Kindergarten Curriculum Reform in China: History and Studies

The Historical Review of Constructing integrated curriculum of Nanjing Experimental Kindergarten over 30 yearsZhang Li, Principal, Nanjing Experimental KindergartenNanjing Experimental Kindergarten is the earliest... [ view full abstract ]

The Historical Review of Constructing integrated curriculum of Nanjing Experimental Kindergarten over 30 years

Zhang Li, Principal, Nanjing Experimental Kindergarten

Nanjing Experimental Kindergarten is the earliest experimental kindergarten in Jiangsu Province. It has taken a leading role in curriculum transformation from the subject-based curriculum to integrated curriculum in China as early as 1983 and opened a prelude to the reform of Chinese kindergarten curriculum. The curriculum studies continued more than 30 years and experienced four stages, with the cooperation with several generations of professors in the Department of Preschool Education in Nanjing Normal University. Now around the core ideal of "entirety, experience and life", we clarified the curriculum objective system of "healthy and harmonious physical and mental development", established theme-based curriculum implementation approach, in which children could explore the complete life experience, and also developed a curriculum-embeded system of monitoring children’s progress. According to us, integrated curriculum is not just a curriculum model, but also an educational concept. The integrated curriculum supporting children’s experience construction and reconstruction with theme-based activities has become one of China's major curriculum models for early childhood education.