The Project Approach

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The Project Approach shares common features of curriculum design with what are considered effective practices in gifted education:

• Emphasis on challenging and intellectually engaging material.
• Role of teacher as facilitator of learning.
• Attention to students' interests and learning styles.
• Means of exhibiting strengths and talents of individuals.
• Introduction to inquiry in various fields of study (e.g., acting as young investigators in a particular field).
• Assumed high expectations and capability of students.
• Authentic learning and "real audiences."

For more information about the Project Approach, see the following:

The Project Approach — Dr. Lilian G. Katz, University of Illinois

Project Approach Home Page — Dr. Sylvia Chard, University of Alberta

Issues in Selecting Topics for Projects — Lilian G. Katz and Sylvia C. Chard

ERIC/EECE Digests on topics related to the Project Approach

• Another look at what young children should be learning
• The Benefits of Mixed-Age Grouping
• Child-Initiated Learning Activities for Young Children Living in Poverty
• The Contribution of Documentation to the Quality of Early Childhood Education
• A Developmental Approach to Assessment of Young Children
• Developmentally Appropriate Practice: What Does Research Tell Us?
• Encouraging Creativity in Early Childhood Classrooms
• Integrate, Don't Isolate--Computers in the Early Childhood Classroom
• Problem Solving in Early Childhood Classrooms
• Reggio Emilia: Some Lessons for U.S. Educators
• Resource Rooms for Children: An Innovative Curricular Tool
• Teaching Young Children about Native Americans

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