Connecting children’s learning and educator
practice to theory is important and necessary.
Knowing and being able to articulate the how and why is a requirement of
the National Quality Framework, making links supports reflective practice and
continuous improvement, and ensures things don’t happen just because “we’ve
always done it that way”.
Perceptual-sensorial thinking
From birth children explore and understand
the world with increasing complexity by using their senses – sight, hearing,
touch, taste, and smell. Accompanying
this is a child’s growth and physical development with changes to movement,
motion that are understood from a Maturational Theory perspective to occur
automatically and universally as the norm.
From these multiple sources children begin to develop perceptions about
themselves, others and their world.
Brain development research had identified critical periods where this
development is best achieved.
Adapted from Hensch, T.K. (2005) http://dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=39360
Memory
Being able to process, file and recall
experiences, knowledge and skills is a critical component of all learning. Memory is understood and described in information
processing theory as encoding, storing and retrieving information. Coding and
encoding patterns, symbols and concepts are fundamental to literacy and
numeracy learning. From very early
babies are laying memories that will later become procedural or implicit often
embodied and expressed unconsciously.
Waldof Steiner pedagogy supports the teaching of everyday activities
like sewing for example that is practiced over and over until the task can be
undertaken without thinking. Sometimes
referred to as muscle memory - the body just knows what to do. Being read to
and playing outside are examples of ways children can experience and lay the
foundation for literacy and numeracy learning.
This picture shows so many numerical concepts e.g. classification,
patterning, sorting, shapes, size, & colour.
Representational-symbolic
Enactive, iconic and symbolic
representations identified by Bruner offer important frame to understand and
support children’s literacy and numeracy.
This theory is based on the child as an active participant in learning
and with a supportive teacher to scaffold learning children’s understanding and
skills with become deeper.
Constructivist theorists like Vygotsky add to this understanding by
situating learning in a socio-cultural context.
This interactive dynamic process reinforces the role of relationships
and culture in learning.
At the heart of Reggio Emilia philosophy is
making children’s learning visible through representation of ideas, thoughts,
feelings and knowledge. Loris
Malaguzzi’s poem Hundred Languages reminds us that there are many ways to
express yourself. It’s our job as
educators to notice and honour the language each child brings.
Communicative-linguistic
Attachment theory tells us we come into the
work with an innate biological drive to connect with others. Being able to communicate is fundamental and
integral to this capacity to connect.
Communication allows us to express ourselves and experience others. All behavior is communication and it amazes
me that with the knowledge gained from brain research and other theories
behavior is not recognized and supported as such. Instead drawing on behaviourist theory western
society and education systems separate behavior and use reinforcement and
punishment to teach socially acceptable behaviour. Learning to communicate
pre-linguistically with subtle cues continues for life and the experiences in
the early years sets the tone for how communication is learnt later. Behaviourist approaches however are used as
we develop language. The baby vocalizes,
the adult copies to reinforce the sound.
As with all behaviourist approaches what we chose to respond to in
either a positive or negative way is very subjective.
This interesting table connects theoretical
perspectives of development and instruction to the use of digital images. As photographic evidence is increasingly
being used to record and assess children’s learning this chart could prove to
be a useful resource to shape and structure the taking and use of these
photos. While the list does not include
all the theoretical perspectives that underpin the EYLF the chart could be used
as a starting point and be added to as educators and teams explored other
theories.
http://edfd528ictpresentation.wordpress.com/digital-cameras/
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