The Project Approach: Resources for Teachers

This article shares how to plan field trips that are close to home, cost little, and instill civic pride.

In this video, Dr. Lilian Katz presents the 2014 Longfellow Lecture on principles for building a good foundation for children’s learning.

In this 45 minute video, Lilian Katz shares her thoughts on: interest versus excitement; child-centered versus child-sensitive curriculum; academic versus intellectual elements; teaching versus instruction; social competence; short term versus long term effects; support for teachers.

Preschool teacher Heather Oski describes a classroom investigation on frogs and her creation of a documentation panel to highlight the experience. The video was produced by The Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.

In this video, Dr. Katz discusses the importance of providing experiences that will help children develop “competent interdependence.”

In this video, Dr. Katz discusses contingent interactions between children and adults, and how it leads to developing intellect. She emphasizes the importance of developing intellectual dispositions in early childhood education and the benefits of using the Project Approach for this purpose.

Dr. Villegas-Reimers, Wheelock College, explains strategies for supporting meaningful conversations with children. This video was produced by WGBH for the EEC.

In this 2-hour video presentation, Sylvia Chard provides an in-depth presentation on the Project Approach, including many examples.

In this video, Linda Darling Hammond explains the benefits of project based learning on achievement and learning.

This article shares the perspective of a teacher on how she implemented the project approach in her inclusive classroom in a preschool that had a history of structured, teacher-driven curriculum.

In this video, kindergarten teacher Carol Stephenson brings us back insider her classroom to share how she honors her students’ work at the end of an inquiry-based exploration. Carol teaches at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, the lab school at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

In this video, kindergarten teacher Carol Stephenson brings us inside her classroom to show how she fosters inquiry-based learning at the very beginning of the school year. Carol teaches at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, the lab school at the Ontario Insitute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto).

This page provides information and a link to videos regarding Investigations curriculum which is centered around engaging projects – called “investigations” – on topics that are selected by children, teachers, and families.

Ben Mardell’s 32-minute documentary about teachers’ and kindergarten students’ learning while engaged in an Making Learning Visible-inspired study of the Boston Marathon; the video shares the strategies used by teachers and what children learned along the way. This video appears on Melissa Rivard’s vimeo page.

This website, managed by the Educators Institute at Duke School in collaboration with Sylvia Chard, is dedicated to providing information about the Project Approach. It offers theory, structure, and examples of the Project Approach, as well as resources and tools that teachers and administrators can use, including: an overview of the theoretical framework and history; explanations of how to develop and implement project work; examples of projects conducted in classrooms worldwide; information about upcoming seminars, workshops, and other forms of professional development; a study guide that helps participants understand the definition and applications of the Project Approach and walks them through the process of developing and implementing a project in the classroom. 

Queensland recognizes the Project Approach as an age-appropriate curriculum approach for preschoolers. Visit this page to read their description and find related resources.

In this video, educators from the Little Hearts Program at Stone Ridge School share how the Project Approach is used in their preschool and kindergarten programs.

Sallee Beneke and Michaelene Ostrosky describe the potential of the Project Approach to build on children’s strengths and provide all learners with equal access to the curriculum.

Sylvia Chard provides an overview of the Project Approach and describes the advantages, relationship to standards, compatibility with teaching strategies, and challenges to implementation.

This video describes the benefits of the Project Approach for young children.

Educators from a Boston Public School for children that emphasizes the Project Approach share strategies for using the schoolyard a source of project topics.

Judy Helm describes how projects that investigate nature help build a beneficial relationship with the natural world in rural and urban environments.

In this 1-hour webinar, Beneke and Ostrosky present information on the potential of the Project Approach to provide a context that builds community and provides improved opportunities for teaching and learning in inclusive ECE classrooms.

Lilian Katz describes effective teaching strategies and important opportunities for teacher decision-making over the course of a project.

In this video, Lilian Katz discusses important principles that are a foundation for educating children.