Early Childhood Curriculum

Dominant Narratives of Early Childhood Curriculum

The most commonly presented history of early childhood curriculum begins by tracing the progress of human beings through functioning as hunter-gatherers, through the construction of villages, then cities. In this predominantly Western (mainly European and U.S.) history, those who are younger have been labeled as especially vulnerable. Although debates continue as to the frequency of the practices, younger human beings are described as experiencing abandonment, infanticide, and slavery and have been shown to work long hours in factories. Schooling was constructed for privileged young males who were taught reading and writing, or apprenticeships were created to teach occupations, most often from father to son. As objects of Enlightenment discourses used to construct fields of sociology and psychology, young children (and older children also) became the focus of a range of writers, some who actually practiced the curriculum perspectives that they put forward. As examples, in Europe, Martin Luther argued that all children should be taught to read the Bible. John Amos Comenius proposed that the first 6 years of life serve as the foundation of all knowledge and are best spent with the mother. Although sending his own five children to foundling homes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau put forward a curriculum based on natural development, on learning about nature and the physical world, and on focusing on reasoned logic for a hypothetical child. In the early 1800s, Johann Pestalozzi used the work of Rousseau to construct pedagogical methods that he believed placed the child at the center of learning. His methods were expanded by his student Friedrich Froebel, who developed a clearly defined curriculum that he termed kindergarten that compared the child to a naturally developing seed who would grow into a mature fruit; his curriculum focused on play, but used [Page 304]specifically designed three-dimensional materials (named gifts from God) with planned activities (occupations) that could be completed with the activities. The beliefs of these Enlightenment scholars have played a major role in conceptualizations of curriculum for young children even to this day, as is evidenced by the use of the term kindergarten for early childhood programs in a range of locations.

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