Hello! I am Vivian Paley. All you kindergarten teachers will be glad to meet me. I taught kindergarten for 37 years. I am also a child psychologist and an early education researcher. I am the only kindergarten teacher to ever win the Mac Arthur "genius" grant.
While teaching kindergarten, I started thinking about my children's learning. I came to the realization that there are too many boundaries on children's learning. I began to do some research on how play can be the most valuable tool for interaction and intellectual growth in kindergarten. All the play-based curriculum is now being replaced with sub-skills of reading and writing. My biggest legacy during my teaching career has been developing the story telling and fantasy play curriculum. I started really listening to my students' conversations as they were playing. What the children were saying during play time had very valuable lessons I could teach about morals and social life. One time I overheard a group of children saying they weren't going to let someone play. I turned it into a lesson on sharing and feelings. Later I wrote a book titled You Can't Say You Can't Play. My storytelling curriculum consists of dictation and dramatization. I help children tell their own stories of events that happen in their lives and I write down what they say. I then have the class act out their stories. This allows my students to develop a sense of importance and belonging. It helps them be more confident and it forms a community amongst my class. I found that storytelling has an impact on children's social, language, and narrative development.
I have written 10 books about life in the classroom. All of my books came from my experiences of what I heard children say during play or from their stories they told. A few of the books I have written are: You Can't Say You Can't Play, A Child's Work, Wally's Stories, and The Girl with the Brown Crayon, amongst several others. If you have not read any of my books, I would encourage you to do so.
Do you think there are currently too many boundaries/restrictions on students' learning within the school systems? Are you providing students enough social interaction, and if so, how are you using their interaction as a learning tool?
Formal education can provide the framework for moral and intellectual development. I believe students are provided with enough social interaction because the education they are receiving will lead to a consciousness for social responsibility. Their interaction through reading literature is used as a learning tool.
ReplyDelete~ Johann Herbart
Good for you Vivian! I would love to read your book You Can't Say You Can't Play. I feel as if we are kindred spirits from just reading your post. You might also look into my book I Learn from Children. I think you would agree in might fight against making "blueprints" or "formulas" for education. Chilren learn from play and that's all I've got to say! ~ Caroline Pratt
ReplyDeleteI believe boys should be encouraged to engage in social interactions in which they practice their future social roles. They must learn to be good husbands and members of society. Young boys should be allowed to jump, run and shout when they want, within reason. In general, boys should be given liberty to exercise their playfulness when their work is acceptably completed. Of course they do not need to have access to extravagant toys, which will only cause greed. Rocks and sticks are suitable toys.
ReplyDeleteSocial interactions, particularly play, could be quite useful for education. It would allow girls to rehearse their future social roles such as wife and mother. Additionally, as the result of being educated, one should be able to engage in society appropriately. In regard to boundaries, I think schools should have strict boundaries. Education should focus on building character as well as preparing students for future social roles. Therefore, educators should be cautious and concise when developing curriculum.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds to me as though you have learned a great deal from observing your students, and that you only selectively interrupt their activities. I think that this is best. I believe that play based curriculum is positive if it allows for more self-motivated, self-directed learning. I too believe that there are too many boundaries on students in typical school systems. I believe that students should be allowed more freedom as some of the best learning takes place when students are focused and on their own. Social interaction has the potential to be beneficial, so long as it does not interrupt the individual student’s self-motivated focus.
ReplyDelete-Maria Montessori
Though I do not have experience teaching young children, I do believe it is important for teachers to approach the learning process in the way that you have. It is fantastic that you utilized a journey approach to developing your curriculum, tailoring it to the children's needs. I agree that too many boundaries are placed on schools and this amount of freedom for teachers to develop their own style it most appropriate.
ReplyDelete~ Horace Mann
(Hilda Taba)- I'm thrilled you are allowing social interactions and play time for the students. I see that as valuable time when the teacher steps out of the picture and allows the students to act naturally. Just make sure you don't judge their answers or give non-verbal cues to their opinions with each other. That could cause them to not feel as comfortable with their peers.
ReplyDeleteI do tend to feel that we give too many boundaries with our curriculum. It seems as if we should just teach and go and give no time for students to find answers on their own. Social interactions are extremely important when learning because it provides time for sharing ideas with others and being able to see other's ideas as well. I use interactions as a learning tool to create AH-HA moments. When we share our ideas with others we learn more about ideas we have and can create a better understanding of topics.
ReplyDeleteAlthough interaction among students is important, reading recovery is a one on one learning tool between the student and teacher, and works because there are few distractions for the student. Reading recovery may seem a restrictive program with many boundaries for the child, but once the child reaches the outer limits of the boundaries (which I would consider goals) they are released from the restrictions of the program. I do believe Reading Recovery helps promote social interaction as the child becomes more confident in his or her ability and is more comfortable with his or her peers.
ReplyDeleteI think some school systems have too many restrictions. I am impressed that you allow students to be involved in social interaction. I agree that students learn in a natural setting where they can hear and use linguistics in a natural way. - Stephen Krashen
ReplyDeleteIn my time I feel that most classrooms are based on structure and discipline. Discipline and restriction are a crucial component of our curriculum. Many of these newer Montessori and Rousseau sound like a free for all. They seem to be more intersted in listening to the children and letting them "play" than teaching them important life skills and academics.
ReplyDelete