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| "The snails will get sunburn" |
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| "Not when they have a roof" |
Once upon a time, there lived 2 snails that need a lovely home to live in. The little people at my centre decided the large box that once housed the hand towels would be suitable accommodation for these slimy little critters. My first reaction was to sit back, observe and see what would unfold. Fortunately, I thought about what my fellow group member Miranda had suggested on my blog about using small blocks, meccano or smaller resources to practice with and thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to use her suggestion in someway. As the children were discussing how big the box was compared to the snails, I casually placed a box of lego beside their working space and waited to see if they would utilise it. Low and behold M spotted the lego and suggested “we make the snails the house with the lego like we doned with the lego people”. Many attempts at working the different pieces of lego together, and more than a few disagreements among themselves later, the snails had a cosy wee home complete with a roof to provide shade and a bright pink bath. Tino pai to mahi Tamariki ma!!!
I loved this experience because it was child initiated and not teacher directed. The children directed the play and used their previous experiences on building with lego to develop their own working theories on what would best suit the requirements for the snails (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer, 2008; Ministry of Education, 1996). Although at my centre many believe there is a remarkable difference between science and technology, I beg to differ somewhat. I feel that scientific methods are part of technology. A child can not use a technological concept of building, creating or designing without using the method of visual perception of size, depth, or quantity (Johnston, 2005, Ministry of Education, 1996, Smorti, 1999). So in effect technology in my belief is a combination of science and technology. I believe this learning experience was also a great reflection of how facilitation can work in practice, thanks Miranda. Generally I use open-ended questions to encourage children to use critical thinking and problem-solve for themselves or to sit back and encourage children to try different ways of working things out independently (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009). I believe I am like this in practice because that is the way I do things; try and try and hopefully succeed. However, I tend to forget that it is okay to offer suggestions or provide additional resources to support children’s play and extend their learning (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008, Ministry of Education, 1996). We as teachers just need to be mindful that we are not dominating the experience and disempowering children. I felt really happy that this spontaneous type of play provided me with the opportunity to capture the teachable moments that we teachers sometimes seem to miss (Arthur et all, 2008). All to often we are caught up in the day to day politics of the centre with the pressures of meeting learning story requirements, checking if we are in ratio, providing activities that are child lead that we forget that sometimes those ‘authentic moments’ that are meaningful for children and make for great docurmentation are right under our noses (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008). I believe if we take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the routines within our day, we will really find magic in what children are capable of. The preschoolers while involved in this experience really showed how they used the concepts of technology and design combined with scientific methods of visually sizing up what the snails needed for their humble abode and creating a masterpiece. The finished product was a visual representation of the technological skills of problem-solving and using various strategies to meet an objective. Yes the last sentence is all so technical but this is technology after all (Johnston, 2005; Smorti, 1999).
References
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). Victoria, Australia: Thompson.
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundations of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diverse society. (4th ed.). Boston, MA, United States of America: McGrawHill.
Johnston, J. ( 2005). Early explorations in science (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: McGraw Hill.
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice. New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999, Autumn) Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19.
Children enjoy collecting little creatures that move, I guess it’s a fascination most preschool children enjoy, and as they get older they tend to forget about them. I like the idea how you placed the lego box beside the children and sat back observing, as an observer you can see the direction the children are heading, (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008). By offering suggestions to the children, I think it helps them to critically think and evaluate the situation as it stands, and they used the silent offer (lego blocks) you put by them as an opportunity to house their snails. Children can be so thoughtful can’t they, and it is great that they are looking after nature as they see fit, unfortunately the snails may not see it this way. These are good strategies and I agree, it is important to get children to problem solve their own challenges, this is how they learn, and as an educator we can help support them, through scaffolding.
ReplyDeleteGonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundations of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diverse society. (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Kia ora Quirina, how gorgeous your little people are :) I can appreciate how reluctant you feel as a teacher to interfere with children’s creative processes. Yes, it is part of our job to extend and challenge them, but I have observed some teachers in practice who do not seem to have any awareness that they are consistently directing play and/or imposing their own ideas on children. I think the very fact that you are conscious that this can happen indicates you are unlikely to do it yourself, and I personally cannot imagine this happening knowing what I do about how you view children and your overall teaching philosophy. I don’t think there is anything wrong with scaffolding children, suggesting, or demonstrating some practical uses for technology such as the Lego used here; when this is happening appropriately and in the context of an environment where children are encouraged to explore, experiment and think critically about their own choices and their environment x.
ReplyDeletep.s. Judith you crack me up, I was thinking the same thing, how sweet of the children – I wonder what the snails made of it? I’m sure they are safely back in the garden by now lol!
Cuteness Q, I love it when children have empathy for the living world (Ministry of Education, 1996). It shows that they care about the creatures around them and they are thinking about ways they can help them, make them comfortable, and in general observe and take care of them. Wright (2003) suggests “Discovery and pursuit involves being open-minded, observing...and focusing on a specific area” (p. 54). This is a lovely technology story and one where you can extend on their interest further if they decide to find more snails to house. You could suggest an outdoor residence where the children could plan and design a mansion for them. They could then research what snails eat and what type of foliage they like to live in.They could also gather the snails and have races, where you draw a large circle on the concrete with chalk and a small circle in the centre, you then place the snails on the edge of the outer circle and see whose snail can reach the inner circle first. Fun for all!!
ReplyDeleteMinistry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Wright, S. (2003). The arts, young children and learning. Boston, United States of America: Pearson Education.
Ki ora Q
ReplyDeleteI have to say I'm really impressed with your blog about the 2 little snails needing a home. We are told to critique each other’s blogs and not just say really great or fantastic things. But I can only say you have discussed and mentioned many important and interesting things that I can understand and relate to in regards to being a student teacher and the children's learning. It is important to give children opportunities so that they can initiate and solve their own problems or come to their own conclusions. By recognising and allowing the children to use their prior knowledge of such simple and practical technology such as the Lego; and ensure we as teachers are not disempowering or dominating children, without thought or reflection the impact our actions may have on children. I also think it is great that you take a stance and have your own views on science and technology, as we can sometimes be influenced by others very easily; losing sight of our own thought and judgement; I too believe that science and technology go hand in hand.