A Child-Centered Approach to Learning

Emergent curriculum is a teaching approach that aligns with the learners’ interests. When early years teachers effectively implement an emergent curriculum in their classrooms and place the child at the center of the learning process, teachers become facilitators of learning, responding to the children’s signs of wonder, curiosity, and play preferences and allowing their interests to guide the curriculum. The result is a more dynamic and responsive classroom environment. 

An emergent curriculum offers early years teachers a powerful tool for creating meaningful and engaging learning experiences. By building on the interests and ideas of young children, teachers foster a love of learning that will stay with students for years to come. 

But how should the course unfold? How can teachers identify or create the right learning context and opportunities to help learners develop and consolidate the skills they need?

Here are six main guidelines for creating a successful learning experience through an emergent curriculum. 

the learning environment

The learning environment is key for helping to inspire learners and evoke wonder, a powerful trigger for curiosity and the desire to learn. How teachers design the learning space, the items they include in the context, and how much the children interact with the context will determine the success of the work in an emergent curriculum.

It’s essential to carefully design the context and facilitate children’s interaction with it, allowing various elements to emerge that can become topics of study or areas for the children to explore and develop. For example, the teacher can take the children on a walk around the school neighborhood, using the opportunity to observe their pedestrian skills, how they navigate different streets to find their way back, and whether they recognize the route to and from school.

The teacher can encourage children to explore the local environment, recognizing plants and vegetation, or to discover street names (noticing where they are located and what they signify, identifying letters in the names and whether the names are long or short). Additionally, the walk can include identifying different shops and what each one sells.

Observation and documentation

As the children interact with the learning context, with each other, and with the adults, they will come up with different questions about the materials and resources around them or about solving different situations. Teachers will then observe and document how wonder plays a part, the questions that emerge, the soft and hard skills the learners need to develop, and the knowledge the learners are willing to obtain to fulfill their curiosity.

For instance, in the case of the above example, as they walk around the school’s neighborhood, the teacher can document the learners’ comments, questions, and ideas, as well as identify areas for further exploration and development.

Decision-making

Teachers determine the learning path by identifying common themes among the learners, considering their interests, and pinpointing developmental areas that need support, based on prior observation and documentation.

To illustrate, the teacher may decide they are willing to understand the written language code, so a good inquiry-based project may arise from the idea of finding out what letters are, how to trace letters, and how to build words to express themselves in writing. Or maybe the learners wonder about how the streets are built so that cars and buses can travel on them. 

Hands-on approach

Carry out the planned activities and projects that are child-centered and interest-driven. Teachers then decide with the learners the path they want to take by making a list of wonders related to the topic at hand.

As they explore those wonders, the teachers may take advantage of the children’s motivation and foster the development of different skills such as tracing, counting, or grouping, or social and emotional aspects such as turn taking, collaboration, responsibility, commitment, and teamwork. 

Assessment and Feedback

A key question that teachers often face when working with an emergent curriculum is, what should be assessed? It‘s important to assess everything the teacher deems relevant, including how effectively learners have addressed their questions, the progress made in research work, and the development of both soft and hard skills.

Assessment should occur regularly—ideally every day—with all learners if possible. This can be done during group discussions at the end of lessons or through individual assessments to address specific aspects of each learner’s development. Additionally, it’s advisable for teachers to assess their own practices.

Feedback in an emergent curriculum with early years learners focuses on providing constructive and supportive responses to the learners as they explore and develop their interests and skills. It helps them understand their progress and motivates them to pursue their interests further. It also encourages children to reflect on their own learning and self-assess their progress.

This helps them develop self-awareness and a sense of ownership over their learning journey. As a consequence, assessment and feedback directly lead to the final, but crucial, guideline.

Reflection and Decision-Making

Teachers and learners reflect on the choices made, and at the same time the teacher will reflect on the effectiveness of the implemented curriculum and if necessary decide on possible future changes or adaptations.

An emergent curriculum recognizes that learning can be unpredictable. While implementing an emergent curriculum in early years requires flexibility and creativity, and also letting go of some control, the rewards are invaluable. By engaging young learners in their own discovery and exploration, teachers can nurture their curiosity, build foundational skills, and boost their confidence, setting the stage for success both in the classroom and beyond.