When reflecting on Mind in Society, I find myself stuck on
the driving point that children learn best through play. This is not something
I have not heard before, but as a Kindergarten teacher that statement’s truth hits
home. I understand the validity and purpose plays has on my five and six year
olds. When I did my student teaching in Kindergarten in 2009, my mentor teacher
had a kitchen set, blocks, and dramatic play for her students to “work” with. Despite all the research, I can’t imagine
walking into my principal’s office with some dolls and plastic fruit and
pitching this idea. Kindergarten has become the new first grade. Students are
expected to be reading, writing, and understanding math equations. I see the
need for play, but how can this fit in with our rigorous expectations?
I ask myself the same question when
I think about the design process: "How can this fit in with our rigorous expectations?" I have standards to teach and some of them at my level are very basic,
foundational skills. The answer lies in purposefully identifying the
structures, processes, and discourse. Boiling it down to what needs to be taught,
how can I make this meaningful, and why this matters to my students. I aim to
make connections and I know the content will fall into place. Most importantly I
want to make learning “playful” for my students. I want them to learn how to
share, to learn to work together, to learn to compromise, to lead, and to
follow.
Your reflection really hits a cord with me. I taught Kindergarten students in 2004 to 2010. That wasn't that long ago but I agree that K is the new first grade. The expectations and objectives are very high. And most of the time, I think that they are not developmentally appropriate. Another observation that I've made is that even though the expectations are higher now, the students themselves seem less mature and ready for it. I'm not sure if it's just my perception but the behaviors I see now in K are not the same 10 years ago. Perhaps when we stop raising the learning SOLs and start focusing on the process of learning, like using "tools" in activity relevant to the culture, the learners will benefit and grow.
ReplyDeleteI think the social aspect of play is important because, as Vygotsky states, "By giving our students practice in talking with others, we give them frames for thinking on their own." I do think the "inner speech" he mentions allows students to build off of their own (and others') experiences and if we can relate our standards to authentic activities through play then it will allow students to use these tools (framed by culture and society) to internalize various thoughts and notions. Hopefully, this will lead to higher cognitive thinking abilities as students begin to think on their own.
ReplyDeleteI understand the struggle you mention about how kids get limited options actually to play. As a first grade EL teacher, I agree with you on how the standards keep getting more rigorous as the pressure on the teachers gets higher well. Reflecting on this issues made me realized the need to design for my lessons and to allow the kids to play (with words and meaning) while they work towards the standards.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you in that learning how to share, compromise, follow and lead are important skills that should be emphasized as such a young age. The good news is that I think that the collaborative nature of the designed classroom will foster the development of these skills, even as the content that you are expected to teach is different.
ReplyDeleteI teach elementary music. One of the most successful ways I've taught the primary grade students is through musical games. The kids don’t realize they are building musical skills they are just playing. These games teach kids readiness skills needed for music fluency and expose them to the social nature of music making. I never fully understood why these methods were so successful until we discussed the Mind in Society.
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