Introduction

As family life has now come to be busier, school life is becoming increasingly more important in children's lives.  Children are finding less time at home to play and with security fears growing it is easier for parents to allow their children to play on their computer in the family home, than to let them out into the woods with their friends (Anning et al. 2010).  This has a negative effect on children's growth and as children lack the chances to improve important life skills, such as social and motor skills, in their own home, schools simply have to incorporate this into everyday teaching.

It is not effective to teach all skills in the classroom environment and not all children learn in the same way.  New contexts have now been introduced into some schools to improve learning and I have described in detail the advantages and some disadvantages to teaching in these ways.  I have chosen to cover Play, Museums, Montessori settings and Forest Schools and have included pictures and inspirational videos to support why I believe these have proved to be successful and are important in building children's skills.  Although these may not seem like new ideas, they have been adapted to suit the ever changing curriculum and most importantly ensure the best is obtained from each child as they achieve the education they deserve. 

I have used several reference sources to support my findings which I have referenced throughout each context and non-electronic sources are listed at the end of each post.

Reference List

Anning, A., Cullen, J. and Fleer, M. (2010), Early Childhood Education Society and Culture. London: Sage

Learning Through Play

Many have argued over the years that learning through free play lacks structure and therefore has little place in the education system (Pound 2005).  Thankfully not everyone agrees and the majority of educationalists understand that when activities are carefully planned, play can be detrimental to children's learning.  

Numerous theorists including Piaget, Vygotsky, Parten and recently Bruce have studied play and through studies such as the Plowden report, its importance has been reinforced and play has now become a central part of our Early Years education (Anning et al. 2010).  Whether children play independently, in a group, take part in competitive or representational play, they are always learning and through play can achieve the seven learning outcomes laid down by the QCA in the Curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage.  

I consider the main advantage of play to be the fact many children don't realise they are learning while they play as they are having fun.  By choosing what they want to do they will concentrate harder to achieve their desired result which will often be different to how an adult plans an activity out.  Play time is a happy time as it is unstructured and exciting but throughout play children develop social, cultural, physical and cognitive skills.  A safe and secure area will give the child the opportunity to develop their independence, have a chance to take risks, learn from their mistakes and settle their curiosity through discovery.  They should be able to move around, with a sense of freedom, improving their motor skills and confidence and become more physically able (Bennett and Henderson 2013) which can be seen in the below video.  

During play children creatively use their imaginations, show control, act spontaneously, develop language and understand the importance of rules and social boundaries. Adults will scaffold a child's learning and they will play with other children and through sustained shared thinking problem solve together.  Using previous knowledge and role play they will imitate real life behaviour, helping them to understand the wider world.   It is crucial children continue to find these activities fun and as Pound (2005) proposes there should be minimal interference from adults so that the children continue to have ownership of their play and it will feel child led.  

There can be drawbacks to play and schools have been criticised for not concentrating on literacy and numeracy enough during the school days.  I see the idea of establishing role play areas as a fantastic way of combating this.  Throughout a term an area either indoors or out, will be created which resembles a real life setting and then becomes the topic for the term.  Reading, writing and mathematical skills can be incorporated into the role-play as well as in the classroom afterwards and including the children in the planning reduces the risk of them becoming bored with the area and gives them ownership.  You can see a good example of this being put into practice and gain ideas of how to implement role play by watching the video below.

Reference List

Anning, A., Cullen, J. and Fleer, M. (2010) Early Childhood Education Society and Culture. London: Sage.

Bennett, V. and Henderson, N. (2013) Young Children Learning The importance of play. In Ward, S. (2013) A Student's Guide to Education Studies. Abingdon: Routledge.

Pound, L. (2005) How Children Learn. Leamington Spa: Step Forward.

Museum Learning

I can still recall every school trip I attended as a child and believe it is a fantastic way of making a subject come to life.  Being out of the classroom enables children to see things for themselves and gain a better understanding of what they are studying.  Children have different learning styles and cannot all learn from sitting and reading in a classroom, so by seeing actual artefacts up close it makes subjects real.   By visiting different places learners become enthusiastic, excited and keen to learn and it enables access to resources they would not have in school.

Recently we visited Cardiff Castle and The Firing Line Museum and could instantly understand what a fantastic experience it was for everyone to learn, from foundation phase right through to A level and even adults. Children are allowed to dress up in military uniform and hold muskets to experience things for themselves.  They are given the opportunity to hold the drum a ten year old drummer boy would have played going into battle, which enables them to relate to how times have changed.  Then at lunch they can use the vast, safe, outdoor area within the castle grounds to run around and pretend they are defending the castle.

The Education Officer explained how they work closely with schools to be topic specific, therefore if the class are studying WWII she will visit the school prior to the trip and present a show and tell using an evacuation suitcase.  This allows the children to build a rapport with the staff and they will know what to expect when they get to the museum and be relaxed and enthusiastic about the visit.  They can research the topic with their teacher prior to the trip and build on their knowledge when they eventually visit the site.  This increases their interest and enthusiasm for the subject and as the majority of the staff are volunteers and experts, with real experiences to talk about, children develop respect, admiration and can ask questions to understand topics better. 

The museum will also link your visit with other museums to increase learning further, so you can visit the Air Raid Shelter within the Castle walls or The Cardiff Museum.  The Firing Line Museum explained how important and successful museum visits and the interactive approach can be for capturing children's attention, as in the past even the most disengaged learners in a classroom setting become imaginative, animated and passionate in the museum.


It's not just about history though and these visits are a great way to use cross curricular teaching.  Literacy skills can be hugely improved in many ways but in particular by getting children to write about what they have experienced.  When studying The Egyptians, a visit to Swansea Egyptian Center to study Hieroglyphs will introduce children to coding and improve numeracy skills and at Cardiff Castle, children are introduced to various technologies through the ages to show how Science has developed.  

Some of these museums can cost however and this is a disadvantage to low income families. However if the schools can fund the transport costs then some museums are free.  The video below is based on the free to visit, London Science Museum, which I have also had the pleasure to visit and can confirm, with its interactive approach and real life environment, illustrates perfectly how from one museum visit students can cover the whole curriculum. 

Montessori Settings and Theories

Montessori Settings were founded by the inspirational Italian Physician, Maria Montessori during a time of hard female oppression.  Initially studying Special Educational Needs she opened a school for SEN in Rome, and in 1906 was invited to set up a nursery in the slums.  "Casa dei Bambini" or "The Children's House" gave mothers the opportunity to work and enabled the poorest children to gain quite an exceptional education (Pound 2005)

Montessori identified the initial 6 years of a child's life as the most important (Isaacs 2012) which I strongly agree with. Isaacs (2010) explains according to Montessori, children's development  is separated into three main stages:-

1. Absorbent mind - 0 - 6 years .
2. Childhood - 6 - 12 years
3. Adolescence - 12 - 18 year

Even in the womb information is being stored in the mneme, the unconscious memory,  and as the child develops the horme decides what information needs to be absorbed from the environment.  Montessori believed whilst developing through the three main periods the child would also develop through sensitive periods. These were sensitivity to order, movement, small detail and language, refinement of the senses and sensitivity to social aspects ( Isaacs 2012).  This is important as Montessori schools are still designed around this idea today and practitioners look out for these to accelerate learning.  I also believe it is important to highlight children will achieve these stages at different times and will regress when learning new information before progressing again ( Issacs 2010) as every child is different.

Montessori practice is centred around the importance of nurturing each child to fulfil their potential and directors will single out talents and encourage them. She worked hard ensuring the environment was conducive to learning by placing child size, natural effect furniture and specific Montessori materials around the nursery, some of which have now been adopted into the foundation phase.  Classrooms are bright, tidy and clean with the option to use the outdoor area.  Feez (2010) observed children shaking hands with their directors on entering the school each morning which helps eradicate a problem widely observed in today's society, respect and discipline. Montessori's techniques have improved social behaviour and brought fairness and opportunities to even the poorest areas. Families are invited into the school promoting a feeling of team work within the community which also helps involve parents in their children's education.  

To be a Montessori director you must receive specialist training ensuring,  regardless of location, all settings resemble each other in appearance and operate using several key principles.  

Freedom is the primary principle as children are encouraged to learn for themselves through discovery. They are given the freedom to decide what they want to do and when they want to do it and work cycles will vary because of this.  This is a great advantage as some activities will engross a child so much that by not setting strict timetables you do not disturb the child. Ensuring all key principles are followed correctly helps children show self discipline and supports the idea of freedom.  Children understand that whatever they decide to do may have consequences and they are responsible for these, including the basics of tidying up after themselves.  All activities are designed with control of error in mind so children know if they are making mistakes and can problem solve to rectify it.  Throughout the day the directors scaffold the children's learning and through repetition they cement their knowledge. The vertical grouping means, despite the age difference, children learn from each other and care for each other creating a family and community feel.  Finally directors are constantly making Observation and Assessment.  This is important so they can guide children to develop their skills and help them to progress successfully (Isaacs 2010).  Without this final principal I do not think Montessori settings would work as children still need to be encouraged to push themselves. I still remain unconvinced that these principles would be successful in any setting post the early years, as some subjects still need to be lectured and delivered with more structure.

Since 2005 Manchester School, Gorton Mount, has successfully adopted Montessori principles into their foundation stage and this is a great example of how these principles work.  This can be seen in the following videos as children describe how through Montessori settings they have developed self respect, confidence, enjoy the freedom and liked being judged for their efforts and not their ability.  

  

Reference List

Bujak, P., Isaacs, B. and Powell, C. Retrieved March 2013 from Working for the Montessori movement across the World. http://www.montessori.org.uk
Feez, S. (2010) Montessori and Early Childhood: A Guide for students. London: Sage.

Isaacs, B. (2010) Bringing the Montessori Approach to your Early Years Practice. Cornwall:Routledge

Isaacs, B. (2012) Understanding the Montessori Approach. London: Sage

Pound, L. (2005) How Children Learn. Leamington Spa: Step Forward

Forest School and Outdoor Play

Forest School is a fantastic way of taking learning outdoors and as proved in the Scandinavian countries it originated, is very successful.  After a visit to Denmark, in 1995, a team from Bridgwater College established the first forest school in the United Kingdom, which now provides training to almost 200 schools across the UK. (Pound 2005)

Taking learning out of the classroom has enabled practitioners to teach all subjects across the curriculum through a range of survival and real life activities.  Due to growing concerns regarding children's safety O'Brien (2009) suggests children are not playing outside and adventuring as much as children used too.  This means they are missing out on great experiences but through Forest schools, whatever the weather, children are taken out in small groups to a safe, familiar, wooded area and encouraged to experiment, knowing there are only a small number of rules they have to adhere to, ensuring their safety.  I feel this is important and allows them freedom to play using the natural resources surrounding them and a chance to problem solve and learn from their mistakes. Teachers and other children scaffold learning but it's very much a child led context which increases independence.  The children's concentration improves as they are released into the fresh air, which boosts their enthusiasm, energy levels and makes learning exciting.  Only today I saw this demonstated as I walked through a field and past a group of very enthusiastic children building the den in the picture below.  It is made from basic materials and does not look special, however, the enjoyment and skills they were learning were very clear to see.

As seen in the short video below, children are taken back to basics in forest school, learning skills such as how to cook, light fires and how to use adult tools, including saws and pen knives, safely.  All skills can be transferred into everyday life which makes learning relevant to children. If a child can see the relevance of a subject they are more motivated to learn, to achieve the end product.   As Edgington (2003) states being in the outdoor environment encourages a healthy lifestyle and improves gross and fine motor skills. The activities improve such skills as thinking, problem solving, communication and team work, which are all extremely important for a child's social development.  At All Saints' School in Lawshall, Forest School has proved very successful when teaching PSE to all year groups and crucially has the full support of the head teacher (Lamb 2011) .  By making regular visits to the area, children are able to build on their knowledge and teachers can link these visits with studies they are working on in the classroom. Forest school is a wonderful way of getting children to understand their local environment and the natural environment which surrounds their home. 

The  teaching approach has also proved successful in helping schools and organised groups to engage with disengaged children, who may have issues with authority.  Being outdoors, in a calming and non-pressured atmosphere, away from the static classroom environment helps them to relax and see the relevance of the subjects they are studying.  The 'hands-on' method means it very much suits kinaesthetic learners and this may be why these students misbehave in class but not in the great outdoors.  The following video explains this in more detail and focuses on a group showing how successful this idea can be.

Outdoor play has been encouraged by schools for many years and it is no coincidence that children are let outside in their break times.  Outdoor play relieves tensions that may have been building in the classroom and allows children to let off steam.  This I have witnessed for myself when it has been raining outside and children have not been allowed out.  Even though they are allowed to play inside they do not have the space to run around and can be restless for the remaining day. I am a great believer in children discovering the great outdoors.

Reference List

Edgington, M. (2003), The Great Outdoors. London: Early Education.

Lamb, C. (2011), Forest School a whole School Approach. In Knight, S. (2011) Forest School For All. London: Sage.

O'Brien, L. (2009), Learning Outdoors: the Forest School approach, Education 3 - 13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 37:1, 45-60.

Pound, L. (2005) How Children Learn. Leamington Spa: Step Forward.