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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Constructivist Pedagogy

Constructivism is a learning theory the main issue people have with learning theories is difficulty in translating a theory of learning into a theory or practice in teaching. The general sense of constructivism is that it is a theory of learning or meaning making, that individuals create their own new understandings on the basis of an interaction between what they already know and believe and ideas and knowledge with which they come into contact. Constructivism is not a learning theory but a model of knowing. Represented constructivism as a construct and movement that has become massively complex, with different founders and advocates, schools, focii and disciplinary approaches. Not all agree that we are dealing with two separate and competing approaches, there is a difference in the lenses used to view constructivism the first being sociological, the second psychological. And it is these lenses that Philips focuses on:

Social Constructivism or social constructionism. Human constructs, and that the form that knowledge has taken in these fields has been determined by such things as politics, ideologies, values, the exertion of power and the preservation of status, religious beliefs, economic and self-interest.

Psychological Constructivism: Learning theory that suggests that individual learners actively construct the meaning around phenomena. The development of meaning may take place within a social group. The major difference between the two points is one of focus however social constructivism focuses on how the development of that formal knowledge has been created in which epistemological frameworks are embedded. Which meaning is created within the individual mind, how shared meaning is developed within a group process. An important contribution within this form, particularly for pedagogical processes, formal knowledge development within an expert community. The social aspect of psychological constructivism is not equivalent in focus, conception, or analytic level to social constructivism.

It represents a process, in the best of all possible worlds, that is dialogical and rational, and that creates a shared and warranted set of understandings. Ideology, politics, and power are usually not considered in the psychological approach to constructivism such as they are in social constructivism. Most of the work on constructivist pedagogy takes place within the second approach psychological. There are exceptions, but they are rare. Considerations of how individual students learn to ways of facilitating that learning, constructivist principles in various subject matter areas were launched at the national level.

Made comparisons of constructivist with transmission model teachers to explicate differences in the two teaching approaches. Respect for students' background and developing understandings of beliefs about elements of the domain.

Explore an element of the domain with the purpose of leading to the creation and shared understanding of a topic:

planned and unplanned introduction of formal domain knowledge into the conversation through direct instruction, reference to text, exploration of a web site, or some other means.

Opportunities for students to determine, challenge, change or add to existing beliefs and understandings through engagement in tasks.

Development of student's metawareness of their own understandings and learning processes.

The elements of constructivist pedagogy are imperatives, approaches to teaching toward which one initially aspires. These elements play out quite differently depending on content domain, age level of the students, students' experiences as learners prior to coming into the specific classroom, school context, teaching style. Pedagogy is thought of as the creation of classroom environments. To date, the five elements listed previously appear to contribute to the creation of such a classroom.

Teacher education also began to explore the meaning and practice of constructivist teacher education. Researchers considered what it means to prepare teachers to teach constructively. Initially, the work focused primarily on preparing teachers to teach in a constructivist manner in the classroom. Instructing teacher education students to use explicit step-by-step models of constructivist teaching. The method of teaching constructivism contradicted the learning paradigm. It became clear quite quickly that the teacher education classes, themselves, should probably be conducted in a constructivist manner for ethical reasons, to help students develop deep understandings of the teaching process and habits of mind that would aid in their continuing learning.

The typical teacher education classroom began to move from a lecture format to one in which the teacher educator acts as a facilitator in the development of individual and group meaning around classroom teaching. A goal of leading students toward teaching constructively in their own classrooms and using constructivist approaches in teacher education instruction. The five elements described above constructivist pedagogy also characterize the sense of constructivist teacher education.

Meaning-making theory suggests that students also make meaning from activities encountered in a transmission model of teaching such as lectures or direct instruction and lectures may still be a part of a constructivist classroom. What, then, does constructivist teaching do for students that is different from their learning within a traditional transmission model? I always thought that a constructivist classroom provides students with opportunities to develop understandings of the material. Develop complex cognitive maps that connect together bodies of knowledge and understandings. To understand more about student learning within a constructivist classroom, we need to conduct more empirical inquires on the topic.

Constructivist pedagogy focuses on a specific domain or discipline with a goal of developing in students the ability to think mathematically, historically, literarily, musically, and so on. Two templates: one is brought forward from the domain of mathematics - the ways mathematical knowledge is constructed through reasoning and developing proofs, or, as the authors describe. To treat the discipline of mathematics with integrity; to give serious respect to children's mathematical ideas; and to see mathematics as a collective intellectual endeavour located within a community. It is important to note that an empirical focus on relationship between teaching and student learning does no necessarily require an experimental study that compares constructivist and traditional instruction.

The type of deep understanding of mathematical reasoning and proof described in the ball and bass article is not what is being assessed on these state-level or national standardized tests. Constructivism is a theory of learning and not a theory of teaching, the elements of effective constructivist teaching are not known.

Is it possible to move beyond the individual teacher, context and group of students to be suggestive of practices that are instructive to others? Within the constructivist paradigm, good teaching is constructivist teaching. If a teacher considers herself to be constructivist (or one who teaches for understanding), but is not particularly good, it is suggested that this is probably because the teacher, at root, holds transmission beliefs. Effective constructivist teaching is due, in part, to the lack of constructivist teaching theory. Thus constructivist teaching theory consisted of a foundation of constructivist learning theory and a set of prescriptions about what actions should not be adopted from the transmission model.

Whole language teaching relies on the teachers commitment to whole language as a language development theory, certain skills of determining where individual children are in their development. Particularly the laissez-faire approach, and has led, in some cases, to attempts to replace all such language instruction with back-to-basics approaches.

I do not need to know any science in order to teach it. I will simply allow my students to figure things out for themselves, for I know there is no right answer. Prospective English teacher viewed constructivist pedagogies as ends in themselves, and lost sight of the content and purpose of the particular teaching activities. These two metaphors may represent mutually exclusive theories of learning and are then often translated into teaching in an exclusionary way: That is, a particular pedagogical approach is either based on acquisition or participation. However theories of teaching are being developed within subject-matter areas. Theory building within individual subject matter domains, provide teachers and teach educators with a sense of more and less effective approaches to constructivist teaching. Subject matter domains has led to some quite realistic expectations concerning teachers' subject matter knowledge.

Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge

Wineburg and Wilson suggest that the representation of a subject matter domain within a classroom is affected by the teacher's own understanding of the subject matter in combination within his or her understanding of how students are taking it up. Deep and strong subject matter knowledge in a constructivist classroom. Such knowledge helps teachers in the interpretation of how students are understanding the material, in developing activities that support students in exploring concepts, hypotheses and beliefs, in guiding a discussion toward a shared understanding, providing guidance on sources for additional formal knowledge, and at times correcting misconceptions. The depth of subject matter knowledge necessary to provide these experiences for students may be found in secondary teachers who major in a particular content. That constructivist teaching requires a deep understanding of disciplines, the teaching practices specific to that discipline on the part of the teacher. Insure that elementary teachers have the requisite level of knowledge in all the disciplines they are expected to teach? It is the case that research on the transfer across subject matter areas and contexts has been disappointing if not misguided. Habits of mind that may transfer across subject matter and that may be of interest and importance within the learning of different subject matters? While her study indicates the depth of subject matter knowledge required to produce good explanations in two different subject matters, it also provides a general view of the phenomenon.

Cultural differences

This section is meant to be cautionary, not definitive, and places this discussion of constructivist pedagogy within a social constructivist frame - what Gergen calls the scholarship of dislodgment it involves looking at constructivism, itself, as a concept that is constructed and practiced within out current cultural, political and economic constraints and ideologies. It connects with a small literature that expresses concerns about the use of constructivist pedagogy with minority students. In Detroit schools, there was little constructivist pedagogy seen of the psychological variety in these classrooms. When looking into Michigan schools there was found a considerable emphasis on constructivist pedagogy. Perhaps the teachers in the two settings experience very different teacher education. Perhaps the school board requirements in the urban area are responding to the low test scores through a basic skills approach. Psychological constructivism's roots are western, liberal, and individualistic (Eurocentric) and much of the current approach to constructivist pedagogy, at least in the US, was developed within privileged classes. It is not clear to me that the less privileged and minority cultures are interested in the strong individualistic approach suggested in current constructivist pedagogical approaches. At the Afrocentric school, the teachers engaged in teacher-centered instruction, improvement of the community both within and outside the school. These community goals, expressed within the African-centered philosophy as Maat and Naguzu Saba were clear to all teachers, students and parents. Inside and outside the school meant that values and expectations related to a communal world view were clear, and it was expected that students would obey them. Teachers' interactions with students were public - in interviews, it was explained by the teachers that other students learn from a teacher's interaction with one student. Expectations for students to success in their academic subjects so that they could do well in high school and beyond and come back to help the community. Teachers worked with individual students, often privately; and while the life skills goals that included such viruses as honesty and creativity were clearly set out for the students, there was an understanding on the part of the teachers that individual students would approach these goals differently. While there was a strong sense of community, it was a community created by the students and teachers. For example within this school, the virtue of respecting others was a paramount moral goal. The community was there to help the individual students create a dialogical social group in order for students to develop a deep understanding of the material and to share the developed knowledge with other individuals in the class. Teachers believe that students will develop a unique set of understandings around the particular subject that is being explored. Among these teachers, this view also pertained to the development of moral values and moral infractions such as lying and bullying.

This community represents one way in which psychological constructivism has gone social. The psychological constructivist approach may be particularly possible within a dominant culture; although there are still concerns about it within the conservative elements of the dominant culture. Both schools presented excellent learning opportunities for their students. And yet they were very different, and one did not conform to the constructivist instructional approach advocated. What was viewed in the Afrocentric school was not constructivist pedagogy. This is certainly the case, but there is more to it than that. In our enthusiasm for constructivist pedagogy and our advocacy of this particular vision of instruction as represented in national and state standards, we may be imposing a dominant model of pedagogy on those who wish - and may have good reason to operate differently.

Developing an understanding of constructivist pedagogy based on constructivist learning theory. Approached with constant attention paid to the possibility of ideological bias. Constructivist pedagogy at this point is determining ways of relating teacher actions in a constructivist classroom to student learning. The term "action" includes both intentions and behaviours. Thus, the study of the relationship would include obtaining both a sense of the teacher's beliefs and values concerning broad and narrow learning goals for students. Theories of constructivist teaching will provide us with ways of identifying more and less effective teaching practices for use in teacher education and professional development. It may be that theory building at both levels is required: at the subject - matter level as well as at a more general level. The teachers in the Afrocentric school were clear about their goals for their students and employed pedagogical techniques, strategies, and manner that conveyed their expectations to the students and helped them achieve the goals. Assigning to individual students the responsibility for learning. Examining the goals for students both intellectual and moral in very different cultural contexts, we should remain semi-sceptical about our sense of constructivist pedagogy. If we accept constructivist learning theory as a way of describing how students learn, we must also acknowledge that students will learn from many different forms of instruction. A theory of teaching could, in fact, encompass a constructivist theory of learning and look very different that the constructivist pedagogical approach described. It would be well worth re-examining or sense of constructivist pedagogy and, with the help of more empirical research that focuses on student learning and a sense of cultural responsiveness.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Learning theories break down

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher "how does an individual learn something new if the subject itself is new to them"

Behavourism

The learner is a blank slate that should be provided with the information to be learnt through the interaction, new associations are made and thus learning is achieved.

Stimulus changes behaviour an example of this is the Pavlov's 'salivating dog experiment. Pavlov showed that a stimulus (ringing a bell) caused the dog to start to salivate at the sound of the bell ringing. An example in classroom management would be teaching your students that if the teacher stands in a particular place in the room means they want the whole classes attention.

Cognitivism

Students process information they receive rather than just responding to a stimulus.

There is sill a behaviour change evident, but this is response to thinking and processing early information.

In cognitive theory, learning occurs when the student recognises information.

Viewed as a change in knowledge not behaviour.

Constructivism

We construct learning new ideas based on our own prior knowledge and experiences.

Students need to have a prior base of knowledge.

Bruner's spiral curriculum is an example of this, as students are constructing their own knowledge, meaning outcomes cannot always be anticipated the teacher should challenge misunderstandings. Examples in the classroom would be

Problem-based learning

Research projects

Group collaborations.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development his theory differs from many as he focuses exclusively on children, he talks about development, its a stage theory not a progression theory.

The basic to understand this theory are schemas which are the building blocks of knowledge. The adaptation processes these allow the transition from one stage to another he called theses: equilibrium assimilation and accommodation.

Stages of cognitive development - sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational.

Children development schema of knowledge about the world. These are clusters of connected ideas about things in the world that allow the child to respond accordingly.

The child has developed a working schema that can explain what they perceive in the world, that schema is in a state of equilibrium.

When children use the schema to deal with a new thing or situation, that schema to deal with a new thing or situation, that schema is in assimilation and accommodation happens when the existing schema isn't up to the job of explaining what's going on and needs to be changed all that goes through the 4 stages of cognitive development which are defined by age.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Design is (play) google talk by Erin Jang

How design and play are intertwined play is crucial for children's development design is play

when children play with Legos or magnatiles there is curiosity and creativity present many times there is frustration when things do go right

Corita Kent is a pop artist who talked about the fluid relationship between work and play coining the term PLORK

Ray and Charles Eames were known for saying playing means to push what they know and how they go about things they embodied relentless curiosity they took this curiosity playful design accessible to all

Tibor Kalman s know to use play to flip the ordinary to something to make it look kefter design people out of there complicit normalcy.

Ways to incorporate play into our design look at usual things with unusual eyes one purpose of art is to alert people to things they might of missed - Corita Kent

Notice the uncommon in the common and the magic in the mundane.

Manhattan colour walk picking colours from small squares of colour.

Make it yourself making something out of nothing never delegate understanding another way is to solve a problem in your own life.

The goal is to make and give with minimum cost and most meaning.

Create elevated moments do small things with great love.

Listen to kids about play the curiosity and wildly creative approach to the world.

Make work for play making moments of surprise making and giving a love letter to your neighbourhood to make a colour piece to make people stop and look. Adults should play just as much as kids.

Questions -

Play isn't necessarily fluid we need to take risks and do stuff, people and relationships you have will make stuff.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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the 4 learning theories

Behaviourism is about the learner being a blank slate that can be shaped by stimulus this usually works off the bases that people learn through repetition. This was proven by Pavlov with his 'salivating dog' experiment.

Cognitivism was made from a response of behaviourism, theorists disagreed with the sentiment that humans are like dogs and can be moulded into whatever society needs. Cognitivists believe that humans are more complex. The cognition meaning the mind is the information processor understands the whole idea and the pieces separately. The teacher still has a large role in the learning process unlike constructivism this theory is the used in most UK schools currently.

Constructivism promotes students learning through discovery on their own with very little information the teacher being there as more of a guide and has a smaller role in the learning process, as in this theory it is believed the learner should be the one in charge of their learning it’s about self-discovery. Unlike cognitivism where the learner is taught to do something built from prior knowledge in constructivist learning the learner is left to find it on their own so it is self-directed, this in turn makes the learner more independent in their learning.

Connectivism is based on combinatorial creativity, this means bringing people together through connections this comes from the era of the world wide web allowing to connect with people who have the same interests than you easier than ever.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Why Finland has the best education system in the world.

In the global educational rank starting in the 1960's Finland was averaging with the United States of America at the bottom of the rank so the Finish education board decided to try multiple different ways to improve their system, this meant that they improved and ended up by the 2000's to have the best education system.

One of the most shocking or different to the UK was the fact they did not have homework. The minister of education Finland; Krista Kiuru explained they should have more time to be kids to be young and to enjoy life. Many in Finland believe that homework is obsolete, as these kids have lots of other things to do like being together or being with family, or reading.

Younger children have no homework where as the teenagers and young adults have 10 to 20 minutes of homework a night. The reason for the younger children having no homework is they find new things out they wouldn't know from school like climbing a free they find new bug they can tell their teachers about.

First year students are in school for 15 to 15 hours a week at most so it adds to 3 or 4 hours of school a day including a lunch hour, so how do they learn anything or get anything done? You brain has to relax every now and then if you just constantly work then you stop learning and there is no use in doing that for a longer period of time.

Finland students have the shortest school days and the shortest school years in the entire western world they do better by going to school less. Unlike the US there is no such thing as multiple choice questions in exams and the students are expected and usually just know the answer and they have removed all standardised testing.

The Fins see this testing as you are teaching your students to pass a test but that does not teach them anything, school is about finding your happiness, finding a way to learn what makes you happy. "we try to teach them so they can use their brains the best they can" as there is this short time for them to be children.

Then how do you know what school is the best without testing?

All schools in Finland are equal as if you move schools in Finland there is no difference this also means that no one shops for schools there is no difference between all the schools.

It is illegal in Finland to set up a school to charge tuition that is why for the most part private schools do not exist meaning the rich parents have to make sure the public schools are the best they can be.

in the US the schools are corporation based and it is all about money whereas in Finland it is student based, students are treated like adults and like equals from the beginning, independence is taught at an early age going on the train to school on their own at 7 years old is a regular occurrence. Teaching is based around what the kids want and what they see for their future, it doesn't feel false saying you can be whatever you want to be, learning is personalised to a whole new level.

Teaching them to think for themselves and to be critical to what they are learning, try to teach them to be happy person to respect others and themselves, giving them time to play and socialise with their friends and grow as human beings, there is so much more to life than just school.

" I want children to play"

Visions of Helsinki (2016) Why Finland has the best education system in the world. Available at : Why Finland has the best education system in the world (Accessed 27 May 2020).

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Cognitive Dysfunction

Cognitive Dysfunction is something that I deal with on a day to day basis which could effect my final piece as it could be seen as a restriction. Cognitive Dysfunction also known as Brain Fog is the loss of intellectual functions such as thinking, remembering and reasoning of sufficient severity to interfere with daily functioning usually for a short period of time ranging from an hour to a couple of weeks at a time. Patients with Cognitive Dysfunction have trouble with verbal recall, basic arithmetic and concentration.

According to the Marshall Parthenogenesis, Cognitive Dysfunction is caused by microbes. More severe forms of Cognitive Dysfunction are seen in diseases such as Alzheimer's diseases for which there is strong evidence of a bacterial ethology. Often associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, cognitive Dysfunction is also seen in patients with multiple sclerosis, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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constructivist examples in the class room - maths

Using boxes and planks to discover mass and balance, The only instruction was a sign that read "What can you balance?" the teacher stepped back and watched as the students immediately engaged with excitement! This is a good example of constructivist learning.

Anamaria Ralph, 2014, What can you balance? Exploring Mass!, Wonders in Kindergarten, Viewed 1 May 2020, http://wondersinkindergarten.blogspot.com/2014/05/what-can-you-balance-exploring-mass.html

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Types of learners

Traditionally there are for types of learning styles the first being a visual (spatial) learning style. If you use the visual style it refers to the use of images, pictures, colours and maps to organize information and communicate with others, you also have good spatial sense which allows you to be able to arrange a page with the use of white space, this is usually people to go on the peruse creative careers.

The second type of learning style is auditory learning style, this means you learn by hearing and listening. You understand and remember thing you have heard. As an auditory learner, they will probably hum or talk to themselves or others if they become bored, being in lectures works best for these types of learners as being talked at is how they process information best.

The third type of learning style is reading / writing learning style, this type of learner is someone who needs to read and or write down the information in order to remember it. They do well by using the traditional study method of reading from a textbook and taking notes and will prefer to learn through words rather than language unlike the auditory learner.

The fourth type of learning style is a kinaesthetic - tactile learning style requires that you manipulate or touch material to learn. kinaesthetic - tactile techniques are used in combination with visual and /or auditory study techniques, producing multi-sensory learning. The most common example of this in the classroom would be Montessori theorem.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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'Constructivists are like Neo in the Matrix'

In the Matrix the whole world is a computer programme and what makes Neo so special is he can break the rules of the programme. What Neo can do is change the rules the world is based on and for constructivist that is what people are doing all the time, some people are better placed to do this than others such as the Prime Minister it is much easier for him to change the rules the world is based on then for me or you because people will listen and that is based off some of the rules the world is based on.

Constructivist want to see the world as something that we build out the way that we relate to each other so think about this if we all woke up tomorrow and decided that the United states does not exist well it really wouldn't exist any more because what makes up the united states is not the buildings and the history it's people thinking that those things make up the united states and we agree that we act and we treat each other like the United States is there. So constructivists the same thing applies to the whole rest of social life for example states have foreign policies when I want to talk to a state I go talk to the head of the state. You know I don't go and talk to a random person from that take you have an idea that there are authority structures there are legitimate governments and that is how you carry out international relations.

The interesting part for a lot of constructivists is you know the sort of question of how much of that belief structure do you have to share before you have international relations at all. So a lot of questions constructivist ask take place at much longer timescale than questions of realists or liberals might ask so whereas a realist might ask, okay what would of been the best way for a state to maximize its security in the 1600s? a constructivist would ask what made people think there were states in the 1600s?

All these things you take as natural and given just because they are habitual you have to be able to realize could be some other way and are at some level the choices arbitrary at some level you know what we do that red means stop is a random choice it could have been green could have been yellow could have been purple and there's so much of the way we live everyday life that is like that because if we had to stop and think about those things and the time our brains would explode you know you have to kind of make your brain explode a little bit

Interview of Caleb Gallemore

Harvard reference : Gallemore,C (2011) interviewed by Nina Kollars for Soomo Learning, 10 June. Available at: Theory in Action: Constructivism (Accessed 30th April 2020)

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Learning through play

Our perception of play as been changed over the years by researchers and practitioners, and there has been a lot written about how adults can support this learning. In the opening chapter of her book ' Early Childhood Education', Tina Bruce follows the history of research from practitioners like Froebel, Montessori and Steiner. Our current knowledge of childhood education is being challenged by the work of Howard Gardner, Ferre Laevers. What has emerged from these theories are a set of common principles that is used in early education.

1. The best way to prepare children for their adult life is to give them what they need as children.

2. Children are whole people who have feelings, ideas and relationships with others, and who need to be physically, mentally, morally and spiritually healthy.

3. Subjects such as mathematics and art cannot be separated; young children learn in an integrated way and not in neat, tidy compartments.

4. Children learn best when they are given appropriate responsibility, allowed to make errors, decisions and choices, and respected as autonomous learners. (take control of your own learning)

5. Self-discipline is emphasised. Indeed, this is the only kind of discipline worth having. Reward systems are very short-term and do not work in long-term. Children need their efforts to be valued.

6. There are times when children are especially able to learn particular things.

7. What children can do (rather that what they cannot do) is the starting point of a child's education

8. Imagination, creativity and all kinds of symbolic behaviour (reading, writing, drawing, dancing, music, mathematical numbers, algebra, role play and talking) develop and emerge when conditions are favourable.

9. Relationships with other people (both adults and children) are of central importance of a child's life.

10. Quality education is about three things: the child, the context in which learning takes place, and the knowledge and understanding which the child, develops and learns.

Progression in play reflects the observation and assessment of children's knowledge, children go to nursery already as skilled learners.

Learning through Dramatic play

Dramatic play gives children the opportunity to

express themselves

Explore language freely

Explore feelings ad find out about themselves and others

Develop co-operation, care, consideration and control

Exercise choice and make decisions

Use mathematical language and develop mathematical concepts

Develop a range of motor skills

The development of dramatic play Development through dramatic play through similar stages to other types of play such as Onlooker, solitary, parallel and co-operative. It has been shown that each of these types of play is evident at each stage of development and at some stages more of a particular style will dominate.

Relevant language development In role play situations children can experiment with the language they have acquired as well as new vocabulary they are introduced to in school.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Different Pedagogies

Froebel

Friedrich Froebel was a German educator who invented the concept of kindergarten. The Froebelian approach promotes the importance of play, because it allows children to understand their world by directly experiencing it.

What were his principles?

Childhood is more than just preparation for adulthood.

All learning is linked, and so every different area of learning can impact others.

Child-initiated play is very important as it means that the child is motivated and engaged.

Always start with what children can do, not what they can’t.

Montessori

Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator who developed the Montessori method based on thousands of scientific observations. It focuses on each child’s individuality, encouraging curiosity through a carefully designed environment.

What were her principles?

Crafting a safe, ordered and nurturing environment that encourages self-directed, hands-on learning.

Features a range of natural, often open-ended resources that match the five Montessori curriculum areas.

These five curriculum areas are: practical life, censorial, mathematics, language, and culture.

Practitioners play a crucial role in providing the right materials for children to explore at the right point in their development. Every resource has a specific place and a role to play.

Steiner/Waldorf

Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian educationalist, who set up his first school for the workers of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart. Steiner believed in an environment that is calm, peaceful, familiar, predictable and unhurried.

What were his principles?

Learning should be experienced through the course of regular daily tasks and activities.

The environment is central and shouldn’t overstimulate children. It should be familiar to them.

Natural, open-ended resources feature heavily, leaving room for the child’s imagination.

A homely environment is preferred in order to make children feel welcome, and each child should have a place where their things belong.

Reggio Emilia

The Reggio Emilia approach was developed by Loris Malaguzzi alongside parents after World War II. It is a heavily child-centric approach, with a focus on the many ways children can express themselves. The practitioner is an observer and promoter of the child’s interests.

What were there principles?

Every child should be strong, capable and resilient, and ready to explore.

Children are natural communicators, and it’s important that we understand the ‘100 languages of children’ – the many ways children express themselves.

Children can build their own learning, and require adults to help support it, not instruct.

The focus on exploratory and child-led play is meant to improve problem-solving skills in particular.

Forest schools

The forest school pedagogy focuses on giving children the opportunity to learn through hands-on experiences in a woodland environment. Originating in Denmark in the 1950s, the forest school ethos is now seen throughout the world, including at the UK’s preschool of the year 2017

What were there principles?

All or almost all learning takes places outside in a woodland or natural environment.

Children are trusted to explore and discover, and allowed to engage in risky play.

Encouraged to choose their own learning and to develop a close, positive relationship with nature.

Bandura

Albert Bandura’s work is mainly focused on something called Social Learning Theory, which is all about behaviour. In particular, his experiments have shown the importance of adults as models, whose behaviour children observe, consider, and then later often copy.

What were there basic principles?

Children were shown by Bandura to copy aggressive actions made by those they trust unless those actions were criticised. This led to the theory of adults as models for behaviour.

This includes modelling calm, respectful behaviour, as well as the way we interact with one another.

Bandura also emphasises the importance of displaying thinking out loud to show thought process, and for adults to have problem-solving discussions between themselves to demonstrate cooperation.

The Curiosity Approach

The Curiosity Approach is a pedagogy developed by Lydnsey Hellyn and Stephanie Bennett. It takes ideas from Steiner, Reggio, Montessori and Te Whāriki, but most importantly it’s about providing a safe and comfortable environment for children to be curious.

What were there basic principles?

Children should become independent thinkers who can explore their environment with curiosity.

A homely environment is the key to making children feel comfortable and safe.

Athey and Schemas

Chris Athey built on the early work of Piaget to popularise the idea of schemas, the fascinations that children obsess over during different stages in their development. Understanding and encouraging children to develop within these schemas is key to this early years pedagogy.

What were his basic principles?

The main thread of Athey’s thinking was about identifying and encouraging these patterns of repeated behaviour that we call schemas.

Athey’s schemas were: dynamic vertical, dynamic back and forth, dynamic circular, going over and under, going round a boundary, going through a boundary, containing and enveloping space.

The adult has an incredibly important role to play in the schema framework. They must observe, understand and then provide opportunities for the child to explore their schema further.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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Pedagogy in early years education

Early years Pedagogy is how we educate children and help their development. Techniques strategies you can use to provide opportunities for development and how relationships and interactions with children affect them, this meaning it touches on:

Development- focusing on how and why children change how they learn and develop over time.

Behaviour - How a child's experiences shape their personality and behaviour.

Relationships- how children change and learn from people around them.

Culture - how family life along with culture effect relationships and learning.

Critique - inviting you to challenge issues around power and curriculum expectations.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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What is Edupunk?

Edupunk is based on the early 70's uk punk music scene how does this relate to education? It's all about doing it yourself teaching and learning it's about self starting it's about being your own authority it's about rejecting systems that re institutionally and centrally controlled like managed learning environments and like virtual learning environments its about creating personal learning environments of your own about individualising your education.

Punk is subversive it's all about using stuff that's available to you here and now to solve problems it's about what Levi Strauss the French anthropologist said about bricolage; bricolage which is about finding stuff for your own use finding stuff that is available do it yourself. The whole Edupunk movement can be seen in evidence in things like packing and in things like rhizomatic learning and in and things like the personalised learning environment. It's all about taking responsibility for your own learning, its about thinking for yourself it's about do it yourself, its about treating students and teachers as equals it's about listening to the students, the student voice is vital. Edupunk can be seen as a movement that is a backlash against the commoditization of education turning it into something that we can make money from.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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What does this mean for children?

Piaget's theory makes the development of children clearer; a child's development is not a linear path. Each child learns at a different pace with different experiences of the world, which in turn means that not all children will be able to learn at the same rate by using the same material it is different for each child, Every person perceive a story differently and take different life lessons from each story they are told. For example in the story book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll someone may read the book and take away curious people have more adventures or another person may take away it is important to know where you are going, they are two very important life lessons which could affect your decisions in life if you take one or the other away as a lesson to implement in the real world you would lead a completely different life to the person who took a different life lesson from this book.

Constructivism has changed how the educational system works by using familiar objects in a tactile environment, using a child's prior knowledge of the world for example using a toothbrush to explain about germs in the mouth, the toothbrush being something that a child knows how to use from prior knowledge of the world, which then places the task of teaching the child into the child's hands by letting them discover the lessons to be learned and not showing them the lessons to be taught, this also increases the curiosity of the child within that subject. Constructivism depends upon discover ability to be able to allow the child to discover lessons to be learned through trial and error and not showing the child how to do something but allowing them to keep trying.

Storytelling is a way for children communicate with adults; explaining their experiences and thoughts on topics that interest them. On the other side of this storytelling can also help improve vocabulary and imagination which in turns improves their problem-solving abilities this also helps children visualise spoken words as well as improving communication skills which only improves through practice. Each story that is told to us as a child effects our lives whether we realise this or not, for example the main lesson I took from Peter Pan was not the obvious one that everyone took 'never grow up' but I took a difference lesson which has affected my entire life, we are all equal in one thing - suffering, this is a good example of what each person takes from a story and most of us don't even realise it is different to one another.

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garp20-aliciawidlof · 5 years ago

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The design of everyday things

notes part 1 pages 1 - 132

'One main goal is to turn readers into great observers of the absurd'

Good design is harder to notice than poor design, in part because good design fits our needs so well that the design is invisible serving us without drawing attention to itself. A designer should never decide to go with beauty over utility, the most important characteristics of good design is discoverability and understanding discoverability is it possible to even figure out what actions are possible and where and how to perform them.

Industrial design: The professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of product and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer.

Interaction design: the focus upon how people interact with technology. The goal is to enhance peoples understanding of what can be done, what is happening. Interaction design draws upon principles of psychology, design, art and emotion to ensume a positive, enjoyable experience.

Experience design: practice of designing products, processes, services, events, and environments with a focus placed on the quality and enjoyment of the total experience.

Design is concerned with how things work, how they are controlled. Frustrated with ever-increasing complexity of automobile dashboard mapping meaning the relationship between two sets of things.

There are seven stages to action; there are two parts to an action and then evaluating the results.

Natural Mapping is a good example of the power of combining knowledge in the world with that in the head.

Best mapping: controls are mounted directly on the item to be controlled.

Second best mapping: controls are as close as possible to the object to be controlled.

Third best mapping: controls are arranged in the same spatial configuration as the objects to be controlled

Four types of constraints

Physical

Physical limitations constrain possible operations. The value of physical constraints is that they rely upon properties of the physical world for their operation meaning there is no special training needed. With proper use of physical constraints there is a limited amount of possible actions or desired actions can be made obvious. Physical constraints are more effective if they are easy to see and understand. Physical constraints prevents a wrong action after it has been tested. Cultural each cultural constraints has a set of allowable actions for social situations. This is how we manage to cope when our host leaves us alone in a strange room, at a strange party, with strange people. Cognitive scientists Roger Schank and Bob Ableson propose that these cases we follow "scripts" that can guide the sequence of behaviour, however cultural constraints are likely to change with time.

Semantic

Semantics is the study of meaning semantic restraints are those that rely upon the meaning of the situation to control the set of possible actions. Semantic constraints rely upon our knowledge of the situation and of the world. Creative people continually change how we interact with our technologies and one another. The meanings of today may not be the meanings of the future.

Logical

Logical constraints are often used by home dwellers who undertake repair jobs. There is no physical or cultural constraints. The natural mapping works by providing logical constraints. There are no physical or cultural principles here; rather, there is a logical relationship between the spatial or functional layout of components and the things that they affect or affected by.

Cultural Norms, conventions and standard

Every culture has its own conventions for example do you kiss, wave or shake hands when meeting someone? Sometimes these conventions are codified into international standards, sometimes into laws and sometimes both.

Bibliography reference

Norman,D, (2013). The design of everyday things (printed book) edition 2. New York: Basic Books, (accessed 05 February 2020)

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