Introduction

In the next few posts I am going to be looking at different contexts of learning and what influences it. Through research and lectures I aim to provide an insight into Forest schools, The importance of play in a child's life, Montessori education and Fleming's VARK learning style, and hope to further develop my understanding of 21st century learning and its evolving systems.  

Reference list.

Kingston, P. (2004) Could tests to diagnose 'learning styles' do more harm than good? . The Guardian, [online] 4th May. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/may/04/furthereducation.uk1 [Accessed: 25th April 2013].

Knowles, M. and Holton, ., et al. (2005) The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. London: A Butterworth-Heinemann Title.

Kramer, R. (1988) Maria Montessori: A Biography. Chicago: Da Capo Press, p.14.

Forest Schools

Many people learn best through learning by doing, in most cases we are able to say that we have learnt something faster and better by experiencing the topic rather than being told about the experience, this idea that experiences can help teach children or even adults more effectively is what forest school’s principles are built on. Forest schools are set mainly to provide children with opportunities to learn outdoors and experience things for themselves. By visiting the outdoors a class of children are thought to be stimulating their senses and helps process information more effectively. The video below shows a classroom visiting the woods, and helps to understand how forest schools operate.

This shows that a trip to the woods every so often can be an impact on the child's development of language, social and physical skills. The children are given boundaries in the forest but have the freedom to run around and play in any way they choose, which promotes independence and can be given the freedom and opportunity to be imaginative or creative in a stimulating environment. In my previous post, I emphasized the importance of play, and being in an environment where there are plenty of resources for the children to symbolize with, the children can spend a lot of time doing something they enjoy rather than sitting in the classroom/indoors. The national curriculum can be integrated into outdoor play, ensuring that even though the children are having fun, they are also keeping on topic. For example, a simple trip to the woods can include all areas of the NC,
Welsh – the children can learn the welsh names for their surroundings.
English – The language that is being used to describe the environment, and for the children to be able to describe them in an imaginative way (e.g. poem).
Mathematics – Counting sticks, or learning about a specific species’ population.
Science – The nature and creatures around them can be taught by the educator.

Through the use of different strategies we can incorporate most of the NC in one outdoor play session.
Children’s senses are stimulated within outdoor play, Fleming's theory on individual child’s learning styles (VARK) are covered by seeing and hearing their environment, and the activities and games helps the kinaesthetic learners to remain focused and to learn rather than sitting down in the classroom. In general, forest schools helps children to understand risks and how to approach them or deal with them, learn in new and exciting ways in an independent yet team-working way.

On a personal note, with my time spent as a teaching assistant at a local school for a few years, The children were always ecstatic to learn that they were having a lesson outside in the sun or rain, and every individual completed the task given by the teacher, whilst enjoying themselves.

Montessori schools were created in 1907, established by an Italian educator named Maria Montessori. Montessori impacted the educational system in the 1900's in a big way, and was described as
"A woman who revolutionized the educational system of the world...the woman who taught the idiot and the insane to read and write--whose success has been so wonderful that the Montessori method has spread into nation after nation as far east as Korea, as far west as Honolulu and south to the Argentine Republic.” - (R.Kramer, 1988, p.14)
The first school established in Rome named "casa dei Bambini" meaning "The children's house" and originally looked like a normal classroom that included desks, chairs and a blackboard. Over time, Montessori observed the children's behaviour and decided that she would create her own way of teaching the children, through toys and resources she created herself. Eventually she got rid of the textbook style teaching that was being taught during these times, and replaced them with objects that interested the children, teaching them in a way they wanted to learn. The school educated the child in a different way to other schools, and focuses more on teaching the pupil as an individual rather than a group, and aims to nurture each pupils skills through the use of games and 'intellectual exercises' (Short lessons taught by an educator, with plenty of rests for the children). The games were sometimes directed by the teacher, but often were child initiated, children were given the freedom to choose what they wanted to learn and what they would use in the classroom, It is an effective way to encourage children to think for themselves and think independently.

The importance of the environment was stressed by Montessori schools. The typical of a Montessori classroom encourages children to explore their surroundings, and interact with each other as much as possible, promoting communication and self discipline. The teachers are trained to work with each pupil and recognize their level and potential, they see education and their skills as something to be nurtured, and acts as someone who intervenes only when they need to, recognizing that the child can complete tasks for themselves.

Some of Montessori's resources  

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The Importance of Play

There are many factors that influence how a child learns, It is important as adults to revise different strategies for creating a better future for future generations, and the importance of play in a child's life cannot be underestimated as it is a gateway for children to learn and express themselves in a way they feel comfortable, especially when put into context of education - it is best put by the Plowden Report (1967)
'At the heart of the educational process lies the child'
Many theorists such as Vygotsky and Bruner emphasize its importance and have spent their lives researching the way that children effectively learn. The use of learning through play seems to be spreading in popularity with practitioners, the 'Foundation Phase' for example, was implemented in 2011 and was created through the idea of 3-7 year old children learning through play. Many are left wondering why it is so important that educational systems are adopting the idea for four years of a child's life, but are easily explained by looking at some activities that are involved in the system. The video below shows one such activity and how it can develop various skills that would be useful for children to learn.
We can see that the children in this video engaging in a role-playing game involving pirates. There are clear development of various skills in the activity such as problem solving, creativity, to be imaginative (when 'Joshua' draws a map to ensure he doesn't forget where he hides his treasure, and imagining how a pirate would act) social and cultural skills (the children play together and are creating/developing friendships). The children had to contribute to the activity in some way and has to independently construct ideas and concepts.
It is noticeable in the video that the children did not realize that they are learning, and therefore did not see it as work. The children saw the activity as something fun, enjoyable and thus making learning child centered/initiated. Skills learnt through play can help the child throughout life, whether in a job or simply socializing with friends, the more physical activities can keep the child fit and develop fine/gross motor skills for sport or simply doing day to day tasks for example, and when it comes to symbolic skills - materials play a big part as they are learning to use objects in the correct way while developing the apporpriate language for their in play scenario. There are few practitioners that believe that children should see learning as work to promote discipline and order - but with positive results from the foundation phase it is impossible to ignore that this could be the best method to teach children.

Learning Style

It is sometimes easier for pupils to understand how they learn in order to process information quickly and effectively, and helps to know what your preferred learning style is. Neil Fleming’s theory VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading and Kinaesthetic) seems to have impressed educators and pupils, as they allow them to identify how exactly they learn best, and what they can do in future to insure they are learning at their maximum potential. For my own experience, I find it hard to concentrate if I were to read a plain text book for hours on end, especially if I didn’t have the sweet symphonies of Bach drowning my ears and keeping my thoughts of boredom at bay. This means that I’m firstly an auditory learner, and a low reading learner. Secondly I have found that I can process the information that is being presented to me if I can visually see the information in front of me (e.g. via projections or diagrams). This means I am able to adapt my surroundings to fit in the way I learn best, if I were to begin revising for an exam for example, preparations of using a computer for vibrant, stand out colours would be made, and some music on low volume playing in the background to keep me interested. This also means that although you may be stronger in one learning style than the other, you can be in multiple categories and can now take a test to find out which learning style is your preferred learning style. However, many dispute the use of the test and believe that the test could result in wrong information, and could make you believe that you are a Reader for example, but are actually Auditory. Articles such as ‘The Guardian’s’ Could tests to diagnose 'learning styles' do more harm than good? (Kingston, 2004) investigates some of the problems with knowing your learning style, and has left some wondering, Is it a good thing?