Piaget said children are little scientists. Scientists are driven to discovery, led by wondering, pushed on by failure, hoping for success. They ‘need’ to find out how things work.
Traditionally, in early childhood education and care we planned experiences for children in developmental domains: social, emotional, cognitive, creative, linguistic, physical).
In Australia, since 2012, we have planned for learning outcomes: supporting children’s sense of identity, connection, wellbeing, confidence as learners and effectiveness as communicators.
What happens if we think of the developmental domains and learning outcomes as imperatives, as something children ‘need’ in order to make sense of their world?
When a child continually drops an object from a highchair, it is possible they are seeking to fill their cups emotionally: security (that you will care), connection (that you will respond), mastery (that they can drop the object), fun (the object makes a great sound) or freedom (they can choose what they want on their tray).
Maybe the child is dropping the objects to meet their social needs: hoping you will observe and delight in them, as they are observing and delighting in dropping the objects. We play the game of picking up the objects and putting them back on the tray. We ‘return’ their ‘serve’.
Maybe the child is developing their cognitive needs, in particular, the scheme of Trajectory:
- Objects drop – every time
- Objects fall to the ground – every time
- Objects make sounds when they hit the group – every time
- Dropping, falling and sound occur no matter which side of the highchair the objects are dropped from
- Objects roll, slide or skid – sometimes
- Rolling, sliding and skidding have different sounds
- Rolling, sliding, skidding and sounds are different if the surface is softer or harder
- Objects go further depending on how they are dropped – or thrown
- An object that drops onto another object reacts differently
- An object that drops onto another object causes a reaction from the other object
- Some objects require more effort to drop than others
Maybe the child is developing their creativity:
- A new way of dropping the object
- Dropping the object in different ways
- Dropping different objects
- Dropping many objects at the same time
- Dropping some objects and not others.
Maybe the child is developing their fine motor skills: picking the object up, passing it from hand to hand, holding the object, letting it go.
If the child, as a little scientist, is driven to understand their world, what is our role as educators? How can we support children’s social, emotional, cognitive, creative; linguistic and physical development if they have a ‘need’ to know, understand and be able to do things, a need for safety, connection, mastery, fun and freedom and a need to be creative?
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