Introduction

Over these passed two weeks as you may have been aware I have been posting on subjects related to my '21st Century Learning' module at University. These contain information describing different theories, contexts, methods and approaches to learning, in education. This is also reflective, so I have inserted my own opinion in parts of these posts too. They are the next 4 posts in line after this Introduction (Up to my Spotify evaluation), so check them out and let me know what you think.


Thanks, Tristan

P.s. You may need to select [older posts] at the bottom of the page to see my last post.

Learning In Other Contexts

What is teaching?

By definition: “Give lessons in, lecture in, give instruction in… to impart knowledge or skill to… to advocate or preach” (TheFreeDictionary, 2013) (Accessed on 22/04/2013) All these three different definitions all have one thing in common; they are all the process of somebody sharing their knowledge to somebody else.

What is learning?

By definition: “The cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge; ‘the child's acquisition of language’ ” (TheFreeDictionary, 2013) (Accessed on 22/04/2013)

Many people think that being taught and learning is the same thing, whereas they are in fact very different. Children can be taught and find that when they leave the classroom they are no better than when they entered. They therefore haven’t technically learnt anything. It’s only once a child is interested and chooses to participate that they learn. Different contexts and environments can affect this, and can make boring subjects, interesting.

Encouraging learning through different environments and contexts

General schooling shouldn’t just conform to the standard, stereotypical approach and view of what schooling is. For instance, Children sat in a stuffy classroom, at a desk, in an organised lesson, in front of a teacher, being drilled with information. School should be thought of as an exciting experience that varies from day to day, exists within a ‘mishmash’ of indoor and outdoor experiences and activities. This has been introduced through approaches like Montessori and Forest schools, where children have freedom and experiences of different contexts. These approaches that boast different contexts have proven to gain some great results.

School trips are another great experience for children in school. Children are given the opportunity to visit a new environment, that is normally enjoyable, but learn a great deal at the same time. This again is taking the stereotypical view of education away and inputting new contexts that should help to increase and enhance children’s learning.

Techniquest science museum in Cardiff Bay is a pure example of a great learning context that boasts an amazing interactive experience, where you can go and have so much fun whilst learning a great deal, sometimes without realising. This context makes learning easy, effortless and fun. Both Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are of the belief this is important for children’s need to discover the world and build on their mental schema.

 

I believe schooling shouldn’t just be constricted to the classroom but should be explored in many different contexts. Although it can be useful to have a structured, formal, inside approach to some areas of education, it shouldn’t be the only context in which children learn. As children don’t like being taught, but they love to learn, and different learning contexts is the process that brings teaching and learning together.

Reference List:

• TheFreeDictionary (2013), (Accessed on 11/04/2013), (Accessed on website: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Montessori+method)

Play

What is play?

Play is a positive, enjoyable, individual or shared experience for a person. It is healthy and an essential part of life. In education it is usually an experience freely chosen and led by the person(s) engaging in it; strongly influenced by imagination, personal experiences and individual personality and temperament.

Play In Early Education

"From an early age, play is important to a child's development and learning. It isn't just physical. It can involve cognitive, imaginative, creative, emotional and social aspects. It is the main way most children express their impulse to explore, experiment and understand. Children of all ages play." Dobson F (2004, page 8).

5 days a week children sit in a classroom, listen to a teacher talk to them about what they apparently need to know. Children have to learn according to a national curriculum, (what education believes children need to/should know at a certain age). Whereas most of the time they leave that classroom at the end of the day thinking… “what have I learnt today?” If structured classroom teaching was so successful, wouldn’t the answer to the question parents ask their children after school, “How was school?” be a more elaborate response as opposed to, “Yeah it was okay”. I believe children need to be motivated within their school setting, be able to explore and discover education in a way they can enjoy. A way they find easiest but at the same time will challenge their development. That suits their individual learning styles, and enables them to discover who they are and how they learn best for themselves. So children will leave their place of learning with a good, new, inspired feeling which they’ll want to share and will encourage them to look forward to the next day. This can all be achieved through Play; A supported but not directed positive way of learning.

Theoretical Views Supporting Play

There are many different theoretical views within education on play. Theorists such as Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, [See Previous Post on the Montessori method for information on Maria Montessori, play and freedom of choice.], Tina Bruce, etc. support this approach to learning within early childhood education.

Tina Bruce, portrays play as an important process of children’s understanding of own potential and discovery of individual ability, She states:
 

“We can say that free-flow play seems to be concerned with the ability and opportunity to wallow in ideas, experiences, feelings and relationships. It is also about the way children come to use the competencies they have developed. It is the way children integrate all their learning.” Bruce T (1991, page 42).

Reference List:

• Bruce T (1991), (Page 42), Time to Play in Early Childhood, London: Hodder Stoughton

• Dobson F (2004), (page 8), Getting Serious About Play, London: Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Outdoor Learning

‘Forest Schools’ is an innovative approach to schooling targeted for children ages 2 – 9 years; Nursery age to primary school year 4. It shows a different view to how children should be taught in the first few and most important early years of their childhood. Schools that follow this approach are normally set (as the name suggests) near, next to or even better inside a good size woodland or outdoor activity area. They encourage, support and enable children to explore and discover the outside world for themselves. This is something that is so unappreciated in primary schooling of today; especially in foundation phase/stage classes. There seems to be so many health and safety rules to say what children should and shouldn’t, or are/apparently aren’t capable of doing. This can sometimes greatly hinder a child’s development and the process of children discovering who they are, also quite simply a child’s happiness.

 

 

‘Forest Schools’ was first originated in Sweden in 1950, and arrived in the UK in 1990. This makes forest schools still quite a recent development in education. In this short time it has shown to bring some great results within children’s development. Encouraging children to Learn and build upon skills they are born with that are important and useful for everyday life situations. This approach is similar to Montessori’s method in the sense that children have so much freedom and choice in what they can do and learn. For example, there are a number of useful points on Page 33 of the book ‘Forest Schools for all’ by (Knight S, 2011). They back up this point and state how forest schools can aid in, “The development of greater independence and pupils’ confidence in guiding their own learning”.

“A study done in Sweden over a 13 month period found that children located in urban environments were much less happy than those attending forest school kindergarten in a countryside environment. … The study observed children in the city becoming irritable when they were interrupted, their stress levels rose significantly and their ability to concentrate fell. When they could not pay attention there was a clear tendency to be selfish and inconsiderate and show aggression. The forest school children seemed much more respectful to each other.” Forest Schools (2013) (Accessed on 17/04/13).

This quote was from the official Forest Schools website, and although it is a very long quote, it shows how effective ‘Forest Schools’ can be, and how it can change a child’s life for the better; not just mentally but physically too. For example, the simple point of children being exposed to the outdoor air. Which with the hold that video games have on children today, can do a lot of good. So if the current generation were to grow up, simply with a childhood consisting of many strong positive experiences in the outdoor environment, it could change the hold of video games and, (it sounds extreme but), potentially lower the shockingly high percentage of childhood obesity of today.

 

 

Reference List:

• Forest Schools (2013), (Accessed on 17/04/13), (Accessed on Website: http://www.forestschools.com/a-history)

• Knight S (2011), (Page 33), Forest School for all, London: Sage.

Maria Montessori

Who was Maria Montessori?

Maria Montessori was an Italian born in 1870. She studied medicine and became the first female medical practitioner in Italy.  Maria worked mainly with children that were “different” or apparently unable to learn, and weren’t included within the standard education system. She created a different way for them to get educated through movement. This gained some great results, from this she was asked to run a childcare project which was a children’s house where she cared for children and used this same method of movement. This is where her passion for children’s development, and her well known ‘Montessori Approach’ was born. (Montessori in Education, 2013) (Accessed on 11/04/13)

What is the Montessori approach?

By Definition:

“A method of educating young children that stresses development of a child's own initiative and natural abilities, especially through practical play … In which children are provided with generous facilities … and allowed to develop at their own pace”. (TheFreeDictionary, 2013) (Accessed on 11/04/2013)

The Montessori approach is a method where importance of the child being able to express themselves in their own individualistic way through play and at their own pace. Where the freedom to choose and discover for themselves is paramount to their development. The role of the practitioner is very different than standard nursery settings. In Montessori Nursery settings the practitioner main role is not to direct, but to observe, and support if needed. This develops children’s independence and confidence that proves to be increasingly vital as they grow up.

Maria Montessori believed that there are 3 stages of development; Birth to six, six to twelve and twelve to eighteen, each being six year periods, and 3 of the most important stages in a child’s development. She believed that the first stage (Birth to six) is most important as it lays the base to a child’s future socially, emotionally and physically, where the child will take in so many new experiences and grow rapidly. The second stage (six to twelve) is where the child will form strong social skills and relationships. They should be eager to learn and acquire new knowledge; the child will be extremely inquisitive. The last stage (twelve to eighteen), the child will go through puberty, a big change to the body. This will again be teamed up with a need to be a part of a social group, and need to discover his or her true identity. (Isaac B, 2012).

The Montessori approach maximises the chance for children to be creative within education. Creativity is a vital aspect in learning which can be ignored and not appreciated within the general education system of today. The main factor of Montessori is that it’s a method that enables children to learn the way they find easiest and prefer; as children love to learn but don’t like being taught.

Reference list:

• Isaac B (2012), Understanding the Montessori Approach, London: Routledge

• Montessori In Education (2013), (Accessed on 11/04/13), (Accessed on website: http://www.montessorieducationuk.org/?q=who-was-maria-montessori/who-was-maria-montessori)

• TheFreeDictionary (2013), (Accessed on 11/04/2013), (Accessed on website: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Montessori+method)