Child Centered Curriculum In The Early Years Research (Research Paper Sample)

Developing a child centered curriculum for the early years: how to increase children’s views
[Name]
[A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the….]
[Faculty, Institution]
April, 2017
Abstract
This study addresses the insights and problems in trying to listen to the voices of children in their early stages before school. The study is conducted at a school in England. It is inspired by the initiative of state in the United Kingdom to involve children in making decisions pertaining them. A participatory approach has been used by the researcher to involve all stakeholders in coming up with an effective approach to help young children communicate their perceptions. It focuses on the various techniques that may be of help in voicing the desires and perceptions of children (Lancaster, 2003). Having worked as a practitioner with the young children, the researcher presents an honest and reliable opinion of the challenges encountered in enhancing participation of the children. The researcher deliberately used a participatory approach to analyze the challenges that hinder the participation of the children in making decisions.
From the findings, the tools used were considered successful and capable of realizing the underlying objective. However, in the process, other factors such as the relationships and interactions with other participants were found to significantly influence this listening process. Other emerging shortcomings included the inability to implement the previously established statutory directives concerning the rights of children. The choice of the researcher to involve children in solving their own problems was an essential point of beginning the involvement of children in making other important decisions.
The study acknowledges the key importance of building true connections with these children in their early years. This has to be a major concentration if children are to be granted their right to make decisions. The relationships may positively or adversely affect the ability of the children to voice their concerns. This research is not fully conclusive and leaves room for further research particularly on the role played by practitioners in enhancing the participation of children, their interests, experiences and the challenges they face.
Acknowledgement
My first acknowledgement is to God for the good health throughout this study. My sincere appreciation to my supervisor__________, my friends __________and my family________ for their continued support, encouragement and inspiration
My heartfelt appreciation to Miss Daisy’s Nursery, for allowing me to carry out a research in their school
Dedication
To my parents,__________ for their continuous support, patience and limitless love
Statement of Copyright
This is the original work of the author and no part of it can be quoted or published without the due acknowledgement of the
Introduction
This part introduces my study work undertaken in the early stages of my profession in the year 2009.It highlights the challenges faced while trying to listen to the voices of young children. This research work studies the express and implied expressions of these young children at a school in England. Young children ought to be actively involved in making decisions affecting them. Due to their inability to communicate expressly; the staff and parents should support the children to voice their implied expressions. This study explores the techniques to assist voice the decisions of children (Clark and Moss, 2001), and develop a curriculum tailored to children for the children.
This chapter discusses the context of this research work, my career and personal interest in this study. In conducting this research I faced challenges that had not been foreseen during the planning stage. These challenges encountered in undertaking this research and compiling this document are also discussed in this chapter. The reflective style used in this paper is deliberate so as to make it easy for the reader to understand that this research portrays only one side of the study and leaves room for them to explore this topic further. (Holliday, 2007; Naughton and Hughes, 2009; Dahlberg et al, 2007).
Organization under study
This study relates to children in the pre-school phase between the ages of 2 and 5 years. Although it is based on the children in early years in the UK, other countries have been incorporated to help make meaning to children voices. At this age children are assumed to have no capacity to make decisions regarding pre-school experiences. The introduction a national framework dubbed ‘Every Child Matters’ which was incorporated in the Children Act 2004 is of significance in this study (Woodhead and Faulkner, 2008; Brooker, 2007). This structure intends to bring cohesion among children, provide support to them and determine the opinions of children on matters affecting them.
Problem statement
The political and social systems in the UK clearly imply that it is fundamental to involve children actively in making decisions that affect any aspect of their lives. A national framework (DfES, 2004) was established with the intention of supporting this initiative. However, my experience in working has proved that this has not been implemented among the children and remains a merely written rule. There exists a huge gap between what is practised and what ought to be practised as a matter of policy. Regardless of the consistent declarations that the interests of the children are paramount the practice is still hugely influenced by adults.
In 2008 September Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was introduced to help make the pre-school experiences child-centered. This was aimed at aligning the pre-school practices to the children’s needs. Surprisingly this resulted into a more complicated situation of more workload to the practitioners and more paperwork to the children (Brooker et al, 2010).
Listening to children and actively involving them in decision making just like all other citizens is slowly finding legal and political attention lately. (Pascal and Bertram, 2009, Smith, 2011).the contribution of children to the society is slowly gaining recognition from the legal, social and political quarters. This shift is attributed to the efforts of United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UN, 1989) who have campaigned for the rights of children to be respected and their voices to be heard. The fruits of this development have not been felt fully as it is still faced with major setbacks. This study is aimed at addressing the challenges encountered in actualizing these efforts to ensure that the voice of the child is not only merely discussed but listened to and honored.
Research objectives
The purpose of this research is driven by my professional and individual belief that children just like adults are entitled to respect and rights. Children should be heard and should be allowed to be part of decisions affecting them directly and indirectly. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to establish how we in this profession can help children participate fully in deciding their own experiences before joining a school. This research seeks to establish the rights of these children and also how they can be granted in practice (Morrow, 2005, Prout, 2003).
My experience in this profession as a mentor to EYFS students presented a perfect opportunity and motivated me to explore the involvement of children in shaping their pre-school experiences. My own opinion is that children should be considered and their opinions on matters pertaining them heard. Unlike the majority believe that age is directly proportional to wisdom I believe that there is so much to learn from children. This notion only serves to make children timid and lack confidence that they can make right choices, answers and decisions.
This research is aimed at improving onto the already existing literature that explores the different methods to successfully develop a curriculum tailored to the needs of the children (Bertram and Pascal, 2009)
This research is aimed at establishing an action based plan incorporating the children, staff and parents to come up with an early year’s curriculum that is a perfect representation of the children’s voices. This will primarily help the children make their own decisions and enjoy the pre-school experiences.
The aim of this study is to understand the beliefs formed by children concerning the different pre-school activities, pre-school life in general and how they perceived the rules and routine practices established to govern them (Clark and Moss, 2001).this would then help us determine which modifications to make and how to do it to ensure that we improve the experiences of these children.
This research also aims at presenting a properly structured and clear plan of evaluating the shortcomings encountered in such research. This will be instrumental in conducting further research and other critical reflections concerning the same (Mac Naughton and Hughes, 2009).
Dissertation structure
Chapter 1 introduces the reasons for undertaking this study, the challenges encountered in conducting this research work and compiling it into a cohesive document and presenting it. It outlines the purpose of this study, the background and also introduces my perspective in the topic of discussion.
Chapters 2 and 4 are a review of the literature on which this study is based. Chapter 2 explores the presentations by other authors pertaining the problems and potential of listening to children. Chapter 4 discusses the literature that influenced my mythological framework and the theories that influenced my study.
Chapter 3 defines the objectives and aims of this research and further breaks them down into research questions.
Chapter 5 and ...