Developing A Kindergarten Curriculum Based On Children's Life Experiences: A Case Study

Kindergarten-based curriculum development (KBCD) has been widely studied with the development of curriculum reform in China, especially since the latest reform which began in 1980s. Different kindergartens developed diverse curricula according to their own understanding of KBCD. It's suggested that KBCD should be conducted based on children's life experiences.Case study is the main research method employed in this research. The case is T Kindergarten in Shanghai. By presenting the process of curriculum development in T Kindergarten, the research explores how to develop kindergarten curriculum which is based on children's life experiences. Multiple methods of data collection are adopted as well, including on-site observation, interview and documents analysis.Three modem curriculum theories were discussed and a basic proposition that KBCD should be developed on the base of children's life experiences was put forward in the first part of the thesis.Ever since mid-1980s, T Kindergarten commenced its practical exploration of KBCD. With the fast development of T Kindergarten's curriculum, it attached more and more importance to children's life experiences. A research project was designed originally. The importance of environment was emphasized and teachers in T kindergarten did a lot of work in environmental decorating. Children's life experiences were translated into many varieties of subjects.To resolve the problems existing in Subject-exploration Activities, T Kindergarten brought forward that children's right to choose should be respected while developing kindergarten curriculum. For the purpose of giving children some opportunities to choose, T Kindergarten designed Curriculum Supermarket according to children's interests and personalities. Several activities were provided for children to participate in at the same time. Children could freely choose their favorable activities in curriculum supermarket activities.Based on the above theoretical and practical explorations, the thesis in the last part suggested that KBCD should: (l)be based upon children's life experiences; (2)respect children and offer them rights to choose; (3)promote teachers professional development on the base of cooperation and discussion.