At the Exploration Academy, our curriculum is based on a combination of the Development Interaction Approach and the Project Approach to Leaning. In this article we discuss the philosophy of both approaches, how we utilize them in the classroom, and the children who may most benefit from this child-emergent and experiential curriculum.
The Developmental Interaction Approach
Philosophy
The Developmental Interaction Approach method focuses on a child-centered education. With the Developmental Interaction Approach, teachers aim to foster children's development by offering diverse opportunities for physical, emotional, cognitive, and social growth. The Developmental Interaction Approach programs (available around the world) are based on the belief that children are active learners, explorers, experimenters, and artists. The programs take into account that children learn at different rates in different ways. They believe learning should encompass several subjects at once and occur in collaborative groups.
The curriculum is based on the idea that if children can learn about and study the human world, they can make sense of what they encounter. The best way to do that, according to the Bank Street philosophy, is for children to focus on five key social studies subjects: cultural anthropology, history, political science, economics, and geography. Arts and science education is woven in with social studies-centered lessons and activities that help children find meaning in the world around them.
In the classroom
Children usually play with toys and materials that leave a lot to their imagination — blocks, water, art materials, clay, puzzles, and so on. They can choose what they want to play with and can work by themselves and in groups. This helps them learn in their own way, at their own rate.
Who it's best for
The Developmental Interaction Approach program is leaves a lot of discretion to individual teachers and children to decide what to work on and when. If your child does well with a free-form, child-emergent curriculum schedule, he/she should flourish at a The Developmental Interaction Approach.
The Project Approach to Learning
Philosophy
Project-based learning is a comprehensive approach to classroom teaching and learning that is designed to engage students in investigation of authentic questions and/or problems.
The Project Approach refers to a set of teaching strategies that enable teachers to guide students through in-depth studies of real-world topics. Projects have complex, yet flexable frameworks within which teaching and learning are seen as interactive processes. When teachers implement the Approach successfully, students feel highly motivated and actively involved in their own learning, leading them to produce high-quality work and to grow as individuals and collaborators.
In the Classroom
During the preliminary planning stage, teachers select a topic of study based on students’ interests, the curriculum, and the availability of local resources. Teachers also brainstorm (and represent) their own experience with and knowledge and ideas about the topic in a web. This web becomes a central part of the project process, with teachers—and students—using it to record the progress of their work.
Phase 1: Beginning the Project
Teachers discuss the topic with students to find out about their related experiences and pre-existing knowledge. Often, this process evolves over a few days, with teachers eliciting prior knowledge through the use of related stories, discussions, journals, or other activities. Students then represent their experiences and show their understanding of the concepts involved in explaining them. Teachers help students develop questions to pursue during their investigation; they also send a letter about the study home to parents, who are encouraged to speak with their children about the topic and to share any relevant personal experience of their own.
Phase 2: Developing the Project
Opportunities for students to conduct field work and to speak with experts are arranged. Teachers provide resources to help students with their investigations, such as authentic objects, books, magazines, newspapers, music, Web sites, and other research materials. Teachers then suggest ways for students to carry out their investigations. Meanwhile, each student is involved in representing what he or she is learning in a variety of ways; with younger children, this may take the form of basic skills, such as 3D constructions, drawing, music, or dramatic play, and with older children, this could include journaling, editing magazines, dramatic performance, experimental design, Web site development, I-movies, PowerPoint, comic books, and more.
Throughout the process, teachers use group discussions and displays to enable students to take note of the diverse range of work. The topic web designed earlier provides a shorthand means of documenting the many branches of the project.
Phase 3: Concluding the Project
Teachers arrange a culminating event through which students share what they’ve learned with others (parents, administrators, other classes, experts). Students spend several days preparing for the event and selecting appropriate materials and displays. Teachers help students in this planning process, and, in doing so, involve them purposefully in reviewing and evaluating the whole project. Teachers also offer students imaginative ways of personalizing their new knowledge through art, stories, and drama. Finally, teachers use the students’ ideas and interests to make a meaningful transition between the concluding project and the topic of study in the next project.
Who it’s Best For
In general, all pre-school aged children can benefit from the Project Approach. The field visits, discussions, experiments, and documentation all work in concert to provide children real-world knowledge and understandings. The Project Approach encourages personal gratification and confidence within the child, by way of being valuably involved in his/her own learning processes and, ultimately, the class curriculum as a whole.