North American Ed - Communicating and learning

2.5 How children learn

As teachers, there is a certain satisfaction in delivering the perfectly wrapped-up lesson, no loose-ends left dangling. We need to keep our minds always on the goal, however. The goal of student learning is best furthered if everything is not perfectly wrapped up, if we leave things a little unfinished for students to ponder and complete themselves. . . . Not only does this keep students thinking about the lesson for far longer, but it gives them the opportunity to make their own discoveries. The pride, self-confidence, and excitement that comes from discovering for themselves, from figuring out things for themselves, is priceless” (Diamond, 2010, p. 786).

Diamond (2010) makes the point that when faced with the task of learning something new, most people would prefer to participate actively and have a chance to try it out instead of listening passively while someone lectures or describes it. However, this point is often forgotten by teachers, even those of young children.

Watch the next video in which preschool children investigate mechanical objects.

Dr. Lillian Katz, professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discusses why it’s important for teachers to move beyond the way they themselves were taught and to encourage children’s disposition of inquiry. In the article that follows, Katz discusses academic versus intellectual goals.

Research and play

Play is an important vehicle through which children’s learning is best supported. The following article highlights the benefits of play and why it should be part of children’s programs. For further information, click on the “According to Experts” tab.

Miller and Almon (2009) authored a report that reviews research on the importance of play for healthy development in the early years. They point out the alarming decline in play-based opportunities in American Kindergarten classrooms and the negative implications of this change. In their report, they list their recommendations for how to balance child-initiated exploration with experiences that teachers guide.

The nine new studies and analyses on which this report is based all point to the same conclusion: kindergarten, long a beloved institution in American culture, is in crisis. If the problems are not recognized and remedied, the same ills will be passed on to the preschools and even to programs for children ages birth to three” (Miller & Almon, 2009, pp. 11 – 12).

In the following article, these authors highlight some key research findings indicating the fact that this crisis continues. They distinguish between findings evident in the short term, as opposed to those that become evident in longer term studies. They state that “policymakers persist in ignoring the huge discrepancy between what we know about how young children learn and what we actually do in preschools and kindergartens” (Almon & Miller, 2011, p. 1). As you read this article, consider how this applies to your experiences with early learning programs.

Continuum of play

The Early Years Study 4 (McCain, 2020) highlights and reviews the importance of play. Play-based learning is framed using the “Continuum of Play”, developed by Dr Angela Pyle at the University of Toronto. This approach includes free play, inquiry play, collaborative play, playful learning, and learning games.

Read Chapter 2 Highlights to learn more. Note the illustration that includes key characteristics and examples of each category.

Pyle is the editor of the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development‘s playful learning topic. Read the Synthesis where she defines play-based learning and highlights evidence about its benefits.

Learn more about the Continuum of Play as well as other research studies at the Play Learning Lab at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of  Child Study at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).

The importance of free play, the more child directed and active types of play, was discussed in the Coping and Competence module. What about playful experiences that involve more adult involvement, those that would be considered guided play? In Pyle’s framework, these are referred to as collaborative play, playful learning, and learning games. You may be familiar with, or prefer, other categorizations or terminology.

“Guided play research departs from more traditional debates on whether learning activities should be child- or adult-directed; instead, a continuum of adult involvement in children’s activities is proposed from more direct instruction to a balanced approach in guided play and onto free play with minimal adult direction” (Jensen et al., 2019, p. 1).  After observing and analyzing play in Canadian and South African early years classrooms, the authors found that “despite diverging notions of play in the two cultures addressed in this analysis, educators seemed to embrace definitions of play that allowed them to successfully extend the learning possibilities of play” (p. 11).

Read the article to learn more.

It is clear that adults play an important role in terms of supporting children’s play. Adults need to promote a balance between child directed and adult guided play, and if appropriate, skillfully extend children’s play. This requires observing, listening, reflecting and carefully responding.

Dr. Jennifer Jenkins is the chair of the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development at the University of Toronto. Listen to her discuss the concept of cognitive sensitivity and an interesting project coaching Early Childhood Educators to use this technique in their work with children.

Explore the following website to learn more about cognitive sensitivity research and resources.

In the next video, Dr. Janette Pelletier, professor emerita at the University of Toronto, explains how the inquiry approach capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity by encouraging questions, exploration, reflection, dialogue and documentation of their learning experiences.

Pelletier describes ways educators can take the inquiry approach. It involves trusting children, observing, and allowing children to develop theories and discover knowledge.

In the next video, Melanie Walters, the supervisor of Kittiwake Daycare in Vancouver, explains their program philosophy, which includes the core elements of democracy, risky play, and responsive curriculum.

The website, Natural Curiosity: A resource for teachers, was developed in 2011 by The Jackman Institute of Child Study at the University of Toronto. In 2018, the Natural Curiosity team produced an updated resource with an expanded use of an Indigenous lens. Visit the website below for a wealth of information on the pedagogical approach known as environmental inquiry.

Inquiry-based practices focus on the learner and his/her questions. Students are encouraged to investigate and discover answers. This is very different than a more traditional approach in which the teacher decides what students need to know and then imparts the knowledge.

Dr. Thomas Boyce, distinguished professor emeritus in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, explains that all societies and groups have hierarchies and that one’s position in a social hierarchy can have implications for physical and mental health. Boyce did research in kindergarten classrooms looking at hierarchy among students. During the studies, the researchers started to pay attention to the teacher’s pedagogical approach.

In the next videos he explains some of the findings related to hierarchy and some results that suggest the importance of using a learner-centred approach.

Screen time and digital media

Four evidence-based principles—minimizing, mitigating, mindfully using, and modelling healthy use of screens—continue to guide children’s early experience with a rapidly changing media landscape. Knowing how young children learn and develop informs best practice for health care providers and early years professionals.” (Ponti & Canadian Paediatric Society, 2023, para. 1).

Technology is pervasive in today’s world.  For many children, whether at home or school, this means access to an array of screens such as computers, televisions, smartphones and video games that provide a variety of content.  What does this mean for children’s learning and development? The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development has a great deal on the topic of technology in early childhood. Explore the section, “According to Experts” for this topic.

Kim Wilson, Co-Director of the Children’s Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, focuses on how to empower child representation and content through media. Explore the Children’s Media Lab using the following link.  

In the clips below, Wilson discusses the lack of representation and often misrepresentation of children, their families, and experiences across media outlets.  

Multiple developmental and health concerns continue to exist for young children using all forms of digital media to excess. Evidence is sufficient to recommend time limitations on digital media use for children 2 to 5 years to no more than 1 hour per day to allow children ample time to engage in other activities important to their health and development” (American Academy of Pediatrics, November 2016, para. 15).

The Canadian Pediatric Society’s 2017 Position Statement on screen time and preschool children was updated in 2022 to reflect the COVID-19 pandemic.

Explore parent resources available on the Canadian Pediatric Society’s website.

In order to help communicate research about this topic to parents consider this brochure, published by the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development.

This parent resource needs to be downloaded from the Zero to Three website. Consider the figures, graphs and other visuals, and how they might be useful for parents.