Words and Concepts

18/10/13 Week 8 

I left the last workshop wondering about my own capacity and understanding of mathematical concepts.  What concepts don’t I know?  What are the concepts I don’t have words and names for? These questions influenced my reading selection and once again led in me in various directions. They also generated more questions – what are the concepts I need to know?  With this dilemma also comes the notion of the inextricable link between literacy and numeracy.  They cannot in reality be separated. 

One of the things I found interesting and slightly troubling in the readings was the link between language and concept development.  There is a strong belief that without language the concepts cannot be understood.  Gordon (2004) asks the question “ Is it possible that there are some concepts we cannot entertain because of the language we speak?” (p 496) His studies with the Piraha tribe in Amazonia demonstrated that numerical understandings and capacity to process numerically were “clearly affected “ by their counting system of “one-two-many”. Does this mean that without the language and words to explain the concepts it is not possible to fully understand the concepts? 

Butterworth et al (2008) ask a similar question; “Are thoughts impossible without the words to express them?” however their findings are in direct contrast.  They found that “no language effects” were found and in fact although statistically insignificant the Indigenous children from both regions performed better than their city counterparts in non-verbal addition even without language for higher numbers. 

This fits more closely with what I know, understand and believe about very young children.  Butterworth (2005) in another article also suggest an “innate specific capacity for acquiring arithmetical skills, but the effects of the content of learning, and the timing of learning in the course of development, requires further investigation. “ (p3).  This leads to further questions for me as an educator and will shape future professional learning and curiosity.

Butterworth, B (2005), The development of arithmetical abilities Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46:1 3–18

Butterworth, B., Reeve, R., Reynolds, F., & Lloyd, D. (2008). Numerical thought with and without words: Evidence from indigenous Australian children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(35), 13179.

Gordon, P. (2004). Numerical cognition without words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science, 306(5695), 496-9.

Nature or Nuture – does literacy and numeracy exist from birth

13/9/2013 Week 7

Both articles begin with clear declarations of the importance of literacy and numeracy for future success and each explores the nature of literacy and numeracy in infants and very young children.  Hopkins, Brookes and Green (2013) argue early childhood is “ …critical for the successful development of adult literacy, (p 23). And Butterworth (2005) that ...”[a]rithmetical skills are essential to the effective exercise of citizenship in a numerate society.” (p 3)

If we accept that literacy and numeracy are required for success in life – are we born literate and numerate or do we develop these skills and abilities as we experience the world? Not surprisingly perhaps the answer is both nature and nature play a part. 

It was difficult to find information about very young children’s innate skills and capabilities.  Butterworth (2005) suggests while research on infants’ numerosity is controversial “…the current balance of evidence favours the idea that infants are able to represent the numerosity of sets of objects and carry out mental manipulations over these representations” (p 6) and that infants have an “…innate specific capacity for acquiring arithmetical skills’ (p3).

Hopkins, Brookes, and Green argument is not new and also has limitations.  They differentiate between language development apparent from birth and literacies required in a digital age that develop over time.  In order to ‘…become literate through formal education at school, children need to have developed the cognitive, non-cognitive and social skills on which formal learning depends..” and that these skills are gained by exposure to environments and interactions that support early brain development and neural pathways.  (p 26)

Butterworth, B., 2005. The development of arithmetical abilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(1), pp. 3-18.

Hopkins, L., Brookes, F., and Green, J., 2013 Books, bytes and brains: the implications of new knowledge for children's early literacy learning. [online] Australasian Journal of Early Childhood; v.38 n.1 p.23-28; 

Play as the text for literacy and numeracy

6/9/2013 Week 6

After the workshop during the week I was struggling with understanding text as more than the written form.  Exploring the notion of text and text user has led me to discover multimodal literacies, emergent literacies and new literacies.  The focus for most articles was emerging ICT and digital technologies.  Little is written about text in early childhood context and the implications for teaching.  Arthur, McArdle and Papic (2010) explain texts in early childhood this way

Texts can be:

oral—e.g. conversations, stories, poems, songs and rhymes

print based—such as books and magazines

visual—including photographs, drawings and paintings

gestural—e.g. performances, body and facial gestures, dance

spatial—such as architecture, constructions and sculptures

multimodal (texts that integrate a number of different modes, such as images, words and sound)—including music videos, movies, television programs, DVDs, computer games and websites.

(Arthur, L.  Mcardle, F., & Papic, M. 2010. Stars Are Made Of Glass: Children As Capable And Creative Communicators. Research In Practice Series. Canberra, Act: Early Childhood Australia. P.3 Retrieved 7/9/2013 http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/pdf/rips/rip1002_sample.pdf)

Play is central to early childhood pedagogy and with the above understanding of text I examined play as the context for literacy and numeracy learning. Wohlwend declares that “.. children directly explore the material word through multimodal play..” and the “.. multimodal quality of play offers children multiple ways to expand the meanings of the messages they produce” (p 128). This recognition of play as a medium for children’s representation of ideas, thoughts and feelings along with numerical concepts and understandings adds strength to a broader concept of what is understood as text.

While the articles have reinforced my belief in the centrality of play for early years contexts, a new, broader understanding of text and blended modalities and children as text users will add new challenge to this.

WOHLWEND, K., 2008. Play as a Literacy of Possibilities: Expanding Meanings in Practices, Materials, and Spaces. Language Arts, 86(2), pp. 127-136.

EMFINGER, K., 2009. Numerical Conceptions Reflected During Multiage Child-Initiated Pretend Play. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 36(4), pp. 326-334.

Literacy and numeracy in the early years

30/8/2013 Week 5 
What is literacy and numeracy?  I wanted to explore the concepts of literacy and numeracy as they are understood in the early childhood context and to do this through a rights lens was appealing.

• Literacy is both holistic (literacy is seen as something that is mainly social) and componential (literacy is an instructed skill).” (p 294 Snow (2004) in Dunphy)

• Numeracy - what people do with numbers in everyday life.  “Numeracy forms the basis for realistic engagement with the world – the use of number to apprehend reality” just as important for children as it is with adults. (p 76 Munn)

Both articles explore tensions between formal schooling and early years contexts and how pushdown curriculum impacts directly and negatively on young children’s participation rights and a unique and carefully crafted pedagogical approach. 

Munn differentiates between education and learning and argues for example that “…aspects of maths education that relate directly to numeracy – intuitive understanding, everyday use, connection to local practices and engagement with number” (p 68) are lost in Early Childhood discourses. Due to this educators resort to basic number topics and re-label this as numeracy leading to superficial narrow teaching with a focus on content. Young children’s rights to both a literacy and numeracy ”…curriculum in a form that helps them to become [literate and] numerate…”  is the key issue for both authors.  (p 73 Munn)

There is a clear message for me as an early childhood educator. To ensure children’s rights are met I need to be engaged, flexible, and take careful notice of and consider children’s perspectives including dispositions, cultural contexts and experiences.  I also need to ensure reciprocal “relationships, communication and joint participation in learning experiences [are] … developed in literacy [and numeracy] related contexts” (p295 Dunphy)

DUNPHY, E., 2012. Children's Participation Rights in Early Childhood Education and Care: The Case of Early Literacy Learning and Pedagogy. International Journal of Early Years Education, 20(3), pp. 290-299.

Munn, P. (2005). YOUNG CHILDREN'S RIGHTS TO NUMERACY. International Journal of Early Childhood, 37(3), 61-77,125-126. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/194772351?accountid=10910