I believe that technology has its place in our centres, but also sometimes we can use too much of it. I feel that tamariki need to have exposure to the outdoors rather than sitting in front of computers, smart boards and Ipads. Children learn from a variety of experiences (Ministry of Education, 1996) and I believe that they need to have access to natural resources. In saying that I also think that technology can also enhance a child’s learning, for example digital cameras which can document what a child has achieved and promotes recalling (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009). I feel we need to get a happy balance between the two, as I see even in the development of my own cousins, how technology is ruling their lives and how they struggle doing things with their brains if the technology is not working. For example we used to add with our minds and now it seems if a calculator is not available or a till at the supermarket is not working, we cannot do it. It is the same with computers, gone are the days where you learn how to type on a typewriter, yet if a letter needs to be produced and a computer is not working, most people would struggle using a typewriter instead.
I feel tamariki have a high exposure to technologies of various designs and in particular digital. This is important because it is keeping up with the changes in their world (Ministry of Education, 1996), but I think they need to develop social skills first, as knowing how to use a computer will not help a child when they are having a dispute in a school yard.
Since volunteering at my centre for the entire time of my degree I have come to value my centre’s outdoor philosophy. I believe that children are not getting enough risk in their lives to challenge them both physically and mentally (Gill, 2007). There is an unbelievable amount of tamariki that do not have any desire to go into nature because they have no attachment to it (Louv, 2011). I feel that we need more centres like Claire Warden has created in Scotland, which encourage tamariki to use nature as their resources (Warden, 2010).
I appreciate all my peer’s comments as they have been extremely beneficial to me. As an update, we are improving our centre’s outdoor area and currently we are getting a garden area installed, which will have a special place where we can have open fires for cooking. This will help us to extend the children’s learning of survival skills and will give them another place to cook in the outdoors, other than the beach.
What I also learnt from doing this project is how to really think about what I am writing and how simple comments can be misconstrued. I also learnt how to encourage extension of a child’s learning from looking deeper at different types of activities. It reminded me of experiences I have had on practicums and things I have been advised upon. I have never felt comfortable sharing my thoughts with anyone other than the lecturer marking my paper so it was a challenge for me to have my classmates read and comment on my experiences. I also struggled with the teacher in me trying not to break free and wanting to correct the written English of my group. To be critical yet positive is a skill which I feel will always be a challenge for me, as I overanalyse my own work and I demand high standards of myself.
References
Gill, T. (2007). No fear growing up in a risk adverse society. United Kingdom: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Louv, R.(2011). Richard Louv blog Retrieved from http://richardlouv.com/
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia: Pearson/Education Australia.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Warden, C. (2010). Nature kindergartens. Perthshire, Scotland: Mindstretchers Limited.
