THE CURRICULUM OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: INDONESIA AND UNITED KINGDOM

This paper aims to investigate the curriculum of early childhood education in Indonesia and the United Kingdom (UK) and how they pertinent to each other. Library research was conducted to gather information intended. The findings confirms that the curriculum of early childhood education in Indonesia applies curriculum 2013 which consists of aspect development of curriculum structure, and the learning process with a scientific approach. While UK applies the curriculum according to the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework which recognizes the importance of play and a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Moreover, there is a basic different between these two curriculum aspects, which Indonesia includes the religious and moral values to the body of curriculum, while UK does not. However, both Indonesia and UK are closely similar which promotes balance between the development of academic and literacy skills, socio-emotional development, and creative and physical development.


Introduction
Education and development are the rights of all citizens including children, but these rights cannot be generalized throughout the process in all the countries, because each country has cultural values that characterize it. One type of education is Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) whose main purpose is to train the basic skills of early childhood before entering formal education and to be adapted to the local culture, both individualism and collectivism.
Education and development are the rights of all citizens including children, but these rights cannot be generalized throughout the process in all the countries, because each country has cultural values that characterize it. One type of education is Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) whose main purpose is to train the basic skills of early childhood before entering formal education and to be adapted to the local culture, both individualism and collectivism.
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), is very important, because the growth and development of children is determined at an early age. Especially in the golden age of 0-4 years. Early education is also the most fundamental investment which ensures a better quality of family life in the future. 1 In OECD countries, Early Childhood Education has been a special concern for long time. Almost all preschool children in OECD countries have a proper and good education. The sad thing is, the condition of early childhood education which is reversed in developing countries, even more so in underdeveloped and poor countries. In developing countries, early childhood education is still in the process of developing and compiling a good education system. Indonesia is no exception. One of the best countries in the implementation of early childhood education is the United Kingdom, where all children in the country get their rights to get proper and free education.
The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) claims that children's participation in Early Childhood Education (PAUD) programs is increasing at the Asian and World level. In case of Indonesia Early Childhood Education (PAUD), the estimated percentage of children up to 3 years of age in PAUD services in Indonesia has reached more than 72.35 percent. In local communities is more than 57,526 villages that have received PAUD services. The rest, around 34.84 percent or 6.5 million from 23,737 villages indeed still do not get PAUD services. 2 While in some developed countries, the Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is almost cover the whole children in the countries. Specifically, In the United Kingdom Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is nearly universal for those aged 3 and 4, with higher enrolment rates than the OECD average. In 2016, 100% of 3-year-olds were enrolled in pre-primary education, compared to the OECD average of 77%. Moreover, expenditure on all children aged 3 to 5 enrolled in ECEC and primary education amounts to 0.7% of GDP in the United Kingdom, which is above the OECD average of 0.6%. Both the United Kingdom and Japan are the only OECD countries where private funds account for more than 40% of total expenditure on pre-primary education (ISCED 02). 3 In addition, the United Kingdom is one of only a few countries that makes extensive use of teachers' aides at the pre-primary level. The ratio of children to teaching staff is 23:1, well above the OECD average, however the ratio of children to contact staff (teachers and teachers' aides) is 3:1, well below the OECD average. 4 Furthermore, as one of the developing countries in Southeast Asia. Indonesia still tries to find and formulate the good and suitable education for early Childhood which is still far from the perfect. Early childhood education and care in Indonesia need to be developed and generated to the whole country. While United Kingdom has one of the best Early childhood education and care system among OECD countries. For this reason, the researcher aims to briefly investigate and analyze the Early childhood education and care system in both Indonesia and United Kingdom. Specifically, the Curriculum and Assessment types will be the focus of the study. The researcher also elaborates, briefly, the theories of some prominent scholars related to Childhood Education. The elaboration of theories which aim to be the balancer and benchmark of the discussion.

The Childhood Education Theories
Al-Ghazali's view on education clarified that a child is God's gift entrusted to the parents to bring up the child and shape the heart and the mind of the child who are still pure and untainted to become a precious and valuable person. Human being is born in a state of purity and innocence. Early education is very crucial to shape the life of a person which begins with childhood. 5 In addition, al-Ghazali divided the stage of child education in to two stages, between 1 and 4 years old and between 5 until 7 years old. The first stage should be inculcated with the good personality to produce children with a righteous heart. A child should be taught to use good words and must be trained with courage, good manners, patience, respect for people older than him and, most especially, obedience to parents. Then, the children of 5 until 7 years of age should be taught of spiritual aspect, manners and physical exercise. They must be trained with good ways of performing prayers, fasting and differentiating between halal and haram. 6 Moreover, al-Ghazali also encouraged parents or teachers to let children play as it can help in their physical development and strengthen their mind. Apart from them being naturally playful, playing can assist in bringing joy and rest to them after exhaustion from learning. 7 Meanwhile, Maria Montessori formulated the learning method for children with learning and developmental disabilities. She later adapted her method for children with normal cognition and development. The Montessori Method creates a well-planned and structured environment where children can pursue areas of study of their interest. In other words, the child directs his own learning. 8 Montessori sets the typical environment for learning which encompasses the following: (a) Freedom of movement and freedom of choice for the children; (b) Structure and order in the arrangement and sequence of the materials; (c) An atmosphere that is attractive, warm and inviting; (d) Materials that provide active learning experiences; (e) Vertical grouping (in the age ranges 2½ to 6 years, 6 to 9 years, 9 to 12 years, 12 to 15 years); (f) A closeness to nature and the natural world and activities and materials that reflect the reality of life, not fantasy Based on the Montessori philosophy, a child up to 6 years old requires physical materials that engage the senses to learn. The Montessori Curriculum is broken down into the some categories; Practical Life; Sensorial; Mathematics; Language and Literacy; Cultural Subjects (which include Geography, History, Natural Sciences, Experimental Sciences); and Creative Subjects (Art and Craft, Music and Movement, Drama).
Furthermore, Maria Montessori argues that "The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth." However, Montessori did not begin developing her method with infants. She began with children who were between 3 and 6 years old. Montessori saw every child as a spiritual embryo, and believed that education must be geared toward the whole person and releasing his inner genius: "Man must be educated to realize his greatness and to become worthy of the powers that are his". 9 And then, Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence. Piaget's stages are: (a) Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years. During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses; (b) Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7. The foundations of language development may have been laid during the previous stage, but it is the emergence of language that is one of the major hallmarks of the preoperational stage of development. At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people. They also often struggle with understanding the idea of constancy; (c) Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11. During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions; (d) Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up. The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them. 10 According to opinion John Dewey , he believed that education is life itself, and learning was active and schooling unnecessarily long and restrictive. Dewey firmly believed that education should not just be teachers making students learn mindless facts that they would soon forget. He thought it should be a journey of experiences, building upon each other to create and understand new experiences. 11 Dewey agreed with Montessori and Piaget that children learn by doing and that a teacher's role is to encourage experimentation and independent thought. Conversely, unlike Piaget and Montessori who, as we've already discussed believed that the environment was the main teacher, Dewey sided more with Vygotsky in that he believed that children learn best when they're interacting with a More Knowledgeable Other, with other people. 12 Dewey also felt that schools tried to create a world separate from students' lives. School activities and the life experiences of the students should be connected, Dewey believed, or else real learning would be impossible. Cutting students off from their psychological ties, i.e., society and family would make their learning journeys less meaningful and thereby make learning less memorable. Likewise, schools also needed to prepare students for life in society by socializing them. 13 Finally, Lev Vygotsky is known with Cultural-Historical Theory. This theory is the idea that child development is the results of a dynamic interaction between individuals and society. These interactions include those with parents and teachers, playmates and classmates, and brothers and sisters. Through this interaction, children learn gradually and continuously from those who interact with them. Moreover, Vygotsky also stressed the important role that culture plays, suggesting cultural differences can have a dramatic effect on development. 14 Vygotsky also encourage children to involve relationships with significant objects, such as books or toys, and culturally specific practices that children engage in the classroom, at home, and on the playground. 15

Childhood Education in Indonesia
According to National Education System Law of Indonesia, Early Childhood education, Furthermore, the structure of the PAUD curriculum contains development programs that include; religious and moral values; physical-motor; cognitive; language; social-emotional; and art. Curriculum 2013 for PAUD (Early Childhood Education) also has the characteristics that designed by government: a) Optimizing children's development which includes: aspects of religious and moral values, physical-motor, cognitive, language, social emotional, and art which are reflected in the balance of attitudes, knowledge and skills competencies; b) Using thematic learning with a scientific approach in providing educational stimuli; c) Use authentic assessment in monitoring children's development; and d) Empowering the role of parents in the learning process. 20 The Content of the Early Childhood Education curriculum consists of some development programs, namely: The program of developing religious and moral values; Physical-motor development program includes the embodiment of atmosphere for the development of kinesthetic maturity in the context of play;Cognitive development programs include the embodiment of an atmosphere for developing the maturity of the thought process in the context of play; The language development program includes the embodiment of an atmosphere for developing language maturity in the context of play; The social-emotional development program includes an atmosphere for the development of social sensitivity, attitudes, and skills and emotional maturity in the context of play; Art development program includes the embodiment of an atmosphere for the development of exploration, expression and appreciation of art in the context of play.
According to Regulation of The Minister of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia, No.146, 2014, learning process is the process of interaction between educators and children through play activities in a safe and fun learning environment by using various learning resources. The learning concept of early childhood learning is child centered. The learning approach used is a scientific approach that includes a series of processes of observing, questioning, gathering information, reasoning, and communicating. The whole process is carried out using all the senses as well as various sources and learning media. Moreover, the principles used in the early childhood learning process are as follows: 21 a. Learning through play; Children under the age of 6 years are at play. Providing educational stimuli in the right way through play, can provide meaningful learning to children. h. Supported by a conducive environment; the learning environment is created so that it is interesting, fun, safe, and comfortable for children. Spatial planning is arranged so that children can interact with educators, caregivers, and other children.
i. Oriented to democratic learning; Democratic learning is needed to develop mutual respect between children and educators, and between children and other children j. The use of learning media, learning resources, and resource persons The use of learning media, learning resources, and resource persons in PAUD is aimed at making learning more contextual and meaningful. The speakers included people with certain professions who were involved according to the theme, for example doctors, police, fishermen, and firefighters.
PAUD is carried out through face-to-face learning. Face-to-face activities in PAUD is with the following length of study: a) the age group born to 2 (two) years with a length of study of at least 120 minutes per week; b) the age group of 2 (two) years to 4 (four) years with a minimum length of study of 360 minutes per week; and c) age group of 4 (four) years to 6 (six) years with a minimum length of study of 900 minutes per week.
According to Regulation of The Minister of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia, No.146, 2014, assessment is the process of gathering and processing information to measure the achievements of children's learning activities. The evaluation of the results of learning activities by educators is carried out to monitor the process and progress of children's learning on an ongoing basis. Based on these assessments, educators and parents can obtain information about developmental achievements that describe the attitudes, knowledge, and skills possessed by children after learning activities. 22 In order to have an effective assessment of the process and results of learning activities, principles, techniques, instruments, assessment mechanisms and procedures must be considered as important. Furthermore, the Indonesian Ministry of Education has the assessment guidelines to be used as a reference in carrying out assessment of learning processes and outcomes in accordance with the 2013 Early Childhood Education Curriculum. Moreover, the The reporting is aimed to communicating the results of an assessment for the level of achievement of children's development both psychologically and physically that conducted periodically by educators. If there is unusual growth and development found, the educators will consult the case with the relevant experts. The form of reporting is by description of the physical growth and development of the children's attitudes, knowledge and skills. The competencies report is reported to parents by an attachment of the portfolio results. The reporting technique is done by face to face with parents to explain the results of the child's assessment. Furthermore, written reporting is given to parents at least once for every 6 months, while verbal reporting can be provided as needed. 24

Childhood Education in England
In the United Kingdom, he Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old, and 5 to 7, school years 1 and 2 (Roberts, N. 2018). Early child-hood education in the UK occurs in several types of provision. Some types of provision including playgroups, nursery schools and nursery classes provide for older preschool children, typically 3-5 year olds, while some such as day nurseries will also have facilities for younger children. 25 There has been increasing emphasis on early childhood learning in the UK. In addition, England's Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage is Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. This statutory framework is the curricular document for teaching during children's early education and care. This curriculum does not include any explicit guidance for staff on pedagogical practice and does not prescribe a pedagogical approach, but sets out some parameters that frame pedagogy. This framework is mandatory for all early years providers in England (from 3 April 2017): maintained schools; non-maintained schools; independent schools; all providers on the Early Years Register; and all providers registered with an early years child minder agency (CMA).
The EYFS recognises the importance of play and a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities. It promotes balance between the development of academic and literacy skills, socioemotional development, and creative and physical development, and so implicitly encourages practitioners to adopt a wide range of domain-specific learning techniques. 28 In order to ensure the quality and the safety of the institution, all schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS, including child minders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes. In addition, the EYFS only applies to schools and early years providers in England. There are different early years standards in Scotland and Wales. Furthermore, based on the EYFS standards, the children will mostly be taught through games and play. In order to promote the learning and development of all children in their care, and to ensure they are ready for school, the providers, working in partnership with parents and/or carers, must fulfil the learning and development requirements. The learning and development requirements are informed by the best available evidence on how children learn and reflect the broad range of skills, knowledge and attitudes children need as foundations for good future progress. 29 The EYFS learning and development requirements comprise: a) the seven areas of learning and development and the educational programmes; b) the early learning goals (ELGs), which summarise the knowledge, skills and understanding that all young children should have gained by the end of the Reception year; c) the assessment requirements (when and how practitioners must assess children's achievements, and when and how they should discuss children's progress with parents).
The 7 areas of learning, Communication and language, Physical development, Personal, Social and emotional development, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world, Expressive arts and design, are subdivided into 17 early learning goals (ELGs). It is expected that all children achieve all the ELGs by the end of Reception. Moreover, the 17 early learning goals (ELGs) are divided into both Prime and Specific areas; 30 the details are as following: Prime areas, it covers 3 specific areas: First, Communication and Language. Listening and attention; Children listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity. Understanding; Children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer 'how' and 'why' questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events. Speaking; Children express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners' needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.
Second, Physical Development. Moving and handling; Children show good control and coordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing; Health and self-care; Children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.
Third, Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Self-confidence and self-awareness; Children are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, talk about their ideas, and choose the resources they need for their chosen activities; Managing feelings and behavior; Children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others' behavior, and its consequences, and know that some behavior is unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class, and understand and follow the rules; Making relationships; Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another's ideas about how to organize their activity. They show sensitivity to others' needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.
The Specific areas covers 4 specific areas: (1) Literacy; Reading, children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately; Writing, children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others; (2) Mathematics; Numbers, children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer.
Progresiva : Jurnal Pemikiran dan Pendidikan Islam. Vol. 9 No. 1 (2020) They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing; Shape, space and measures, children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognize, create and describe patterns; (3) Understanding the World; People and communities, children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions; The world, children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes; Technology, children recognize that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes; (4) Expressive Art and Design; Exploring and using media and material, children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with color, design, texture, form and function; Being imaginative, children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.
According to Tower Hamlets in his book, 31 the twelve of the Early Learning Goals (ELGs), in the prime areas, personal, social and emotional development, communication and language and physical development, and the specific areas of literacy and maths are considered together to make up a 'Good Level of Development', or GLD. Achieving a good level of development will help a child to make a good start in Year 1. Moreover, children are judged to be either at an 'emerging', 'expected' or 'exceeding' level of development in relation to the Early Learning Goals. Point scores are awarded as follows: 'emerging' = 1; 'expected' = 2; 'exceeding' = 3. The GLD is a measurement of attainment not progress. For a child to attain a GLD they must score 2 or more in all 12 ELGs identified above. 32 In United Kingdom (UK), there is a specific institution that focuses on the assessing the achievement of Early Childhood Education outcomes, namely Standards and Testing Agency (STA). STA is an executive agency of the Department for Education, which is responsible for ensuring early years foundation stage (EYFS) profile outcomes are reliable as a result of moderation. It has been produced to help practitioners make accurate judgments about each child's attainment at the end of the EYFS and for local authorities (LAs) when exercising their function under the EYFS (Learning and Development Requirements). 33 In addition, assessment plays an important part in helping parents, carers and practitioners to recognize children's progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. In the UK, formative and summative assessments are applied to evaluate the development of children. Formative assessment is conducted to inform teaching on an on-going basis which involves practitioners who observes children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles. While summative assessment applied to understand a child's performance at the end of a period of teaching. In their interactions with children, practitioners should respond to their own day-to-day observations about children's progress and observations that parents and carers share. Parents and/or carers should be kept up-to-date with their child's progress and development. Practitioners should address any learning and development needs in partnership with parents and/or carers, and any relevant professionals. 34 In addition, early years foundation stage (EYFS) profile is as the guideline to making assessment which provides an accurate national data set relating to levels of child development at the end of the EYFS. The statutory EYFS framework requires the EYFS profile assessment to be carried out in the final term of the year in which a child reaches age 5. The main purpose of the EYFS profile is to provide a reliable, valid and accurate assessment of individual children at the end of the EYFS through observing a child's daily activities and events (STA. 2018). Moreover, the EYFS profile data is used to; Inform parents about their child's development against the early learning goals (ELGs) and the characteristics of their learning; to support a smooth transition to key stage 1 (KS1) by informing the professional dialogue between EYFS and KS1 teachers; to help year 1 teachers plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that will meet the needs of all children. There are 3 main forms of assessment in settings: 1) Day-to-day formative assessment -to inform teaching on an on-going basis; 2) In-setting summative assessment -to understand a child's performance at the end of a period of teaching; 3) National statutory summative assessment -to understand a child's performance in relation to national expectations and comparisons.
The child's progress will be reviewed when they're between 2 and 3 by an early years practitioner or health visitor. Then, their class teacher will assess them at the end of the school year when they turn 5. The assessment is based on classroom observation -the child won't be tested. It uses the early learning goals, which can be found in the early years framework. 35

Conclusion
All experts, Al-Ghazali, Montessori, Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky, understand that the materials and learning methods for children' must be appropriate for the child's age and development. They also have the same belief that children need the freedom to explore their identity and establish good relationships with their society, so that the children's development, physical, psychological, emotional, moral, and spiritual, grow well.
Furthermore, the condition of early childhood education in Indonesia is still very much different from the curriculum and learning concepts designed by the government. There are still many children under 6 years, all over Indonesia, who have not received proper education as formulated by the government. There are still many schools in Indonesia still far from decent and proper, as well as lack facilities. It is appreciated that the government have formulated the good curriculum and the excellent learning concept, however the government still has a lot of homework to make PAUD (Early Childhood Education) in Indonesia is available for entire Indonesia both in urban and rural area, with decent condition and facilities.