them. Remember Manny and Eve's conversation about snow? Their language re-
vealed part of their prior knowledge and experience of snow. It showed that they
understood:
• how snow felt
• that snow could be manipulated to stay together in different shapes
when building snowmen
• that snow was cold, and when it snowed it meant the weather was also
cold
• that you needed to wear certain clothes when you went out in the snow
• that you could have fun with your family in the snow
• that boots you had worn in the snow didn't belong inside
a
By understanding the importance of children's prior knowledge, you know
where to start when building a curriculum. For example, the starting place for
learning about snow would be very different for children in Hawaii who had never
seen snow than for Manny and Eve who have different prior knowledge. These two
groups of learners will need to begin with different experiences in order to cre-
ate intellectual conflict and stretch their schema. Listening carefully to children's
conversations will give you the information you need to design the most engaging
learning experiences for your unique group of young learners.
sin
Conversations Provide a Context for Social Learning
You provide many social learning opportunities in your educational setting, such as
block construction and imaginative play. Within these opportunities, conversations
between the children provide a context for learning: children listen to other ideas
or perspectives, and they discuss, negotiate, and build on one another's ideas. Your
facilitation will guide conversations to ensure that children listen to one another
and make connections between new ideas. Without children talking about their
experiences and their thinking, this active connection-making is left to chance.
Conversation is social by its very nature, and provides young learners with the place,
time, and challenge to share their experiences, thinking, and questions. Notice the
rich exchange of ideas in the conversation I had with six-year-olds Nicholas and
seems to feed off each
Charlie about how they learned to whistle. Their thinkings
other's ideas.
Lisa (adult): How did you learn to whistle?
Nicholas: I didn't really learn to whistle.
a
because I didn't understand something. So I did not tap into the powerful tool of
talk in order to understand and subsequently remember this new knowledge.
In his illuminating book Seeing Voices, Oliver Sacks talks of the absolute need
human beings have for language. He shows how poor communication "leads not
only to intellectual constriction but to timidity and passivity," and how a culture
that provides many opportunities for rich conversation “awakens the imagination
and mind, leads to a self-sufficiency, a boldness, a playfulness, a humor, that will be
with the person for the rest of his life” (55).
We require language to become thinkers. Sacks says, “We start with dialogue,
with language that is external and social, but then to think, to become ourselves,
we have to move to a monologue, to inner speech” (59). Our internal talk is our
thinking in action. It is where our thinking takes place. Our thinking is dependent
on our inner language, our ability to speak to ourselves and because of this, our
thinking and our continued development as cognitive beings also is dependent upon
external conversation. It is through conversation with others that we learn how to
use language to begin with. Put simply, we learn language by talking, and then we
can talk to ourselves about our ideas. Conversation is the universal shared language
of learning.
y
most
Taking Ownership
Take a moment to think about the children in your setting and the ways they
are currently learning. What are you curious about? Are you wondering about
their social learning in the imaginative play area? Are you curious about the
kinds of learning happening in the sand play? Do the interactions at the paint-
ing easel intrigue you? Whatever it is, spend ten minutes journaling about
it. Don't worry about the grammar, spelling, or style of writing, just put your
thoughts on paper. After you have done this, step back from the writing for a
moment. What happened to your ideas as you put them into words? How did
your language help you to organize your thinking?
SCOV-
on my
ttany
ause I
cause
at was
7 under-
, and so
themat-
Language Reveals Prior Knowledge
Children's talk reveals glimpses of their prior knowledge about the world. Rec-
ognizing these glimpses will help you create engaging learning experiences for
ass, but
afraid I
s stupid
Learning and Your View of the Child
1 21
How do your actions as a teacher display these beliefs? Grab a notebook
and write down each belief statement as a heading on a separate page. Un-
derneath each heading, write all the ways you show this belief about learning
in your daily teaching. How do your actions, the materials you provide, the
language you use with children, the daily schedule, and your interactions with
families show your beliefs? Do you notice any mismatch between what you
say you believe and what you do each day?
21
Why Is Conversation Important to Learning?
a
Given the understanding that learning most effectively occurs within a social con-
text, the role that conversation plays in facilitating learning becomes clear. Conver-
sation is the most powerful tool for communicating our understanding, ideas, feel-
ings, and confusions with each other. It engages children in the process of actively
constructing their understanding of the world because:
• Talk organizes thinking.
Language reveals prior knowledge.
• Conversations provide a context for social learning.
Talk Organizes Thinking
Talk, whether internalized self-talk or externalized conversation, is one of our most
powerful tools for organizing our thinking (Ritchhart 2002). By the time I discov-
ered this about myself as a learner, it was too late to have any positive impact on my
high-school education. Throughout my years of schooling I was a lot like Brittany.
I was a successful student but I learned to pass tests and get good grades because I
wanted to please my family and my teachers. I wasn't engaged in learning because
I didn't always see the relevance or have an investment in understanding what was
being taught. I was focused on passing tests and getting good grades, not on under-
standing things. I didn't realize the power of talking to help me understand, and so
now I remember very
little about many things I learned in high-school mathemat-
ics, history, science, and geography. I read and studied novels in English class, but
I cannot talk 1 about them now. I rarely spoke in class because I was afraid I
would say the wrong answer to the teacher's question, or would be seen as stupid
to you
20
1
Are You Listening?
them. Remember Manny and Eve's conversation about snow? Their language re-
vealed part of their prior knowledge and experience of snow. It showed that they
understood:
• how snow felt
• that snow could be manipulated to stay together in different shapes
when building snowmen
• that snow was cold, and when it snowed it meant the weather was also
cold
• that you needed to wear certain clothes when you went out in the snow
• that you could have fun with your family in the snow
• that boots you had worn in the snow didn't belong inside
a
By understanding the importance of children's prior knowledge, you know
where to start when building a curriculum. For example, the starting place for
learning about snow would be very different for children in Hawaii who had never
seen snow than for Manny and Eve who have different prior knowledge. These two
groups of learners will need to begin with different experiences in order to cre-
ate intellectual conflict and stretch their schema. Listening carefully to children's
conversations will give you the information you need to design the most engaging
learning experiences for your unique group of young learners.
sin
Conversations Provide a Context for Social Learning
You provide many social learning opportunities in your educational setting, such as
block construction and imaginative play. Within these opportunities, conversations
between the children provide a context for learning: children listen to other ideas
or perspectives, and they discuss, negotiate, and build on one another's ideas. Your
facilitation will guide conversations to ensure that children listen to one another
and make connections between new ideas. Without children talking about their
experiences and their thinking, this active connection-making is left to chance.
Conversation is social by its very nature, and provides young learners with the place,
time, and challenge to share their experiences, thinking, and questions. Notice the
rich exchange of ideas in the conversation I had with six-year-olds Nicholas and
seems to feed off each
Charlie about how they learned to whistle. Their thinkings
other's ideas.
Lisa (adult): How did you learn to whistle?
Nicholas: I didn't really learn to whistle.
a
because I didn't understand something. So I did not tap into the powerful tool of
talk in order to understand and subsequently remember this new knowledge.
In his illuminating book Seeing Voices, Oliver Sacks talks of the absolute need
human beings have for language. He shows how poor communication "leads not
only to intellectual constriction but to timidity and passivity," and how a culture
that provides many opportunities for rich conversation “awakens the imagination
and mind, leads to a self-sufficiency, a boldness, a playfulness, a humor, that will be
with the person for the rest of his life” (55).
We require language to become thinkers. Sacks says, “We start with dialogue,
with language that is external and social, but then to think, to become ourselves,
we have to move to a monologue, to inner speech” (59). Our internal talk is our
thinking in action. It is where our thinking takes place. Our thinking is dependent
on our inner language, our ability to speak to ourselves and because of this, our
thinking and our continued development as cognitive beings also is dependent upon
external conversation. It is through conversation with others that we learn how to
use language to begin with. Put simply, we learn language by talking, and then we
can talk to ourselves about our ideas. Conversation is the universal shared language
of learning.
y
most
Taking Ownership
Take a moment to think about the children in your setting and the ways they
are currently learning. What are you curious about? Are you wondering about
their social learning in the imaginative play area? Are you curious about the
kinds of learning happening in the sand play? Do the interactions at the paint-
ing easel intrigue you? Whatever it is, spend ten minutes journaling about
it. Don't worry about the grammar, spelling, or style of writing, just put your
thoughts on paper. After you have done this, step back from the writing for a
moment. What happened to your ideas as you put them into words? How did
your language help you to organize your thinking?
SCOV-
on my
ttany
ause I
cause
at was
7 under-
, and so
themat-
Language Reveals Prior Knowledge
Children's talk reveals glimpses of their prior knowledge about the world. Rec-
ognizing these glimpses will help you create engaging learning experiences for
ass, but
afraid I
s stupid
Learning and Your View of the Child
1 21
How do your actions as a teacher display these beliefs? Grab a notebook
and write down each belief statement as a heading on a separate page. Un-
derneath each heading, write all the ways you show this belief about learning
in your daily teaching. How do your actions, the materials you provide, the
language you use with children, the daily schedule, and your interactions with
families show your beliefs? Do you notice any mismatch between what you
say you believe and what you do each day?
21
Why Is Conversation Important to Learning?
a
Given the understanding that learning most effectively occurs within a social con-
text, the role that conversation plays in facilitating learning becomes clear. Conver-
sation is the most powerful tool for communicating our understanding, ideas, feel-
ings, and confusions with each other. It engages children in the process of actively
constructing their understanding of the world because:
• Talk organizes thinking.
Language reveals prior knowledge.
• Conversations provide a context for social learning.
Talk Organizes Thinking
Talk, whether internalized self-talk or externalized conversation, is one of our most
powerful tools for organizing our thinking (Ritchhart 2002). By the time I discov-
ered this about myself as a learner, it was too late to have any positive impact on my
high-school education. Throughout my years of schooling I was a lot like Brittany.
I was a successful student but I learned to pass tests and get good grades because I
wanted to please my family and my teachers. I wasn't engaged in learning because
I didn't always see the relevance or have an investment in understanding what was
being taught. I was focused on passing tests and getting good grades, not on under-
standing things. I didn't realize the power of talking to help me understand, and so
now I remember very
little about many things I learned in high-school mathemat-
ics, history, science, and geography. I read and studied novels in English class, but
I cannot talk 1 about them now. I rarely spoke in class because I was afraid I
would say the wrong answer to the teacher's question, or would be seen as stupid
to you
20
1
Are You Listening?
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