Active Learning Philosophy

Active Learning: My Teaching Philosophy

Joshabel M. Moya

Riverside Community College Abstract

Through active learning and setting up a classroom environment in which children will learn, they get to experience objects and ideas, which is necessary for cognitive development and for overall development. How do children learn? “Research demonstrates that play contributes to language development, self-regulation, attention, creativity, problem solving, and social and emotional skills.” (Effective Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2014, p.133). The work of Jean Piaget is vitally important, with the pre-operational and concrete operations stages being the ones in which most early childhood student’s function. Therefore, children’s play

Keywords: Active learning, developmentally appropriate practice, curriculum, pre-operational, concrete operations The Approach

Through active learning, young children construct knowledge that helps them make sense of their world. This active engagement is often called outside play and is anything but a waste of time. Active learning is an optimal way in which children learn, and in my opinion, learn best through active engagement with their environment and concrete manipulation of materials. Children need to have their own materials and allowed to act on those materials to solve problems. Active learning and the use of concrete manipulatives mutually go hand in hand in the developmentally appropriate classroom. The importance shifts from the teacher having all the materials and getting to do the whole activity, to children having their own materials and acting upon them. One could, for example, incorporate this into a pizza cooking activity. In a more child directed appropriate approach, each child has his/her own bowl of ingredients to mix, and each child kneads and makes an individual roll of dough. In a more teacher directed activity, one could plan

Teachers are course designers and curriculum builders. Early childhood educators have long been advocates of a child centered classrooms that should encourage choice and conversation. A teachers actions must meet with the expectations they have for their own class, “active learners”, and the role of a child. Teachers actively create the social climate of the classroom. Pulling all areas of the curriculum together around a theme or book makes the day more logical for the classroom and allows the child to connect something newly learned with prior knowledge. Learning centers are a great way to allow curriculum integration but also encourage student choice and active learning. A child learns what an object is by experimenting with it by holding, squeezing, climbing, smelling, dropping, tasting, and so forth. A teachers most important role is supporting reactions between children by enabling them to interact successfully, which in return helps facilitate social interaction with active learning. With a teacher, children are able to try new experiences like exchanging toys or playing together with blocks. When teachers support early social interaction, child develop social skills that will stay with them throughout their