Classrooms in Chile

Pedagogy and Curricula Content | 107

Photograph 2.1 Examples of Natural and Recycled Resources in Classrooms in Chile

Source: © Used with the permission of Cecrea Program, Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Chile. Further permission required for reuse.

to review existing country-level standard documents and recommend and implement changes where possible. 3. Co-develop scopes and sequences and curriculum documents, embedding principles for pedagogy. “Scope and sequence” means the breadth of content to teach (scope) and the pacing and order in which to teach them (sequence). Government officials, local curriculum and pedagogy experts, and teachers should convene to develop detailed scopes and sequences of content and pedagogy. These documents should be agreed upon, and a clear plan for what types of documents to produce (for example, teacher guides, textbooks, standards) and how to produce them should be created.

4. Prioritize support for teachers that can be embedded in curriculum documents. It is important to ensure that teachers are not overburdened, and that they are not being asked to change everything at the same time.

Some recommendations for pedagogy include the following: – Prioritize which pedagogies should be focused on first, understanding that not everything can occur at the same time. Develop a plan for how new pedagogies can be introduced to teachers in a structured way without overwhelming them. To prioritize, focus on the highleverage pedagogies that will foster quality interactions in the classroom. – Develop semi-structured teacher guides that provide detailed information on the scope and sequence of what to teach, and that have pedagogical principles built into the instruction. For example, the scope and sequence would support teachers in knowing which

108 | Quality Early Learning

activities to use to teach children how to accurately count 10 objects, as well as when to teach these activities. – Because some pedagogies may be new and difficult for teachers to implement, it may be good to include extra scaffolding for teachers that illustrates how to implement activities in the classroom, as well as how to support students who may need extra help. Ideally, these materials may provide more support at the beginning of the year and allow for more discretion as teachers become fluent with new pedagogical skills. Materials can also be educative, in that they provide tips and support to teachers in developing key pedagogies, such as observation skills and responsive teaching. – Curriculum materials should be designed to be simple, practical, and easy to use, with all information easy for the teacher to access and interpret. In particular, materials should provide specific guidance on what types of resources to use and how to use them. – Training and in-classroom follow-up support should be provided for teachers who are implementing new pedagogy. Simply providing materials for the teacher is not enough. Training and follow-up support is essential. Training should be more intense in the beginning, and emphasize practice over theory. Once in the classroom, teachers need continuous support from coaches, mentors, and peers to improve their practice and take-up of the new pedagogies. Chapter 3 contains a more detailed description of teacher training and support. 5. Conduct pilot testing and elicit teacher input on pedagogical approaches and curriculum throughout the process. It is vital that teacher voices are heard and included in the process of introducing new pedagogical approaches and curriculum documents. They should be part of the creation process, not only brought in at the end to pilot test. 6. Develop a plan for supporting transition to primary school. Children often struggle in the transition to overly formal and structured primary school programs. In many countries, preschool and grade 1 curricula can be vastly different and not reflective of learning progressions. It is essential that preschools and primary schools work together to ensure a smooth transition for students, including academic learning, socioemotional expectations, and parental expectations.

Exemplar Questions to Guide the Decision-Making Process

Is the pedagogy easy for teachers to implement? Which pedagogies can be embedded in curriculum materials in the most straightforward manner? Focusing on these easier-to-implement pedagogies may allow for quicker uptake, and new, more complicated pedagogies can slowly be introduced throughout the project. For example, in the beginning, an intervention

Pedagogy and Curricula Content | 109

may focus its efforts on providing support to teachers to encourage the development of children’s self-regulation. This could be just one daily question or activity that the teacher performs. As teachers become more confident and gain experience with supporting self-regulation, additional small steps can be introduced, in culturally relevant ways.

Where will resources have the greatest impact? It is important to think through which types of resources will be most used in the classroom, and for what purposes, and how many are needed to make a meaningful impact. For example, if teachers are given one set of geometric figures for math, but not provided with any support on how students in small groups can use them, they may end up only in the hands of the teachers and not used as intended.

How can stakeholders be brought in on decision-making and contextualization? In particular, how can community members and parents be used to support the key pedagogical principles and provide extra support to schools?

Despite the most well-thought-out plans and sequence of events, it is rare that any implementation goes exactly as envisaged. For example, a project may be being designed in a country where the curriculum documents need major revision to allow for integration of new pedagogies, but such revision is not possible at the time. In this case, teachers can receive support to use new pedagogies with existing materials. Though not ideal, teacher training and in-classroom support can still allow for integration of new pedagogies as long as explicit links are made between what teachers are being asked to do by the government and the new pedagogies.

Potential Constraints

As with any implementation, there are always constraints to consider and trade-offs to make.

• Time. Time is always a constraint—there is never enough time to do everything the way it should ideally be done. Given this, each effort will need to ask hard questions and make decisions about what to prioritize and when. • Managing stakeholder expectations and desires. When working with different stakeholders (for example, government, donor community, parents, community organizations), there are always trade-offs to make in what to emphasize. Key to this negotiation is ensuring that teachers and students do not become overburdened and that the intervention meets their needs. • Cost. Cost is always a limiting factor, and key decisions need to be made about where and when to dedicate the most resources.

110 | Quality Early Learning

Given the challenges and decisions detailed above, it is prudent to take a long-term approach to implementation of the key principles listed in this chapter. Asking teachers and communities to change their behavior and adopt new and unfamiliar practices is difficult, and if not done well tends to fail. There is a large body of literature about the failure of “studentcentered,” “active,” and “play-based” learning in low- and middle-income countries, and relatively few successes, especially at scale. Closer examination of many of these efforts points to various factors, such as lack of alignment with cultural norms and lack of resources. To address these issues, this chapter proposes small steps and changes that are adapted to and respectful of cultural norms, and openness to change and adaptation of long-term goals as the small steps and changes are made.

Key Takeaway

• When planning for implementation, key recommendations include understanding how to contextualize principles for pedagogy; prioritizing domains of knowledge, building from developmental progressions and based on country standards documents; prioritizing support for teachers that can be embedded in curriculum documents; co-developing scopes and sequences and curriculum documents, embedding principles for pedagogy; pilot testing and eliciting teacher input on pedagogical approaches and curriculum throughout the process; and developing a plan for supporting the transition to primary school.

Continuous Feedback and Improvement

Once curriculum materials have been developed, it is tempting to say that they are “final.” But curriculum documents are continually evolving. It is important to have a system in place that allows for continual improvement of materials. Once materials have been distributed to teachers, there should be routine observations, interviews, and teacher reports that provide information on how teachers are using the materials and identify key challenges and successes. Revisions should be made to the materials at regular intervals to address these challenges.

When gathering information on how materials are being used, several types of data sources can be useful. First, gather data on how teachers use the materials in the classroom. Through observations by school administrators, district personnel, and other relevant actors, data can be gathered on how teachers interpret the materials and the struggles and successes they have. Analysis of these struggles and successes can provide useful and detailed information for revision. Second, talk with teachers to understand their perceptions and suggestions for improvement of the materials. Separate issues that can be resolved by revising materials from issues that