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CURRICULUM STUDIES
Unit 1, Section 5: Organization of the Early Childhood Education curriculum IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION

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CURRICULUM STUDIES
IN EARLY CHILDHOOD Unit 1, Section 5: Organization of the Early Childhood Education curriculum
EDUCATION

UNIT 1 SECTION ORGANIZATION

5 OF THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Welcome to the section 5 of unit 1. I believe you have been able to follow
the discussion up to this point. This section also promises to be very
interesting. All instructional programmes are organized in a certain way to
enable teachers teach what they are expected to teach and for learners to
also learn what they are expected to learn. In order to achieve this various
topics or themes in various subject areas that make up the programme are
broken down into teachable units or subtopics and arranged in a sequential
manner so that learners can learn from the known to the unknown; from
simple to complex; and from concrete to abstract. The focus of this section,
therefore, is to expose you to the various techniques used in organizing the
early childhood curriculum.

By the end of this section, you should be able to;

 explain the types of relationship that exist in organizing learning
experiences
 differentiate between the various techniques used in organizing
learning experiences

Relationships in the organization of the curriculum

According to Ralph Tyler it is not just enough to select content and learning
experiences in the curriculum but they must also be so organized to
facilitate teaching and learning and the achievement of objectives. Two
things must be taken into account when the organization of learning
experiences is under consideration. These are their relationship with time
and also with various subjects. These are vertical and horizontal
relationships. The relationship between content and experiences in the
same subjects at different levels, say in kindergarten (KG) one and two
language and literacy, is a vertical relationship. For instance, auditory
discrimination is a skill found in both the KG one and two language and
literacy syllabus. However, the relationship between content and
experiences provided in one subject area and those in another subject area at
the same level is a horizontal relationship. An example may be a concept
like ‘knowing oneself’ found under environmental studies and psychosocial
skills in KG one.

If the experiences provided in a subject area are sound they will help to lay a
strong foundation for the experiences that are provided in a higher class in
the same subject area. In the same vein, if the experiences provided in one
subject area are related to those provided in another subject area, the
experiences will reinforce one another and enhance learners’ understanding.

Criteria for organizing content and learning experiences

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Unit 1, Section 5: Organization of the Early Childhood Education curriculum IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION

In organizing both content and learning experiences three criteria have to be

considered if they will be done effectively. These are continuity,
sequencing and integration.

Continuity has to do with the repetition of major elements or concepts in

the same subject area across different levels or in different subject areas at
the same level without increasing difficulty, complexity or depth. For
instance, in the early childhood curriculum, KG one pupils are exposed to
the concept ‘self awareness’ in both environmental studies and psychosocial
skills without any increase in level of difficulty.
Sequencing is related to continuity but goes beyond it. With this, the
concept is often repeated but it increases with width, depth and difficulty
such that each subsequent experience is built upon previous ones and also
seeks to broaden and deepen the experience. It is essential to note that
sequence does not emphasize duplication, but rather higher levels of
treatment with each successive learning experience such that pupils will
learn from the simple to complex. A typical example is the higher treatment
of ‘auditory discrimination’ in KG two than in KG one. The activities
provided for learners in KG two are more demanding than what they are
required to do in KG one.
Integration: the third major criterion, exists in various forms;
interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, intradisciplinary and transdisciplinary.
But basically, integration deals with the selection and fusion, blending,
combining or putting together of concepts, principles, theories, skills, values
and attitudes from various disciplines. The organization should be such that
the experiences and activities put together will assist the learner to
understand concepts better and also help him or her perceive concepts from
different perspectives. An example of integrated subjects are social studies
and integrated science at the primary and Junior High School. You will
remember that these subjects are made up of aspects of different subjects
combined. This may be referred to as interdisciplinary integration.
However, at the early childhood education level since learners are not
matured enough to be exposed to concepts that are abstract, most of the time
transdisciplinary integration is used in organizing the curriculum. With
this, the curriculum is activity oriented and problem based. Instead of
introducing topics as is normally done at the higher level, problems and
themes are rather introduced to learners for them to use experiences and
knowledge from various areas to solve the problems through activities under
the guidance of the teacher. The problems and themes therefore cut across
various subjects or disciplines.

Activity 5.1
Differentiate between the two types of relationships that exist in organizing
the curriculum
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………………………………………………………………………………
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CURRICULUM STUDIES
IN EARLY CHILDHOOD Unit 1, Section 5: Organization of the Early Childhood Education curriculum
EDUCATION

Activity 5.2
Explain the three techniques used in organizing the early childhood
curriculum
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Summary
In unit 5 the way in which the early childhood curriculum has been
organized was discussed. How the curriculum is organized is considered
very important to curriculum implementation because the way it is
organized may or may not facilitate teaching and learning. It is therefore
important for early childhood educators to pay particular attention to how
the various themes, activities and learning experiences have been
sequentially arranged.

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Unit 1,
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5: Organization
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of the Early Childhood Education curriculum IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION

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