I
set up an art table activity for the toddlers. I put different resources such as
glitters, confetti, matchsticks, crayons and glue will be provided for the
children to freely to decorate on the paper. ‘T’, ‘M’, ‘J’ and ‘C’ were busy
making and decorating their piece of art. The two year old boy ‘L’ came along to
the table and wanted to make a piece of art. He sat down and straight away
poured the whole basket of confetti on to his paper. I saw him and told ‘L’
that if you don’t put glue on, then the confetti won’t stick. I went to hold up
the paper and all the confetti fell down. Then I showed him to spread the glue
onto the piece of paper and then he put a little bit of confetti onto it. I
held up the paper again and the confetti was stuck onto the paper. ‘L’ looked
at the paper and gave me a smile.
In
order to make ‘L’ to have more understanding about technology; I went to get
the stapler, cellotape and paper clip to show him
that there were lots of ways to make the paper and confetti stick together. Those
demonstrations can make ‘L’ understand the relationship between materials and
tools. Although ‘L’ did not have much chance to use of stapler or paper clip at
this stage, but through this teaching and learning interaction, ‘L’ develops a
basic concept how things work. Maybe he will use those technologies in his future
life.
I think
that I am as teacher has responsibilities to teach and assist the children’s performance
to help them learning more knowledge and skills. According to Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural
theory stated that ‘scaffolding’ is a teaching
and learning situation in which a more experienced person such as teacher, adults,
or peer supports learning by working within the learner’s zone of proximal
development (Podmore, 2006).
I reflect
on this incident, but don’t use glue; I need to consider some more technological
tools such as stapler and cellotape for toddlers to use in creative art next
time. Most of the time, our concept of use staplers or cellotape just suit for
the older children. But in my eyes, staplers and cellotape are very safe. If we
allow the toddlers touch the hammer and nails, why the toddlers do not have the
right to use the stapler and cellotape? Of course, if the toddlers’ cannot
control their motor skills, they can’t use them properly or safely, and so the
teacher can give them some help. As for the paper clips, I will not consider it
because the infants and the younger toddlers would be put into their mouth. I
believe the stapler or cellotape fascinate their creative process
(Schirrmacher, 2006). Based on our New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum ‘Te Whāriki’ promotes children should
have experience in different kind of the materials and technology used in the
creative and expressive arts. Even toddlers also encourage using tools and
materials for their arts and crafts and allowed to experiment with them
(Ministry of Education, 1996).
In 'The New Zealand Curriculum', ‘The Arts’ is one of
the subjects are related to technology. For ‘The Arts’ learning area, students
need to use of traditional and new technologies to express their artistic ideas
in four disciplines, for example, visual arts and dance (Ministry of Education,
1993). In other words, students develop an understanding of technology; it
could help the students across ‘The Arts’ learning curriculum or even other
subjects in their learning life.
Reference
Google Images. (2012). Image of stapler. Retrieved from http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1092&bih=486&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=GZa1UT60hVYWJM:&imgrefurl=http://gentlemanmisadventurer.co.uk/2011/06/29/theatre-of-cruelty/rss-2/&docid=dzV5r8tW9K8wYM&imgurl=http://gentlemanmisadventurer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/rss.jpg&w=400&h=331&ei=5gZsT_XICqiOiAfIkvztBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=572&vpy=91&dur=1573&hovh=204&hovw=247&tx=118&ty=91&sig=111124251941266735684&page=1&tbnh=118&tbnw=143&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0
Google
Images. (2012). Image of cellotape.
Retrieved from http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?start=12&num=10&hl=en&biw=1092&bih=486&addh=36&tbm=isch&tbnid=7x38Q2KK-7yLaM:&imgrefurl=http://www.cessl.org.nz/shop/Stationery/Tape/Sellotape%2BDispensers.html&docid=s5LqdsYbg24dkM&imgurl=http://www.cessl.org.nz/site/canterburyedu/images/Sellotape%252520Dispenser.jpg&w=227&h=210&ei=SwhsT566NeGTiAeKkaH-Cw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=743&vpy=168&dur=512&hovh=168&hovw=181&tx=110&ty=84&sig=111124251941266735684&page=2&tbnh=135&tbnw=146&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:12
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki,
he whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington,
New Zealand: Learning Media.
Podmore, V. N. (2006). Observation: Origins and
approaches to early childhood research and practice. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER Press.
Schirrmacher, R. (2006). Art
and creative development for young children (5th Ed.). New York,
NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.
comments
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting Pion. It is good to see you supporting children to develop their creativity and to gain their self confidence. I agree that as long as children are supervised, there is no need to be restrictive in what activities they can engage in. Children at that age are just particularly curious on what they see and everything they grab hold of becomes toy to them. For infants and toddlers, the focus is on exploration and manipulation. Learning what the equipment will do and how they can control it for their own purposes (which might include putting it in their mouths….or banging it on a table.) We have to think about whether the tools are safe for children of this age…and whether the materials will be safe in their hands. However, I also agree that some objects such as paper clips can be dangerous and hence should not be used. It was good to see you scaffolding children’s development, and maybe next time you can support them by asking open ended questions to get their thinking hats on. Very interesting blog to read, keep it up! Well done Pion!
Hi Peon, I like the way how you considered children’s safety issue and provided age appropriate resources for children to explore and learn about technology. In your reflection, you emphasised the importance of providing appropriate resources to promote children’s creative process. You had a very good understanding of Vygoskey’s sociocultural theory and the concept of the zone of proximal development. Children can be taught with guidance and assistance of adults and more skilled children. Adults have important roles in scaffolding children’s learning (Santrock, 2009). You did use scaffolding as the teaching technique to promote children’s learning. Ka pai Peon! However, there are so many teaching techniques that can be used to support children’s learning and exploration during our teaching practice. Such as modelling, questioning, or using materials to encourage problem-solving and providing opportunities for children involve in child-directed play. As an educator, it is very important for us to use appropriate teaching technique and provide appropriate resources to support and extend children’s learning.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it is a very interesting story!
Santrock, J.W. (2009). Lifespan development (12th ed., International). Boston, USA: McGraw-Hill.
What I admired about this reflection was the fact that you showed the children that there was not only one way in which you stick the confetti together and your built on their knowledge of different non-digital technologies through encouraging them to explore and discover the different options they had in front of them. I also respected your encouragement in giving facilitating their learning through allowing them opportunities to problem-solve, there this experience is a perfect example of that. It is delightful to know that the children are experiencing the non-digital tools around them, although at some stage, we, as educators, need to ensure the safety of the children by offering age-appropriate tools, as well as close supervision. I feel that you catered to the children’s needs by instilling a range of teaching strategies such as scaffolding the children’s learning, as well as building on their knowledge of things, through introducing them to other tools they could use in this experience. Arthur & Beecher (2008) encourages educators to find essential ways in which they can relate and build on their relationships with the children in their centre’s, where you could build on your engagement with the children through asking them open-ended questions, asking them what they thought and feel about the tools they have newly explored and discovered, as well as allowing the children to reflect on their own personal experience of the tools.
ReplyDeleteArthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (20008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). Victoria, Australia: CENGAGE Learning.
Kiora Ki! It is really interesting to see how children would react or respond to technology. In this instance, children are given cellotapes and staplers to support their learning and to promote their senses of creativities. “The beginnings of creativity emerge in the way that very young babies see themselves as the cause of making things happen and making people behave in certain ways. Autonomy and a sense of our own agency is a crucial part of multi-sensory experience. Predicting and experiencing are part of this” (Bruce, 2004, p73). The children welcomed the new skills in order to support their learning and to find ways to express their ideas.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you use scaffolding as teaching technique to teach the children how to use these non-digital technological items. According to Woyke, he stated that “young children learn best through hands-on learning experiences in environments well matched to their ages and stages of development” (2004, p. 82). Ki, you are obviously providing children with different resources and ideas of how to use these technological items and they are helpful in enhancing children’s learning and understanding. You are also building good relationships with children as you work alongside them to support their learning. These non -digital technological items are therefore proved to be very significant in extending and advancing the learning and development of children. Kāpai Ki!
References
Bruce, T. (2004). Cultivating creativity in babies, toddlers and young children. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Woyke, P. (2004). Hopping frogs and trail walks: Connecting young children and nature. Young Children, 59 (1), 82-85.