Integrated+Theory+and+Practice


 * Integrated Theory and Practice **



__**Theory **__
Having minimal information about theories and approaches before doing placements and venturing into Primary Education, I was a strong believer in that children independently learn through play. The play had to be child directed with no, if not, minimal adult input. However, further studies show you cannot stick with just the one theory. Each theory has its pros and cons so affirming yourself to a combination of theories is beneficial as oppose to sticking to just the one as every child is different, have different levels of learning capabilities and may be suited to particular teaching styles. The three theorists this page will focus on are Piaget, Vygotsky and Dewey.

Children when given the opportunities can still direct their learning however adult direction through scaffolding, guided participation or open ended questions is just as essential (Berk, 1997). My approaches are highly influenced by Piaget and Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory is that adult guidance is pivotal otherwise known as assisted discovery or scaffolding (Berk, 1997) through explanations, demonstrations and verbal prompts from significant peers or adults. Whereas Piaget emphasizes that educators need to provide a variety of activities designed to promote exploration and discovery and permit children to choose among themselves (Berk, 1997). Both theorists agree that children are active seekers of knowledge (Berk, 1997) however they really do have a different approach.

Another theorist to consider is Dewey. Both Vygotsky and Dewey view learning as social, collaborative and active otherwise known as social constructivism. Dewey sees the classroom as a mini community where children engage in authentic learning, playing out important social roles and learning social responsibility whereas Vygotsky focus' on how chidlren develop and the roles of significant adults leading the child's early development (Hill, 2012). Dewey insists children need to explore how they learn and how knowledge develops by asking questions and actively seeking answers (Hill, 2012).

As a future educators and trying to apply your own philosophy into your environment, you can never stick to one theory. I am definitely influenced by both developmental (Piaget) and social constructism theories (Vygotsky/Dewey).

For more information about the theories:

- click here  for Piaget (McLeod, 2009), which will further discuss his theory in detail and the different stages of cognitive development.

- [|click here] for Vygotsky (McLeod, 2007) which discuss' his theory in detail as well as information regarding Zone of Proximal Development.

- click here for Dewey (Field, 2005) which further discuss' his theory and links to other resoures.

Or simply click on their pictures.

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Teaching Practices/Approaches **__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Recently we did an assignment, Early Years Literacy Teacher's Profile where we needed to observe a classroom teacher and what teaching practices they applied in their lesson. We also completed a 10 day observational placement where we would have been exposed to an array of teaching practices. Findings we got as a group from our placement experience and our Teachers Profile assignment is reassurance that children are unique individuals and have differently learning capabilities. That is why there is an array of practice/approaches so we can cater for the different learning styles children may be suited to. There were an array of teaching practices we observed and here are some as follow;

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Modeled reading/writing //
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Modeled reading/writing is when the teacher writes on a whiteboard showing how a writer uses words, sentences and text types to record ideas (Hill, 2012). This supports Vygotsky's <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px;">theory is that adult guidance is pivotal otherwise known as assisted discovery or scaffolding (Berk, 1997) through explanations, demonstrations and verbal prompts from significant peers or adults.



//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">S ////<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">hared Reading/writing //
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Shared reading with a big book encourages children to join in with the teacher and is usually conducted with the whole class (Hill, 2012). A lot of us witnessed this practice during our Placements and when undertaking our Teacher's Profile assignment. It really gives the children an opportunity to explore and share ideas collectively as a group. It is an excellent time to refresh memories of previous lessons as well as a great way to introduce new lessons.



//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Guided reading/writing //
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Hill (2012) states that guided reading sessions takes place in small groups with scaffolding enables children to increasingly take control. Similar to that of Vygotsky’s approach of ‘scaffolding’ or ‘guided participation’ by a significant adult or peer (Berk, 1997). Guided writing is when there is scaffolding of the text so that children write with support (Hill, 2012).

===//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Independent reading/writing //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> === <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">According to Hill (2012) independent reading is encouraged to build fluency and motivation for reading. Piaget emphasizes that educators need to provide a variety of activities designed to promote exploration and discovery and permit children to choose among themselves (Berk, 1997). And independent writing is similar to that of independent reading where it builds fluency and motivation, however it also provides chances for using different text types and encourages them to investigate and practice a variety of written forms (Hill, 2012).

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Language Experience //
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">According to Hill (2012) is useful for making connections between oral language and written language in meaningful ways; however overlooks an important idea that oral language is not the same as written language. The language experiences are derived from the experiences of children, their home and communities (Hill, 2012).

**//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Literacy learning centres //**
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Hill (2012) states that literacy learning areas allow the children to exercise and consolidate reading behaviours they have been introduced to when provided activities which closely correlates to the book allowing children to engage with the same book for numerous lessons.