Primary Education Part 2 - Module 1 Content

The Learner and the Teacher in Primary Education

The Nature of the Learner

Quicklinks

	How Do Children Learn
	Vygotsky's Influence on Primary Education
	Special Needs of Students
	Long-Term Goals in Building the Learner's Enthusiasm for Learning

In Primary Education, Part 1, we reviewed:

the learner's social and emotional development in terms of Erikson's and Maslow's work;

the learner's cognitive development in terms of Piaget's and Vygotsky's work;

the learner's language development in terms of general principles of language development and functions of language, (Halliday);

the learner's physical development;

and building a child's profile beginning with these general patterns of the primary-aged student's development.

In Primary Education, Part 2, we extend our understanding of the primary child's developmental patterns. While in Part 1 we examined each domain individually, in Part 2, we consider them holistically.

"One of the most important constants throughout human development is that all domains of development - physical, social, emotional and cognitive are interrelated. Development in one dimension influences and is influenced by development in other realms. When schools focus solely on the cognitive domain, ignoring or slighting other aspects of children's development, they violate this fundamental principle."

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.). (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs.

Washington, DC: NAEYC, 144

The younger primary child:		The older primary child:
perceives the world from his/her point of view;		perceives the world from other people's point of view;
needs to discuss and demonstrate activities and thoughts;		needs to talk and express in many ways his/her actions and thoughts and to be involved in the actions and thoughts of others;
is curious and needs to manipulate things in the immediate environment;		is curious and needs to manipulate things manually; he/she is beginning to manipulate mentally things that are not present;
perceives things in whole or in part, but may not be capable of perceiving interrelationships;		is beginning to see the relationships of parts of things to whole things;
often acts without considering the consequences of actions;		can usually predict and consider possible outcomes;
needs to follow activities through to satisfactory conclusions;		needs to feel in control of the situations in which he/she is involved;
searches for patterns in order to understand reality;		makes sense of the world by organizing things;
needs to feel secure and to develop a sense of well-being;		needs to feel secure and to develop a sense of well-being;
needs to experience success.		needs to experience success.
Shared discovery: Teaching and learning in the primary years. (Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education, 1985), 6 & 7.

How Do Children Learn

"Teachers know how to recognize strengths and weaknesses of students."

Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession p.9

As you observe and interact with the children, you must also attend to how each child learns.
You must notice and document the following:

1.	the type and amount of teacher support each child needs in order to internalize a concept or strategy;
2.	how each child responds to various instructional mediations;
3.	whether the child is able to generalize a concept or strategy from one situation to another;
4.	the degree of concrete support (e.g., manipulatives, self-help tools, aids to making visual comparisons) a child needs in order to begin to manipulate concepts mentally (abstractly);
5.	the contextual factors (e.g., specific kinds of learning events, topics of study, types of explicit instruction or mediation, noise level, visual distracters, independent or collaborative learning) that seem to result in the child's engagement or disengagement;
6.	how the child seems to process information and to make connections;
7.	how much wait time the child needs in order to solve a problem (to generate possible solutions, cross-check the possibilities, and evaluate the selected solution);
8.	the length of time a child needs to complete a task and the amount of refocusing he or she may need to complete a task at all.
	Wishon, P.M., Crabtree, K., & Jones, M.E. (Eds.). (1998). Curriculum for the primary years: An integrative approach.
	Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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Vygotsky's Influence on Primary Education

Vygotsky identified four concepts related to observing the child and planning appropriate program.

1. Children constuct knowledge.

2. Learning can lead development.

Vygotsky described a level of independent performance, a level of assisted performance and zone of proximal development between the two levels. Determining the match between the child's "zone of proximal development" and the curriculum is the art of teaching.

3. Development cannot be separated from social context.

4. Language plays a central role in mental development.

In practice, Vygotsky's theory has helped us understand the importance of:
1.Scaffolding as a teaching strategy
The effective teacher, trying to determine the independent level and what kind of assistance the learner needs, asks questions such as:

"What do you already know about ...?"
"Will you (write, draw, act out) what you already know?"
"What more do you want to find out about ...?"
"How will you go about finding that information?"

2. Assessing process as well as product

Assessment should consider both the independent level and the assisted level of performance.

3. Peer teaching cooperative learning

Programming strategies recognize the importance of focused talk between and among students in learning.

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Special Needs of Students

(can generally be grouped under the following categories)

Intellectual Needs and Abilities	Gifted Developmentally challenged
Behavioural Needs	Emotional difficulties Social maladjustment
Communication Needs	Learning disability Language impairment Hearing impairment Speech and language impairment
Physical Needs	Visual impairment Orthopaedic or physical challenges

Equity and Inclusion

Considerations

• Diversity should be honoured but a focus on differences can be self-destructive. (David Elkind)
• Cross-cultural education is not a set of activities that are added to the curriculum, but rather a perspective.
• Focusing on similarities concentrates on the fact that humans everywhere share in the human experience.
• Children who understand similarities among people are less likely to fear, mistrust, and stereotype others.

The world over, in all societies, people share the following commonalities:
	• art forms • group rules • social organization • basic needs • language

Seefeldt, C. (1993). Social Studies for the pre-school primary child. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.

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Long-Term Goals in Building the Learner's Enthusiasm for Learning

Teachers should ensure that four to eight-year-old children:

1.	are excited about learning at school and outside school;
2.	are curious about the world and initiate investigations independently;
3.	are capable of generating and investigating questions;
4.	think critically, creatively, and in a problem-solving manner;
5.	think like scientists, artists, mathematicians, social scientists, and authors;
6.	know how to tackle and solve problems independently and collaboratively;
7.	perceive (and are capable of using) reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking, as tools for investigating and sharing their learning;
8.	reflect on the goals they have established for themselves and monitor their efforts to achieve, and possibly extend, those goals as appropriate;
9.	perceive learning as continuous, developing, and never-ending;
10.	develop conceptual understandings about their world, as well as the information needed to support those understandings;
11.	develop a familiarity with many aspects of their world while also having ample opportunities to explore areas of personal interests in depth.

Wishon, P., Crabtree, K., & Jones, M.E. (Eds.). (1998). Curriculum for the primary years: An integrative approach . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

http://davidsonfilms.com/develope.htm Guide to videotape: Vygotsky

http://davidsonfilms.com/erikerik.htm Guide to videotape: Erikson

http://davidsonfilms.com/using.htm Guide to videotape: Piaget

http://www.naeyc.org National Association for the Education of Young Children

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lrlzpda.htm

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1.	Children constuct knowledge.
2.	Learning can lead development.
	Vygotsky described a level of independent performance, a level of assisted performance and zone of proximal development between the two levels. Determining the match between the child's "zone of proximal development" and the curriculum is the art of teaching.
3.	Development cannot be separated from social context.
4.	Language plays a central role in mental development.

In practice, Vygotsky's theory has helped us understand the importance of: 1.Scaffolding as a teaching strategy The effective teacher, trying to determine the independent level and what kind of assistance the learner needs, asks questions such as:
	"What do you already know about ...?" "Will you (write, draw, act out) what you already know?" "What more do you want to find out about ...?" "How will you go about finding that information?"

2.	Assessing process as well as product
Assessment should consider both the independent level and the assisted level of performance.

3.	Peer teaching cooperative learning
Programming strategies recognize the importance of focused talk between and among students in learning.

http://davidsonfilms.com/develope.htm		Guide to videotape: Vygotsky
http://davidsonfilms.com/erikerik.htm		Guide to videotape: Erikson
http://davidsonfilms.com/using.htm		Guide to videotape: Piaget
http://www.naeyc.org		National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lrlzpda.htm