Learning Through Cooperation And The Project Method In Pre-School Education In Romania

Abstract

In the curriculum for preschool education in Romania have been many changes since 1990. For the development of pupils, in official documents and in pedagogical literature, it is recommended to practice learning through cooperation and using the project method. Discussions with teachers on preschool education showed they have different opinions and some difficulties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the preschool teachers’ views on cooperative learning and on using the project method in pre-school education in order to identify some proposals for optimizing didactic activity. A questionnaire completed by 46 educators was used to collect data. Regarding the use of cooperative learning in kindergartens, most preschool teachers say that group work and cooperation are characteristic in their kindergarten groups. The fact that children learn more easily from one another is considered the main reason why activities are organized through co-operation in kindergartens, but also it is the most important advantage of cooperative learning. Regarding the use of the project method in kindergartens, the preschool teachers highlight several advantages: learning activities are integrated, including their contents; achieving work team; adult involvement. Romanian preschool teachers face more difficulties in organizing project-based learning in kindergartens: requires many teaching materials; the large number of children in a group; the high differences between children in the combined groups; requires a large amount of time for preparing; limited space for group activities. Despite all these difficulties, the surveyed preschool teachers prefer project-based learning, as opposed to traditional learning.