Curriculum learning

Curriculum learning

Introduction

Learning is a fundamental right in the life of any human being in the world, and it has been fully recognized globally as a fundamental right. The process takes place in a specified environment. It involves both learning and teaching and, therefore, incorporating the teacher's role and the learner's objectivity to acquire this fundamental right. However, the parent's consent to the minor's life is a pivotal regulation to ensure that the young ones achieve the rightful learning experience. According to the BERA 2018 Guidelines, all the safety guidelines should be considered and ensure no interference in the learning process. It also embraces diversity in all life scenarios, including the difference in age, different genders, cultures, and religions.

Context

In this curriculum learning, the observation was based on the Little Bee Nursery and Montessori North London. The observation took place in a classroom of children between the age of three to five. Consequentially, this the most elementary level of learning. The learning process, in this case, should be able to entice the children and make them get the motivation of learning (Van den Akker, 2004 p.6). It was a mathematics lesson, and the population of the class included 15 children of mixed gender, culture, and all the mixed religion across the globe. It also included hyperactive children, and some had learning disabilities, which implied that they needed a critical approach to embrace learning outcome strategies. The learning process was guided by a teacher under Ofsted and The Early Year Foundation curriculum to ensure that there is improvement in primary mathematics using basic mathematics principles. I was the only extra adult in the class, and the school learning environment made it easier for the children to cope with learning.

The learning and teaching process involved the practical aspect of literal counting of windows, body parts, doors, and singing numbers, enabling the children to gain primary maths skills. The teacher introduced the lesson by showing the children the impact of how their day-to-day activities made the children engage in matching patterns and numbers. The activity also made the learners know the importance of numbers in all cadres and could solve the maths problem and manage themselves. Similarly, the teacher engaged the children in question-answer sessions to practice what they had learned. Counting pictures and showing number posters in groups also depicted how the learners could comprehend the maths concepts and motivate themselves for further learning activities.

Evaluation

Maths is involved in all the daily activities of human life. It is taught as early as the elementary level of learning as utilized in all life stages. I prospectively consider that the children learned the basic maths concepts, including counting numbers, differentiating the various numbers the teacher taught, and singing numbers. The children also developed simple maths skills through matching patterns, showing pictures of various numbers, and solving and managing the few elementary problems in mathematics. Similarly, through the counting process, the children were able to deduce that the simple skills can be similarly utilized outside the classroom as other things can also be counted, such as human beings and all other countable aspects of the environment.

The children as well during the learning process they were able to learn other aspects of learning such as togetherness in the group work. The children could do various activities in groups such as singing games, matching patterns, and showing number pictures. The addition and counting activities depicted the sharing of roles that the learners can learn and apply in other aspects of life.

As an observer, I did not participate in the active learning and training process, but I critically outlined and observed the various activities in the classroom during the lesson. However, as an observer, I learned that the children had a progressive attitude towards the learning process depending on the learning activity that was taking place. I noted that the play-oriented activities or the participatory activities made the children excited and wanted to learn more. The activities such as the singing games made the children so much involved in the learning process and wanted to be in various games (Spencer, and Guillaume, 2006). Occasionally the children could overdo a particular activity that made the teacher use more time to bring back the needed attention. The learning of the children was to be learner-centered rather than teacher-centered. The activities in the learning process should be those that the learner can easily comprehend and take up the activities alone. A good example was the number games and the sing patterns that the learners should take up and even come up with the extra games and songs. The key objectives of teaching and learning such children should involve short activities so that the short-span concentration of the children can be harnessed and utilized maximumly.

Effective learning and teaching should involve both the participants entirely in that there should be no monotonous in terms of the various personalities. To ensure that the learning outcome is achieved, there is a need to embrace more than one learning and teaching approach. The teacher made it easier for the children to comprehend the basic maths skills as many activities were used in learning (Kantar, and Massouh, 2015). For instance, it is noted that children of that age are commonly playful, and with the use of maths play games, it was easier for them to commemorate what they learned. The visual aspect makes learning and comprehension of what has been learned effectively. Colors always entice and attract children. It, therefore, made it easier for the children to remember the numbers and thus the maths skills will be with children for some extra time. In this regard, I noted that effective teaching and learning should be participatory for both the learners and teachers.

If the maths lesson were to be done again, I would suggest a different approach to delivering some activities to make the learning more effective. The first approach I would do suggest to be done differently is the group session in learning. The children are always playful, but this playing should be used rightfully to enhance learning. It is expected that in a group of more than five children playing is the key activity. To make the group sessions more reliable, it will be appropriate if the number of group members would be less than five and ensure that all the children participate (Kalyani, and Rajasekaran, 2018). Not all children might participate in the group activity; therefore, having a lesser number will make sure that more attention is given to a manageable number. I would also suggest an extra teacher for the children in a particular class. The children's activities need more observation and attention. An extra teacher will ensure that no single activity or child is left unaware of what is happening in the class. In the same case, the children's concentration span is small and therefore need to ensure taking frequent breaks to give the children to be able to have a mental refresh. Lastly, the teacher should ensure a considerable amount of content is delivered to the children at a time. It will embrace objectivity of the entire process and enhance effective outcomes.

In the contemporary world, technological advancement should be embraced in all teaching and learning activities. For the children at such an age and the various cultures, religions, and learning abilities, the learning process should end in class and ensure that it is continuous. The children will vividly remember anything that utilizes their visual senses. Therefore, the teacher should use visual animations in the classroom during the lesson to attract the children's attention and motivate them as they learn (Ratheeswari, 2018 p.46). Similarly, the teaching and learning materials should be made available to the children through the parents and accessible at any time.

Conclusion

Learning is a process that should be cumulative regarding the set objectives. The motivation given to the learners will effectively determine how the comprehension of what has been taught. The learners and the teacher should equivocally engage in the learning process to ensure that the impact is attained effectively. However, the objective of the curricula learning should be to ensure that proper improvement in the teaching and learning and embrace the use of technology and incorporate all measures that can enhance effective learning. Additionally, it should be noted that all learners' abilities and capabilities should be considered in all activities engaged in learning.

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Reference

Kalyani, D. and Rajasekaran, K., 2018. Innovative teaching and learning. Journal of applied and advanced research, 3(1), pp.23-25.

Kantar, L.D. and Massouh, A., 2015. Case-based learning: What traditional curricula fail to teach. Nurse education today, 35(8), pp.e8-e14.

Ratheeswari, K., 2018. Information communication technology in education. Journal of Applied and Advanced Research, 3(1), pp.45-47.

Spencer, B.H. and Guillaume, A.M., 2016. Integrating curriculum through the learning cycle: Content‐based reading and vocabulary instruction. The Reading Teacher, 60(3), pp.206-219.

Van den Akker, J., 2004. Curriculum perspectives: An introduction. In Curriculum landscapes and trends (pp. 1-10). Springer, Dordrecht.