Much of the subject matter taught and many habits formed in school do not conform to desirable social life in the outside world. The project method is the expression of the wide-spread revolt against the passive method whereby children in obedient masses are carefully drilled and spoon fed with facts and information.
Main Principles of the Project Method by Early Childhood Care and Education
1. The Principle of Purpose: Knowledge of purpose is a great stimulus and motivates the child to realize his goal. The child must have an idea “why is he doing certain things?” Purpose motivates learning. Interest cannot be aroused by aimless and meaningless activities.
2. The Principle of Activity: Children are active by nature. They love activity. The instincts of curiosity, construction, pugnacity and herd make them active by nature. Therefore such opportunities should be provided to them that make them active and learn things by doing. Physical as well as mental activities are to be provided to them. They are to be allowed to do and to live through doing.
3. The Principle of Experience: Experience is the best teacher. What is real must be experienced. The children learn new facts and information through experience.
4. The Principle of Social Experience: The child is a social being and we have to prepare him for social life. Training for a co-operate life must be given to him in his childhood. In the Project Method, the child works in group.
5. The Principle of Reality: Life is real and the education to be meaningful must be real. The child who is to live in a life of reality must be trained as such during his education. The project method is a method of educating the child and therefore it must also be real. Real life situations should be presented in the life of the school.
6. The Principe of Freedom: The desire of n activity must be spontaneous and not forced by the teacher. The child should be free from imposition, restrictions or obstructions so that he may express himself fully and freely. He must be given the freedom to choose an activity, to do an activity to his interests, needs and capabilities.
7. The Principle of Utility: Knowledge will be worthwhile only when it is useful and practical. The traditional system of instruction simply stressed formal and verbal information for its own sake and was of little utility. The method develops various attitudes and values which are of great significance from the practical point of view.
Different types of Projects, that some Teacher Training Institutes mentions are of four types -
1. ‘The Producer Type’ in which the emphasis is directed towards the actual construction of a material object or article,
2. ‘The Consumer Type’ where the objective is to obtain either direct or vicarious experiences, such as reading and learning to stories, listening to a musical selection etc.
3. ‘The Problem Type’ in which the chief purpose is to solve a problem involving and intellectual processes, such as determining the density of a certain liquid.
4. ‘The Drill Type’ where the objective is to attain a certain degree of skill in a reaction as learning a vocabulary.