The most exciting experience for me during the first year of school was learning about nature. I was five-years-old at the time, fascinated by the natural environment surrounding us. So was our science teacher, Miss Asma, who valued wild plants and small animals.
She adopted pedagogical approaches that aimed at getting the children involved and interested in the subject such as a cooperative learning and stations approach as outlined by Fjørtoft (2001).
On several occasions, Miss Asma took us to her house, where she had an amazing collection of natural species. She treasured small animals such as rabbits, birds, snails, mice and butterflies as well as wild plants in her garden.
Such a variety of species enabled us to understand vital issues about the nature. So did the field trips to other regions, which gave us an insight about our environment (Wisneski, 2000).
It has been adopted recently not to use artificial props in science classes and uses nature itself to educate children (Coates, 2002). This form of education is associated with multiple benefits in children’s lives.
Through children’s social interaction with natural environment, they learn a lot about real nature and the environment we live in (Fjørtoft, 2001). Such an approach allows children to be explorative and critical towards every aspect of nature.
As a result, they can formulate their own conclusions based on the discoveries they make. Meanwhile, the surroundings offer children an ideal environment to form a basis for their own understanding of the world (Charlesworth & Lind, 2011).
This can be done with the help of various resources accessible to the children such as forests and reserves.
The current pedagogical approaches are similar to those of my personal experience. During the time I was a student, the environment was used to enable children to investigate and gain knowledge about reality (Coates, 2002).
Nevertheless, environmental-related issues in the current systems need to be addressed while considering different educational techniques.
As a result, blended pedagogical approach is ideal to realize the full potential of children learning effectively (Wisneski, 2000). In this case, IT-infused approaches are combined with other approaches.
References
Charlesworth, R., & Lind, K. L. (2011). Math & science for young children (7 ed.). New York: Thomson Delmar Learning.
Coates, E. (2002). I forgot the sky!’ Children’s stories contained within their drawings. International Journal of Early Years Education, 10(1), 21-35.
Fjørtoft, I. (2001). The natural environment as a playground for children: The impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 111-117.
Wisneski, D. B. (2000). ). Hatching butterflies and other mysteries: A story of a teacher learning to “Let Go”. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(1), 29-33.