Educational Contexts

There are many different types of theories and contexts relating to education. Learning through play, outdoor learning, Montessori and the Foundation Phase are just a few of the many educational contexts that are expressed, but these are the four that I've decided to research. Under these contexts, I was able to express my opinion as I was able to relate to my own learning experiences.

References

Bennett, V., Henderson, N., (2013) Young Children learning; The important of play. In Ward S (2013) 3^rd ed. A Student’s Guide to Education Studies (p168 -174). Abingdon: Routledge.

Butler, S. (2008) Retrieved 29^th March 2013 from Early Childhood News http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=591

Canning, N. (2010), 'The influence of the outdoor environment: den-making in three different contexts', European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18, 4, pp.555-566.

Estyn (2011) Retrieved April 9^th 2013 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-14898083
Available at http://www.estyn.gov.uk/english/thematic-reports/recent-reports/?documents=date#documents

Isaacs, B. (2012) Understanding the Montessori Approach: early years education in practice. London: Routledge. Available at http://prism.talis.com/smu/items/345935?query=Montessori&resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3DMontessori%26facet%255B0%255D%3Ddisplayascollection%253A%2522Ebooks%2522&facet%5B0%5D=displayascollection%3A%22Ebooks%22 Accessed on April 19^th 2013.

Manifesto (2006), ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto’, Department for Education and Skills.

Maynard, T. and Waters, J. (2007), Learning in the outdoor environment: a missed opportunity?, Early Years: An International Research Journal, 27:3, pp.255-265.

Sheridan, M., Harding, J., Meldon-Smith, L.,(2002) Play in early childhood: From birth to six Years. Available at http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/nlebk_68647_AN?sid=a24dcb43-8467-4c27-8679-07c1f5584569@sessionmgr111&vid=1&format=EB Accessed on March 27^th 2013

Thomas, K. (2012) Retrieved 24^th March 2013 from The Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/2012/dec/04/outdoor-learning-school-activities

Welsh Assembly Government (2012) Education and Skills Retrieved April 8^th 2013 from http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/earlyyearshome/foundation_phase/;jsessionid=BA170D7B685782ADACFA2C4CFE96AC02?lang=en

http://www.montessori.org.uk/

Montessori

Maria Montessori was an extraordinary woman as she was one of the first people to promote the significance of a child's development from birth to the age of 6. She categorized a child's development into 3 stages - 
1. The absorbent mind (birth to 6 years)
2. Childhood (6 - 12 years)
3. Adolescence (12 - 18 years)
Her pedagogy identifies that when children are at a young age they learn best through active learning, by having the freedom of movement and choice and being independent. She also noted that children at this age, from birth to 6 years, need to be guided by a 'sensitive teacher' to help them with their learning by creating an environment that's suitable for their development (Isaacs).

Therefore, the first ever Montessori school (Casa Dei Bambini) was set up by Maria Montessori. The following video shows the environment of a Montessori classroom.

As you can see, a Montessori school has a few specific features, for example, the classroom is more spacious, the furniture is child sized, there's a lot more open floor space.

The following points are the key principles of the Montessori approach;

• Freedom - children are encouraged to learn by themselves by having the freedom of movement and choice.
• Vertical Grouping - children work/play with other age groups which are beneficial as they learn from each other. The Montessori approach is about children keeping the idea of family and they do this by vertical grouping.
• Control of error - some activities are designed to show errors so that children know when they've gone wrong. They have self correcting activities such as puzzles.
• Scaffolding - this happens through vertical grouping, the director and through the repetition of tasks.
• Observation and Assessment
• Promoting Self discipline - children are actively involved in their activities and are given responsibilities at a young age, for example, placing toys back where they got them from (Isaacs).

Montessori's work has had a positive impact on the education of children all around the world and today the Montessori website, states that in the United Kingdom there are currently around 700 Montessori nurseries and schools.
http://www.montessori.org.uk/





 

Foundation Phase

The Foundation Phase is a structured document for children's learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales. It combines with Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum and instead of having a curriculum based around subjects; it is based around 7 specific areas of learning. The aim of this framework is to make learning more fun for children and more effective. It is about children learning through discovery and raising children's standards of achievement (Welsh Government).

The 7 areas of learning in the Foundation Phase are:

1.Personal and Social Development, Well-Being, and Cultural Diversity
This area focuses on children learning about themselves, forming relationships with adults and other children and learning about their own and other cultures.

2.Language, Literacy and Communication Skills
These are the skills children develop through talking, listening, singing and communicating with others. Children will achieve these skills through asking questions, expressing their own opinions and by making their own choices.

3.Mathematical Development
Children will learn how to use numbers mentally by using numbers in their daily activities, they will gain development through oral, practical and play activities.

4.Welsh Language Development
This area focuses on children learning welsh to the best of their abilities; they will communicate, listen and respond to the welsh language. This skill is developed through enjoyable, planned activities.

5.Knowledge and Understanding of the world
In this area children use the indoor and outdoor environment to explore the world. They begin to gain an understanding of the world around them such as past events, people and the work they do, places and living things.

6. Physical Development
Here, children will be helped to use their bodies productively. Many skills will be developed through physical activity such as spatial awareness, control and coordination, gross and fine motor skills, balance and physical control.

7.Creative Development
Creativity and Imagination should be developed through all the areas of learning through expressive activities. These activities include art, design, music, craft, dance and movement.

These 7 areas of learning are based around themes, not subjects, and are all observed through children playing (Welsh Government).

In 2011, the BBC reported that in a minority of schools, children aged 5-6 years were not learning enough. This was due to activities not being challenging enough for children, and the inspection body Estyn found that standards of literacy in some schools were lower than others, which means learning is hindered (Estyn).
I believe the foundation phase being introduced in Wales has been a very good decision. In my opinion children learn more effectively by doing, and the foundation phase is based around giving children more opportunities to learn actively.

Learning through play

There are numerous ways a child can learn and many would say that the best way for young children to learn is through play. When children are engaged in play, it is easy for anyone to notice how inspiring and rewarding it is for the child. Playing also provides children with a great amount of emotional satisfaction. Studies have shown that the function play involves from a day-to-day basis has a great involvement in a child's overall development. Playing can help develop a child's imagination and creativity, a child's social skills and physical development by improving a child's gross and fine motor skills (Sheridan, 2002).

The are many different types of play, but according to Sheridan(2002), she states that there are 5 specific types of play:-

• Active play - this is significant for physical development. It can be indoor or outdoor and involves using the head and limbs in climbing, running, kicking and also involves rough and tumble.
• Explorative and manipulative play - this involves the child from about 3 months engaging in 'finger play' and using its senses to explore their environment.
• Imitative play - this is when babies and children copy and perform the actions of what they see repeatedly, for example, a child who has been to an appointment with a doctor may act out the scene whilst playing. This type of play is important for a child's social, cognitive and symbolic development.
• Constructive play - this play involves children exploring and creating something with materials, for example, building a tower of blocks.
• Pretend play - this is when children invent make-believe situations from observation and imitation, for example, 'let's pretend were teachers'.

Active play

Explorative and Manipulative play

Imitative play

                        

Pretend play

 

 

 

Constructive play

As children choose when they want to play, they create their own world where they set their own rules and goals.There is no risk of failure when children play and children are in control and as a result this helps build on their confidence and self -belief (Bennett and Henderson, 2013).

It is clear today that play in the 21st century is vital to a child's physical, emotional, social and intellectual development. If a child doesn't have enough healthy play, they become at risk of starting school unprepared and growing up without the required skills and overall not reaching their potential. Play gives children a love of learning, and therefore it's important for children to have happy, healthy play in their lives (Butler, 2008).

 

 

Learning Outside the Classroom

A child learning outside the classroom often provides the most memorable learning experiences. These experiences can control the way we think, our view of the world and also control the important decisions we have to make (Manifesto, 2006).

The outdoor environment has recently become an essential part of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage. The Early Years Foundation Stage states that the outdoor environment is an important part of development for a child at whatever age.

There are numerous places where learning can happen outside the classroom; churches, museums, castles, theatres, the zoo, art galleries, field trips (Maynard and Waters, 2007).

Here is a video of different clips put together of children learning outdoors. I found this video inspiring as you can see the enthusiasm and the eagerness all the children have to learn.

 

'The influence of the outdoor environment: den making in three different contexts' is an effective journal relating to the flexible opportunities children have when learning outdoors. The journal contains research on how children aged 3 - 5 years engaged themselves to den-making which were set in different outdoor environments. This project revealed that although the activity had taken place in different settings, all the children were imaginative, creative and their communication with other children and the practitioners were helped from doing this activity. This activity also helped develop many skills, such as compromising with others, spatial awareness, independence. Lester and Russell (2008) state that children have motivation to learn when activities are based in a different place or that the activity is based on a child's interest, therefore this shows that the outdoor environment offers children the opportunity to explore and to see things in more than one way (Canning, 2010).
 

When I was a child, I remember always playing outside with friends or my siblings, but today you do not see as many children playing outdoors. There are many reasons why outdoor learning happens less today. The modern technology we have today stops children from wanting to play outside, unfortunately children prefer to play on computer games, Nintendo's, watch television and play on their mobile phones. I also remember playing outside the front garden when I was younger, but this is also less frequent today. Road safety and abductions have become more of an issue, and in the end children choose not to play outside because adults make them more nervous.

In my opinion, schools should be organising more outdoor activities for children to learn. As a child I remember how exciting it was going on a school trip - children can be more eager to learn when they are away from the classroom. Outdoor learning can help build a child's confidence and also help develop relationships with teachers and other children.  
Evidence shows that when children spend time learning out of the classroom, it makes an improvement on a child's grades (Thomas, 2012).

The pictures below show that outdoor learning is a fun and effective way to learn.