This study has compared and analyzed educational aims, contents, teaching methods and evaluations in the national level curriculums to investigate the language curriculum connections between kindergarten and 1st grade.
To achieve the purpose, the ...
This study has compared and analyzed educational aims, contents, teaching methods and evaluations in the national level curriculums to investigate the language curriculum connections between kindergarten and 1st grade.
To achieve the purpose, the research questions are established as follows.
1. What are the language curriculum connections between kindergarten and 1st grade?
1) What are the curricular aim connections?
2) What are the curricular content connections?
3) What are the teaching methods connections?
4) What are the evaluation connections?
This study had compared and analyzed the curriculums of kindergarten and 1st grade: For kindergarten, national level 6th kindergarten curriculum commentary and 'Introduction', vol. 1 of Kindergarten Educational Activity Materials. For 1st grade, the 7th elementary school curriculum commentary, 'Korean teacher's manual for the 1st grade', the 1st grade text books of 'Korean (Speaking·Listening, Reading, Writing)' and 'We are the 1st grade'.
The results found are as follows.
First, the educational aims of the curriculums were overall connected, but it was difficult to compare one by one. That is, they both aimed to improve listening, speaking, reading, writing abilities, which are basics of daily language life, but the aim of Korean class suggested in the 7th curriculum was unitary for the learners from 1st grade to freshman in highschool. Therefore, it was impossible to directly compare the aims of kindergarten and 1st grade.
Second, the educational contents of the curriculums hold continuity and systemicity so their overall connections were well accomplished. Three content areas of having interest in listening, speaking, and reading.writing were connected to the content areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in 6 content areas of 1st grade. Language knowledge and literature, the remaining 2 content areas, were dealt in as details of each sub-areas in Kindergarten.
Third, the teaching methods of the curriculums had lots of differences and similarities. Kindergarten had taught children with selecting a unit or a theme independently and every institution or teacher used various contents to the same theme. Elementary school used the same text book and same contents so the concern is its teacher-centered and standardized class. However, considerable connections were found in the curriculums suggesting teaching methods: area and content integration, consistency and connection with difficulty degree level, and the operation of variously integrated, not order-binding education.
Fourth, in curriculum evaluations kindergarten didn't separate linguistic life area and suggest the view of evaluation. It suggested items to evaluate how the whole curriculum operated but valued qualitative evaluation. So it didn't allow to present children in numbers and compare each other. Elementary school differed from kindergarten in evaluating subject, content, and learning method. More objective evaluation is in need because the result of evaluations meant what children accomplished and led to succeeding learning. Even though there were slight differences, the clear statement, evaluation itself is for better learning, made kindergarten and elementary school connected.