2 Principles of education I love
The two
principles that I have selected are both different yet connected. They are very
close to my way of teaching math where I focus on developing an eco system
using variety of representations to differentiate it enough for each child to
find a space in it. I vary content process and product depending on
learning styles and student readiness (Teachings in Education, 2017).
1.
All domains of child development—physical development,
cognitive development, social and emotional development, and linguistic
development (including bilingual or multilingual development), as well as
approaches to learning—are important; each domain both supports and is
supported by the others (NAEYC, n.d.).
When I was teaching middle
school kids (now I work with a corporate in education), I often found that
there were kids frightened of math. I discovered again and again that no matter
how hard we tried, they would not learn math or learn it mechanically. So I realized
that I need to bring in first and foremost, something that emotionally calms
them down enough to even look at math! (Zhou & Brown, 2015) I realised that
the students need to feel emotionally and
physically safe and accepted within the classroom eco system to progress and
reach their full potential. For this I changed my teaching strategy. Knowing that
all domains – physical, emotional, mental – affect each other, I brought in the
classroom strategies that banked upon all the aspects (NAEYC,
n.d.). my collection of teaching strategies were later called Humane Maths by
my kids (Kochar, 2011). I found that more variety of representations I brought
in, the calmer the eco system became and the better the outcome of math skills.
So, my classes ran on two wheels, inducing calmness and cognitive math
instruction.
2. Play promotes joyful learning
that fosters self-regulation, language, cognitive and social competencies as
well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is essential for all
children, birth through age 8.
(NAEYC, n.d.).
‘Can you
bring a child to joy through Geometry?’ asked Jiddu Krishnamurti (Krishnamurti,
n.d.). play fosters the joy of learning anything. Although not so much a s
child like play, the feelings associated with it can be brought into middle
school too using intelligent strategies. Cross-curricular and collaborative approaches such as
project-based learning or inquiry learning have characteristics of playful
learning. Giving children autonomy and choice promotes deeper
learning and improves executive functioning. Hence continuing to include
practices that foster the joyful feeling of play in the class is an essential
principle to follow through.
References
1. Kochar, M. (2010). User driven learning in mathematics. Academia.edu - Share research. https://www.academia.edu/1563753/User_Driven_Learning_in_Mathematics
2. Kochar, M. (2011, October 29). Designing a logo with symmetry. Retrieved from https://humanemaths.blogspot.com/2011/10/designing-logo-with-symmetry.html
3. Krishnamurti, J. (n.d.). Jiddu Krishnamurti texts. Retrieved from http://jiddu-krishnamurti.net/en/krishnamurti-on-education/1974-00-00-jiddu-krishnamurti-krishnamurti-on-education-talks-to-students-chapter-3
4. NAEYC. (n.d.) 12 Principles of Child Development https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/12-principles-of-child-development
5. Teachings in Education. (2017). Differentiated instruction: Why, how, and examples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVvImZcnkw (5:30)
6. Zhou, M. & Brown, D. (Spring 2015). Educational Learning Theories. Educational Psychology Commons. Retrieved from https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=education-textbooks
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