Oxfordshire Headteachers Conference February 2018 Skill, w Ski , will a and t nd thr hrill Thinking with Learners Helen Moylett Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Dispositions to learn Our habits of mind are formed as our brains and bodies develop and we come to understand ourselves as learners. The role of adults in this process is key. When children are left to their own devices in a stimulating learning environment most will learn through playing and exploring - but this is not enough Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Teaching to Learn Te When we work with children, when we play and experiment and talk with them, when we watch them and everything they do, we are witnessing a fascinating and inspiring process: we are seeing them learn . Through our observations in everyday practice we think about what we see, and try to understand it….. and then put our understanding to good use’. Drummond (1993:13) Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
I rarely paused to listen…. ..I saw myself as the bestower of place and belonging, of custom and curriculum, too often ignoring the delicate web being constructed by the children in their constant exchange of ideas the moment I stopped talking and they resumed playing. Paley (2004:19) Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
‘You read in the books the fire alarm went off. Shouldn’t it turn on if there is a fire?’ (Ewan – nearly 5yrs old) quoted in Chilvers (2013) Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Teaching v Play? Playful, everyday activities are just as much about teaching as learning the names of shapes or remembering the sounds that letters represent. Setting up teaching and play as opposites is a false dichotomy. ( Teaching and play in the early years – a balancing act? Ofsted 2015 p5 ) Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Self-regulating learners Emotional Cognitive self-regulation self-regulation positive dispositions to learning plus awareness and control of one’s own thinking. Skill Playing and exploring • Positive feelings about engagement oneself as a learner Active learning Will • Sense of well-being • Ability to manage one’s feelings and behaviour. motivation Creating and thinking Thrill critically thinking Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Finding out and exploring ‘ What is this? What does it do?’ • sensory investigation, seeking knowledge Playing with what they know ‘What if…? What else…?’ • using symbols, flexibility of thought • theory of mind Being willing to ‘have a go’ initiating activities • seeking challenge, taking risks • ‘can do’ attitude • Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Being involved and concentrating Keeping on trying Enjoying achieving what they set out to do Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Being involved and concentrating Involvement means that there is intense mental activity, that a person is functioning at the very limits of his or her capabilities, with energy that comes from intrinsic sources. If we want deep level learning, we cannot do without involvement. -- Ferre Laevers Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Enjoying achieving what they set out to do they set out to do Intrinsic motivation More involved in learning § § Develop deeper understanding Use strategies more effectively § § Apply understanding in new situations Have more enjoyment § § Gain greater knowledge § More persistent Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Creative thinking Having their own ideas play What if? What else? Making links Choosing ways to do planning things strategies checking Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
The Self-Regulated Learner § is intrinsically motivated , seeks challenge , persists when facing difficulties and interprets failures as opportunities for learning § has a repertoire of strategies for thinking, and for doing things § uses strategies to suit particular tasks § plans , monitors how things are going changes strategies when necessary Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Sustained shared thinking Siraj and Sylva (2004) investigated developmental outcomes for children in UK preschools. Best developmental outcomes where there were frequent communicative interactions that showed ‘sustained shared thinking ’ : ‘working together in an intellectual way to solve • a problem, clarify a concept or evaluate activities. It requires all participants to contribute to the thinking and that the thinking must be extended’ This was found in only 15% of settings Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
‘I am interested not just in Playing and exploring d e g a what you know, g n e but especially in how you motivated think. Active learning Let’s talk about it.’ thinking Creating and thinking critically w o n d e r , h y p o t h e s i s c e l , a d r e i f s y c , r n i b e e g , o e t i x a p t e l a , i r n e , a s o n Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Don’t pretend think – be a thinker! ‘If teachers want their young pupils to have robust dispositions to investigate, hypothesize, experiment, conjecture and so forth, they might consider making their own such intellectual dispositions more visible to the children.’ (Katz 1995 : 65). Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Pl Planni nning ng to suppo support chi hildr dren’ n’s s learni ning ng po power We learn what we live –ensuring opportunities for • children to use their ‘learning muscles’ Scaffolding approaches to learning – modelling, • suggesting, demonstrating, discussing Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Creative and cri Cr ritical thinkers Children and adults thinking § predicting § testing § solving § reviewing § evaluating § choosing …… § … recalling, planning ahead, speculating, reasoning, explaining, justifying, making connections, imagining, reflecting, comparing, sorting out feelings… Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Questions ……..…………and Comments I can see… Oooooo.... What’s that? (describe) (social oil) I think… What colour is it ? (share ideas) So you think that … (clarify) What noise does it make? I wonder..... (express curiosity) Let’s think what to I’d really like to know about He might… try... this… (speculate) (discuss strategies) (be a learner) Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Teacher: Wow! Look at your shoes! That is so cool. They light up when you step down. Child 1: Yes, they do this. [Jumps up and down several times] Teacher: How does that happen? How does it light up? Child 1: Because they are new. Teacher: Um. Mine are new too but they don’t light up. Child 2: No, because they light up when you step down on them. [Steps down hard several times] Teacher: [Steps down hard several times] That’s funny. Mine don’t light up when I step down. Child 3: No, no, no, you have to have these holes [points to the holes] Teacher: [Pointing to the holes in her own shoe] But I have holes and mine still don’t light up, and Josh has holes in his trainers too and his do not light up either. I wonder why? Child 4: I think you need batteries. Kids, you need batteries. Child 1: Yeah, you need batteries to make them work. [Thinks for a while]. But I did not see batteries when I put my toes in. Child 4: I think they are under the toes. Child 2: I can’t feel the batteries under my toes. Teacher: I wonder how we can find out about this? (Sylva 2013) Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Shared control Neither directive nor “ anything-goes ” atmosphere. Instead, a supportive climate in which adults and children are partners throughout the day. HighScope Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
Self-re Sel regulated, not no t othe thers-re regulated Our role is to help children develop the ability to manage their • feelings • thinking • actions This takes lots of practice! Early y Learning Consu sultancy cy tailored early years training and support
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