Child Initiated Learning

So much has been written and discussed on this subject. How far should adults lead, teach or initiate learning experiences? At one extreme should adults instruct and convey all  information to children? at the other, should children use their own exclusive free choice in determing their own development? or would this lead to anarchy and no role for the adult?

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development is helpful in describing the role of the adult as scaffolding children’s learning. I take this as meaning that children don’t know what they don’t know. The adult has to support and extend learning. We also need to stimulate and initiate opportunities to encounter new, imaginative and inspirational experiences.  

There is a responsibility on each of us to open the World to each child, the World of  play, digging, building, running, climbing, jumping, laughter, socialisation, stories, rhymes, singing, dance, painting, speech, counting, measuring etc etc etc. We need to give each child a sense of adventure and wonder, to start to build independence skills, a desire to know more about everything and how to be happy and how to make others happy.

There is no way any child is going to achieve any of this on their own. We should not constrain children or force them to conform to our preconceived ideas. We have to join them in a cooperative journey of discovery, bringing our knowledge, enthusiasm and encouragement to help them reach for, achieve and exceed successive steps towards more learning.

As an adult I know that no child will ever ask me to arrange for the fire engine to come to nursery but I can gaurantee that every child will rush out to experience it!