Theories of curriculum implementation and evaluation in early childhood education during recent decades have been governed, broadly, by two contrasting sets of assumptions. The first set of assumptions attempts to understand curriculum in early childhood education holistically, viewing children, educators, and families as learning together. The second takes a much more instrumental view, positioning teachers’ practices as causal mechanisms for child and family outcomes. This encyclopedia entry will summarize each of these positions, concluding with a brief discussion of the possibilities for a rapprochement between the two positions.
One of the defining characteristics of the field of early childhood education is its ongoing struggle to define “the curriculum” (Gibbons 2011). In part this is due to the field’s history of viewing early education holistically, extending beyond traditional subject-oriented.
