“Learning Development”

 

“Learning Development”

Learning is an active process. All parents/carers and teacher who have observed children in learning situations can testify just how actively they are involved when they are interested. For example, they can be completely absorbed in the story that they are listening to or in the pretens game that they are playing. Children learn through their explorations and play, and through opportunities to talk things through with others, usually adults. Jean Piaget, referred to active learning as constructivism. He suggested that children construct knowledge for themselves by actively making sense of their environment. According to Piaget the process of assimilation is the child assimilates information to fit their own interpretation of the world and existing ways of thinking (i.e. all animals are hatched from eggs). At a later stage, perhaps, in a conversation about animals, a parent might explain that piglets are not hatched from eggs. At this point the child will have to adapt or change their way of thinking to accommodate these new ideas. Piaget refers to this process of accommodation.

Piaget’s stages of development:

• 1.     Sensori-motor stage (from birth to two years of age): The young child learns to interact with the environment by manipulating object around him
• 2.     Pre-operational stage (from two to seven years of age): The child’s thinking is largely reliant on perception but he or she gradually becomes of logical thinking. On the whole this stage is characterized by egocentrism (kind of self- centeredness) and lack of logical thinking.
• 3.     Concrete operational stage (from seven to 11 years of age): year seven is the ‘turning point’ in cognitive development because children’s thinking begins to resemble ‘logical’ adult-like thinking. They develop the ability to apply logical reasoning in several areas of knowledge at the same time (such as math, science, or map reading) but this ability is restricted to the immediate context. This means that children at this stage cannot yet generalize their understanding.
• 4.     Formal operational stage (from 11 years onwards): Children are able to think beyond this immediate context in more abstract terms. They are able to carry out logical operations such as deductive reasoning in a systematic way.

The importance of language for learning, the language used in interactions with parents/carers and teacher is important because it is the vehicle through which understanding and learning take place. One of the most important tools parents/carers use to regulate their children’s leraning is language: in particular, dialogues. Using language, they remind children what they already know, explain how to go about solving problems and in general support their learning.

Children within the same age group may show similar characteristics, but at the same time they are also individuals with differing strengths and preferences as learners. While teachers can benefit from familiarizing themselves with the universal aspects of children’s development, it is also important that this is balanced out with focus on the individual child. Teachers will have to use their best judgement in deciding about the most suitable materials and techniques to fit learners of different ages in different context. Learning about the children by talking to them, observing them, and talking to their parents/carers can help teachers to understand the children they are working with.  By incorporating variety into everyday practice, teachers of children can make their lessons full of stimulation for all learner types an intelligences.