The Project Approach for Early Childhood

by Sharon Schwartz

Teaching our youngest students is both an art and a labor of love. Early childhood educators set the foundation for a child’s future success in school and in life. Things have changed radically in the field of early childhood education. Schools describe their early childhood programs using terms like Reggio-Inspired, Montessori, The Project Approach, Thematic Curriculum. What happened to good old preschool where children colored in outlined parsha pictures and made snowmen from identical cotton balls with an orange construction paper carrot nose?

Actually, a good deal has changed based on current research of how young children learn. More and more schools are introducing early childhood programs that reflect emergent curriculum: curriculum that emerges from the interests of the child. Where did this come from?

In years past, educators believed that learning consisted of digesting information. The more information digested, the more learning occurred. However, brain research gives us a clearer understanding of how the brain develops and how it absorbs and stores information.

Based on brain scans, we know that babies are born with billions of brain cells waiting to be connected. Some are connected at birth, but most are formed by messages the brain receives from the outside world. When a young child experiences something of interest, the brain fires off a message and neurons connect. The connections strengthen based on repeated, interesting experiences. Unused or weak synapses are shed as the child gets older. In brief, when learning is relevant and meaningful, the brain makes connections and constructs knowledge. Similarly, the brain resists meaningless patterns imposed on it. Isolated bits of information (shapes, colors, letter of the day taught in isolation) are brain incompatible.

It is amazing that modern brain research reinforces what Jean Piaget figured out a century ago based solely on observation of children. Children learn through active exploration of their environment. It is crucial that content and values be transmitted with meaningful real-life activities and experiences.

This explains the trend toward emergent curriculum. Educators now know that children learn best when they are interested in what they are learning and when they have some personal choice and control over what they are learning and how they are learning. This is a radical shift for a teacher who is used to being the one and only commander-in-chief of the classroom who so benevolently bestows information and knowledge to his or her young subjects. Instead, the teacher becomes more of a facilitator, guiding and questioning, providing materials and experiences. The teacher follows the interests of the children, helping them find the answers to their questions while ensuring that all important curriculum areas and standards are being met. It is easy to integrate Kodesh and Chol subjects, since the curriculum emerges from the children and reflects their own lives and interests.

Executed correctly, this model does not diminish the respect shown to a teacher nor does it eliminate a safe and decorous classroom structure. Instead, it results in a classroom filled with children eager and excited about learning, and equally engaged teachers who can’t even imagine experiencing burnout, often enjoying learning new things alongside their young charges.

The Project Approach

The Project Approach was developed by the venerated early childhood leader Dr. Lilian Katz along with Drs. Judith Harris Helm and Sylvia Chard. It has a three-tiered structure which provides a framework that is very reassuring for teachers who have never tried emergent curriculum.

Phase I: Teacher and students choose what they will investigate, connect the topic to prior knowledge (usually in web form,) list questions to be investigated, and make predictions as to what the answers will be.

Phase II: This phase begins with a site visit that includes interviewing an expert, sketching items and places of interest, and counting items and recording using tally marks. Back in the classroom, children construct models, create diagrams, drawings, graphs, and surveys, and invite visiting experts (from families and the community) to further expand their knowledge.

Phase III: This is the culmination of the project where children prepare to share their new knowledge with others. They decide how they want to share their knowledge and work together to make it happen. They may create a museum, a play, a video, or a book and invite other classes, administrators or parents to attend.

The Project Approach generates a high level of excitement in learning from the beginning to end. The results are astounding. Gains can be seen in every developmental area. Learners are highly motivated to investigate and learn more about the topic of their choice and can often perform academic tasks that are way above their typical zone of proximal development. For example, five year olds who have difficulty counting can be seen figuring out the height, width, and depth of the cabinet they want to build using a yardstick to measure and recording large numbers. These same children will write a long letter using invented spelling independently to describe their specific needs to the person who is giving them the wood needed for the cabinet.

Social and emotional development are manifest as young, egocentric children can suddenly problem solve, negotiate and compromise daily as they work in small “committees” and learn to listen carefully to each other’s ideas and appreciate differing perspectives. As the project progresses, impulsive children begin to slow down and plan and discuss ideas. Coddled children develop resilience when their plans fail and they learn to pick themselves up to try again and again without falling apart. It is amazing to see how much young children can reach past their usual limitations when they are self -motivated and take ownership of their learning.

There are even more benefits. Extended project work increases the ability to focus, as children sustain interest and work on their projects for long periods of time over the course of many weeks. Learning becomes exciting, to the point where children have been known to call in to school when they are absent to have a phone meeting with their committee so that they don’t miss out. Children can talk articulately about what they have learned and what they are working on. The growth in curricular areas as well as the vital “soft skills” is clearly apparent when children engage in project work.

It is important to realize that project work is not for every teacher. There are many wonderful teachers who are just not comfortable relinquishing partial control to the students. Although they may attempt this type of curriculum, they often end up (unintentionally) hijacking the learning from the students by solving problems for the children (instead of giving them the time, space and support to figure it out on their own). Some teachers also tend to make the process too rigid and therefore not enjoyable, or steer the topic in areas that are not of high interest to the children.

Administrators need to be aware that teachers who are usually successful in the project approach have certain qualities. They need to be comfortable teaching a theme-based curriculum that provides children with the ability to make choices and to problem solve. Art work is produced by children and reflects children’s creativity, not the teacher’s. Curriculum areas are integrated around a theme, as opposed to being taught in isolation. Project Approach teachers have to be enthusiastic learners and not afraid to say “I don’t know, but let’s think about where we can find the answer. They have to be willing to abandon their planned lesson and seize the teachable moment. Most of all, they need to be creative and flexible and see opportunity everywhere.

In order to undertake the Project Approach, teachers need full support from the administration. School leaders need to create an environment where teachers are comfortable taking risks and thinking out of the box to try something new for their students’ benefit. Appropriate training must be given to teachers before they attempt to implement project based learning. It is understood that lesson plans and plan books will no longer look the same, and will often have to be filled in during or after the fact. Children will be seen holding clipboards and surveying students and teachers in the hallway and on the playground. Bulletin boards will fill with documentation of learning and children’s unique work. Teachers will need someone to bounce ideas off of as well as someone to keep them grounded and ensuring that all standards are being met (and usually exceeded). An enthusiastic school leader can make the difference between a successful project and an unsuccessful one.

In conclusion, the academic, social and emotional benefits of project-based learning are substantial. However, a shift in thinking about how children learn and how teachers teach is required to maximize these benefits. Administrators and school leaders need to provide training and create a positive environment where teachers will be willing to take risks and attempt something new. If teachers feel they have the full backing and support of the administration, they will be able to guide their classes on a journey that is full of learning and joy.