STUDY GUIDE

HBEC3503

The Effective Practitioner in Early Childhood Education

Topic 2:

Teachers Role in Fostering Childrens Learning

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. Explain the learning process in early childhood education; Discuss the features of authentic learning; Identify elements necessary for effective early years teaching; and Discuss the teachers role as facilitators of learning.

Topic Overview
This topic highlights some aspects of learning. Among topics discussed are definitions of learning, features of authentic learning, active learning in the early years and teachers role as facilitators of learning.

Focus Areas and Assigned Readings

Focus Areas 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Definition of learning Features of authentic learning experience Active learning in the early years Teachers role as facilitators of learning Assigned Readings Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). Chapter 4, p. 109. Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). Chapter 4, pp.110115. Muijs, D. & Reynolds, D. (2005). Chapter 15, p. 178. Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). Chapter 4, pp. 112115.

Content Summary 2.1 Definition of Learning

Learning is a natural process of making sense of information and experience that is fostered through interaction with others. Learning occurs when [there is] a relatively permanent change in an individuals knowledge or behaviour that is dependent upon prior experience and can be determined through performance (Woolfolk, 2001, p. 200), (in Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p. 109)

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STUDY GUIDE

HBEC3503

The Effective Practitioner in Early Childhood Education

2.2

Features of Authentic Learning Experiences

People learn best when they believe in themselves and are confident that they can learn (Bandura, 1997), (in Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p.110). Authentic learning experiences resemble situations that people naturally encounter outside the classroom and that make sense to them. Authentic learning experiences for all children share the following features: Authentic learning experiences use childrens prior knowledge to engage them in personally meaningful, purposeful activities. All children learn by doing and thinking about what they are doing. Authentic learning experiences promote strategic thinking. Teaching children to be strategic thinkers is the heart of good teaching and learning, because we teach specific skills in the context that the learners need to use. Refer to Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p. 111 for further information. Authentic learning experiences foster learning through social interaction. Vygotsky (1978) believes that learning is a social process and that children first learn new knowledge through social relations with others, which they later internalise. Starting from birth, childrens communication with others is essentially social. They use language for different purposes: to ask for something they need, to get things done, to find out information, or to maintain relations with others. Authentic learning experiences are based on each childs ways of learning and displaying their knowledge. Because learning is individual and developmental, not all children learn in the same way or at the same rate, or have the same interests in how to learn. Authentic learning experiences enable children to apply their learning to other situations. Being able to transfer knowledge, skills concepts, and strategies from one situation to another is an essential aspect of learning. Please refer to Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p. 111 for further information.

2.3

Active Learning in the Early Years

Research has shown that young children learn best when they are actively interacting with others and their environment rather than being passive recipients of information (Wood and Bennett, 1999) in (Muijs, D. & Reynolds, D. (2005), p. 178). This means that early years teaching should be highly interactive, and pupils should be allowed to explore their environment. They should have the chance to record their learning in a variety of ways: verbally, written, painting, drawing and building things.

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STUDY GUIDE

HBEC3503

The Effective Practitioner in Early Childhood Education

Early years education needs to balance pupil discovery of their environment with structured activity designed to get the most from these experiences educationally. Teachers should emphasise the connections between the classroom and pupils everyday experiences. As young children learn best through hands-on activities, these should be plentiful in the nursery classroom. A wide variety of easily accessible resources need to be provided. Children enjoy imitating adults, therefore activities such as peeling potatoes, washing the pots or cooking can be used to great effect. Siraj-Blatchford (1999) (in Muijs, D. & Reynolds, D. (2005), p. 178) identifies three elements necessary for effective early years teaching: Creating the learning environment. This includes organising materials and resources, providing relevant, interesting and novel experiences and providing opportunities for active exploration and questioning, including a lot of pupil-pupil and pupil-adult talk to allow linguistic competency to develop. Direct instruction, including demonstration, description, answering questions, directing the childs attention and constructive criticism and reinforcement. Scaffolding, including directing childrens attention to new aspects of a situation, helping children to sequence activities and managing complex tasks by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable parts.

2.4

Teachers Role as Facilitators of Learning

Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p. 114, suggested the following principles about learning, which will guide teachers: Teachers beliefs about learning affect childrens learning. What teachers believe about how children learn guides their interactions with children, their daily schedule and room arrangement. In early childhood setting, teachers and caregivers interact with children in different ways. Some use open-ended questions that focus on factual information to probe childrens thinking; others use closed-ended questions that focus on factual information. These interactions reflect not only certain theoretical perspectives, but also reflect teachers beliefs of how children learn. Teachers create opportunities for co-learning. As a partner in learning, teachers must be skilled at selecting the appropriate learning materials that will help children move from learning with assistance to learning independently.

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STUDY GUIDE

HBEC3503

The Effective Practitioner in Early Childhood Education

Teachers encourage social interaction and shared experiences to increase learning. Social interaction is central to learning (Vygotsky, 1978), (in Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p. 115). Learners need many opportunities to share and compare their thinking with that of others. The others can be peers or adults who provide the opportunity to refine and develop thinking. Teachers as facilitators can increase learning with some of the following strategies that rely on social interaction: cooperative learning, peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, group investigations, socio-dramatic play and socio-dramatic play centres. Each of these strategies respects students as resources in constructing their own learning. Teachers model and teach lifelong learning skills. The following skills are needed to be a lifelong learner: confident (I can do it), motivation (I want to do it), effort (I am willing to try), responsibility (I follow through on commitments), initiative (I am a self starter), perseverance (I finish what I start), caring (I show concern for others), team work (I work cooperatively with others), common sense (I use good judgement), and problem solving (I use my knowledge and experience effectively.) (Berns, 2001) in (Jalongo, M. R. & Isenberg, J. P. (2004). p. 115).

Study Questions
1. 2. 3. What do you understand by learning? Describe five features of authentic learning experiences. Give examples of how teachers model and teach lifelong learning skills to young children.

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