The Emergent Curriculum and eTwinning: Reshaping Early Years Theory and Practice in a Digital Age

eTwinning Online Conference

EMPOWERING FUTURE TEACHERS WITH ETWINNING 24-26 November 2020

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About us...

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Lecturer (Univ. of Malta)

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Kindergarten Educator

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Vice President (ECDAM)

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eTwinning Ambassador

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From Iklin, Malta

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Enjoys travelling

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Always up for a challenge

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From Valletta, Malta

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Enjoys being around people

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Advocate for quality early childhood

Ice-breaker: go to www.menti.com and enter the code 89 31 90 6

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Where it all started...

2019

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THE EMERGENT CURRICULUM AND ETWINNING: RESHAPING EARLY YEARS THEORY AND PRACTICE IN A DIGITAL AGE

The focus of this presentation: How pedagogies underpinning the emergent curriculum and eTwinning converge knowledge, skills and practice to empower educators and promote young children’s learning in a 21st century Maltese kindergarten setting. www.etwinning.net

eTwinning in a Maltese Kindergarten classroom.

Effective learning: - Curriculum Integration - E-safety - Communication & Networking

- Planning - Themes - Logos/Project titles

- Activities

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UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE EMERGENT CURRICULUM IN THE EARLY YEARS AND HOW THIS INTERSECTS ETWINNING PEDAGOGY

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The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Scenario:

Classroom Theme

eTwinning Challenge

Brainstorming: go to www.menti.com and enter the code 6988971

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The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Teacher Collaboration:

Activity Plans

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The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Classroom Adaptations:

Float vs Sink (If Grandma’s house had a flood, what would float & sink?)

Liquid Rainbow (Making Grandma a colourful medicine) Water volume (Taking water from Grandmas’ water well)

Archimedes Screw (Fixing Grandma’s plumbing)

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THE PROJECT APPROACH Warash, Curtis, Hursh, and Tucci (2008) pointed out that: “It is not an either/or issue, but rather an issue that calls for converging theories and teaching methods” (Warash et al., 2008, p. 446).

The Project Approach is not the whole curriculum… it helps “children acquire knowledge and skills that allow them to successfully learn from their everyday environment” (Warash et al., 2008, p. 447).

Excerpted from The Project Approach for All Learners: A Hands-On Guide for Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms by Sallee Beneke, Ph.D., Michaelene M. Ostrosky, Ph.D., & Lilian G Katz, Ph.D.

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THE INTEGRATION OF PROJECTS TO MAKE IT MORE MEANINGFUL TO YOUNG CHILDREN & EDUCATORS An environment that allows the curriculum to emerge Embracing eTwinning as a pedagogical tool to make the project children are investigating in class more meaningful to their daily lived experiences with technology and online communiction with others

Breaking the barriers to educator’s journeys and their professional development as synonymous with loneliness – instead eTwinning allows for diverse pathways to collaborate, network and learn from - what Vygotsky (1978) referred to as the ‘more knowledgeable others’ www.etwinning.net

The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Spontaneous growth:

A child telling his adopted Grandma to put her flower in the water & if she puts some food colouring it would change colour (Water Transportation eTwinning Activity)

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A student remembered to put salt on his ice to make the water defrost quicker so he could investigate grandma’s germs in his laboratory in the role-play area.

(Comparing Water eTwinning Activity)

ETWINNING & EMERGENT CURRICULUM: KNOWLEDGE CREATION, RETENTION, TRANSFER, ELABORATION AND ACQUISITION The co-construction of knowledge within communities and networks; a connectedness through interaction and dialogue between self, group members and technology (Connectivism theory – Siemens, 2004) – leads to lifelong learning Relationships activated through networking is a key factor of how knowledge transfer leads to innovation (Takahashi, et al. 2018) Shared knowledge in online collaboration facilitates higher order thinking skills and allows children to hypothesize, compare ideas, solve problems, critically think and discuss with others – knowledge elaboration and acquisition

Children retain information and transfer the knowledge acquired to different situations when learning connects to their lives outside schools/settings Educators need to works towards providing an enabling environment that makes them invisible, but also present when children need them www.etwinning.net

The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Reflections & Conclusions:

Discussions and reflections on our playful events

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ETWINNING SUPPORTS PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION WITHIN AN EMERGENT CURRICULUM Pedagogical documentation/Authentic assessment in an emergent approach – eTwinning supports the cycle of inquiry: observing and listening to children, documenting, reflecting, analysing, interpreting and informing planning eTwinning is a pedagogical tool that makes young children’s learning visible – assessment ‘as’, ‘of’ and ‘for’ learning in the early years Children revisit and review their learning in multimodal ways and receive ’reified’ feedback from educators, peers, and adults – stronger identities & positive selfimage; sustain shared thinking; learning how to learn Advocacy – documetation created through eTwinning provides a unique opportunity to further and promote the value of play and the profession of early years educators by making early learning visible in Europe – sharing of good practice

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The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Collaboration with all stakeholders.

Work From HOME

Classroom Theme

eTwinning Challenge

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The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning Reversed Roles.

Parental involvement

Home Opportunities Active Participants

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ETWINNING SUPPORTS PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS Supports Social Situated Learning – Lave and Wenger 1991 – collective learning with a shared goal leads to a community of practice These provide authentic learning situations for children and their families Active immersion in activities Builds collaborative learning environments and encourages reflection between children and their families Educational experience for families – building learning power

Democratic appraoach – everyone is a learning – equity – social justice – reversing roles EMERGENT CURRICULUM + eTwinning = EMPOWERMENT for Teachers, Children and their Families!

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ETWINNING SUPPORTS THE EMERGENT CURRICULUM & RESHAPES EARLY CHILDHOOD THEORY AND PRACTICE IN A DIGITAL AGE EMERGENT CURRICULUM Largely project-based – investigates different topics within a larger topic Child-centred; emotion + learning Promotes play-based learning Children viewed as competent able, and active agents of their own learning Equal power – Children, Educators and Families take on the role of learners and researchers… parent partnership Promotes children’s rights, inclusive and democratic pedagogies, real-life experiences Pedagogical documentation - makes learning visible and scaffolds children’s learning Embraces diversity and social learning Relationships are key www.etwinning.net

eTwinning Project-based; Child-centred; emotion + learning Promotes play-based learning in offline and online spaces; 21s century skills; internet safety Children viewed as competent, able, and active agents of their own leraning Equal power – Children, Educators and Families take on the role of learners and researchers… parent partnership Promotes children’s rights, inclusive and democratic pedagogies, real-life experiences Supports pedagogical documentation - Makes learning visible to children, families across Europe – supports the value of ECEC and play Promotes global education, linguistic diversity, intercultural awareness, digital competences, networking, remote collaboration and communication, professional development Relationships are activitated through online networking key to knowledge transfer and innovation

HOW DO PRE-SERVICE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MALTA PERCEIVE ETWINNING AND THE EMERGENT CURRICULUM?

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Work of Pre-service Early Childhood Eductors (3rd years) BA (Hons)ECEC Undergraduate Programme 2020-2021 cohort University of Malta Initial Teacher Education (Early Years)

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The Emergent Curriculum & eTwinning 21st Century Skills.

Communication

Collaboration

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Dissemination

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS When curriculum in early childhood settings is ‘ready made’ for all and repetitive it becomes powerless. Teachers need a ”desirable” curriculum - Children need a “real” curriculum Learning communities such as those created through eTwinning should be sustained and supported as these help to change mindsets even where it is more difficult to do so - postcolonial states like Malta.

Pre-service and in-service early childhood educators need to be provided with opportunities where they can: build stronger images of young children and digital childhoods; reimagine Montessori, Malaguzzi, Dewey, Vygotsky and Piaget and rethink ECEC in a digital age; Develop 21st century skills and build capacity to converge theories and teaching methods – such as those underlying eTwinning and the emergent curriculum.

This is, in our view, a possible first step to empower future early childhood educators with eTwinning across cultures and contexts in Europe!

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eTwinning Online Conference

THANK YOU

EMPOWERING QUESTIONS COMMENTS? FUTUREOR TEACHERS WITH ETWINNING 24-26 November 2020

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