LAI 506
Foundations of Early Childhood Education
THE PROJECT APPROACH:
An Overview
According to the website, projectapproach.org: "Studies indicate that democratic societies are more likely to flourish when citizens seek an in-depth understanding of the complex issues they must address and about which they must make choices and decisions." The Project Approach was developed with the aim of helping prepare students to be active and productive members of a democratic society.
Much of the literature that has been written regarding the Project Approach comes from Dr. Lilian Katz and Dr. Sylvia Chard, both international leaders in early childhood education. Each summer, Katz and Chard offer a four-day institute on the Project Approach at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The two developed a group known as the Project Approach Teacher Education Network (PATEN) to help train future generations of teachers to successfully implement the Project Approach.
"Including project work in the curriculum promotes children's intellectual development by engaging their minds in observation and investigation of selected aspects of their experience and environment"
(Katz & Chard, 2000, p. 2)
Since its inception, the Project Approach has undergone many renovations and fluctuations in popularity around the globe. For years it was believed that the "project" as a method of standardized instruction was a product of the progressive education movement in the United States at the end of the 19th century. More recent research, however, reveals that project work actually grew out of the architectural and engineering education movement that began in Italy during the late 16th century.
Philosophers like Aristotle and Socrates were early proponents of learning by doing. Learning through inquiry
and critical thinking are central components of the Project Approach.
Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Italian physician and child-development expert believed that learning happens "not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment." Montessori pioneered educational environments that encouraged children to become capable, judicious, contributing members of society.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
1590-1765: The beginnings of project work at architectural schools in Europe.
1765-1880: The project as a regular teaching method and its transplantation to America.
1880-1915: Work on projects in manual training and in general public schools.
1915-1965: Redefinition of the project method and its transplantation from America back to Europe.
1965-today: Rediscovery of the project idea and the third wave of its international dissemination.
Knoll (1997)