Introduction to my Blog

The aim of this assignment was to create a blog, which I would use to share information and my own personal experiences about a variety of different learning contexts. I chose to identify four particular learning contexts, which were:

1. The Foundation Phase
2. Learning Through Play
3. Montessori Schools
4. Forest Schools

I have tried my best to include all I can in the blogs, including pictures and references used.

Montessori

Maria Montessori, an Italian born in 1870, worked alongside women and children for 10 years, and took a very keen interest in children with mental disabilities. Montessori was the first woman in Italy to become a qualified doctor. After observing a number of children, Maria came to the conclusion that children with mental disabilities did not need medical treatment, but a more suitable education in order to benefit their mental developments.

Later on, Montessori took an interest in education and attended the University of Rome in order to study education and anthropology. She was invited to set up a nursery in 1906, in a slum in Rome. During the time the nursery was set up, compulsory education for children was introduced, and started when they were 6 years old. For parents with children under the age of 6 years old, they had to be looked after while their mothers were out working. Because of this issued, the first nursery, Casa dei Bambini, was opened by Maria Montessori.

The aim of the Montessori schools was to nurture each child as an individual in order to encourage them to reach their full potential. They felt that a positive environment was as essential for children, as the movement and manipulation of them. Montessori used her own thoughts, ideas and resources, which she developed. Maria Montessori’s ideas and resources are still used in her schools, as well as others, today.

She began travelling around the world in 1912, and was invited to deliver lectures. In that same year, Maria opened the first Montessori school in America. After her death in 1952, when the centenary celebration of the opening of the first Montessori nursery, 22,000 other Montessori schools were discovered and identified in over 100 countries around the world.

The Children’s Room, Swansea’s very own Montessori school, offers Welsh Medium learning, a high teacher-to-child ratio, and conveys the Montessori principles for the children attending the nursery. It is privately run, and is the first nursery in South Wales according to the Montessori approach to early education. Like every other Montessori nursery, its aim is to develop the whole child intellectually, socially, physically linguistically and spiritually. They also aim to give each and every child the opportunity to develop all of these listed above.

Unfortunately, I do not have any experience of a Montessori school as there were none available to me when I was younger, and there were none based locally to me.

http://www.montessorisociety.org.uk/about/what-society-does

http://www.montessorischoolfinder.org/schooldetails.asp?schoolref=299

http://www.the-childrens-room.co.uk/about/

Forest School

Forest Schools, originated in Sweden in the 1950's, have also been developed throughout other Scandinavian and European countries. These ideas have been adapted and changed from the original concept in British Forest Schools. Each and every Forest School is designed to meet the needs of the children, and to allow them to develop within the environment. This idea has many benefits of learning within a natural environment. It has also show that children need to play, experience space and movement and sensory stimulation for healthy development. It helps promote outdoor play for children, and also encourages them, and motivates their curiosity.

Many individuals are unaware of what a Forest School is. It is a system of learning which allows the environment to teach the children. It is a direct experience of learning. It is a setting where the usual "class dynamic" is changed by the environment. It allows children to learn all the subjects within the National Curriculum within an alternative environment. The Forest Schools' philosophy is to encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive outdoor experiences over an extended period of time.

Forest Schools provide children with the opportunity to develop themselves, as all areas of their intelligence are used within the natural environment. It allows children to develop physically and mentally, as they are stimulated to learn and are not stuck sitting at a desk. Children are able to experience a natural environment in all kinds of weather, and through free and structured play.

When in primary school, my class used to take weekly trips to a local nature park called Ynys Dawela. It had a variety of activities we could do. There were walking paths, a lot of grassland, woodlands and ponds. We were taught how to weave fences and find insects and animals. We were taught how to many things, and I found it very interesting as a child. We were given the opportunity to run around and explore on our own, within certain boundaries of the park. As children, it was exciting for us to be let loose within the natural environment where we'd find things we were unaware of. Unfortunately, the nature park has stopped inviting schools to the park, but the public are still welcome to take a trip there. 

The local primary school are currently creating their own natural environment in a field on school grounds. It will include a pond and wildlife, such as frogs and birds, which they will be able to take care of themselves. They will plant trees and they will be given the chance to run around and explore, which will motivate them to learn.

http://www.forestschools.com
http://www.breconbeaconstourism.co.uk/marketarea/Brynamman_The_Amman_Valley/index.html

Learning Through Play

Learning through play is something that everyone has experience of. Play helps children to develop their mental and physical health. It teaches them to take risks they wouldn’t usually take, or to solve problems they wouldn’t usually solve. This promotes imagination, independence and creativity, which is vital for children to be able to play. Many practitioners within education believe that children learn better through play than any other method available. Children learn much more during the first five years of their lives, than any other time because that is when they are taught and when they learn how to play.

Play, which is viewed as a child initiated approach, gives children a creative purpose as they can create their own games. It is also self-directed, so the children themselves can decide what they want to do and what they don’t want to do. They are able to decide who they want to do it with and who they don’t want to do it with. It gives them an opportunity to express themselves. Learning through play doesn’t end at the end of childhood, it carries out throughout life. If learning had ended through play, as teenagers or adults, we wouldn’t have been able to do half the stuff that we can. A child’s cognitive, physical, social and cultural development is developed through play. They use their imagination, they move around, they socialise and play with others.

As a child, just like any other, I loved to play although I was unaware that I was learning while playing. It was exciting, enjoyable and easy to do when I was younger, because I was able to pick and choose what to do and use my imagination to create my own games, which was very fun. When I was in an infant’s class at school, within the classroom there were separate corners which included a variety of activities. There was a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room and a painting corner. The teachers encouraged us to play and socialise with other children, which I know realise was to help us develop.

When on placement, I was able to observe children playing and creating their own games, giving each child a character and a purpose. I often wondered how they had learnt how to play, but then I realised that they had taught themselves, and were encouraged by the teachers and their parents just like I was. While observing the children, I noticed how much fun they had, and how they had used their imagination and their own creativity skills to create their own games.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/feb/15/learning-play-imaginative-inquiry-teaching-schools-live-chat

The Foundation Phase in Wales

The early years Foundation phase, an approach used in Wales, was introduced in 2008. The approach is used by children aged 3 to 7 years old, who attend school and nursery only. The Foundation Phase is said to be a statutory curriculum for 3 to 7 year old children.

As well as the early years Foundation Phase in Wales, England has its own approach called the early years Foundation Stage. This approach was introduced in 2008 and was reformed in 2011. It came into effect on September the 1^st in 2011. This approach is used by children aged 0 to 5 years old, and is used throughout their time at school, as well as in life.

The Foundation Phase does not provide children with enough opportunities to learn. Children are not given enough challenges in school, and are not motivated enough. They need to be involved in the planning and reviewing of their work, which might just give them much more motivation to learn as they have a say. Children need to be helped and taught how to learn, develop their thinking skills and acquire positive attitudes towards what they learn. Just like every child, they should be given the opportunity, by their teachers, parents and peers, to learn.

The Foundation Phase’s aim is to raise each child’s standards of achievement in order to encourage them to try their best and motivate them to work hard. It aims to enhance children’s positive attitudes to learning, so that they are able to enjoy their experiences at school rather than dislike them. It aims to address their developing needs, so as they grow up, not only will the child develop, but their knowledge and skills will too. It aims to enable children to benefit from the opportunities they’re given in their early life during their time in education, which will go on to benefit them later on in life.

As children, attending the local primary school in Gwaun Cae Gurwen, we were given the opportunity to reach our full potential within education. Teachers would take us on school trips to local places, and places that were situated further away which helped us enjoy our experiences during our time at school.

For my placement, I attended the local primary school mentioned above, and I was given the opportunity to help teachers encourage and motivate children within the classroom. They were able to enjoy and were interested in what they were learning. They were allowed to give their own opinions about subjects, and were given the choice of what and how they learnt about something. I had the opportunity to see the teachers develop the children’s needs, especially the year 6 classes who would be moving on to secondary school in September. Their knowledge and skills were tested and developed further, as they were being prepared for their time at secondary school.

http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/earlyyearshome/foundation_phase/?lang=en