A Study On The Meaning Of Kindergarten Curriculum

The dissertation examines the practices of kindergarten curriculum from the perspective of meaning by use of literature method, observation method and speculative method. The Dissertation discusses the implication, levels and basic features of meanings of kindergarten curriculum, and analyses its dilemma and reasons in practice as well as its mechanism of generation.Based on the researches of meaning by various philosophic schools, the dissertation argues that the meaning of kindergarten curriculum is the relationship resulted by the interaction between subject and persons, things, objects, ideas, etc. and it is also the mutual intentionality of kindergarten activities themselves and all its elements of activities to various subjects of curriculum. Early children are their core subject. The meaning of kindergarten curriculum can be categorized into four levels: the first is the meaning embodied in activity materials, content and activities themselves; the second is the meaning teachers intended to express through activity materials, content and activities themselves; the third levels is the related curriculum context indicated by activity materials, content and activities themselves as signifier of meaning; the fourth is the impact, role and value on early children by activity materials, content and activities themselves. The meaning of kindergarten curriculum is characterized by contextuality, generativeness, procedurality, diversity, enrichment and so on.In the practice of kindergarten curriculum, the meaning of kindergarten curriculum often is caught in dilemma, which mainly show itself in the facts that its meaning is blurred; its meaning is disrupted in the processes of activities; the generation of early child’s meaning of kindergarten curriculum is not smooth. The reasons causing these dilemma include:the lack of teacher’s professional support, misunderstanding of learning and teaching in kindergarten by people, constraint on kindergarten curriculum practice by traditional views of knowledge, the absence of "human" in kindergarten curriculum practice.It is firstly required to explore its mechanism of generation in order to emancipate the meaning of kindergarten curriculum from the dilemma. From the perspective of early children, the meanings of kindergarten curriculum are generated through their experiencing activities in proper context. In this process, early children take their lives as the basis of generation and prior experience as the source of generation. From the perspective of teachers, they should consider the experiences that early children acquire in the process when they design the activities; they should create proper context for activities, entrust children’s capabilities and respect their time experience and rhythm of activities. Teachers also should provide effective activity materials according to the principals of feasibility, intentionality, enrichment, hierarchy. Moreover, they should provide proper guide for children’s activities, concern about the direction of children’s activities, pose questions for children and leave early children "the blank" for thinking, imagination and creation. Besides, teachers should provide guide in activities simultaneously engaged teachers and children to make sure the meaning of kindergarten curriculum could be generated.