The Use of Long-term Projects in Early Childhood Classrooms in Light of Dewey's Educational Philosophy

dc.creator	Michael Glassman
dc.creator	Kimberlee Whaley
dc.date	2000-01-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:07:10Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:07:10Z
dc.identifier	1524-5039
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/f5f05ba1514c4860879464e2f75302cf
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/11017
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/f5f05ba1514c4860879464e2f75302cf
dc.description	This paper explores the use of the long-term project as an educational tool in early childhood classrooms. In particular, it focuses on the way in which long-term projects can reflect John Dewey's notion of the "dynamic aim" as a primary force in education. In Democracy and Education, Dewey suggests that when teaching is dominated by specific goals, the educational process becomes static, and there is an unnatural separation between the activity the student engages in to reach the goal and the goal itself. Thus, the activity has no educational purpose beyond reaching this goal and does not teach the student how to learn beyond this very specific situation. Dewey suggests instead that education be based on a series of dynamic aims. The aims of the activity emerge from the activity itself, and they serve only as temporary beacons for the activity. As soon as an aim is achieved, that achievement creates activity leading to another aim. This paper suggests that long-term projects can be perfect vehicles for this type of approach to education. In particular, the paper focuses on the Reggio Emilia approach to long-term projects, which includes some important attributes such as documentation and progettazione (i.e., a discussion of the possible directions that the project might take based on observations of the children and past experience). The paper concludes with examples of long-term projects partially based on the Reggio Emilia approach from two American classrooms-one infant/toddler and one preschoo
dc.language	English
dc.language	Chinese
dc.language	Spanish
dc.publisher	ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Educati
dc.relation	http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v2n1/glassman.html
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1524-5039
dc.source	Early Childhood Research & Practice, Vol 2, Iss 1 (2000)
dc.subject	Reggio Emilia Approach
dc.subject	Student Projects
dc.subject	Young Children
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	The Use of Long-term Projects in Early Childhood Classrooms in Light of Dewey's Educational Philosophy
dc.type	Article