Learning Environments for Children - Literature review Example

Running head:  LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN Learning environments for children Insert Name Insert Course Title Insert Instructor’s Name 2nd November 2011 Introduction The economic growth of any country largely depends on the educational system that is adopted by the respective government. In order to achieve a sustainable national development and increase the productivity of the citizens, most governments have streamlined the learning programs for young children. In its effort to provide the children with strong foundation and opportunities for future growth, Australian government has emulated Early Years Learning Framework. The major objective of the framework is to ensure that children achieve emotional and social development, effective communications through play-based learning. In addition, the framework is aimed at ensuring that children become informed citizens, successful learners as well as creative and confident citizens. This paper will analyze the various approaches and strategies that can be adopted in order to enhance children learning. Information relating to the learning environments Blinkly Bills philosophy Blinkly Bills is focused at providing safe and friendly environment for children learning. In order to enhance the development of the children, the institution provides ample opportunities for all children without discriminating them on the bases of their age, gender, culture, disabilities or abilities. In this way, Blinkly Bills instigate the sense of belonging, being and becoming that are vital for development of the children. The peaceful coexistence of individual is an important aspect that the institution advocates. In this regard, Blinkly Bills encourage the children to admire each other and respect the rights of each other. In order to avoid the negativities of ethnicity that are obstacle to the development of a nation, Blinkly Bills educates the children on the importance of cultural diversity and how to interact with each other in the learning environment and in their future careers (Wu & Alrabah, 2009). The significance of children motivation in learning environment cannot be overlooked. One of the strategies that Blinkly Bills has adopted is to provide safe and secure learning environment that makes the children to feel supported and loved (Sweller, 2003). This makes them to have a positive attitude and confidence to solve complex problems in future. The institution is also focused at providing children with proper knowledge on how to interact with other children. This gives them a strong foundation that ensures they are able to work with different people once they enter the job market. In the same way, through provision of free time when children play their favorite games, the institution trains the children on how to communicate effectively. Such games are also important in making the children become responsible and attain a physical well being. Analyses on how Blinkly Bills designs and implements learning environments Centre Relationships with families and the community As mentioned earlier, Blinkly Bills provides equal opportunities to children regardless of their family background. In this way, it recognizes and values and differences that exist among the families. In order to ensure participation of the families in provision of quality education to the children, Blinkly Bills collaborates with the Joeys family and other parents in order to ensure that the learning programs provided by the institution meets the needs of the child. As a result, families feel welcomed and acquire a spirit of belonging. The institution has also established strong positive relationship with the local community. Members of the local community can freely visit the institution, hold meetings with the members of staff as well as giving vital information for effective management of Blinkly Bills. The institution also makes the children to have a sense of belonging that makes them to be aware of their rights and responsibilities in the community. Key learning styles of Joey Learning styles According to the Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory, individuals have different strengths ways of learning, understanding, remembering and performing various tasks (Gardener, 1993). In addition, the theory stipulates that learners are able to know the world through different aspects. These include use of body to solve various challenges, language, effective analysis of mathematical problems, musical thinking as well as understanding of other people and themselves. In the learning process of Joey this theory is effective since it incorporates different learning styles that need to be considered during learning process. Other learning styles are depicted in the section below. Bodily-kinesthetic It is vital to provide opportunities that enable the child to touch various things and make body movement. It is important to note that children learn through communicating and playing with their colleagues. In order to enhance bodily movement, real objects such as toys should be provided to the children during their playing period (Gardener, 1993). Visual-Spatial Gardener (1993 argues that it is important to provide effective environment that stimulates thinking and decision making abilities of the children. Some of the important tools that can be used by early childhood educators include puzzles, maps, drawings and photographs. Music Children love music and dancing. In order to ensure they remember various aspects they learn, it is vital for educators to turn the lessons taught in class into lyrics. Use of radio in the teaching process is an important technique since it does not only make the process enjoyable for little children but it also enhances their participation. Instructional setting It is important for the educators to set clear instructions as a way of encouraging the learners to emulate a good learning pace. In addition, proper feedback should be put in place thus allowing learners to compare the correct answers with their ideas. Reading ability Due to the difference that exists among the young learners as far as reading is concerned, early childhood educators should provide pictures to cater for poor readers who benefit more from speaking as compared to writing. Dispositions and strengths in the Joey learning process In the implementation of Joey learning process it is paramount to consider some behavioural indicators that enhance creativity during the learning process. Thorough drawings and stories Joey curiosity and imagination aspects are stimulated. According to Piaget (1950) assimilation and accommodation are vital processes that ensure learners obtain new knowledge from their experiences. Even though learners often fail, Cognitive Constructivism depicts that such failure should lead to learning. In the implantation of learning process for Joey, it is important to appropriately adopt various teaching theories but I saw the constructivist classroom and Cognitive Constructivism as the main aspects that will improve Joey’s development. Family values The development of young children is dependent on the role of parents in motivation and giving guidelines. It is important for parents to guide the young learners on how to communicate effectively with other people as well as social skills that are required by the children during their intermingling with other members of the society. One of the roles that parents should teach their children is turn taking. This entails allowing their parents and other senior people including teachers to speak first. Planning, implementing and evaluation of three learning experiences for Joey In its effort to achieve learning outcomes of the children, Blinkly Bills provides secured learning environment for the children and the caregivers. In order to provide pedagogical practice that propagates the learning process of Joey, the school highly values the social and cultural aspects of the child and the family. According Brooks & Brooks (1993) being responsive to children is one of the major practices that ensure promotion of proper learning for children. In order to ensure that Joey values cultural diversity that exists in a learning institution, the school admits children from various cultures and family background. Responsiveness to children is another approach that is adopted by Blinkly Bills. Through establishment of Joey strengths and interests it is possible to motivate her and make her more interested in the learning activities. According to Katz (1985) it is essential for childhood educators to emulate holistic approach. This entails recognisation of the relationship that exists between the spirit, mind and the body of the young children. Blinkly Bills emulates the holistic approach through creation of strong partnership and relationship between the children and their parents as well with other members of the community this is considered good practice. Learning experiences applicable in Blinkly Bills The three learning experience for Joey includes hand painting, story telling and making of toys. Due to the need to develop the communication skills of Joey, a story telling lesson will be provided especially during morning hours. Parents will be advised to give simple stories to their children that they will represent to other children in the following day. In this way, the ability of the children to remember will be greatly improved (Mousavi, Low & Sweller, 1995). In the same way, the hand painting will enable the children to give views on their best colors and paintings that they will like on their hands. This is an effective aspect that wills initiate Joey’s ability to make personal ideas and decisions. In the same way, through making of toys for example by using their own sweaters and papers the creativity of the children will be enhanced. The reason for planning the three experiences is based on the desire of the children to make toys that they treat similarly to how they see their parents doing. It can also be observed that most children like giving stories to their fellow learners especially after holidays or in Mondays after the weekend. Resources needed In my effort to initiate learning experience for Joey, I will need papers, paints as well as rags. Other resources needed include plastic spoons that the children will use to feed their toys. In addition, Joey will need strings to join various parts of their toys. In order to give children opportunities to tell their stories to others, a well prepared classroom with no noise will also be vital. Health and safety The health and safety of the children cannot be overlooked. Safety, security and support create a strong sense of identity and self confidence on children. In this regard, Joey will be washed with soap and water after the painting lesson. In order to avoid accidents during the cutting of the papers, I will personally cut the papers for the children. However, I will contact individual child on how he or she want the paper to be cut. I will also assist children who do not know how to make toys on the various steps involved in the process. In order to scaffold the learning process, I will move around checking on how the children are making their toys in order to assist them with the materials needed. In the same way, I will ask various simple questions to an individual child to test the level of remembrance after the story telling session. One of the major learning outcomes that the learning experience is focused at is making the children good communicators. The story telling session is interesting to the children and most of them ask for chances to tell their adventurous stories that they have seen or told by their parents. In addition, through asking questions that are based on their stories children attain sense of confident and children become involved learners. Following up the three learning experience As stipulated by Moreno & Mayer (1999) teachers should keenly follow up the learning experiences in order to understand their implications on the development of children. In this regard, I will arrange for more lessons that will entail making of toys in order to ensure every child has the skills to make his or her own toy. In the same way, every child will have one opportunity per day to give a story that will be followed with questions from the teachers. In order to ensure their creativity, I will ensure children are able to make their own mixer of colors that they like to be painted on their hands. Proper planning of the learning programs for young children is a vital aspect that every early childhood educator should initiate. Meyer (2009) argues that an effective curriculum should entail all the routines and experiences that initiate child development. In order to come up with a good curriculum, educators should adopt the three major elements that gives the children learning the value it deserve. These elements include practice, principles as well as learning outcomes. According to Crick & Yu (2008) children healthy and safety should be emphasized in their learning environments. This is fact that has been catered for by the cleaning process that will be carried out after the hand painting sessions. I planned the three learning experience that include hand painting, toy making and story telling as teaching aids based on the research conducted by Piaget (1950).that depicts that they encourage strong communication between the children and their teachers. According to Moreno & Mayer (1999) through the three learning experience children are also given chances that teachers thought they could not solve. In addition, children are given opportunity to speak to others through verbal demonstration and verbal communication. As depicted by Crick & Yu (2008) children skills and relationship changes during the early years of their lives. In the learning experience I applied the zone of proximal development that depicts that there exist the difference between what a learner can do and what he or she cannot do without my help. For instance, some children were not able to make their own toys without my assistance. As a result of the three learning experiences, the self confidence and children involvement in the learning process are essential aspects that were attained. One of the theories that I applied in the learning experiences is by Gardener (1993). This theory depicts that teachers should initiate changes in child development by use of exercises and various methodologies to reach all the learners including those with low logical and linguistic intelligence. A reflection on my personal and professional values Crick & Yu (2008) stipulates that educators should initiate good relationship with children and their parents in order to ensure effective learning experience. One of the major virtues I value is good relationship between individuals. In my learning experience I realised that some children were using bad languages to their fellow learners. In order to address this issue I encouraged children to be friends with each other. After the hand painting process some children were not willing to be washed. Since I value cleanliness and obedient, I portrayed to such children the importance of obeying their teachers and parents. Conclusion From the above report, it is clear that families, caregivers and early childhood educators have important roles in providing proper learning experiences for the young children. The child senses of belonging, becoming and being are vital aspects that guides on the learning programs provided by the educators. It is also important to effectively adopt effective learning experiences that entail proper planning, allocation of adequate resources, effective application of learning outcomes and pedagogical practices. It is also imperative for educators to undertake continuity of learning as a way of ensuring that the learning experiences have positive long term implications on the development of a child. References Brooks, J. G. & Brooks, B. G. (1993). The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VI: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Crick, R. D., & Yu, G. (2008). Assessing learning dispositions: is the Effective lifelong learning inventory valid and reliable as a measurement tool? Educational Research, 50(4), 387-402. Gardener, H. (1993). Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons. New York: Basic Books. Katz, L. (1985). Dispositions in early childhood education. ERIC/EECE Bulletin 18, no. 2: 1–3. Meyer (2009). The Poverty of Constructivism. Educational Philosophy and Theory 41 (3): 332–341. Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. (1999). Cognitive principles of multimedia learning: The role of modality and contiguity". Journal of Educational Psychology 91 (2): 358–368. Mousavi, S., Low, R., & Sweller, J. (1995). Reducing cognitive load by mixing auditory and visual presentation modes". Journal of Educational Psychology 87 (2): 319–334. Piaget, J. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence. New York: Routledge. Sweller, J. (2003). Evolution of human cognitive architecture. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation. San Diego: Academic Press. Wu, S., & Alrabah, S. (2009). A cross-cultural study of Taiwanese and Kuwaiti EFL students’ learning styles and multiple intelligences. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 46(4), 393-403. Appendix Planned learning experience Child’s Name: Joey Date: 2nd November 2011 What is the experience? Hand painting, story telling and making of toys What is the learning focus? (be specific about the learning and/or development and/or dispositions and/or relationships and interactions that are the focus of this experience) The learning experience is focused at improving children creativity and ability to make personal ideas. In addition, it is aimed at teaching Joey the importance of positive relationship with teachers, parents and other members of the community. Why am I planning this experience? (link to observations and/or family information) These experiences are planned in order to initiate good relationship between the children and their parents and teachers. In the same way, the experiences are planned in order to create a sense of confidence among the young children What resources do I need? Paints, rags, plastic spoon and classrooms What do I need to do to ensure that this experience meets health and safety requirements? Hand washing and assisting the children during paper cutting When is the best time and place for this experience? Story telling experience will be conducted in the morning hours while hand painting and making of toys will be undertaken during the day when children are free How will I interact with the children to scaffold their learning? To scaffold the learning of the children, I will move around while children are preparing their toys in order to assist the children in case of any problem. There will also be a session of asking questions after the story telling experience. How did it go? (Include details of how the children responded, how you scaffolded learning and how the children interacted to scaffold each others’ learning?) In order to ensure that children acquired proper skills in making of toys, care takers were involved in guiding them. As a result, children felt loved and secured. In the same way, a sense of confidence that is vital for the development of Joey was initiated. What changes did I observe in the children’s learning and/or development and/or dispositions and/or relationships and interactions that are the focus of this experience? (link to the learning outcomes in the Early Years Learning Framework, and/or theory and literature) The learning experience instigated the sense of relationship in the children based on the assistance offered by their teachers during the learning experiences. As stipulated by Gardener (1993) learners with low logical and linguistic intelligence should also be engaged in various teaching methodology that initiate movement and child development. What will I do next to follow on from this experience to support the children’s learning/development/dispositions/relationship? (Link to the learning outcomes in the Early Years Learning Framework, and/or theory and literature) In order to ensure proper implementation of the learning experience, more lessons that involve preparation of toys need to be created. In the same way, every child including Joey will have one opportunity per day to give others a short story. In order to ensure children have proper understanding of the hand painting as a learning experience, children will be given more chances to make their own mix of colors. What have I learnt from this experience? (reflect on planning, scaffolding, health and safety, relationships, meaningful curriculum, continuity of learning etc) - link to the pedagogies and practices and the educator’s role in the Early Years Learning Framework, and/or theory and literature) From the learning experiences, I learnt that safety and healthy are vital aspects needed for in children learning environment. As indicated by Crick & Yu (2008) effective learning experiences should be provided through creating a positive between the parents, and providers of childhood education. I have also learnt the need to ensure continuous learning for Joey. This will be achieved by following up the learning experience to ensure that slow learners are able to address complex situation. Read More