The interest in
water is still central in my centre as the environment around us dries out in
response to the drought. A spontaneous musical show at our local school
provided a welcome respite from the sun and has prompted this next technology
experience.
The
children then started to visually break down the different components which
prompted questioning. MacNaughton & Williams (2009, pp. 156) identifies
this strategy as valuable in supporting
acquisition of new knowledge, Ministry of Education (1996) highlights further
outcomes of children becoming more familiar with the makeup of technology and
the material components through this experience .
The
question they asked in response to the name “why didn’t it make rain?” “We need
rain”.This provided opportunity to explain that long ago people believed that if
they danced with or without this instrument outside when there was no rain, it would rain. Mindes
(2006, pp. 108) depicts this form of social study supporting the building of
community. How had the children known more of their community than what was
immediately around them? The children said they heard it on the news on the
radio and television, Smorti (1999) highlights these as a form of technology
that helps people to solve problems, in this case lack of water and rain.
In
my day I either had to rely on my parents, peers or teachers to inform me of
what they may have considered relevant for me to know. How limiting this was
and how empowering this form of technology is for our children. Mac Naughton
& Williams (2009, pp. 311) discuss how empowerment enables children to have
power over their lives, in this case the knowledge of their world around them
and what they could do to solve the problem of no rain.
Vygotsky’s
social cultural theory (cited in Santrock, 2007) believes
that children, and I can assume as well adults, learn from their
social-cultural environment and that the learning environment is through
experiences at home and at the centre. It hadn’t really occurred to me until I
reflected on this that I was responding with knowledge attained by my own
experiences and prior knowledge, learnt through technology and relationships
that were relevant to me . Te whāriki, our New Zealand Early Childhood
Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996) identifies the importance of
exploration, to actively explore the world while creating understanding through
the use of equipment within our environment.
The
outcome of this experience was that the children created their own rain maker,
which Fleer & Jane, (2011) suggests supports the concept of crossing the
cultural barriers and creating an environment of Inclusion through technology.
The children and I have learnt that not everyone has the same beliefs and we
have started to develop a cultural awareness of the wider technological world,
where not all people believe, use or have access to the same technology as we
do.
I have included this link for your enjoyment,so you to can experience the sound of a rainmaker.
Fleer,
M., & Jane, B. (2011). Design and
Technology for children. Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.
Mac Naughton,
G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques
for teaching young children: Choices of theory and practice (3rd
ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Mindes, G.
(2006). Social studies in kindergarten. In D. F. Gullo (Ed.), K today teaching and learning in the
kindergarten year (pp. 107-115). Washington, DC: National Association for
the Education of Young Children.
Ministry of
Education. (2007). The New Zealand
Curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of
Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna ö
Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.
Santrock, J. W. (2010) Lifespan development: International student ed. (12th
Ed.). Boston, Ma. McGraw Hill
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early education, 1, 5-10.
Kathy, thanks for your awesome blog!! I love it that a local school put on a spontaneous musical concert, how awesome!! you must have a great relationship with the surrounding schools in your areas, its great to have that connection!It is great to use technology of all kinds to investigate, such a useful research tool for our children,TeWhariki agrees with this statement and suggests that, "Children develop the ability to enquire, research, explore, generate, and modify their own working theories about the natural, social, physical, and material words" (Ministry of education, 1996, p. 90), and it is the educators job to provide the correct resources and environment to ensure that this is possible, well done for recognising the children's interests and helping to extend them!! Loved the video about the wizard rain-maker, it was hilarious! I don't think I'd heard a rain-maker instrument before so thanks for sharing that too, its a beautiful sound, no wonder the children were intrigued by it! thanks for sharing your experiences!! :)
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa : Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Kathy, I am loving reading your blog and your journey with children’s questions about the world and water. It is lovely to see the links that you are making between each blog as you write them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your different perspective of Fleer and Jane (2011) you have motivated me to go and have another read of it as you highlight different learning in it to me.
I have picked up your thoughts and desire to be true to social cultural theories. With the new knowledge that you have gained what are your thoughts into jumping further in to the children’s world of technology? I do think this is going to be their future world in the 21st century and Rosen & Jaruszewics (2009) state that children’s experiences are shaped by the perspectives on teachers on technology. Hertzog and Klein (2005) talk about technology “influenced our communication with parents and enriched the ways we view our total school environment” (p.25). I truly feel that if this is right for your community there is a way to work with parents and give them a deeper sense of belonging to their children’s learning.
Lastly, I haven’t done this personally but my head teacher has used Skype to talk to people of interest. The children have talked to one of the Funky Monkeys and one of the athletes at the Olympic games and another kindergarten in Christchurch after the earthquakes that we fundraised for. I have no idea how she gets her connections. But if the children are interested you could start off small and get teachers to talk to the children on Skype and then as you develop projects you could maybe email people to see if willing to have a Skype conversation with the children on topics of interest.
This is from YouTube my new best friend on how to do things! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltl0xcyDoNQ
Awesome blog Kathy!
Hi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog, as i don't work with young children I miss out on expereincing these opportunities with young children so this is so nice to read.
My favourite part of your blog is the end where you have spoken about the children creating their own rain maker. I think this is fantastic. It is fantastic seeing the children making connections to the wider world. Ministry of education (1996) states that "Children experience an environment where they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical, and material worlds" (p.90).
Its great to see that the children have taken on the interest and wanted to explore other areas that involve water. Cited in Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett and Farmer states "Gandini argues that it flows naturally that, to be truly respectful of children's and teachers ideas and processes of learning the curriculum cannot be set in advance" (p.376)
Fantastic blog.
Hi Kathy, Thank you for sharing another awesome blog! What an interesting piece of technology to focus on, I really liked that this experiences is deeply rooted in the culture of your community as I am aware you are rurally based and draught is an important issue that affects the children and their families who live on working farms. I thought it was really interesting that you noticed how technology has supported the children’s understanding of an issue that is impacting on their community, and I believe this creates a sense of belonging and empowers the children (Ministry of Education, 1996). Vygotsky stresses that a children cannot be separated from their culture and that the culture a child is born into strongly influences their learning and development (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett, Farmer, 2009). I thought it was interesting that you identified this in your own acquisition of them information and the way in which you passed the information on. Thank you for an interesting blog done from a cultural perspective!
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