ED372841 PS022571
Title: Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education.
Author(s): Feng, Jianhua
Pages: 26
Publication Date: 1994
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: Opinion papers (120)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Georgia
Journal Announcement: RIEDEC1994
Within the
field of early childhood education, several issues are currently
being debated and many new developments are emerging. One of these
trends is toward the expansion and redefinition of early childhood
education to include all educational experiences for children from
birth to 8 years of age. Another trend is the increased interest
in developmentally appropriate education, which takes into account
what is known about how young children develop and learn, and matches
that to the content and strategies planned for them in early childhood
programs. A third trend is the renewed interest in integrated curricula.
One approach to this is thematic organization, in which skills,
facts, and subject-matter knowledge are integrated around a unifying
theme. A fourth trend is toward the authentic assessment of children's
learning,
which is "the process of observing, recording, and otherwise
documenting the work children do and how they do it, as a basis
for a variety of educational decisions that affect a child."
Another trend is increased interest in mixed-age groupings in preschools
and nongraded education in early primary grade programs. A final
trend is toward multicultural education and anti-bias curricula
in early childhood in response to rapidly growing minority populations,
and increasing cultural pluralism and global awareness. (AC)
Descriptors: Child Development; Classroom Techniques; Cultural Pluralism;
Curriculum Design; Curriculum Development; Developmental Tasks;
*Early Childhood Education; Educational Environment; *Educational
Practices; *Educational Trends; Evaluation Methods; Instructional
Effectiveness; Integrated Curriculum; *Mixed Age Grouping; Multicultural
Education; Nongraded Instructional Grouping; Portfolios (Background
Materials); Student Evaluation; Thematic Approach; Young Children
Identifiers: *Authentic Assessment; *Developmentally Appropriate
Programs
