K3D210- How current theories of play can inform practice There are many theories into how children develop and how they learn. These are extremely important as they can be applied to modern strategies used for child behaviours. Presently, learning theories are placed into 3 categories: Behaviourist approaches – children learn as a result of what they see and what happens to them. Constructivist approaches – children learn actively rather than passively. Information processing- children learn cognitively. There have been many theorists who have opposing views on how and why children behave and how they learn.
I will discuss 4 theorists, their theories and how they have influenced and shaped work with children. JEAN PIAGET was born in Switzerland. He was a zoologist before developing an interest in philosophy, in particular the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge – ‘epistemology’. He studied clinical psychology at a Paris university and pursued his interest in philosophy further. While in Paris, Piaget worked on the standardization of intelligence tests. His role was to record the correct responses of children but during this time he became much more interested in the mistakes that children made.
Piaget came to believe that by studying children’s errors it could provide an insight into their cognitive processes. Piaget conducted many studies over many years and believed the best way to study children was in their natural environments. Piaget even studied his own children to make detailed observations and gradually developed a theory that was to become very influential. His theory of learning is often referred to as a ‘Constructivist approach’. This is due to his belief that children constructed or built up their thoughts according to their experiences of the world around them.
Piaget felt that learning was an ongoing process and children would adapt their original ideas if a new piece of information seemed to contradict their conclusions. For example, a group of toddlers may come to believe that milk is served from a green beaker, this is due to the fact that it has always been served this way. If one day they are served water instead of milk from the green beaker then the toddlers will have to reconsider their original conclusions regarding the green beaker. Piaget used specific vocabulary to describe the process of children learning in this way: ASSIMILATION.
The child constructs a theory (schema). EQUILIBRIUM. The child’s experiences to date seem to fit the schema (everything balances). DISEQUILIBRIUM. An experience occurs that casts doubt on the effectiveness of the schema (things don’t add up any more). ACCOMMODATION. The child changes the original schema to fit the new piece of experience or information. After many years of study Piaget believed that children develop schemas based on their direct experiences. This helps us to understand why children’s thinking can be different to our own. As children’s experiences broaden so does the development of their thinking.
Piaget grouped the stages of children’s intellectual development into 4 stages. STAGE- Sensori-motor APPROXIMATE AGE- 0-2 years CHARACTERISTICS- The infant knows about the world through actions and sensory information. The child begins to use symbols, such as language and develops the capacity to form internal mental representations. STAGE- Pre-operational APPROXIMATE AGE- 2-7 years CHARACTERISTICS- Through the use of language and problem solving children begin to understand about the classification of objects.
Thinking is characterised by egocentrism. Children focus on only one aspect of a task and lack the ability to compensate and lack reversibility. By the end of this stage children can take another’s perspective. Children also understand the conservation of number. STAGE- Concrete operational APPROXIMATE AGE- 7-11 years CHARACTERISTICS- Children understand conservation of mass, length, volume and weight and can more easily take the perspective of others. Children can classify and order, as well as organise objects into series.
The child is still tied to the immediate experience but within these limitations can perform logical mental operations. For example, can solve mental problems using counters and objects. STAGE- Formal Operational APPROXIMATE AGE- 11-15 years CHARACTERISTICS- Abstract reasoning begins. Children can now manipulate ideas, can speculate about the possible, can reason deductively and formulate and test hypothesis. Piaget developed a workable theory that has had considerable implications for education, most notably for child-centred learning methods in nursery and infant schools.
Piaget argued that young children think quite differently from adults so therefore the teacher should adapt the teaching methods to suit the child. For example, nursery school classrooms can provide children with play materials that encourage their learning. Using sets of toys that encourage the practice of sorting, grading and counting. Play areas, where children can develop role-taking skills through imaginative play. Materials like water, sand, bricks and crayons that help children make their own constructions and create symbolic representations of objects and people in their lives.
A teacher’s role is to create the conditions in which learning may best take place. As Piaget’s theory of child development is put into practice in nurseries and infant schools today I believe it is safe to say that his approach is very workable and provides standard of teaching through play with the concept that the child sets the pace of learning and the adult adapts to the pace set by the child. BURRHUS FREDERIC SKINNER was born on 20th March 1904 in Pennsylvania. Initially Skinner decided to attend Hamilton College in New York with the intention of becoming a writer. He received a B.
A in English Literature in 1926. After attempting to become a writer of fiction for a year after his graduation, Skinner decided that he did not possess enough world experience and no strong personal perspective from which to write. During this time, Skinner had begun to take more interest in the actions and behaviours of those around him, and some of his short stories had taken on a psychological slant. He decided to abandon literature and seek admission to Harvard University as a graduate student in psychology. Whilst he was still a student, Skinner invented the Operant Conditioning Chamber.
The behavioural response or action of the subject within the chamber (usually a lab rat) was measured when the subject was delivered a primary reinforcer or unconditioned stimulus such as food or water. A cumulative recorder was invented to graphically record the results of the tests. This provided a powerful analytical tool for studying schedules of reinforcement. This became known as Operant Conditioning. The essence of the operant conditioning theory is that learning is based on the type of consequence or reinforcement that follows an initial behaviour.
Skinner suggested that people tend to be active in the learning process due to his belief that humans and animals learn through exploring the environment and then drawing conclusions based on the consequences of their behaviour. Skinner divided the consequences of actions into 3 groups: Positive reinforcers are likely to make people repeat their behaviour when they get something that they want (e. g. they may buy a new food product after having tried and liked a free sample). Skinner believed that using positive reinforcements was the most effective way of encouraging new learning.
Positive reinforcers for children include gaining adult’s attention, praise, stickers, sweets and treats. Negative reinforcers are likely to make people to repeat the behaviour aswell, but the difference is that the behaviour is repeated to stop something happening. A child may learn to use their hands to slow their decent on a slide if they feel unhappy about the speed at which they are decending. Punishers are likely to stop people from repeating behaviour. For example children may learn to stay away from a fire after receiving a burn.
Operant conditioning is recognised as being used in education to encourage positive behaviour from pupils. Wanted behaviour is rewarded either by adult attention or stickers and reward charts etc. Children at play can be rewarded with stickers or a team point for displaying positive behaviour such as sharing a toy, inviting other children who may be alone to participate in the activity, being kind and considerate to another’s feelings. These children will be more likely to continue to be positive role models as their wanted behaviour has been recognised and rewarded. Negative behaviour should be ignored unless it is dangerous.
This attention seeking from an adult can be a positive reinforcer even though the child is being reprimanded. FRIEDRICH FROBEL was born in Thuringia on the 21st April 1782. At the age of 15 Frobel, who loved nature, became the apprentice to a forester. In 1799 he decided to leave his apprenticeship to study mathematics and botany. He later worked with Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi who was a Swiss educational reformer, in Switzerland where he developed his ideas further. In 1840 Frobel coined the word ‘Kindergarten’ for the play and activity institute he had founded in 1837 for young children.
He designed education materials which included geometric building blocks and pattern activity blocks. These were known as Frobel Gifts. Frobel’s great insight was to recognise the importance of the activity of the child in learning. Activities in the first Kindergarten included singing, dancing, gardening and playing with the Frobel Gifts. Thanks to Frobel, children today are educated through a range of activities and materials. This means that children are able to learn through play. JEROME BRUNER was born on the 1st October 1915 and is an American psychologist.
He has contributed to cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory in educational psychology and to the general philosophy of education. Bruner is currently a senior research fellow at the New York University of law. In his research on the development of children in 1966, Bruner proposed 3 modes of representation: MODE: Enactive (action-based) APPROXIMATE AGE: 0-1 YEARS DESCRIPTION AND USE: Through repeating physical movements people of all ages can learn certain types of skill, for example tying shoelaces or learning to drive a car.
This is the first type of cognitive skill that Bruner suggests babies are able to use. MODE: Iconic (image-based) APPROXIMATE AGE: 1-7 YEARS DESCRIPTION AND USE: An icon is something that is visual, and Bruner suggested that the iconic mode involves people building up a picture of things they have experienced in their minds. They may, for example, be able to shut their eyes and imagine the room they are in. MODE: Symbolic (language-based) APPROXIMATE AGE: 7+ YEARS DESCRIPTION AND USE: Bruner felt that at around 7 years of age, children’s thinking drastically changed.
Bruner linked this change to the child’s ability to use symbols but particularly to the use of language. In symbolic mode, thinking can take place without people having direct experience; for example, they may listen to the news on the radio and retain this information, even though they have not directly witnessed the events mentioned. Bruner believed that cognitive development can be speeded up if it is stimulated. He is well known for the spiral curriculum. This is the idea that children can look at subjects at different times in their lives at different levels of complexity.
Water, for example, can be enjoyed by babies whilst splashing in the bath but an older child can enjoy water on another level. This could be by exploring the volume of water using different sized containers during play. Adults have an important role in the development of children’s cognitive skills. Working alongside children during play and asking questions helps to vocalise children’s thoughts. All of the theories discussed have impacted on education and children’s play in a positive way. The theories have been adapted to reflect today’s modern teaching standards and the way children can learn through play.
