Sian's Assignment

Sian’s Assignment: Introduction

                

                 Within this blog I have gone in to detail about the different contexts of learning other than inside a classroom. I have written 4 blogs which mainly concentrates on 4 areas of learning, the first is Montessori’s view of children’s development, the second post is forest schools, the third is learning through play and the fourth post is learning in other contexts. In each blog post I have explained how children learn within the area chosen and the impact it has on children’s development and learning experience.

Sian's Assignment

Sian’s Assignment: Learning In Other Contexts

                Every young person should experience the world outside of the classroom as a vital contribution to learning and growing up. Learning in other contexts, outside of the classroom can be the most memorable experiences of a child’s education and can be an outstanding memory throughout an individual’s life – (Learning outside the classroom manifesto). Sue Waite (2011) cited that “nature and community can contribute to children’s lives now and in the future” – (Waite, S 2011) There are a many places in which children can receive an education other than in the classroom for example Techniquest Cardiff and the Egyptian centre Swansea.

                Techniquest Cardiff was established in 1986, it is a place of learning for children of all ages. It is mainly based around Science and has now expanded to more than 120 exhibits which is a big comparison to when they first opened when they only had 48. The exhibitions are all on show for the children to all engage with and understand to gain more knowledge on the sciences. Techniquest also offers shows and programmes and has a science theatre, planetarium and a discovery centre for everyone to indulge in and take full advantage of. It is a place where children learn without realising because at the same time their having fun, this makes it memorable for all individuals. Even adults can learn new things at Techniquest experiencing new exhibitions. Techniquest allows children to be hands on and enables the mind to explore using models and materials and not learning from books. It motivates and encourages children towards science and question how science works. Techniquest have aimed to make science related areas fun for children to learn such as maths, engineering and technology. Techniquest offers many opportunities every day for all primary and secondary schools to arrange trips to visit the learning centre, many of the trips can be themed trips on a range of topics.

                                            

Above is an image of just one of the exhibitions showing the flow of electricity, that you can find at Techniquest Cardiff.

The Egypt Centre Swansea is another place of learning outside of the classroom for young individuals. They concentrate on three main functions, the first is Preservation of the collection, the second is Education and the third is widening participation. The Egypt Centre consists of two rooms, the house of life and the house of death. The house of life shows the day to day life of Egyptians such as what they wore and their culture and the house of death offers tombs and explanations of mummification and the god’s that they worship however there are no human mummies on display at the centre. The Egypt centre also offers school trips for all ages to gain knowledge on the culture, norms and values of Egyptians, like Techniquest they also have themed workshops and activities that allows children to be hands on with the exhibits and lets them ask questions and find out how people and places are linked together. It gives individuals a chance to explore and appreciate different cultures.

                                     

References

Learning outside the classroom manifesto. Nottingham: DfES publications

Waite, S,. 2011. Children learning outside the classroom: from birth to eleven. London; Sage

Sian's Assignment

Sian’s Assignment: Learning through Play

                A child’s first experience of learning is through play, whether it is an individual child playing alone or a group of children and every child needs an adult to help with them develop their play. Play is important throughout the world and has a lot of influence from the cultural settings and atmosphere. Everyone can remember the times when you played as a child and what you felt, we can also remember what we see when we watch children play. We remember having fun and using our imaginations and we can see other children socialising and interacting with others, being creative and taking control, these are the first steps of learning for children. There are many characteristics which make learning through play different to learning in a class room for example play is unstructured and more imaginative and involves actions between a group of children or just one individual, children also make their own rules within play whereas learning within a class room is structured and there is an adult leading the class so the children aren’t learning things for themselves. Ward S (2013) states that “Play is an integrating mechanism that helps children to consolidate, coordinate and get together what they know, feel and understand in ways which give them a sense of control over what is happening to them” – (Ward S 2013 P174) Play contributes to many development stages such as firstly cognitive development which improves children’s language, communication skills and logical thinking , secondly physical development which has an impact on co-ordination, team work, balance and special awareness. Thirdly, social development which includes building children’s confidence, social boundaries and trust and lastly cultural development which allows children to accept other children with different ethnic minorities also they gain more knowledge on cultures and learn what is expected of them in their culture such as the norms and values.

                The Link below show’s children learning literacy, with a  treasure map, through play outdoors, it shows the children making their own rules within play, we can see this when one child is telling another child “you’re not supposed to run” and also telling another child that he has to start again. It also shows the children using their imagination when they are telling the adult that the steps they are climbing is a mountain, this shows that the children are being creative and being imaginative and making use out of the materials they have in order to learn and understand literacy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYLrDiPH9sk

REFERNECES

                Ward, S 2013., 3^rd Ed. A Student’s Guide To Education Studies. Abingdon: Routledge

Sian's Assignment

Sian’s Assignment: Forest Schools

Forest schools began in Sweden in 1950’s and developed throughout Scandinavia and European countries. Forest schools were introduced to Britain in 1995 and the first leadership training took place in wales in 2000 and forest schools have made a huge development since. Forest schools give children a chance to work outdoors and enable them to explore the environment and for the national curriculum to be taught in a more open environment. It also allows all areas of intelligence's to receive equal opportunities in learning by stimulating visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. They are designed to meet the needs of the group involved and normally take place in a woodland area which has risk assessments carried out on it before the sessions take place. There are also risk assessments for individual children with emotional and behavioral difficulties (Knight, S 2011). It is important for the children to understand the natural state of the woods and the dangers that may surround them, it is also important that they do not disturb any of the natural habitats. Sara Knight cited that “Children have access to a large area of woods, complete with fully- equipped tool shed with boxes of equipment gathered from parents and members of the local community” (Knight, S 2011 P34). Children understand the need for the equipment they are supplied with and respect that all equipment should be returned to the right place in the same condition as they found them.

 This image shows a forest school session taking place where the children are all sitting and learning around a camp fire.

Forest schools, encourages and inspires all individuals of all ages to indulge in the outdoors environment. It allows the individuals involved to develop many skills which are a necessity to everyday life such as, space awareness, gross motor skills, negotiation skills, communication skills and movement awareness. It also allows participants to gain a sense of direction and gain confidence in themselves and their social awareness. Taking part in forest schools allows children to improve their independent learning as they are able to explore the outdoors and improve their knowledge. The following link shows a video of a primary school in Oxfordshire which regularly carry out forest schools with their early years. Here we see some regular activities that the children take part in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAR_OTMxNOs

Forest schools can also have an impact on national curriculum subjects such as science. The woodland area can help with the concepts of ‘push and pull’ and also to discover the many different materials that surround them. It can also have an effect on physical education part of the national curriculum as it develops movement skills such as climbing, running and co-ordination. Many secondary schools have now taken to the idea of forest schools. Knight, S (2011) found that boys in particular responded more encouragingly to outside learning when compared to being taught with in a classroom.

REFERENCES

            Knight, S., 2011. Forest school for all. London; Sage

Sian's Assignment

                

               Sian’s Assignment: Montessori View of Children’s Development

                

  Maria Montessori was born, an only child, in Chiatavale in 1870 and lived until 1952. She was supported by her mother in her passion to study maths, science and later medicine. Montessori later enrolled to study medicine in university of Rome medical school, 1892 and graduated in 1896. She then became the first women to qualify as an Italian physician. Whilst focusing her career on psychiatry she grew an interest in Education and attended classes on pedagogy to support the concept of the importance of the first six years of a child’s life, as she believed that these years were more important than the university years because they set a foundation in a social aspect and learning aspect for the individuals future (Isaac, B 2012). Maria Montessori named the first six years of a child’s development the ‘Absorbent Mind’.  Barbara Isaac (2012) cited that “It is at this stage that children absorb information from their environment effortlessly and with an ease which is not matched in subsequent developmental stages.” – (Isaac B 2012 P19) Montessori believed that this is achievable because of a child’s inner drive which is known as ‘the horme’.  Maria Montessori believed that the child goes through a six year period throughout their lives which are referred to as the sensitive periods. The first period is, as stated above, the absorbent mind form the ages of 0-6, the second period is childhood from ages 6-12 and the third is adolescence from ages 12-18.

After quickly realising that education is a necessity in a child’s life and with a growing interest in Education and after working for ten years with teachers in Rome, she went back to the University of Rome to study Education and anthropology. In 1906 Montessori set up a nursery in the San Lorenzo slum in Rome. She set up the first children’s home for all ages of children to be cared for whilst the children’s mothers worked. She made sure that each child was cared for and worked to their full potential and ability, she made many of her own resources at the children’s home and some are still used today at Montessori schools.

There are 22,000 Maria Montessori schools throughout the world for children ages 3 to 6. The first school was set up in 1912 in America, during this year Maria Montessori had taken to travelling around the world to deliver lectures.  The link below shows a video of just one of the Maria Montessori School. The motto within the Montessori schools is that the world begins within a classroom. Inside these schools we can see that the classrooms are undoubtedly different to normal class rooms because Montessori school does not teach through textbooks or hand outs but through independent learning using learning tools and materials, this allows each child to develop at their ability and pace. A Montessori school bases a child’s learning on self-discovery this gives children more confidence in themselves and they also learn about responsibilities. The children are also encouraged to look after the classrooms and the materials they use.          

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2cb0ajbOjk

REFERNCES

                Isaac, B., 2012.Understanding the Montessori approach. London: Routledge