Everything a young child experiences is a Learning Experience, but learning gained through active participation in experiences that are designed with child-centered purposeful play is quality learning.

Child-Centeredness – This term does not mean self-centeredness (which is perfectly normal developmentally for young children) and it definitely does not mean selfishness. It means that each child must be the predominant author and owner of his learning in order for it to be of the best quality.  Each child must be encouraged to involve himself energetically and positively in the learning process so that the learning itself is interesting, meaningful, and relevant to him. 

There is less quality to the learning when the teacher is the only one who chooses what, where, when, and how things will be presented and when the “answers” and responses and decisions coming from the children are not respected and appreciated as creative.  When there is a “MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY” atmosphere in a preschool classroom and when there are strict limits on both methods of teaching and methods of learning, the learning itself is of lower quality. 

This does NOT mean the teacher gives up control of the environment to the children in terms of permissiveness and unlimited acceptance of inappropriate behaviors.  It means that each child is able to make choices (from only appropriate options) and to have those choices appreciated.  It means that the teacher understands developmental phases and stages and knows that young children must be physically active, intellectually stimulated, and emotionally involved in order to learn.   It means that the teacher will offer experiences that are of interest to the children and not merely provide formal academic information using rote memory methods.  Teachers of young children cannot use a “teaching to the test” style of presentation if they expect quality learning to occur.

To Assure Child-Centeredness:

• Create a Physical Environment that is developmentally correct. View and review it from the child’s physical point of view. Make your learning community look like the real world, with all its diversity in culture, race, gender, ethnicity and faiths, and most importantly, make sure it Is filled with the works and words of the children themselves. (Less store-bought plastic, primary-colored Walt Disney and more child-dictated, child-printed words and child-created art without adult adjustments to make it pretty or cute for adult viewing or teacher ‘appreciation’.
• Create a Learning Environment that allows and encourages the children to design, determine, and decide. Start the day with the children’s words, ideas, thoughts, and plans and end it with reinforcement and recall of the same.  Allow each child the freedom to work in his own way and at his own speed on experiences that are meaningful and of interest to him but also purposeful to the strengths he should be gaining according to your program’s developmentally appropriate educational objectives.
• Create a Teaching Environment in which the teachers have studied and strongly believe in the basic facts of child development and brain research so that expectations for strengths are correct and realistic. Create and follow a schedule allowing time for a child’s brain to comprehend concepts through active manipulation, discovery, and repetition. Encourage each child to actively take part in being responsible for his learning, his behavior, and his actions toward his classmates.

Remember the Hokey Pokey! – Teachers, you are not the “star” of this show.  You are its director and stage manager, its prop master, and sometimes you are merely an “extra” or even a member of the audience. Know when to put your whole self in and your whole self out.  If you can describe to someone what happens in your classroom every day once the children – the real stars – have arrived to shine and perform, without using the pronoun “I”, then you understand child-centeredness.  Try it. 

Next Blog: Purposeful Play