Childhood offers a finite period of time within our lives, yet it sees staggering change with monumental effects on every facet of our lives going forward. A child’s development during this time is huge and anyone in a position of influence on it must ensure that experiences are broad, well-rounded and holistic, where children’s individual, fluctuating and dynamic approaches to learning are nurtured.
A child’s first day of school is often thought of as the beginning of their educational journey, but of course children are learning from the moment they are born. They have much to accomplish in such a short period, that they use every experience to construct their understanding of the world and the people around them. They are making connections in their learning, modifying and adapting their understanding through every afforded opportunity, and developing the skills that allow them to embrace opportunities going forward. Every experience informs this process; both those steeped in positive, engaging and purposeful discovery, but also those steeped in frustration.
This lifelong journey of interconnected development is influencing every aspect of their growth and development in infinitely unique ways. To nurture and ignite a child’s lifelong learning potential, we must be aware of our impact in these formative years, recognising each individual child with a very strong response of their own. But to do this effectively, we need to see children as more than a representation of the goals they have or have not met and instead, recognise and embrace their continuously changing characteristics and fluctuating abilities through every phase of education.
Opportunities For Lifelong Learning
In the early years we are fantastic at recognising the importance of holistic and play-based learning and yet when we start thinking about “school readiness”, we can begin to lose sight of this. Whilst formal classroom pedagogies focusing on group learning of discrete skills and knowledge will be a part of their future experiences, the processes of lifelong learning that every child engages in are not changing.
Children are social, experiential learners, in fact, we all are. To learn anything we need to express our understanding, with opportunities to think, question and imagine, demonstrating what we know to ourselves as much as others. Despite this, many “school readiness” programmes can effectively homogenise children, glossing over the complex learning processes within any experience. When these are driven by prescribed learning outcomes, it is then the child who can be found lacking or not yet “school ready”, within systems that fail to reflect children’s intrinsic methods of learning.
Learning is a complex process that requires opportunities to engage with an idea, to think about how it sits with what we knew before as we reflect and revisit, using all the dispositions of learning that we have. To do this, children need opportunities to try different ideas, acting freely as a thought occurs to them, learning from a wide range of circumstances, environments and resources. As this happens, children are not only learning but also developing notions of themselves as an effective learner. Deeper levels of understanding are embedded through these individual, fluctuating and holistic experiences that children will then take into new environments, becoming more advanced in their thinking and better able to demonstrate their ideas.
Twenty years from now, our children are going to be living in a world that we cannot possibly predict. To prepare them for this, they need more useful skills than displays of knowledge that are easily available at our fingertips. Children need to experience managing new problems within unexpected situations and evolving environments. They need to explore complex concepts, seeing how their thoughts and continued efforts can result in success. They need to express their viewpoints, show initiative and pursue original ideas, adapting their thinking as they listen to the thoughts of others, exploring an alternative direction with courage and insight.
Developing Intrinsic Motivation Through Learning
If we want children to pay attention and persist with the challenging tasks they will meet in their school classrooms, they need opportunities to develop the intrinsic motivations this will require. If we expect them to remember new rules and avoid distractions, they need to experience environments where simultaneous choices are offered, and where they think about multiple options at once before making well-considered decisions. If we expect children to suppress their need for movement, to sit still and be goal-oriented, they need alternative and regular opportunities to move their growing bodies, freely responding to every instinct within them.
Through these experiences of applying motivation and perseverance to something that has importance to them, they are also developing a growth mindset that allows them to see setbacks and struggles as opportunities for learning, rather than a reason to give up. All of which is far more powerful than the pursuit of one desired outcome or predetermined goal.
While some children thrive on the pursuit of discrete, measurable skills, many do not as they disengage from teaching styles more suited to older classrooms. Expected to refrain from the physical, and social learning techniques that have served them so well, you may see behaviours that can be mistakenly observed as disruptive or showing a lack of ability. As long-term effects begin to embed, this adversely informs a child of their identity as a capable learner, a devastating response to what is after all the most basic of natural human instincts. With a clear impact on the years they are about to spend in the classroom, this also impacts every aspect of their personal, professional and academic lives, affecting their physical health, their social-emotional well-being and ultimate life trajectories.
Pedagogical Framework
Within the Nurturing Childhoods Pedagogical Framework, we do things a little differently. Through every stage of a child’s education and learning journey, we look at the behaviours that reflect children’s development of lifelong learning dispositions as children are;
- Doing things for themselves – with self-motivation and independence
- Doing new things – with curiosity and adaptability
- Being brave – with courage and confidence
- Having good ideas – with imagination and intuition
- Having a go – with reflection as they develop practical skills
- Having fun – with sociable and fun methods of learning
As influential adults in children’s lives, we have the duty and privilege to nurture every child’s ongoing love of learning and its embedded techniques, recognising that there is so much more to a developing child than their set of achieved milestones. So please, check out the new book series published this month and join me at nurturingchildhoods.com where together we can develop the potential of every child while continuing to be ambassadors for them.
