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REFLECTIONS
“Starting with Observations”
by Jim
Therrell, ECE Network Facilitator
(Asst.
Professor of Education, Northwestern Oklahoma State University)
While I
educate early childhood teachers-to-be, it’s important for me to
continue interacting with and observing children in order to move my
current teaching and research toward more meaningful outcomes for
student teachers. While ideally it may be better to start with
theory, many factors mitigate against this (mostly the time and
effort required). In my experience, starting with observations
appears to be a common practice among teachers. It’s easier and more
timely.
Last
month, while playing with my 6-year-old daughter (it helps to have
ready access to children), I noticed she was having difficulty
cleaning up her play area. It was quite a mess and may have looked
like an overwhelming task to her. I thought some structure might
help her, so I proposed: “How about if you put 10 items away, then
I’ll help you with the rest.” She said “okay,” then promptly
finished the task, counting to ten as she did so. I was amazed at
her willingness to accept this challenge and her efficiency in
completing the task. My hope is that she continued to learn an
independent work habit (even though I helped her with the second
half) as well as teamwork (when we finished the clean-up together).
Upon
immediate reflection, it seemed that cleaning up became easier for
her when presented with an appropriate challenge and a reward for
completion (my help). More importantly, I relearned that my
reflection was based on numerous prior observations, and I realized
(again) that in-depth knowledge of my child, or any child, is only
obtained through persistent, careful, even heartfelt, observations.
But why
suggest counting to ten? Because of her current struggle to
understand basic relationships between numbers (e.g., greater than
and less than), my thinking was to incorporate some type of numeracy
activity into the clean-up routine. Again, such thinking was based
on many prior observations about what was meaningful and of an
appropriate challenge level to her. As such, her construction of
knowledge was based not so much on my preferences, but rather from
her perspective -- which I had gained in part through observation.
Finally,
as a teacher-researcher, I used my observations to continue a cycle
of praxis, where learning results through exploring and
understanding practice and theory. This was a structured task
(practice) to better inform theory, namely, cognitive load theory (Sweller,
1988). Sweller constructs a theory that
views schemas, or combinations of elements, as the cognitive
structures that make up an individual's knowledge base. The
difference between an expert and a novice is that a novice hasn't
acquired the schemas of an expert (sounds like Vygotsky and Piaget
in the same breath!). While not a perfect fit, it’s plausible that
my daughter was experiencing some type of cognitive overload (other
theories apply as well, but space does not permit their perusal).
Lessons (Re)Learned
Observations can become the foundation for more productive
decision-making (for both parent and teacher). Experimenting with
ideas outside the classroom can pay big dividends in the classroom,
and may build bridges that better inform practice and theory
(whether in behalf of student teachers or young children). Lastly,
while a great deal of research focuses on curriculum and instruction
from the adult perspective, this story serves as a reminder that
what usually goes missing in the reflective practitioner literature
are the young students. Observations can be lead to more productive
directions and outcomes when focused on the child’s perspective.
References:
Sweller, J., Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on
learning, Cognitive Science, 12, 257-285 (1988).
Send
your comments or questions to Jim Therrell, ECE Network Facilitator:
jatherrell@nwosu.edu so that we may include them in future
newsletters.
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