Improving Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms in Pakistan: Issues and Challenges from the Field

Abstract

This article focuses on an early childhood programme that has been initiated by the Institute for Educational Development at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. The programme is a Certificate in Education and involves training teachers so as to enable them to understand early childhood education and development, and to become effective practitioners in their classrooms. The early childhood education and development programme is a field-based programme of six months' duration, where the emphasis is on supporting and mentoring course participants as they implement the High/Scope approach in their classrooms and engage children in active learning. The article outlines the structure and content of the programme and also highlights the processes engaged in when improving practices in the classroom with regard to setting up the classroom environment, establishing routines, and integrating the curriculum. In the course of working with teachers as they made a shift from formal classroom settings with an emphasis on teacher-directed teaching to settings that were more child-oriented with an active encouragement of learning, various issues and challenges emerged. These issues and challenges are discussed in this article. Subsequently, some recommendations are made for improving the status of early childhood education and development in Pakistan. Conclusion: Even though it is just the beginning of ensuring better practices, the certificate programme has been instrumental in improving practices in early childhood education. The work with teachers in this programme has been on an incremental basis, with the involvement of staff, parents, and school management from the beginning. A major constraint that will need to be addressed is that of finance, especially if practices such as these are to be sustained in the future.