SERVING THE NEEDS OF YOUNG LEARNERS Dalane Bouillion, Ed.D., VLK Principal & Educational Planner Pre-Kindergarten is more than en vogue; it has become a priority, recognizing that early childhood education supports the formal foundational requirements for future success. The readiness skills that continue to develop and that are used throughout life are experienced during this delicate time of childhood. Early Childhood Education is generally grounded in a constructivist approach, which is a theoretical understanding of cognition or how young children begin to construct knowledge and begin to understand their own meaning of the world. Constructivists subscribe to the philosophy that “knowledge comes neither from the subject nor the object, but from the unity of the two.”1 Meaning, students have the ability to use their experiences and self-reflection to build schema; schema, in turn, allows for deeper understanding. Young children make sense of their world by connecting the known to the unknown. With each new experience, perception changes and builds more complex understanding. Constructivism implies active learning, where students are recognized “as thinkers with emerging theories about the world.”2 Jean Piaget, was a Swiss psychologist known for his four Stages of Cognitive Development.3 Based on his observations of young children, he classified cognitive stages into four distinctions, described in the table below: Piaget, as he observed young children, thought of them as Basic motor and sensory experiences “little scientists” because they Object permanence - objects exist although they can’t were comfortable making be seen observations and responding Names and words attached to objects to the success or failure of the Pretend play manipulation of objects in order Egocentrism to learn. This notion supports Language development evolving instructional practices Beginning of logical thinking, but often very rigid that our newest generation Struggle with abstract and hypothetical is requiring. Methodologies Begin to consider how others think and feel have evolved to support active Can identify multiple potential solutions to a problem learning, and lesson design Use deductive reasoning teaches with precision, the Conceptualizes the abstract attributes that help create the conditions for students to volunteer their time, attention, and commitment in order to engage in academic content.4 Regardless of the pedagogical approach, students are required to inquire in order to master today’s standards. They must experience and then reflect on their experience to build schema that can be translated into mastery learning.
STAGE
DESCRIPTION
Sensorimotor Birth to Two Years
• • •
Preoperational Two Years to Seven Years
• • •
Concrete Operational Seven Years to 11 Years
• • •
Formal Operational Adolescence to Adulthood
• • •
The intellectual development of children, together with curricula, should drive the design process for an early education facility. By understanding the evolution of the acquisition of knowledge and how to introduce academic content, early childhood learning centers can set young students on a path for a successful Continued on next page >>
McClatchey Elementary School, Midlothian ISD >>
2019 | EXPERIENCE | Vol. 6
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