| History | Geography | Religion |
Monday | Learn about Native people -The children should name and describe the native communities | Learn about physical features of the local area -Ask children to mention water bodies, vegetation forms, landforms, etc. | Learn about types of religions in the world -Give a brief introduction to different types of religions |
Tuesday | A visit to the museum -show the children photographs and sculptures of Native people showing their food, clothing, lifestyle, art, etc. | Library lesson -Give children maps and pictures of the physical features of the local area. Let them spot roads, paths, water bodies, mountains, hills, vegetation, etc. | Library lesson -Allow children to explore texts, pictures, and images that represent different religions. These may include places of worship, name of the leader, name of God etc. |
Wednesday | Drawing, painting, modelling -Tell children to draw or model the items that belong to the native people, based on the pictures they saw during the visit to the museum | Group work -Place children in groups of 3-5 members so they can discuss the physical features they saw during the library lesson. One group member should list the physical features as discussed. | Class discussion -Lead an in-depth discussion on the features of the religions identified in the first two lessons. Capture all the essential features |
Thursday | Reading lesson -Provide children with easy-to-read books and read to them stories about the native people. Stories should capture the origins, beliefs, lifestyles, etc. | Writing -Provide children with short notes on the physical features of the local area. Write the notes on the board and let them coy into their own exercise books | Dictation -Read to children the religions and their features, as they write. Notes per religion should be straightforward and only highlight simple concepts |
Friday | Quiz/test -Give to children multi-choice questions to test if they can identify the native communities and the features already discussed in class | Quiz/test -Write and print test questions on the week’s topic. Children should write short answers next to or below each question. | Written assignment -The test should include concepts or terms that children should match with the corresponding religion |
Inquiry-based learning requires application of student-centred pedagogical practices, as the primary goal is to support learners to develop understanding of the content. Attard, Berger and Mackenzie (2021) explained that in inquiry-based methods children are allowed to ask questions, examine problems, and use evidence to make conclusions. The authors added that the approach enables children to collaborate and work with others in the learning process. In this one-week curriculum, inquiry-based teaching and learning practices are implemented to improve learners’ engagement, thinking capacity as well as socio-emotional and problem-solving skills.
Curriculum design is further inspired by 5E (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation) Model, an inquiry-based framework that helps children to understand content over time by following a series of steps (Bybee, 2009). Therefore, all lessons taught on Monday are meant to engage learners, Tuesday to explore the elements of study topic, and Wednesday to explain new knowledge. Thursday content should elaborate on newly acquired skills and knowledge, and Friday activities are meant to evaluate if what learners have acquired match the teaching/learning expectations and objectives.
Monday lessons involve introduction to aspects such as native people in history, physical features in Geography, and types of religion in the world in religious studies. When the teacher presents the topics in class, children’s prior understanding of the concepts is activated. As constructivism theory postulated, children usually have some knowledge from past experiences and should not be assumed to be blank slates (Shah, 2019). Learners should, thus, provide the answers they know and even ask questions on other points that they are not sure of. The engagement phase enables the teacher to assess children’s prior knowledge of the topic and is essential during selection of learning materials or for achievement of lesson objectives.
That is, the engagement stage enables the teacher to identify the gap between their expectations and the children’s reality. Findings from this step guide the educator to effectively organise teaching and learning strategies. As a diagnostic stage, engagement lesson contents the teacher should ensure to steer the focus of learners to words the essential areas (Bybee, 2009). The initial assessment also helps the teacher to identify children that will need further assistance to understand the content. Children with socio-emotional issues could, for instance, required related instruction and support to understand themselves and how to relate with others in the learning environment (Bierman, 2015). The teaching and learning plans that the teacher makes afterwards should trigger the young learners’ curiosity and desire to achieve higher knowledge.
Tuesday lessons are a continuation of what the teacher and the learners covered on Monday. The goal of the second activity in the curriculum is to allow children to explore the features of the phenomenon introduced to them during the engagement stage. Exploration reveals new knowledge that should challenge the young learners’ prior knowledge and enable them to grow their knowledge base (Bybee, 2009). At this stage, the teacher is already aware of what the children know about the area of study and has developed an idea concerning the learning materials or activities that will enable each child to acquire the expected knowledge level or skills.
Behaviourists argue that teaching and learning goals must be clearly stated and the planned strategies listed for effectiveness of lessons (Anindyarini, Rokhman, and Andayani, 2017). Without proper planning and focus on specific objectives effectiveness of learning is questionable. In accordance with the socio-cultural theory by Vygotsky (1978), the exploratory activities selected for the young learners exposes them to cultural and societal elements. The effect of socio-cultural contexts on children’s learning is, thus, acknowledged in this curriculum.
Content of the lessons should, therefore, help children to construct new context-based understanding as teachers continue to revise and implement pedagogical practices that maximise instructions delivery and learning outcomes (Panhwar, Ansari & Ansari, 2016). Here, the children must take active role in exploring the materials related to the subject of study. The teacher facilitates the process and encourages children to observe, question concepts, and interact/communicate with peers. No direct instruction should be issued during this process. In the curriculum, the venues for exploration include the museum for history class and library for both geography and religious studies.
Wednesday lesson is a continuation of the previous one. In this explanation class, the teacher starts a discussion regarding the findings of children during exploration and allows every child or group to tell other about what they learned. Although the teacher introduces what should be done during the lesson, the children should get the first chance to talk about content they explored and what they remember from the activity (Bybee, 2009). Explanation phase is important for the children’s cognitive development, which promotes understanding of the world through better thought processes as well as enhanced problem-solving and decision-making skills (Marwaha et al., 2017) .
As children explain the content of the resources and environments they explored, their memory, intellect, and reasoning skills become stronger. Memory is essential skill here as children must remember what they explored to be able to present and explain it to peers and the teacher, and Marwaha et al. (2017) argued that the ability of a child to retain information is what makes their cognitive and socio-emotional functioning effective. Therefore, the use the drawing/modelling in history, group work in geography, and class discussions in religious studies class should enable children to recall and explain what they saw at the museum or in the library. Drawing, painting, and modelling are play-based activities, which children should enjoy doing. Aside from helping children to remember past experiences, these play-based practices make learners better communicators, more capable of controlling emotions, and instil problem-solving potential (Berman, 2015). Play-based learning also helps to minimise fears related to physical activities, enhances creativity, and strengthens physical skills.
Generally, activities of this stage are supported by constructivist theory, which argues that children are capable of constructing knowledge by themselves based on their past experiences (Shah, 2019). In other words, each child should be able to explain new knowledge gained in relation to the item or context they draw or model during the Wednesday lesson. The goal of this lesson is achieved if the children can connect their previous and new understanding of the phenomenon when offering explanation. Based on behaviouristic theory, children aged 3 to 5 years already possess thinking abilities and should be capable of applying good communication skills (Anindyarini et al., 2017).
The activities within this lesson are as well intended to focus children’s attention on certain aspects and teach correct language use and organisation of phenomenon descriptions. In this session, teachers should allow the children to ask questions they developed during exploration. By allowing children to express their personal understanding, the teacher easily spots misconceptions. When responding to the learners’ questions, Bybee (2009) recommends that the teacher should also dispel misconceptions already observed by providing the correct information through visuals or notes.
Thursday covers the ‘elaboration’ element of the 5E model. The lessons of this day should, thus, expand and extend children’s understanding. Content passed to children through reading, writing and dictation should enable them to understand the topics in each subject better. Additional discussions could be held alongside the reading/writing/dictation for the purpose of gathering more information from the learning materials, learners, and the teacher (Bybee, 2009). A teacher could even introduce a new problem during the discussion and instruct the children to apply the new knowledge to solve it. Children’s responses and feedback obtained from the teacher during the process improves children understanding of the concerned concepts.
When the teacher includes learning strategies that encourage interaction among children, the educator is in support of social skills development. Discussions, in particular, help children to share ideas with peers and learn from each other (Bierman, 2015). The teacher should also relate to children in a friendly way so the children may feel the sense of security and also learn to keep positive relationships when relating with peers. The instruction, discussion and other approaches must, however, stay relevant to lesson objectives and enable children to gain the desired knowledge and skills.
Friday is the final day of the one-week curriculum and the most appropriate time for evaluation. Behaviourist theory states that adults have the responsibility of showing children how to behave, especially if letting them act out of free will could have negative consequences (Anindyarini et al., 2017). The teacher is the adult in the learning context, and he or she must show guide children towards the required behaviour. Shaping the children’s behaviour is very crucial as far as knowledge acquisition is concerned. When the teacher focuses children’s attention on the appropriate lesson content, therefore, learners grasp the recommended skills and information. Behaviourists also emphasise that the change gained when children act as required should be observable (Ngándu, Hambulo, Haambokoma, & Tomaida, 2013). The most effective way for a teacher to observe if children have behaved as instructed is to give a test, quiz, exam, or assignments.
Administering a summative test enables the teacher to know if the children have understood the expected concepts. The test performance and the overall or average grades attained by the children enable the teacher to determine if lesson’s objectives have been reached and to identify the areas where elaboration could be required. Outcomes of the test or the written assignment also helps the teacher to assess the effectiveness of the teaching strategies and learning materials. Based on the findings, the educators may change the resources and practices or adopt additional methods and examine changes in students’ achievements. Anindyarini et al, (2017) explained that specification of learning objectives or desired outcomes should go hand-in-hand with continuous improvements of the learning environment, application of chosen reinforcer, and evaluation of outcomes.
