The children are the curriculum CAECE – College for Australian Early Childhood Educators
Curriculum encompasses all the interactions, experiences, routines, and events, planned and unplanned that occur in an environment designed to foster children’s learning and development. An important quote for the child directed learning environment, where children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching, and investigating (EYLF, Outcome 4.2), and provide children with opportunities for active involvement and a variety of rich and meaningful inquiry-based experiences (EYLF, Page 34). There are many challenges implementing the curriculum. Challenge yourself to reflect on the curriculum, develop ideas and actions that support inquiry and recognise interactions, experiences, routines, and events do influence our program.
8
EARLY EDITION > AUTUMN 2022
The interactions An educator promoting inquiry is allowing the children to lead, investigate, explore, and research to come to their own ideas about how things work. Children must have power to make decisions, ask questions and put ideas into action. We need to allow children to lead this process and avoid temptation to give them answers, predict for them or tell them the outcome. Really see things from a child’s perspective, give them control to decide the paths their inquiry will take. Let them build things that are going to fall, let them make the mess.
