How to Teach Young Children Virtually, Again
The spurt of online classes is worrying …
Children had only recently begun to hop back to playgrounds and relish the joys of childhood after a couple of years of unprecedented anxiety and stress from a pandemic. Yet, once again, in many parts of the world, virtual learning has begun to reappear due to the recent Coronavirus wave.
To say it as it is — virtual learning, through a single dimension, provided by computer screens is inappropriate, especially for young children. As a long-time early childhood educator, I am worried to see the promotion of online “classes” for children as young as 18 months!
Not only are children not learning anything via screens but sadly, they are actually being harmed. There needs to be a statutory warning on the damage this can do to children’s developing minds — minds that are being shaped during the key developmental stage between 0 to 5 years of age. Research suggests that early experiences form our brain’s architecture and determine who we become as adults.
If we expect our children to engage in sitting, listening passively as opposed to engaging in the give and take of language through active interactions, we are losing the window of opportunity when their brains are optimally primed for growth and neural connections.
Through developmentally inappropriate practices and expectations, we instead add anxiety and stress. The impact of stress leads to the shutting down of the brain and can lay the seeds for behaviour and attitude issues that are often carried into adulthood.
So, given the circumstances, how do we best plan virtual teaching, if at all?
1. The goal of the virtual classroom should be emotional connections and not activities
Structure the virtual space to build strong emotional connections and relationships with the children. With young children, this should be with teachers and children already familiar to the child. This is the reason that at Learning Matters we ensured the teachers remained connected to the same students.
The teachers need to see and affirm the children in their care and allow for participation by each child. Use the time to simply talk, explore and laugh instead of learning a set syllabus. All aspects of a child’s development — physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive — should be structured into any online program.
2. Ensure allowances for different awareness and attention levels:
Schools and educators must remember that learning should be a joyous process for children. To do so successfully, any virtual programs should be fluid and open-ended as opposed to burdening young children with tasks. Children in this age group often hop from one activity to the other and they should be allowed to function naturally.
Hence, any activity should be discretional and should allow children to think creatively.
3. Focus on training teachers
This virtual time can be utilized to train teachers in child behaviour and development since simply mimicking and transferring their usual classroom teaching practice will be ineffective.
Schools can facilitate workshops on child psychology and behaviour. Not only will these help in navigating the online world better but prepare them emotionally for when schools resume in-person classes. At such difficult times, it is crucial for teachers to understand children’s mindsets while managing their own emotions.
Conclusion:
We know that young children learn best through play and social interactions. I hope that our children will have opportunities to their right to childhood soon. Learning virtually is not what they need. So until then, at least for young children, focus on spending time with them and strengthening emotional bonds while training teachers rather than subjecting young minds to experiences that could hinder their cognitive and emotional growth.
Originally published at https://learningmatters.co.
