Assessment of the practical application of work by projects in the children’s classroom

Abstract

Since the origin of Project Work dates back to 1577, it is now when it is being implemented within classrooms, completely changing the way of teaching and, therefore, of education. In it, the child acquires a series of skills that are not offered by traditional teaching: he is the protagonist, while enjoying autonomy, initiative and security. After having investigated the origins, characteristics and typologies of Project Work, the evaluation of its practical application is proposed based on a project carried out in the educational environment of a school in the city of Palencia-Spain, based on a real experience occurred during the Practicum III of the University of Valladolid, in an Early Infant Education classroom, with 25 students of 4 years. From this perspective, one responds to the approach: was project work really applied in the classroom, object of research? For the evaluation of the experience obtained, the criteria proposed by Jato (2015) are taken into consideration, which are based on the methodological principles of project work. The results indicate that the high motivating component of the tasks requested within this methodology, makes the students stay interested, active, critical and creative, while assuming responsibilities and roles with which to work cooperatively with others. people involved in the project. However, there is a great difference between the theoretical postulates and the observed practice, which leads to rethinking the need for a change in the teaching process, as well as a renewal of knowledge by teachers in order to adapt to the changes that suppose this new way of conceiving education.