CHRIS ATHEY & SCHEMA THEORY
Chris athey early years curriculum for Preschools development and planning in India

In the 1970s, Chris Athey, inspired by the work and constructivist theory propounded by Piaget, developed the Chris Athey and Schema Theory. He was encouraged to do so following his thorough reading of Piaget that children have the ability to assimilate content at every stage of their development and do so through building cognitive structures. He renamed or defined these structures as schemas to indicate that children are able to convert a pattern of behaviour that is repetitive into experiences that can then be assimilated for coordination when required.

The theory suggested that children should not be labelled as immature or not competent when they are unable to succeed in an activity. It only meant that they have not been able to follow their own dominant schema and would require more exposure to repetitive actions to be able to do so. It could also indicate that the activities designed are insufficient to feed the child’s quest for information and knowledge and require changes.The approach thus believes in tapping into the natural ability of the child to discover different schemas as per the environment at various times to optimize learning.
This Schema theory is in practice in many of the nursery schools in the UK and New Zealand.
You can contact us to seek assistance in developing this curriculum for your preschool on the numbers mentioned below.