcripts were reviewed, categorized, and coded the same way, which allowed for comparing and contrasting across categories to bring out major themes for analysis and discussion. Finally, the interview data were cross-analyzed against the class observations, triangulating the field data and consolidating the findings.

5 Goodlad (1979) categorized five types of curriculum: 1) the ideal curriculum, which bears professional directions to guide curriculum development; 2) the formal curriculum, which refers to the official curriculum guides and policies; 3) the perceived curriculum, which denotes teachers' perceptions of the formal curriculum and interpretation of what it means in practice; 4) the operational curriculum, which represents teachers' pedagogical practice in action; and 5) the experienced curriculum, which indicates the experiences that learners obtained from the operational curriculum.