Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 631

Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021)

The High-Scope Curriculum Support for Early

Childhood Development –Take Active Learning in
Young Children as an Example
Zhiqi Cai
Faculty of Education, Yunnan Normal University, KunMing,650504, China
Corresponding author’s Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
This paper introduces the origin of the High-Scope curriculum from the beginning of the later development of the
curriculum model. Then, it introduces what is High-Scope curriculum’s Key Development Indicators and ‘learning
round’, and how they support the development of the core of active participatory learning. And from the social
progress and children’s long term development introduce the advantages of the curriculum. And how do the primary
theoretical basis and the operability of the curriculum for teachers and parents as well as the comprehensiveness of the
curriculum support children's active learning ability? Finally, the article introduces under the background of
implementation of ‘double reduction’ policy, how to integrate High-Scope curriculum in China’s preschool education.
In the end, based on the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky and other scholars in the early stage, the High-Scope
curriculum aims to solve the educational problems of poor children, taking active learning as the core, and carrying
out the curriculum through ‘learning round’. All of these support the High-Scope curriculum aimed at children’s
active learning. These provide opportunities for the implementation of the High-Scope curriculum under the
background of China’s double reduction policy.

Keywords: High-Scope curriculum, active learning

1.INTRODUCTION from the economic benefits and children's long-term

progress. Then, the benefit is analyzed from the primary
The High-Scope curriculum represents a curriculum theoretical basis of Piaget, and Vygotsky. The passage
model of preschool education. From the beginning, the also analyzes the operability of the curriculum for
article introduces what the High-Scope curriculum is? teachers and parents, elaborating with restricted
What are the benefits of the High-Scope curriculum? operating steps. And passage introduces the
How does the High-Scope curriculum work? What is a comprehensiveness of the curriculum by taking five
High-Scope curriculum, introduces the origin of active learning elements in the curriculum to solve the
curriculum, and the significance of the birth of the problem of lacking functional learning in kindergarten
curriculum. Then introduces it later developed into a teaching in China as an example. Finally, last paragraph
curriculum covering eight areas of early childhood presents what double reduction" policy is and how to
development. And from the course support- "learning implement the High-Scope curriculum under the
round"——the core concept of High-Scope learning background of China's "double reduction" policy.
actively, participating in supportive Adult—child Young children exposed to High-Scope curriculum
interaction, creating a challenging learning environment, having active learning ability can enable them to explore
establishing a solid daily routine, carrying out a the world independently and construct their own
continuous evaluation to make a lesson plan, thinking to understand society. From a young age,
respectively introducing the content of each plate, children have strong independent learning ability, which
elaborating how they support children’s active learning can lay a foundation for learning at school age and keep
ability as well as my understanding of these course plate an enthusiastic attitude towards learning. Under the
content. Next, what are the strengths of the course and exam-oriented education system in China, the
how does the course work? First, the benefits introduced High-Scope curriculum allows children to have the

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

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 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 631

ability to find out independently, which can reduce curriculum, time to plan (10-15minute), time to work
some of their learning burden at school age. (45-60minute), time to clean up (about 10minute), time
to review (10-15minute) is always in this order.
2.WHAT IS HIGH-SCOPE Carrying out the continuous evaluation: High-Scope has
two systems to evaluate curriculum, one is Preschool
2.1. The aim and KDIs of High-Scope Child Observation Record (COR Advantage to evaluate
children’s progress. Another is the Preschool Program
The High-Scope curriculum starting in the 1960s, is Quality Assessment (PQA) to evaluate the preschool
a support to the Perry Preschool Program study. It can educational institution.
be traced to the High-Scope Perry Preschool Program.
To solve the educational problem of preschool 2.3.The core of High-Scope curriculum—
education of poor children in America. David P. learning actively
Weikart initiated the Perry Preschool Program study [1].
High-Scope means helping children have high From my perspective, learning ability is the most
aspirations and a broad scope of interest. Despite that, essential goal of the High-Scope curriculum. We can see
the High-Scope curriculum is also a model that supports the importance of the initiative as the first key
efforts to learn actively, learning from the activity and development indicator in the area of approaches to
key development indicators (KDIs). There are eight learning. Learning actively is running through the
areas of the High-Scope curriculum, including High-Scope curriculum. Specifically, key development
Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional indicators (KDIs) are specific criteria that help children
Development,Physical Development and Health, approach it. Adults can use these indicators to assist
Language, Literacy, and Communication, Mathematics, children improve. According to the scoring guide of
Creative Arts, Science and Technology, Social Studies, COR Advantage, in the area of approaches to learning,
all of which have their key development indicators. there are 8 levels of the second KDI that utilize
Each of them needs to be evaluated through specific materials to solve problems. The lowest level (0level) is
criteria. young children turn their eyes, head, or hands to the
person or object they desire. The highest level (7level) is
2.2.Guiding principle—‘learning round’ immature children coordinate multiple resources
(materials and people) to solve complex problems
To get all the KDIs and improve their levels, the related to materials. The adults have to make a lesson
High-Scope curriculum designs the ‘learning round’ to plan to support the child's progress from level 0 to level
be the guiding principle. In the middle of the ‘learning 7[4]. Through this, children can develop their ability to
round’ is the core concept of High-Scope learning learn actively by using materials to address the
actively. There are four sectors representing four problems.
responsibilities that teachers interact with children:
Participating in supportive Adult—child interaction, 2.4. The concrete content of
creating a challenging learning environment, High-Scope—‘learning round’
establishing a dependable daily routine, carrying out a
continuous evaluation to make a lesson plan[2]. The ‘learning round’ is the concrete support of
Learning actively is the basic principle that children realizing a goal. The sector is creating a challenging
can build or construct their knowledge of the world by learning environment that supports objective conditions.
themselves [3]. To do it, the adult should supply a large The adults create the environment and choose the
amount of actionable and fun materials to the child. materials as well as arrange them to assist children to
They have to support ‘scaffold’ to children finish their explore. The sector that participates in supportive
exploration and create the new challenge under their adult-child interaction is the support of subjective
zone of proximal development (ZPD). For children, they conditions. Adults can follow the strategies to engage
can choose the people and the materials they plan on the children’s exploration to communicate with children
getting back together with them. They can explore the and to encourage children to overcome the difficulty.
materials and communicate or share with others what Support children learning actively. The sector
they discover or how they change their mind to start the establishing a solid daily routine guaranteed that the
original plan. The core of adult-child interaction is High-Scope curriculum goes on wheels. It can ensure
sharing the right to control. It has four strategies to teach that children’s exploration is in order. And adults can
adults how to share. Making a challenging learning select from KDIs to make a lesson plan. Besides, it is
environment: High-Scope offers guidelines about how more convenient for adults to control and record
to design the area, how to choose the materials and how whether children achieve the selected KDIs. Also,
to store the materials. Establishing a robust daily establishing a dependable daily routine is helpful to the
routine: Despite High-Scope has different types of novice teachers to get started with High-Scope, since
there is a fixed order that starts with time to plan and

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ends in time to review. And all the parts have the findings after re-analyzing the data in the High-Scope
recommended time for novice teachers to arrange. The study. Also, they made the point for women, the
sector carrying out continuous evaluation is an High-Scope Perry Preschool Program had a beneficial
inspection of the High-Scope curriculum. The two impact in terms of increased educational achievement,
evaluation systems, COR Advantage and PQA, are employment rates, economic gains in adulthood, and
direct and efficient recording systems to inspect whether lower arrest rates. For men, the High-Scope Perry
a High-Scope curriculum is available to the child and Preschool Program had a positive impact on lower arrest
the preschool educational institution. They are stored rates, reduced incarceration, increased earnings at age
updated according to the development of time and 27, increased employment at the age of 40, and other
children which can guarantee two systems’ validity. economic gains. Plus, they also found that compared to
the children who participated in other preschool
2.5. The metaphor of High-Scope curriculum, children who took part in the High-Scope
curriculum model would be most influenced by
Imagine that High-Scope curriculum as a car. preschool education when they were after 40 years of
Learning actively is a steering wheel, for the reason that age [5].
it has to keep the car in the direction where children can
develop the ability to learn actively. The KDIs are 3.2. Early theoretical support of children’s
components and parts of the engine, which means they
active learning ability in High-Scope
are the power to hold the car moving. They are the
motivation to stimulate children to strive for further
curriculum
improvement. In this part, adults have to use the The High-Scope curriculum used the term ‘active
‘scaffold’ to support children to improve. To exemplify, participatory learning’ to stress the importance that
in the area of mathematics, children might use the word children are constructors of knowledge. Hohmann,
‘more or less ' when they are comparing numbers. Weikart&Epstein(2008) thought, ‘Active participatory
According to the scoring guide of COR Advantage, learning is a process in which children actively
these children are at level 1. Under these circumstances, participate in learning and construct new understanding
adults can determine the number when children are by manipulating material and interacting with other
comparing items. This way is called ‘scaffold learning’, people, ideas, and events. No one can experience the
which can help the children to have the number sense to objective world or construct knowledge for the child.
improve to level 3 (children can count the object under The child must do this alone. [6] Affected by the
10 with one-to-one correspondence.). The four sectors educational theory and thought of Piaget, and Vygotsky,
in the ‘learning round ’are four tires of the car. the High-Scope curriculum emphasizes children actively
Participating in supportive adult-child interaction, gain experience. In the book <Educational science and
creating a challenging learning environment, child psychology>, though Piaget thought imparting
establishing a solid daily routine, carrying out a education is beneficial to children in a way, he stressed
continuous evaluation, every single one of them is that education should stimulate children to actively and
needed to guarantee the implementation of the independently practice and explore [7]. And Vygotsky,
High-Scope curriculum. his most well-known theory, ‘zone of proximal
development ' (ZPD). It is a distance between a child
3.WHY HIGH-SCOPE BENEFITS? who can complete tasks independently and with the help
of an adult or a peer of superior ability to complete the
3.1. The economic benefits and personal tasks. This area is called ZPD. So, adults have to create
long-term development of the High-Scope a task slightly above the child’s level, and it requires the
curriculum child to learn and experience actively with maximum
initiative, to get into the higher level of learning. Based
According to the research of High-Scope curriculum on these theories, the High-Scope curriculum puts active
study in 2005, American scholars, Lawrence learning in the central area. Children have to construct
J.Schweinhart and Jeanne Montie found out if a the experience by themselves, through operating
high-quality education is received at an early age, it will materials and interacting with adults and the
have a profound impact on one’s life and then influence surrounding environment.
on society. In the analysis of the costs and benefits of
getting a preschool education in the High-Scope 3.3. Accessible for adults to use
curriculum model, they discover that adjusted for
inflation and so on, for every dollar spent on preschool From my point of view, the High-Scope curriculum
education of poor children, $17.07 was returned. is the most authoritative for supporters to learn to
And$12.90 belongs to taxpayers, $4.17 belongs to the observe and record children’s active learning ability.
children themselves. The Nobel economics laureate The High-Scope curriculum creates a complete system
James J.Heckman with his colleagues confirmed the to help supporters to evaluate children’s active learning

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ability. Also, it gives supporters concrete steps to record want to do and actively participate in activities based on
children’s behavior of dynamic learning. The first step their interests and intentions. Secondly, lack of hands-on
is using the scoring guide of COR Advantage to find and communicative learning. In the High-Scope
sentences that describe children’s active learning curriculum, adults encourage children to manipulate
development. The second step is according to these objects freely and they encourage children to talk about
descriptions, supporters record anecdotes related to their experiences or describe what they are doing with
active learning in table A (initiative and planning) in the their words. Last but not least, lack of problem-oriented
anecdote handbook. Finally, they follow the scoring deep learning. In the High-Scope curriculum, it gives
guide of COR Advantage to determine children’s levels children lots of freedom to choose the thing they want to
of active learning progress. For parents, COR do. Freedom doesn’t mean no purpose. One of the
Advantage of High-Scope curriculum is the easiest rudimentary elements of adult support is that adults have
system for them to observe and record children’s active to build partnerships with children, keep up with
learning ability in a systematic way. Parents fill ‘home children’s thoughts and interests. And they have to
report form’ from observing children’s anecdotes of observe and understand children’s intentions. When
functional learning. Before this, parents need to read the children deviate from intention, adults should allow
'family manual’ to understand initiative learning as children to make mistakes and use equal dialogue to
children eager to learn and implement their ideas. And encourage the children to think.
they have to focus on how children learn rather than
what they learn. Then it will be very easy for them to 3.5. The implement of High-Scope curriculum
observe and record children’s initiative learning. Plus, in China under the double reduction policy
through this, supporters were interested to know how
children’s active learning develops at home [8]. The double reduction policy is a set of guidelines
that Chinese authorities introduce to ease the burden of
3.4. The comprehensiveness in High-Scope excessive homework and off-campus tutoring for
curriculum students undergoing compulsory education. The guide
was from a press conference held by the Ministry of
In addition to being easy for adults to use, the Education. At the end of the guideline, it adds: "While
High-Scope curriculum has another advantage is the reducing the number of students in compulsory
comprehensiveness of the curriculum. For example, the education, local governments should also make overall
High-Scope curriculum summarized five basic elements plans for off-campus training for preschoolers aged 3 to
of active learning, including selection, materials, 6 and regular senior high school students. Online
manipulation, children’s language and thinking, and training for preschoolers is not allowed. It is strictly
adult support [9]. To be honest, these five elements can forbidden to carry out offline subject training (including
exactly solve the problem of the realistic representation foreign language) for preschool children in the name of
of active learning deficiency in kindergarten teaching in the preschool class, kindergarten, and primary school
our country. According to the Chinese scholar Zhang bridging class, thinking training class, etc. No more
Yu in the article ‘Active Learning: The Value Pursuit approval will be given to new out-of-school training
of Kindergarten teaching’, it is noted that there are institutions for preschoolers and out-of-school training
three aspects of this problem. Firstly, lack of internal in disciplines for ordinary senior high school students.
motivation to initiate learning activities. Children’s ”[10] So, as a preschool education model, the
internal learning motivation comes from their interests. High-Scope curriculum in China faces the problem of
Most kindergartens in our country don’t provide or being a preschool institution, how to promote it under
update a wealth of material to stimulate or sustain young the background of this new guidance. This is just my
point of view on this issue. The High-Scope curriculum
children’s interest in autonomous exploration. And
can’t be organized as a training institution or
most teachers in kindergartens hope that children can
extracurricular institution but as a teaching model in
learn step by step in their planned courses, so a lot of
kindergartens, and the practice of localization of
children lose interest in autonomous exploration. The
High-Scope curriculum should be performed. Let the
High-Scope curriculum attached great importance to
High-Scope curriculum according to regional
offer a wide range of materials available to children in a
conditions, and promote the development of children’s
variety of ways. A wide range of materials including
independent learning ability.
daily practice materials; Natural and available materials;
tools; messy, sticky, soft, wet, spongy materials; heavy,
large materials; easy to use materials, all can stimulate 4. CONCLUSION
children’s interest in active learning. They also focus on As a project dedicated to solving the preschool
updating these materials to sustain children’s interest in education problems of poor children in the United
active learning. Plus, the High-Scope curriculum gives States, the effectiveness and importance of High-Scope
the choice back to the child. Children choose what they curriculum is very obvious when it is supported by the

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theories of Piaget and Vygotsky and other scholars in [6] HohamnM,Weikart, D. &Epstein.A .S.Educating
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[10]Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of
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field has different evaluation methods and based on this, http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xxgk/moe_1777/moe_
a complete and systematic evaluation system (COR 1778/202107/t20210724_546576.html
Advantage) is designed. Under the background of the
"double reduction" policy in China, it provides an
opportunity for High-Scope curriculum to be formally
implemented in domestic kindergartens as a preschool
education model.

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