Reflection 3 – The Glue
Gun - and Scissors.
I was in the
art room, covering for a lunch break, the glue gun is set up, X is making a
long sword, using coloured ice block sticks, he has been making swords and
weapons for several months, lots of boys are inspired by his designs, when he
has finished putting the final touches on his “sword” he announces “look , I made a sword gun “ and
in response to my question announces “ its just a sword gun, hold like this”
holds the sword gun upright in front of his chest. In response to my query,
what will you do with it , he replies
“just this “and leaves the art area to find his mates, inspired by his
creation , some other boys come to “make a gun”. They stand around each other
ready to use the glue gun, taking turns to glue pieces of stick together, before
leaving to use these tools outside. It is not long before they are back to do
some mending.
A has asked me
for some help to make a mask,” can you make it?” we look through a book , even though she
continues to tell me she can’t, my response is to tell her that “I usually need
to get my ideas from looking at something else, so lets, look together, what is
your plan, do you have some ideas? ”, “
glue gun it “ we keep looking through the pages, seeing a heart she changes her
mind, with a request “ can you draw it” making out with my finger on the paper,
suggesting ways to try, then A keeps looking through the magazine, and as I
move back to sit further away, A finds
the mask page and begins to be inspired... selects her crayon colours, draws
the circle for the face, eyes and nose, and proceeds to cut expertly round the
face shape, stops when she remembers it needs ears, adds them and whiskers
“like a cat”.
At this point
P arrives and watches A cutting, he picks up the crayon, marks the paper, then
using the scissors, attempts at cutting, watches A opens and closes his hand
over the paper but it doesn’t continue cutting, watches a for a few moments
then tears his paper. P is new to the centre and preschool environment, while
he is very articulate within our environment; he is still making an emotional
adjustment to being away from mum. It is good to see him exploring what is a
challenging activity;(Ministry of Education, 1996), he would not be exploring
new areas of play if he was not feeling comfortable. A is oblivious to P’s
scrutiny, when he asks what you doin? A looked up surprised and said “ I’m
making a cat mask”!
Looking
through the lens with technology on the brain, creativity? or both! It’s hard
to see them separated in this context, not because this event is happening in
the art room, but the active thinking that takes place, to utilise a tool
to solve a problem, seeking out an answer
to support their own understanding, developing confidence to extend on their
own perspectives and acquire new knowledge ( Smorti, 1999). P watching A, Was
he challenged by the experience, when the scissors were not doing the cutting,
storing information for later use.
A needed some reassurance to take the next step.
Inspired by the book, or, challenged to work it for herself to extend her own understanding?
A did complete her mask, selected tape to anchor her string to the paper,
asking me to hold the end while she cut it.
The boys solved their problem when their weaponry needed mending, coming
back inside to repair.
From the technology
perspective, the tools helped to do a task, and solved a problem of” what
action will I take” (Smorti, 1999). Creatively; the process of thought, was
thinking and making connections with their peers, being inspired by ideas
(Cremin, Burnard, &Craft, 2006).
Cremin, T.
,Burnard, P., & Craft, A. (2006). Pedagogy and possibility thinking in the
early years. Thinking skills and
creativity. (108-119). :Science Direct. www.sciencedirect.com
doi:10.1016j.tsc.2006.07.001
Ministry of
Education, (1996). He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa,
early childhood curriculum .Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Limited.
Smorti, S. (1999. Technology in early education. Early
Education. (19). Autumn. (5-10).
I can understand your confusion of technology or creativity but like you said it is both. I think we have just started to realise what technology really is. We have all had similar feelings that we thought technology was about digital devices. With our new found knowledge like you Marilyn I am amazed at the many different ways technology is used in our centre. The boys were using technology to create their swords while the children making the masks were also using a different sort of technology to make their masks. Technology teaches children to learn about being innovative with their ideas and products (Ministry of Education, 2007).
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher you fostered the children’s ideas and assisted where needed. This is a great skill as sometimes it can be easier to just help them do it. Through listening to what they were saying you were able to understand what they wanted to achieve. You became the co-learner/co-explorer which helped the children make discoveries and extended their knowledge (Dunkin & Hanna, 2001).
Now that we are beginning to understand what technology is maybe it is time to introduce this concept and terminology to the children? I wonder what their definition of technology would be.
Thanks Kay, I agree, using the terminology with children will give them different ideas or something to think about, also extend their vocabulary.
ReplyDelete"The arts have their own distinct languages that use both verbal and non-verbal conventions, mediated by selected processes and technologies. Through movement, sound, and image, the arts transform people’s creative ideas into expressive works that communicate layered meanings" Retrievedfrom:http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Learning-areas/The-arts
ReplyDeleteWhen we give children the opportunity to brainstorm with us as educators this empowers them through their contribution towards their learning. Children are given opportunities to express themselves and know that their fears are taken seriously (Ministry of Education 1996).
When I read this reflection Marilyn I can see the genuine interest, understanding, the patience and the process that you showed towards the children that were involved. The children that were involved did have different ideas, differnt ways of doing things and they also faced challenges along their process of making something creative. You did not solve their struggles for them but you helped them find the answer themsleves. As we have been told technology is just a tool to the process and with this reflection i think that is exactly how it is. The glue gun, the scissors, the art equipment are tools to the children that encourage a sense of belonging, having self worth, a sense of well-being, and their contibution towards their own learning (Ministry of Education 1996). I can see now that Technology is not just a tool but it actually is encompassed about with a holistic veiw which encourages and adopts the perspective of questioning, solving, and gaining new knowledge.
Hi Marilyn
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice reflection Marilyn. The challenge for us as early childhood educators is to develop our own knowledge so that we can provide these opportunities to the children in our centre. Our roles teacher’s is provide the materials, support children by perceptive questioning when he/she faces setbacks, and reassuring them of their ability to complete the task. Reading your reflection made me realise that you did just that. The early childhood exemplar (Ministry of Education, 2005) contains a number of examples of children working technologically. Most of the activities are child-initiated, and they looked very similar to your reflection. Children making choices of materials and shapes, they overcome problems with cutting and joining, gluing, again looking for teacher assistance which is given only when asked for. You used a wide range of tools and equipment(technology), and your knowledge and involvement helped children understand of how those elements and systems connect and work together to achieve the desired outcome. Using different materials for different purposes helps children make sense and recognise that technology can be used in a variety of places and settings (Ministry of Education, 1996). Thank you for sharing this activity with us Marilyn, I really enjoyed that.
Marilyn, your reflection provides an example of a range of technological tools, and how we are surrounded by it. To be honest I have never thought that the sticks or scissors were related to technology at all. After reading your reflection now I can easily relate them to the technology. Your practice demonstrated the Vygotsky’s (1896-1934, as cited in Santrock 2010) ZPD model as A wanted to make a mask and to scaffold her learning on a further level you gave her an idea how to search and work on her plan. Smorti (1999) highlights that it is important to use a process approach towards technology rather than a product.
ReplyDeleteYou allowed the children to be creative and use the material in multiple ways, which is a good practice to enhance independency skills. Children should get familiar with the technological material and need to become accustomed with its use in expressive arts and creativity (Ministry of Education, 1996).
The reflection highlights that children’s imagination and creativity allowed them to use the same sticks in different ways. Fleer & Marilyn (1997) support this view that children’s abstract ways of thinking help them to solve problems creatively.
I will make sure in my practice to provide open-ended resources to promote thinking and creative skills.