As
part of my Uni preparation I have been required to read the following report:
http://www.tactyc.org.uk/occasional-papers/occasional-paper2.pdf
It is 4 pages long, and it emphasises how Pre-school children are effectively "made ready" for school education, by learning literacy and numeracy skills from a young age. This particular report informs the reader that when each child embarks on their school journey they have a variety of diverse previous experiences, learnt knowledge, essential skills and an eager mind to engage in learning. However, the government has intervened within the early years sector to control and standardise what aspects children learn within the school setting.
The government has emphasised that each child will have a level of "school readiness" which reflects their stasis within schools and other provisions of education and care. The report views this as a misguided approach and a strong attempt to enforce conforming children at a young age to a school environment.
The TACTYC refers to numerous Vygotskian theories and that "all children at all ages are ready to learn" (1) due to the fact that many of a child's cognitive processes are fully functioning from birth, and evolve quickly from the ages of 0-5. From this period a child's brain size quadruples as a effect of synaptic connections between neurons in the cerebral cortex of the brain. Through play and interactive experiences a child can develop fundamental learning processes such as learning by imitation, analogy and casual reasoning.
In relation to Vygotsky, the theory of social constructivism demonstrates that "learning determines development. Learning is social in origin" (1) Vygotsky believed that children's cognitive development does not just happen in the brain, but is greatly influenced by interactions between a child and others I.e adults/peers through communication. Numerous playgroups have adapted this approach into their planning, adopting a holistic pedagogical approach, in which children's activities are supported by prime careers/key workers to support the development of cognitive and self regulatory tasks.
This links back to another aspect of the TACTYC report in regards to Metacognition which is the process of a child monitoring and controlling their own cognitive tasks. Ultimately the child's tasks are underpinned by their motivation. By engaging in social interaction, and other child led tasks and activities it places a strong emphasis on their emotional responses, their self-agency and building upon warm and loving relationships allows them to take command of their own motivations in any situation.
Finally, the report argues that children will not have the abilities to learn socially and develop metacognitive skills if they are forced to learn school-based tasks from a young age. The report strongly emphasises its more important for a child to flourish in a secure social environment with the opportunity to develop their functioning and self regulatory skills and experiences.
My opinions:
I
found this report an interesting and challenging read. I have not previous read
much into Child Psychological previously as I have more of a background in
Sociology. Trying to get my head around some of the psychology terminology was
rather taxing!
I enjoyed Vygotskys theories of Social Constructivism purely because I can see this concept resonate within the children in my setting. Many of the children at my Playgroup have strongly developed independent motivations and needs, and often undertake self regulatory tasks with great ease and confidence. They have developed essential social communication skills through child based activities and free flow play.
Now I leave you with a few quotes from the report which I feel have instrumental value to my understanding of a child's development of learning:
"Play is a central vehicle for...multi sensory, active learning...through visual, auditory and kinaesthetic...regions...allowing children to imitate adult behaviour, practise motor skills, process emotional events and develop understanding about their world." (1)
"The problem is not that the children are not ready for school, but that our schools are not ready for children." (1)
References:
(1)
Whitebread D & Bingham S (2011) School Readiness: a Critical Review Of
perspectives and evidence, Occasional Paper Number 2: TACTYC [online]
No comments:
Post a Comment