Friday, 13 December 2013
Friday, 30 August 2013
How do children learn?
I've been trying to make a start on a page on my new website that considers and discusses how children learn since this seems as important as asking what education is for. On looking at a blank page I realised the enormity of the task ahead of me. So much has been written on the subject and whilst I could begin with a summary of the various popular learning theories in psychology such as Piaget and Vygotksy this would not be enough since there are so many additional theories to consider. So, I avoided the task by doing some web surfing!! Whilst doing this I came across Sandra Dodd's website which, on her page about unschooling, starts with the words "People learn by...". And this is when something really important occurred to me.
It seems that we consider children as almost like a different species to adults, and in that respect what we neglect to remember in discussions such as 'How do children learn?' is that children are people. So, perhaps the question we should be asking is not how children learn but how people learn. But here are some other questions this brought to mind:
a) are we concerned more with how children learn because they are 'untainted' by socialised methods of learning that adults have been subject to, and;
b) why do we want to know how children learn? Is it to help them learn better or more or is to make the best use of how they learn in order for us to teach them what we want them to learn?
It would seem that to truly understand how children learn without being 'tainted' by specific methods of teaching or directing learning that we would need to leave a child to their own devices, but would this be ethical and could we truly leave them to learn fully autonomously without any adult intervention?
So, what influence then do adults have in children's learning and how does this influence affect the way they learn? This is not an easy question to answer since we could look to children's learning before they attend any formal learning context but this would not tell us any more about adult influence on learning because adults influence children's learning in informal contexts. They provide the stimulus, the situations, the contexts, the support, the encouragement or not, etc etc etc.
Perhaps the question 'How do children learn?' is not so much a methodological problem but an ethical one. Learning occurs through many means some of which are not always pleasant. The question, in relation to considering what 'suitable education' is, seems to be more about optimal learning, valuable learning, easier less painful learning etc etc. So it seems, that in terms of suitable education, the discussion has gone beyond 'how do children learn?' to 'what is the most suitable way for children to learn?' and this brings up a set of additional issues and concepts to consider.
It seems that we consider children as almost like a different species to adults, and in that respect what we neglect to remember in discussions such as 'How do children learn?' is that children are people. So, perhaps the question we should be asking is not how children learn but how people learn. But here are some other questions this brought to mind:
a) are we concerned more with how children learn because they are 'untainted' by socialised methods of learning that adults have been subject to, and;
b) why do we want to know how children learn? Is it to help them learn better or more or is to make the best use of how they learn in order for us to teach them what we want them to learn?
It would seem that to truly understand how children learn without being 'tainted' by specific methods of teaching or directing learning that we would need to leave a child to their own devices, but would this be ethical and could we truly leave them to learn fully autonomously without any adult intervention?
So, what influence then do adults have in children's learning and how does this influence affect the way they learn? This is not an easy question to answer since we could look to children's learning before they attend any formal learning context but this would not tell us any more about adult influence on learning because adults influence children's learning in informal contexts. They provide the stimulus, the situations, the contexts, the support, the encouragement or not, etc etc etc.
Perhaps the question 'How do children learn?' is not so much a methodological problem but an ethical one. Learning occurs through many means some of which are not always pleasant. The question, in relation to considering what 'suitable education' is, seems to be more about optimal learning, valuable learning, easier less painful learning etc etc. So it seems, that in terms of suitable education, the discussion has gone beyond 'how do children learn?' to 'what is the most suitable way for children to learn?' and this brings up a set of additional issues and concepts to consider.
Monday, 12 August 2013
Suitable education and perceptions of childhood
Is a definition of suitable education linked to how children and what constitutes childhood are percieved?
Initial thoughts...
I've been reading quite a bit about children's rights and children's citizenship recently and an interesting argument that I have come accross is that there appears to be a prevailing view of children as citizens in waiting. This view, it is suggested, is borne from a dominant developmental psychology perspective of children as adults in the making and therefore their experiences and perceptions are constantly considered as rooted in and related to their future and their future potential rather than who they are and what they are experiencing in the present. Because of this view of children as citizens in waiting, consultation with children and their participation in decision making is limited based upon their perceived lack of maturity as well as the desire to protect them from making potentially disasterous decisions due to lack of experience.
The problem is how to balance the legitimate concerns to protect children with the inclusion of children as citizens with the right to agency.
Thursday, 18 July 2013
The relationship between perspectives of suitable education and disaffection
Disaffection
Initial Thoughts
School disaffection is often considered in relation to truancy, exclusion, challenging behaviour and poor educational outcomes. However, when looking at some of the more current research around disaffection such a perspective may be considered narrow and not necessarily indicative of the true extent of disaffection in our schools. There are many ways of conceptualising disaffection and I wonder what the relationship is between how disaffection is conceptualised and how 'suitable education' is also conceptualised?What is the purpose of education?
The
starting point for any discussion about 'suitable education', it seems, is to determine what the purpose of education is and
what we want to achieve from it. This is an important question in the
discussion about what constitutes a 'suitable education’ since assumptions
about the purpose of education will underpin how education should occur or
progress. For example, if one holds the view that the purpose of
education is to get a job then 'suitable education' is likely to be defined in
terms of the skills and knowledge needed to reach that outcome. Whereas,
a view of the purpose of education being to produce rounded and participatory
citizens is likely to include other skills and knowledge. The common
factors seem to be, in this respect, skills and knowledge development.
Although, these are not the only factors that may be included in an
understanding of the purpose of education. There may be other factors
such as building relationships, self-awareness, enlightenment, survival etc. However, I think we don't all agree about the
purpose of education since, in a pluralist society a number of ideologies exist.
What is the purpose of education and should it be the same
for everyone?
Go to my page on child and compulsory education for a discussion...
Also linked is the page about schooling
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