Child Teaching Practices - Essay Example

Child Teaching Practices Introduction It cannot be denied that teachers play an extremely important role in the social and emotional development of small children. A teacher’s responsibility lies not only in making a child academically strong but also to teach the whole child. It is also important to help in social and emotional development of children as this can have long term impact when they grow up and make career decisions, assess their own behavior, and socialize with peers. In order to narrow the gap between social and emotional development of children and their academic training, the need is to make available appropriate resources, tools and support for the teachers (Yoder, 2014, p.1). This paper will focus on a 4 year old male child who is from a low-income family and shows symptoms of motor disability. Child and learning The purpose here is to discuss the appropriate teaching techniques and practices that can be implemented to enrich the achievement level of children from low-income family. Considering the fact that these children will not be able to avail expensive resources and tools, the focus should be on developing intentional curriculum based on the challenges that exist on educating children from low-income family. According to NCCP (National Center for Children in Poverty), intentional curriculum has been defined as “planned, organized, sequenced activities and lessons focusing on academic readiness delivered through direct instruction that is age-appropriate and fun for young children” (Klein & Knitzer, 2006, p.7). Children’s teaching strategies can be based on both experience based learning and also by making children integrate playing activities with their learning activities. Based on this, Lewin-Benham (2015, pp.1-2) have considered 12 practices that can be implemented for best results. These practices include preparing the appropriate environment for children so that they can learn to regulate own activities and provide them the required time to focus on things that interest them. The author also suggests involvement of family members for children’s educational practices so that they can learn to do variety of things by using both natural and man-made objects. The purpose is to observe their developmental process by listening to their conversations, and by encouraging them to express their skills and creativity through various “Significant Work”. This will cause children to believe that their skills and competence are being appreciated, and this will induce them to put extra effort for doing things that interest them. One important factor that contributes to child development is physical movement which needs to be integrated with preschool teaching practices. The reason why teachers need to focus on motor skills of young children vests on the fact that motor development in small children has strong impact on physical, social and cognitive developments in future years. By getting proper environment for physical movement a child can experience intellectual and academic developments. Pier et al. (2008) have investigated the impact of early motor development on a child’s cognitive abilities in later years of school. It was found that after considering other factors toward cognitive development like gestational age and social and economic status, a child’s motor development in early years does not provide any conclusive evidence regarding his or her motor abilities in later school years. For instance, a child with neurological problem may learn to walk at the normal age range; however this does not indicate that the child will not develop motor problems in later stage of life. The reason attributed to this is that a child’s motor abilities are not fully assessable unless he or she is old enough to perform complex tasks. The study of motor development in small children and its impact on future cognitive abilities is important in order to design appropriate teaching strategies for children between the age of 3 and 5. It has been further proved that if motor impairment exists in children then it can have negative impact on their physical development leading to obesity and enhanced probability of cardiovascular diseases (Piek et al., 2012, p.402). In the current study, a motor functioning assessment test was implemented to study the focus child. Based on a method conjured by Henderson et al. (2007) eight activities were grouped into three divisions – aiming and catching (2 items), manual dexterity (3 items), and static and dynamic balance (3 items). The motor functioning assessment was based on the standard score obtained by the student in each group, and also on the total standard score derived from all the three groups. It was observed that the concerned child exhibits symptoms of motor disability which is reflected in the fact that the child has difficulty in processing visualspatial information. The child has shown signs of difficulty in performing complex tasks like throwing a ball in the right direction. He also finds it difficult to hold objects and has the tendency to drop things on the floor and is accident prone as he tends to bump into walls or furniture while trying to walk. He has also been observed having difficulty in holding a pencil properly which makes writing alphabets a challenging task for him. The teaching technique for a child depends on a number of factors, and one main element to be considered is the developmental characteristic of the child. The concentration level of a child along with his or her interaction skills with peers and teachers can have significant impact on learning process. For instance, a child’s mental disposition decides whether he or she can positively interact with the teacher (Relationships: The Heart of Development and Learning, 2010). The focus child in the study exhibits a disturbed temperament and as a result of which he finds it difficult to establish positive relationship with his teacher. Moreover, existence of any kind of developmental disability can also hinder the learning process of a child. For instance, a child with Down’s syndrome fails to exhibit clear signs of progress which makes it difficult for his or her teacher to make assessment of his learning abilities (Relationships: The Heart of Development and Learning, 2010). It has been an established fact by researchers that major development of the brain occurs between infancy and five years of age of a child. Based on this, it can be concluded that this five year period is the important phase of life when a child needs to “experience things for themselves and feel the sense of accomplishment that goes along with completing tasks independently” (Edie & Schmid, 2007, p.2). For this purpose, it is important to provide children the time and the environment to repeatedly do the same task over and over again so that their brain can absorb that the rules of the tasks. It is also necessary that a child’s parents and teachers remain supportive so that the children can get help when tasks become complex or overwhelming. This also instills in the child a sense of confidence and develops interest in the child to perform various tasks. One common developmental problem that can be found in small children is inattentive syndrome, and when a child exhibits lack of attention beyond a certain level then it cannot be considered as a normal behavioral pattern (Warner-Rogers, 2000, p.531). Increased level of inattention can cause problems in the context of academic functioning of a child, and this has been evident in the focus child of this study. The child finds it very difficult to remain attentive during lessons and this is reflected in his poor academic results. Learning plans As short-term goals, the focus child’s teacher has adopted the strategy of acknowledging and encouraging the child’s activities. First, the child is given the opportunity to perform tasks that provide him interest, and then on accomplishing the task the teacher has expressed praise rather than just assessing the quality of the task. Moreover, the teacher provides attention to whatever the child performs or talks to show that his efforts are being noticed. This kind of encouragement strategies helps the child to develop his inherent skills and make positive choices. As part of this strategy, the need is to provide limited number of opportunities to the child so that teacher can give time to interact with him rather than just supervising him (Kennedy & Stonehouse, 2012, p.21). Therefore, by implementing this strategy, there remains the strong possibility that by the end of 1-2 weeks, the child will express eagerness to perform tasks all by himself to prove to his teacher his competency and skill. As a second short-term goal, the teacher adopted the technique of demonstration which means the teacher has provided sufficient time to show the child the techniques of performing various tasks like how to write certain alphabets like P, C or B. Moreover, the teacher instructed the child how to approach problems by demonstrating the solution rather than just telling him what to do. This strategy helps the child to absorb the true nature of the problem and learns visually the way to solve the problem. In this way, it is possible that in one or two weeks the child will develop his own abilities to approach and solve problems. As for mid-term goals, Birch and Ladd (1998) have observed that there is a two-way relationship between child-teacher relationship and the child’s behavioral adjustments. Based on their study, it was observed that a child’s behavioral pattern is a deciding factor for his or her interaction with adult figures like teachers in classroom. Based on this theory, the focus child’s teacher has encouraged the child to develop a positive relationship with the teacher. Various strategies have been used to develop a positive relationship like paying attention to the child’s activities, making conversation with the child, and greeting the child whenever he enters the classroom. The strategy is to engage in learning conversations with the child and provide appropriate feedback (Kennedy & Stonehouse, 2012, p.21). This develops a sense of trust in the child which helps him to establish positive relationship with the teacher. As second mid-term goal, the teacher has provided opportunities to the child to develop collaboration with other children regarding certain tasks. This will develop social skills in the child and will develop a sense of belonging as he will learn to interact with his peers. Conclusion Early child development is a complex process and there is no absolute perfect method for efficient child development. There are numerous factors that remain responsible for a child’s proper growth and development, although the environmental factor is considered as the most important one. Maximum care needs to be taken during early childhood years as during this phase brain development occurs that determines the social and cognitive skills of a child in later years and even lifelong. As teacher of the child, it has been a learning experience. The challenge remained in teaching a child with motor disability. The best approach is to provide a suitable environment for the child so that he can develop learning abilities by overcoming his motor disabilities. References Birch, S.H. & Ladd, G.W. (1998) Childrens interpersonal behaviors and the teacher–child relationship. Developmental Psychology, 34(5), 934-46 Edie, D. & Schmid, D. (2007) Brain Development and Early Learning, Wisconsin Council on Children & Families, Volume 1 from: https://larrycuban.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ brain_dev_and_early_learning.pdf Henderson, S.E., Sugden, D.A. & Barnett, A.L. (2007) Movement assessment battery for children – 2, Harcourt Assessment Kennedy, A. & Stonehouse, A. (2012) Integrated Teaching and Learning Approaches, VEYLDF, retrieved on June 10, 2015 from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/ Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/practiceguide6.PDF Klein, L. & Knitzer, J. (2006) Effective Preschool Curricula and Teaching Strategies, NCCP, retrieved on June 10, 2015 from: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_668.pdf Lewin-Benham, A. (2015) Twelve Best Practices for Early Childhood Education: Integrating Reggio and Other Inspired Approaches, Teachers College Press Pier, J.P. et al. (2008) The role of early fine and gross motor development on later motor and cognitive ability. Human Movement Science, 27(5), 668-81 Piek, J.P., Hands, B. & Licari, M.K. (2012) Assessment of Motor Functioning in Preschool Period. Neuropsychology Review, 22(4), 402-13 Warner-Rogers, J. (2000) Inattentive Behavior in Childhood: Epidemiology and Implications for Development. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33(6), 520-36 Yoder, N. (2014) Teaching the Whole Child: Instructional practices that support socio-emotional learning in three teacher evaluation frameworks, gtlcenter, retrieved on June 10, 2015 from: http://www.gtlcenter.org/sites/default/files/TeachingtheWholeChild.pdf Read More