First, active learning: the core concept of advanced courses
The High/Scope program is an early education curriculum model developed by the American High-Range Curriculum Education Research Foundation and successfully promoted in more than 30 countries. Its course content consists of active learning, teacher-child interaction, daily life, learning environment and evaluation, among which active learning is the core.
The so-called active learning refers to the learning initiated by learners, and it is a process in which learners actively construct knowledge about reality through the interaction between operating objects and people, ideas and situations. Based on Piaget's cognitive development theory, High/Scope holds that children's logical operation ability has not been fully developed, and they mainly rely on actions to directly act on the environment to gain experience. Therefore, the best way for children to learn is not to rely on teachers to teach or preach, but to provide children with rich materials, so that children can have direct and hands-on experiences and ideas with others and activities, and build their own knowledge system through communication with the world and people around them.
High/scope believes that real active learning should include the following four links: children operate and use objects in their own way, think in activities, motivation, needs and problem solving from children. In other words, active learning is a process in which children operate objects, carry out activities, constantly think, find problems and solve problems based on their inner interests and needs.
Second, the occurrence of active learning conditions
High/Scope believes that children's active learning will not happen naturally. To promote children's active learning, we must provide them with an active learning environment. The environment of active learning includes the following five elements:
1. materials: provide rich materials to meet the different development needs of children. These materials are also easy to get for children.
2. Operation: Give children the opportunity to operate, convert and combine materials freely.
3. Choice: Children should freely choose their own materials and activities, which is the core element of children's active learning.
4. Language from children: children have the opportunity to describe things, express their thoughts, talk about what they have done, and have good communication with other children;
5. Support from adults: In advanced courses, adults will support and encourage children's choices and activities, and encourage them to follow their own interests and ideas.
These five elements are the necessary conditions and the premise of active learning.
Third, plan-action-reflection: the guarantee mechanism of active learning
In the high/range classroom, daily activities are carried out according to a predictable learning plan, which includes "planning-doing-reviewing", group activities, collective activities, outdoor activities and other links, and its core is the "planning-action-reflection" plan. As a predictable learning plan, on the one hand, it can help children understand the daily activity schedule, on the other hand, it also provides a guarantee mechanism for children to learn actively.
1. Planning time (5 minutes ~ 10 minutes): After the children enter the park, the first activity is to make a simple activity plan with the help of the teacher, that is, to plan what they will do in the follow-up activities, such as which theme area they want to play and what to play. The designer of High/Scope thinks that children usually have two kinds of behaviors without planned activities: aimless and idle behaviors and compulsory activities controlled by teachers. Aimless activities can't get the expected harvest naturally, while compulsory activities will only lead to further coercion or control. Through planning, children can know in advance what the next action is and what to do, so that their follow-up activities can become purposeful activities.
2. Execution time (45 minutes to 60 minutes): After the plan is completed, children can execute the plan and play their favorite games in the activity area. Children can carry out activities according to the original plan or change their plans to engage in other activities. During the activity, children can play games with their favorite materials in any activity area, or explore learning materials, and constantly try new ideas or verify their own ideas. Children are free to take materials from one area to another, and they decide what to play with and who to play with. Teachers pay attention to observing how children collect information, communicate with peers and solve problems, and intervene in children's activities and participate in children's discussions when appropriate.
3. Review time (5 minutes 10 minutes): after the game. Teachers and children have a discussion time to check and review what they have done and learned together. Children describe their learning activities and experiences through "Today I did ……", establish their own understanding of things, exchange meaningful experiences with others, and compare the actually completed activities with the original plans, thus linking the plans, actions and results. After reviewing, children will find that they can make some events happen, they can learn new things, and they can solve the problems they face.
In short, children learn to plan their own activities, carry out plans, and talk with others about what they have done and learned through a predictable learning process, and learn by actively participating in people, events, activities and ideas.
Fourthly, the enlightenment of high/wide active learning to the reform of early childhood education in China.
Active learning is not only a way of learning, but also a learning attitude and quality. However, how to "guide children to be lively and active" in kindergarten education, how to truly realize the transformation of children's learning style and the reconstruction of teachers' teaching behavior. The experience of High/Scope provides us with useful reference and practical ideas.
1. Let children master the initiative in learning.
Under the traditional educational concept of "three centers", children's learning is based on human objectivity, passivity and dependence, ignoring human subjectivity, initiative and independence. Therefore, to change the single, others-centered, passive learning style, we must let children master the initiative in learning.
Let children master the initiative in learning. Fundamentally speaking, it is to establish children's subjectivity in learning. Subjectivity includes autonomy, initiative and subjectivity. And autonomy is the essential provision of children's subjective status. Autonomy reflects a person's position in activities, which means that under certain conditions, individuals have the power and ability to dominate and control their own activities. The autonomy of children's learning should be reflected in three aspects: first, determine the purpose of their own activities, or that children's activities are purposeful; Second, choose the ways and methods of activities by yourself and master the process of activities by yourself; The third is to carry out self-supervision, self-control and self-adjustment in the process of activities. Only when children carry out activities independently can they become the main body of activities.
2. Give children the opportunity to choose.
One of the basic characteristics of active learning is initiative. What is initiative? For children, initiative is not "the teacher wants me …" or "the mother wants me …", but "I want …", which is a real choice based on children's inner needs and interests. Intrinsic need is the internal starting mechanism of active learning, and it is the psychological state that children feel some kind of deficiency in educational activities and strive to get satisfaction. Its subjective experience form is children's learning desire or intention, and it is the fundamental driving force for children's learning. Without the inherent learning needs, children's active learning will not happen.
Therefore. Provide diversified activities that meet children's internal needs, give children the opportunity to choose, and help children take the first step in the learning process through selection, planning and implementation.
3. Provide a learning environment to stimulate children's interest in activities and desire to explore.
Children are active learners. They enter the learning environment with their own development needs and cognitive characteristics, but the stimuli in the environment are not all equally important. What kind of environment can trigger children's active exploration and learning?
Piaget believes that learning can promote the development of young children. The key is that children's learning activities are passive learning knowledge under the instructions of adults. Or explore active learning in your own life situation. He also pointed out that the real purpose of education is not to increase children's knowledge, but to let children explore and actively learn knowledge in an environment full of wisdom and excitement. If children are taught knowledge in advance before their performance reaches an appropriate level, it will adversely affect their self-exploration and active knowledge-seeking behavior. High/Scope claims that children's learning is achieved through their spontaneous behavior and manipulation of the environment. In the high/range classroom, they set up 16 game activity areas with clear themes for children to choose from. Therefore, in children's learning activities, one of the most important tasks of teachers is to provide children with all kinds of learning environments and materials that are operable, have potential educational value, can arouse children's interest and desire to explore, and have sustainable interaction with children, so that children can find themselves in their own hands and experiences and promote the occurrence of active learning.
4. Provide children with a controllable learning process.
"Initiative" is neither passive nor laissez-faire, but actively controls the learning process according to one's own wishes through certain learning procedures. Making plans, implementing plans, predicting results, communicating and expressing not only foresee the changes of children's cognition and behavior in activities, but also limit children's selective attention and play a guiding role in subsequent learning activities, helping children gradually learn to control their own behaviors and environmental stimuli, so that children can take responsibility for learning activities they are interested in.
5. Help children gain successful experience and improve their sense of self-efficacy.
The key to let children learn actively is to make them willing to learn, let them feel the happiness of success, progress and development, and let them get the motivation of learning from the learning activity itself. Therefore, in children's exploration and learning, it is necessary to promote the success of their planned activities, and share the process and results with their peers, so that children can gain a successful experience, improve their sense of self-efficacy (individuals believe that their learning or actions can reach a certain level), and strengthen their belief in active learning, so that independence, self-confidence and active learning become the inherent qualities that accompany children's lifelong development.