Child development is a broad term that specifies areas a child develops physically, emotionally, and psychologically. One of the areas that is categorised under child development is the approaches to learning a child makes. Approaches to Learning can be affected by a child’s engagement, involvement in work both in the classroom and beyond and how they interpret and relate to what they have learned. This page will focus on two approaches to learning; ways of learning and personalised learning.
WAYS OF LEARNING…
Ways of learning within the classroom can be affected by a range of factors including seating arrangements, approaches to teaching and the environment the learning takes place in (TLRP, 2006). As teachers, we need to consider all of these factors for learning to be most productive.
In the classroom, you may have observed teachers deploying a variety of strategies to enable children to develop socially and intellectually. This may be in the form of working in groups and in pairs. Vygotsky’s theory of Social Constructivism emphasises how children develop through interaction with others and that learning should be a collaborative process. This collaborative process involves the learner and a more knowledgeable other (MKO) i.e. teachers, parents and peers and should allow opportunities for ideas to be shared and developed upon (Pritchard, 2009). This social approach to learning can be applied extensively across the curriculum in the form of carpet time, pairs and groups.
(Whittingham, 2013)
Carpet time is a valuable context for learning for children to develop intellectually from a MKO. The teacher is able to educate children on theories and guide children to have a better understanding of the topic/issue being studied. I believe whole class teaching in the form of carpet time challenges children of all abilities to learn with each other, it encourages exploration of the topic being studied and common misconceptions can be addressed. In contrast, the teacher may struggle to differentiate learning in terms of pace and content. High ability children could become bored if the pace is too slow, likewise low ability children may lose engagement if the area being explored is too challenging.
Pair work can remove pressure from individuals with confidence issues by discussing learning on a 1:1 basis rather than as a whole class. Both children need to be engaged and involved in this approach, so from a teacher’s perspective it provides an opportunity where all children can be involved in speaking and listening simultaneously. However, teachers do need to monitor this type of learning to ensure the task set has been fulfilled. Pair work could become demotivating if used too frequently and without purpose, children may not feel challenged, therefore intellectual development could suffer.
Working in groups can provide opportunities for children to develop on peer ideas when participating in discussion. Children are often encouraged to interpret and develop on what has been discussed which allows for a deeper understanding than if working individually. A report of the Cambridge Primary Review states that ‘Development and learning are shaped by social and communicative interactions’ (Alexander, 2010 p.279). For this reason, teachers need to provide opportunities for children to work in groups to gain the social collaborative experience. However, it is important not to simply set a group of children the same task whereby they are working individually, as the social element becomes abandoned. Children should be able to communicate with one another to develop learning.
There are two types of groupings that teachers may apply. These are ability groups and mixed ability groups. Mixed ability groupings could potentially benefit lower attaining children. These children may be encouraged to work with greater engagement and motivation in order that they equal their peers. In addition, higher attaining pupils may adopt a sense of responsibility over their less able peers. However, higher attaining children may become restricted in learning and may not be challenged. Lower attaining children could have the reverse effect of lower self-esteem and a lack in confidence. Ability groupings also show many positive outcomes. Children can improve confidence and gain greater self-esteem knowing that their progress of learning is at a similar rate of their peers. This then may allow for greater engagement and involvement within the area of focus. Nevertheless, children may not be challenged or stretched to their greatest potential.
PERSONALISED LEARNING…
(Boutcher et al, 2010)
Personalised learning is a highly structured and responsive approach to learning for each individual child and young person. It creates an ethos in which all pupils are able to progress, achieve and participate. It strengthens the link between learning and teaching by engaging pupils and their parents as partners (DfE, 2012).
Personalised learning in education aims to create learning experiences that are tailored to meet the needs of all children in regards to development, ability, culture and race (Dean, 2006). In order to do this, the teacher needs to have a firm understanding of the children he/she is working with and should ask themselves, how does this child learn best? And does their learning differ across the curriculum? Teachers could approach personalised learning by targeting groups of children that demonstrate similar ability and development.
The environment in which we teach should be carefully constructed in terms of layout and displays. What supports one class/year group will not necessarily assist the next. Lindon explains that teachers should consider how classrooms can be used by all to create valuable learning experiences (Lindon, 2005). The classroom shouldn’t be designed to simply look nice, but should act as a resource for both the teacher and the children. It should support children’s development emotionally and intellectually. Including interactive displays and displaying children’s work are just two ways of applying this.
Here are some classroom displays that may give you an idea of how you can develop your own classroom environment. Click on the image to enlarge.
(Smith, 2013) (Bell, 2103) (Bali88, 2012)
(Twinkl, 2013) (Moss, 2013)
In 2008, a government guide for personalised learning by the Department for children, schools and families (DCFS) described the key features as:
- High quality teaching and learning
- Ongoing evaluation
- A variety of learning approaches
- Engaging with children
- Engaging with parents
- Joining with other providers
- Access to opportunities and activities outside of the school day
- Raising expectations of and for children and young people (Alexander, 2010 p.285)
The focus point here is predominately about how the teacher and child work together to personalise learning rather than what the child is engaged in. Hargreaves identified that children should be independent and take responsibility over their learning in order to be successful and engage in learning (Alexander, 2010). This could be applied in the context of encouraging children to collaborate with teachers about what they will be learning, setting personal targets and being more involved in the process of assessment for learning.
Below is a short video about how two teachers implement personalised learning within the classroom.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES…
Injini child development iPad app- It is designed for early years children and children with S.E.N.D to develop and practice fundamental skills such as fine motor, cause and effect understanding, spatial awareness, memory, differentiation, response inhibition, visual processing and language delays. The learning game is available from iTunes at £20.99. (NCSOFT, 2013)
Forming mixed ability groups:
| Seasons (into four groups) | All children born in the Spring form one group; all born in the Winter form another group, and so on. |
| Birds of a feather (forming small groups) | Give each child a card with a different kind of bird drawn and/or picture on it. Children are to find the person(s) with the bird that matches theirs. You can use any category for this (i.e. numbers, letters, planets, flags). |
| Lollypop sticks | Children’s names are written on lollypop sticks and placed inside a pot so names aren’t visible. Pull out the desired amount of sticks at a time to create groups. |
| Deck of cards | Pass out one playing card to each child. Children can be separated by the same number, suite, evens and odds. |
| Class line | Children line up in order of the initial of their first or last name, age, house number etc. The teacher can then go along the line and divide into desired group numbers. |
References
Alexander, R (2010). Children, their World, their Education. Abingdon: Routledge. 279.
Bali88. (2012). Pinterest. Available:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/477803841686428067/. Last accessed 24th November 2013.
Bell, N. (2013). Pinterest. Available:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/374713631466878913/. Last accessed 25th November
2013.
Boutcher,S, Forde, A and Bennett, S. (2010). IMJack as an aid to personalised learning. Available: http://imjackblog.wordpress.com/. Last accessed 30th Oct 2013. Dean, J (2006). Meeting the learning needs of all children: personalised learning in the primary school. Abingdon: Routledge. 1
Department for Education (DfE). (2012). Personalised Learning. Available: http://www.education.gov.uk/vocabularies/educationtermsandtags/5867. Last accessed 20th November 2013.
Lindon, J (2005). Understanding child development: linking theory and practice. London : Hodder Education
Moss, R. (2013). Pinterest. Available: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/318629742357832275/. Last accessed 25th November 2013.
NCSOFT. (2013). Injini: Child Development Game Suite. Available:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/injini-child-development-game/id452962000?mt=8.
Last accessed 27th November 2013.
Pritchard, A (2009). Ways of learning: Learning Theories and Learning Styles in the Classroom. 2nd Ed. Abingdon: Routledge. 24
Smith, L. (2013). Pinterest. Available:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/420734790158250562/. Last accessed 25th November
2013.
Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). (2006). Improving Teaching and Learning in Schools. Available: http://www.tlrp.org/pub/documents/TLRP_Schools_Commentary_FINAL.pdf. Last accessed 30th October 2013.
Twinkl Primary Teaching Resources. (2013). Pinterest. Available:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/171207223308053089/. Last accessed 27th November
2013.
Whittingham, J. (2013). The Pros and Cons of Going to Uni. Available: http://www.gradquiz.com/studentvine/2013/09/the-pros-and-cons-of-going-to-uni/. Last accessed 31st Oct 2013.
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