Early Childhood Curriculum and Pedagogy 2: the Arts

This unit focuses on the languages of aesthetics and poetics from a philosophical perspective. These philosophical understandings inform how these languages are articulated in early childhood centres of Reggio Emilia, Italy as a means for young children to express themselves as human beings. As part of the unit, pre-service teachers will engage with the languages of music, movement and drama, developing an understanding of the structures of each of these languages and how these languages can inspire multi-disciplinary experiences for young children to make meaning of their worlds. Additionally, this unit will explore art materials as a way to reconsider taken-for-granted responses to materials and ideas in early childhood. Using materials as a mode of inquiry, pre-service teachers will investigate what materials do and how materials are joint participants in early childhood pedagogies. Through critical and reflective material inquiry that includes engaging with place from First Nations standpoints, pre-service teachers will examine their own attitudes towards visual and creative arts; develop an understanding of, and skills in, a range of early childhood visual and creative arts and technology experiences; and employ these understandings, attitudes and skills to suit the sociomaterial, sociocultural and aesthetic needs of the young child.