The Language of Learning – Adults in the Classroom

The emergence of metacognitive skills observed in Early Years children does not always correlate with the language development of those children because they do not always have the language to verbalise what they understand by learning. The impact of the teachers’ language in the classroom must also be considered as a factor in developing the children’s ability to verbalise the concepts that they are able to demonstrate.

Gjems (2010) when investigating ‘learning to talk and talking to learn’ in an Early Years setting states that:

“In kindergarten children will learn both to listen to language and to use language, but we have few studies of what characterises the qualities of their experiences. While there is ample evidence of the importance of early years to later development, we know relatively little about effective ways to provide all children with the boost in language learning and learning through language.”

(Gjems, 2010, p.139)

The research Gjems completed on the use of conversation, to develop concepts through the use of language, shows that conversation, including a range of open-ended questions, is crucially important if children are to develop their

language, including the use of mental verbs such as know, remember and learn. Gjems also found that teachers seldom used mental words in their questions, but when they did the children always communicated that they (the children) were thinking about their answers. She states that questions about beliefs and experiences are important in promoting children’s constructions of meanings and their understanding of events in everyday conversations.

Gola (2012) in research on mental verbs and theory-of-mind also reports that the use of these verbs in conversation, whether directly or overheard by the child, has a direct impact on the children’s use of such language. Gola suggests that pre-school children therefore need exposure to conversations in which people take the perspectives of others in the introduction to, and understanding of, the mental world.

The work of Larkin (2010) using CASE@KS1 shows that metacognitive activity can also take place with young children, but that the teacher is a catalyst in the process. The teachers’ ability to model a language of learning, in order to encourage the children to explore their thinking, and the engagement of the children in planning and evaluating strategies and in thinking about thinking, are part of the reasons behind the success of this project.

Larkin (2010) goes on to state that these metacognitive strategies need to be taught as part of a lesson and must not become a postscript to the lesson.

2.8.1 Scaffolding

Following Vygotsky’s focus on the Zone of Proximal Development, Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) described the support given during activities in the Zone of Proximal Development as scaffolding,

“ a process that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts.”

(Wood et al, 1976, p.90)

This assistance, or scaffolding, may help develop task competence in learners at a greater pace than if they were unassisted. Once a learner grows in

confidence it is central to successful scaffolding that children’s independence is fostered. Ankrum, Genest and Belcastro (2014) state that when scaffolding is removed it must allow the learner to apply new learning independently.

Hammond and Gibbons (2005) emphasise the importance of the adults’ use of words within scaffolding activities, making an overt link with ‘learning to learn’

and the importance of developing metacognitive skills.

“It follows then, that the kinds of talk that occur in the classroom are critical in the development of how students ‘learn to learn’ through language, and ultimately how they learn to think.”

(Hammond and Gibbons, 2005, p.15)

They consider the key features of scaffolding in the classroom as ‘extending understanding’ and ‘temporary support’ and that it has ‘macro and micro processes’ within it. ‘Extending understanding’ relates not only to the support given by the teacher, but also to other forms of assistance designed to help learners to work increasingly independently, “to know not only what to think and do, but how to think and do” (p.10). The feature ‘temporary support’ refers to the nature of scaffolding in terms of enabling children to apply learning

independently. They note timely support is critical to effective scaffolding. It is therefore crucial that teachers have a good understanding of where their learners are in terms of their individual understanding at the beginning of an activity. In terms of the ‘micro’ (specific task) and ‘macro’ (framework of a planned program) processes Hammond and Gibbons (2005) say that scaffolding also requires a clear focus on the tasks in hand.

“Scaffolding needs to be thought of in relation to the development of overall programs and curriculums, as well as to the selection and sequencing of tasks and to the specific classroom interactions that are part of those tasks.”

(Hammond and Gibbons, 2005, p.10)

Scaffolding in the classroom can take different forms depending on the

situation. Amongst others Gallimore and Tharp, as well as Roehler and Cantlon (both cited in Henderson, Many, Wellborn and Ward (2002)) categorise

scaffolding: Roehler and Cantlon (cited in Henderson et al, 2002) use the following categories; offering explanations, inviting participation, verifying and

clarifying student understanding, modelling desired behaviours and inviting students to contribute clues. One feature of these categories, and those suggested by other researchers, is the overwhelming importance of dialogue between both adults and children. Henderson et al (2002) in their own research categorise the aspects of scaffolding into academic, intellectual and emotional foci. Again whilst actions by adults are seen to be important it is the dialogue between adult and child, as well as that which accompanies the actions, which is seen to be important in moving the children’s learning forwards in all areas.

Mercer (cited in Hammond and Gibbons 2005) draws a clear distinction between ‘help’ and ‘scaffolding’ which clearly demonstrates learners will,

through the support offered by scaffolding, be able to apply independently what has been scaffolded in subsequent tasks or problems. Ankrum et al (2014) agree when talking about using scaffolding to help teach young children to learn to read.

“ if we make our thought processes ‘visible’ to young learners they can more easily apply thinking strategies to their own reading. This is the very definition of exemplary and developmentally appropriate instruction”

( Ankrum et al, 2014, p.45)

Within the context of this research it is scaffolding which verify’s and clarify’s understanding as well as modelling desired behaviours (Henderson et al, 2002) which emerges most clearly. The following vignette gives a brief example.