Happiness in Early Childhood Curriculum

Children are born and raised in different situations. Many children grow up in the confines of multi storied apartments with excessive exposure to unguided electronic media, unlimited screen time and little orientation to the natural world and society. Many others grow up in difficult circumstances with little nourishment for the body and the mind, some not even having seen a book or a toy until they go to school. In both cases, there is either an over stimulation or a deficit in areas where they have to develop well if they are to succeed in in school and in life. The environment in which children grow up today is inconsistent and unstable, with constantly changing social and economic dynamics, making it hard to imagine how the future in which children will live and work will turn out to be like. The uncertainty poses significant challenge for society and families in how children should be nurtured and prepared. In such a landscape, the need to raise and prepare future citizens who are knowledgeable, resilient and caring people, firmly rooted in their identity with wings that can navigate winds of uncertain change seems to be necessary, now more than ever before.

Even as trends in the direction in which the world is headed change and the confusion over how to prepare citizens of the future remains unclear, the fact that building strong and resilient children begins in the early years remain irrefutable as the science of early childhood development continues to grow more emphatic. Because of this, it is now clear that experience builds brain architecture and that the first five years are the most sensitive and critical for laying the foundation of a strong architecture for an optimally functioning brain. The need for interventions that provide meaningful experiences for present wellbeing and future success appears indispensable. So, what Dorothy Nolte has said, ‘children learn what they live’, seems to be something both theory and wisdom agree with for strong foundations, and the quality of what children experience in their childhood as a key determinant of how they learn and develop. This implies that the early childhood curriculum be designed to provide wholesome quality experiences that contribute to building knowledge, skills and attitudes in all areas of development, with emphasis not just on cognitive abilities but also on social and emotional competencies. This necessitates the search for a curriculum that blends developmental science and traditional wisdom.

In Bhutan, the idea of Gross National Happiness is a central underpinning for all endeavours in social and economic development, where the four domains of equitable economic development, cultural promotion and diversity, environment conservation and good governance are emphasized. Happiness as espoused in the concept is defined not just as individual gratification over attainment of personal goals but includes contentment, communal harmony and peace. In the context of the wider aspiration for happy individuals and harmonious communities, there is an expectation of positive human development outcome, where human qualities of self-discipline, empathy and compassion are desired. Considering that much of the values, attitudes and dispositions of human beings are formed and shaped in the early years of life, the need for proper care and stimulation of young children, particularly from conception to age eight, is recognized as being fundamental to an individual’s holistic development and wellbeing. Thus, the amalgamation of happiness as an aspiration fits well with theory both in design and practice for an early childhood curriculum that is grounded in the immediate environment within which children grow up and guided by principles of developmentally appropriate practice.

If the early childhood curriculum is to be child centred and contextualized as science suggests, the early learning and development standards should form the basic framework for any programme that aims to promote holistic development, with the age specific standards and indicators as curriculum goals and a curriculum implementation guide essentially to show how the principles can be implemented. Such a model of curriculum emphasizes the need to not just promote development in cognition, language, literacy, numeracy and arts but also addresses wellbeing and happiness. In addition to the conventional learning goals in emergent literacy, math and science, the happiness perspective in an early childhood curriculum includes the following goals, which are aligned with both theoretical principles and the goals of gross national happiness.

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1. Learning self-help and life skills

Even though self-help is emphasized in early childhood curriculum through daily practices in self-care activates and engagement in chores, there is often not enough emphasis on social emotional learning and life skills to develop social, emotional and thinking skills. The happiness oriented curriculum places equal emphasis on social emotional learning to help children develop the five core competencies which are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, social relationships and responsible decision making, through creating congenial environments and meaningful activities.

2. Learning of culture and language

Children do not develop in a vacuum. Culture is the bedrock on which children build their understanding of their immediate surrounding and make sense of the world. Language, particularly the home language is the tool that helps children understand culture through communication and interaction with parents, adults and other children. From the happiness perspective, inclusion of learning of the home language and culture in the curriculum contributes to not just building knowledge about children’s own culture and that of others, but also fosters confidence in exploring, inquiring and learning and gives meaning to what they learn. Culture and language could be promoted through project based activities, immersion in cultural activities such as festivals, events, stories, songs, dance, music and art.

3. Learning about and from the environment (environment conservation)

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For children to grow up as individuals who understand, appreciate, respect and care for the environment, they need to have opportunities to experience, learn and observe such attitudes and behaviours being exhibited and encouraged. Therefore, a happiness curriculum should include and emphasize learning from and with the environment, integrated in the physical environment, practices, activities and content of programmes.

4. Learning Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an important skill for children as well as adults, which helps to be present in the moment and focus on the task on hand. Mindfulness training is basically meditation, which helps to maintain peace of mind, concentrate and maintain focus for longer time. The inclusion of mindfulness in the early childhood curriculum can help to reduce distractive and agitative behaviour and enhance attention span, concentration and clear thinking resulting in effective learning.

Happiness should be an integral part of the early childhood curriculum because children should be able to grow up to be able to manage themselves and be happy, no matter what they do or where they live in the world, so that they grow up being able to maintain one’s own well-being and respect and contribute to others’ well-being and happiness.

About the author:

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Karma Gayleg works as Programme Leader and Coordinator for Early Childhood Development in Bhutan. He has had the opportunity to work with communities, international agencies and non-government organizations. A member of international agencies such as ARNEC and the World Forum for Early Childhood as a Global Leader for Young Children, Steering Committee Member and National Representative, his expertise is in early childhood programme development, management and governance; curriculum development and training of early childhood professionals.