21st Century Learning - contexts

Introduction to Blog Journal – contexts of learning

I have created a blog in order to explore different types of contexts within 21^st century learning. Within the blog, four different posts have been developed to explore the contexts I personally have an interest in. The four contexts I have focused on are: Play, Montessori education, outdoor learning and home education.

Within each of these contexts I have provided a reason as to why these topics are of an interest and the significant aspect to each one. Within play, I have investigated the developmental factors of a child and how these are incorporated in play. Montessori has spurred the most interest and a focus into how Montessori education was founded and the ideas behind Montessori education is highlighted in this post. The benefits of learning are examined within outdoor learning and an insight into the developmental areas of a child and the types of skills that can be encouraged in the outdoor environment. Finally, home learning was another interesting topic, and an explanation of the legalities and motives behind home education is researched.

Each post has a variety of photographs and videos to emphasis the importance of each context. Labels have also been added to guide your reading; all posts will be found under assignment however I have included separate labels should the reader wish to be directed to each single post. 

Reference List

A The National Archives (2011) Retrieved 22^nd April 2013 from legislation.gov.uk. 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/7

Almon, J. (2003) The Vital Role of Play in Early Childhood Education. In Olfman S (2003) All Work and No Play…how educational reforms are harming our pre-schoolers (p17-48). Westport: Praeger Publisher.  

Arora, T. C. M. J. (2006), ‘Elective home education and special educational needs’, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 6, 1, pp55-66.

Bergen, D. (2002) ‘The role of pretend play in children’s cognitive development’, Early Childhood Research & Practice, 4, 1.

Bilton, H. (2010), Outdoor Learning in the Early Years Management and Innovation. Oxon: Routledge.

Bilton, H. (2002), Outdoor Learning in the Early Years Management and Innovation. London: David Fulton Publishers Ltd

Canning, N. (2010) ‘The influence of the outdoor environment: den-making in three different contexts’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18, 4, pp.555-566.

Clements, R. (2004) ‘An investigation of the status of outdoor play’, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 5, 1, pp. 68-80.  

Education otherwise (2010) Retrieved 22^nd April 2013 from Education otherwise. http://www.educationotherwise.net

Feez, S. (2010), Montessori & Early Childhood. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Howes, C., Matheson, C.C. (1992) ‘Sequences in the development of competent play with peers: Social and social pretend play’, Developmental Psychology, 28, 5, pp.961-974. 

Issacs, B. (2010), Bringing the Montessori Approach to your Early Years Practice. Oxon: Routledge Ltd.  

Issacs, B. (2012), Understanding the Montessori Approach. Oxon: Routledge Ltd.

Lillard, A. (2006) ‘The early years: Evaluating Montessori Education’, Education Forum, 313, 5795, pp.1893-1894.

Macintyre, C. (2001), Enhancing Learning Through Play. London: David Fulton Publishers Ltd.

Manzo, K. K. (2008), ‘Schools adapting curriculum to the outdoors’, Education Week, 28, 15, p1.

Maynard, T., Waters, J. (2007), ‘Learning in the outdoor environment: a missed opportunity?’, Early Years: An International Research Journal, 27, 3, pp.255-265.

Montessori (no date) Retrieved 9^th April 2013 from Montessori. http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori/the_environment

Moyles, J. (2010) Practitioner Reflection on Play and Playful Pedagogies. In Moyles J (2010) Thinking about play (p1-44). Berkshire: Open University Press.

Rothermel, P. (2002) 'Home-education: rationales, practices and outcomes', Durham University, Available at Durham E-These Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1005/ 

Rubin, K.H. and Coplan, R.J. (1998), Social and nonsocial play in childhood: An individual differences perspective. In Saracho O N & Spodek B (1998) Multiple perspectives on play in early childhood (pp. 144-170). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Thomas, A. and Pattison, H. (2008), How Children Lean at Home. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Webb, S. (2011), ‘Elective home education in the UK’, British Journal of Educational Technology, 42, 5, pp116-116.

SCHOOL OR HOME EDUCATION?

Elective Home education

Over the past twenty years predominantly in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, home education has significantly developed with a new interest of research into this area. The attention has previously rested on the historical development, legal and political issues and communications with the educational authorities however the question of how parents educate their children at home has received little research (Thomas and Pattison 2008).

‘Elective home learning’ is the term officially used to portray a situation in which parents would rather take full accountability for their children’s education without the aid of schooling. Parents that choose to home educate their children are not entitled to any funding from the local authority (Arora 2006).

Home education is something that most of us are unaware of, including myself, which is why I chose it as an area to discuss. Although we as traditional learners may find home learning slightly unusual, there are many families both in the UK and worldwide that educate their children from home; research has provided evidence that the number of families implementing home learning has grown significantly (Arora 2006).

Interestingly, the legal pursuit of home education states that although education is compulsory, schooling is not (Arora 2006). Under section 7 of the 1996 act, it prescribes that parents have an obligation to guarantee that when their child reaches the school age, they must receive ‘efficient full-time education, suitable to his age, aptitude and ability and to any special educational need that he may have, either by regular attendance at a school or otherwise’ (A The National Archives 2011).   

In order to home educate, there are no specific qualifications required by the parents or any other individual wishing to educate. The law currently states that in England and Wales, families wishing to home educate are not obliged to formally advise anyone if there child has not already attended school (Rothermel 2002).  Additionally, there is no set format of teaching, or legal requirement for the child to adhere to the National Curriculum (Rothermel 2002). Although, Thomas and Pattison (2008) have suggested that previous research provides evidence that some parents try to follow a formal timetable, however they tend to gravitate away from this later on.

So why do families choose to home-educate? There is no one answer as there are a variety of factors behind this decision. There may be philosophical, religious beliefs, or heritage elements to their decision or a child may have started in school, and other factors such as bullying, school phobia or special educational needs have caused this decision to be detracted (Education other-wise 2010). An article by Webb (2011) states how he personally educated his daughter and suggest reasoning’s for home schooling; these may be due to schools not educating effectively, which can have a detrimental effect of children; furthermore it is suggested that using teaching methods such as natural learning, informal learning and everyday cultural curriculums are far more successful.

One major concern of home education that has been argued in the literature is that children fail to be part of a social life, resulting in children developing fewer social skills. Research however has contradicted this argument with findings indicating that home educated children are well accustomed and confident and convey higher self-esteem than children of the same age that have attended school (Arora 2006). 

A short video clip of a teenager who has experienced home learning. I chose this as it is a real-life situation.

A DAY WITH MONTESSORI!

Montessori Education

Marie Montessori was an inspiration to the life of education and provided children with a different attitude to learning. Montessori education is a 100-year-old approach that was paramount to nursery children in Rome (Lillard and Else-Quest 2006). I believe the history behind this context of learning to be motivational, stimulating and an imperative aspect of how Montessori education developed.

 

Marie Montessori was born in Italy in 1870 and became a recipient of the new radical and communal tendencies in Italians society for almost three decades. At the age of 14, she devoted her time and determination into education and succeeded her goal by becoming the first female doctor in Italy (Issacs 2012).

After 10 years in medicine, her interests changed resulting in more attention to children who at the time were diagnosed as retarded and disturbed. She had a strong belief that the solutions to the needs of these children were through education interventions (Feez 2010). During 1907, Montessori opened a school for slum children in Italy; the school was named The Case dei Bambini also known as the Children’s House. This was the beginning of her success of pedagogy and Montessori nurseries/schools (Issacs 2012).

The Montessori approach is recognised for the influence it creates to our understanding of learning through the senses and development of educational toys (Issacs 2010). The activities utilised in early years incorporates children’s hands to interact with the true environment (Feez 2010). Montessori argued that the environment is key to the success of child development and gives the child the respect of his/her individuality (Issacs 2010).

Issacs (2010) suggests that Montessori describes children’s development in stages; each element should be maintained by the environment that supports the rare qualities of each child. The three key elements behind the Montessori approach are: the child, the favourable environment and the teacher. The association between each of these elements continues to progress as it is based on the observation of children.

One major criticism of the Montessori approach is aimed towards the lack of creativity, imaginative play and toys that children engage with, however this is a misapprehension as Montessori highlighted that children have the freedom to choose their own activities (Feez 2010). Montessori’s reflections of children led her to understand that children absorb the work of real objects rather than toys when left on their own (Issacs 2010) therefore toys were unnecessary in Montessori early years schools (Feez 2010).

A typical Montessori Classroom

Montessori classrooms provide an organised environment where children are able to respond to their natural propensity to work. The layout of the classroom is vital to inspire exploration and communication (Montessori, no date). The classrooms consist of mixed age groups, child-sized furniture, areas for children to work in small groups or on their own, a vast amount of open floor space, low shelves with selected learning material and carefully selected toys such as plain building blocks (Lillard and Else-Quest 2006; Feez, 2010). Montessori teachers are generally known as directresses or observers as they direct the child towards the appropriate learning activity. All staff at a Montessori school should be calm and discreet when observing the children (Montessori, no date).

http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori/the_environment - I have included this link to the main Montessori website which provides further information and reading