Learning & Development: Young Children's Thinking: Part 2 - Trains of thought

Given a warm and supportive introduction to the world, by around three years most children are active and experienced thinkers. So, how do children strengthen their dispositions and aptitudes to think and develop and extend their thinking further through their powers of communication, investigation, reason and imagination?

MINDSETS AND THINKING

In order to think and learn, young children must believe that they are able to do so. If this belief is not secured during the early years, it's more difficult for it to blossom later. As we have seen with babies (Children's Thinking, Part 1, Nursery World, 1 October 2012), feelings can have a profound effect on how children respond to their successes and failures.

Carol Dweck suggests that children (and adults) have different views or mindsets about who they are and what they can do. Those with a growth mindset are capable learners, have self-belief and a can-do attitude. They relish challenging experiences, wrestle with problems, delight in the effort of thinking and are convinced that they can succeed.

Others are unsure of themselves, give up easily and when things go wrong, they believe that it is their fault. They have a fixed mindset and avoid the challenge of uncertainty and initial confusions involved with new thinking (1). These early patterns of behaviour emerge with threeand four-year-olds as they begin to recognise who they are and what they can do.

Professional check

How can you support all of your key children to have growth mindsets and be master thinkers?

SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING

By three and four years of age, children are keen to play with other children. Judy Dunn suggests that in these new social relationships children learn a great deal about others and think about how to be with them. This includes learning how to conciliate, negotiate and give and take in order to play. They are also more likely to share their thoughts and feelings with their friends (2).

Thinking can be a solitary activity, but our ideas and thoughts expand when we are with others. Young children can learn a great deal from being with adults but so often a relationship of authority and dependence can erode a child's confidence. When relating to other children, the contacts are equal.

By four and five years, children select their own groups and they choose to work with others who share their interests or schemes of thinking. My observations of four-year-old boys revealed some enduring friendships and shared thinking from pairs of boys who shared the same schema.

SCHEMES OF THINKING

By three years of age, children will have had many experiences and developed their preoccupations or 'schemes of thinking' by repeating actions again and again. If babies and infants have been encouraged to investigate things of interest and patterns of movement, these repeated encounters can lead to early understandings of basic concepts.

As young children develop several interests, they begin to combine and connect their schema and make connections in their thinking. For example, Alex at three years was absorbed in covering and enveloping himself in different materials. He subsequently became interested in enclosing himself in small spaces and in small-world play, he enclosed groups of animals in pens using blocks and planks. He started to line up the animals in two or three symmetrical rows and told his special person that 'these must look the same'. Alex's enveloping schema had led to him developing other closely related interests which formed a schema cluster. For over two months this particular cluster dominated Alex's play.

Importantly, young children's schema develop through allowing them access to their favourite types of play. This is when they are most likely to be highly motivated, involved and inclined to think.

SOCIAL SCRIPTS

One way in which children learn to place their world into an intelligible framework is by using 'generalised event representations' or social scripts to describe everyday events (3). Children experience daily routines at home such as getting dressed, eating and going to the shops. In the nursery their programme is predictable with times for play, snack, washing hands, stories and songs. As they become familiar with these routines they build a 'script' of events.

The detail included in each of the events will vary according to the child's experience and stage of development. Infants already memorise events as they recall and construct an early mental script. For instance, two-year-old Anna remembered where to find the bag of flour in the cupboard when she was making cakes with her mum. Older children's scripts become more elaborate and may be embellished by stories they have heard and TV programmes and DVDs they have seen. They often involve a sequence of scenes which help them to recall activities, places and relationships.

Scripts help the child to feel in control of what they experience and to predict the pattern of the day, rather than passively wait for things to happen. Other significant findings relating to scripts indicate that where children are particularly interested in events they tend to represent them in greater detail, and as they become very familiar with an event, the script becomes more consistent and secure.

A study of young French children's scripts of their nursery school events showed a clear progression. Three-year-old children's scripts were not clearly established, but the scripts of fourand five-year-olds were better organised, sequenced and more elaborate (4).

CASE STUDY

I visited a reception class three days after children had started school. I wanted to find out how much of an understanding children had about school in this short space of time. I approached Gavin and asked him, 'What do you do in this school?' He paused for thought and then told me, 'Well, we paint and draw and go outside to play. Sometimes we have a story and we must try to sit and cross our legs.' After another pause, Gavin continued, 'That's not all. We have lunch and then we go to the hall. I like that. We have to take off our clothes and put them together, 'cos they will get lost. Then our mummies come to take us home.'

Over the other side of the class, I approached Joe with the same question. Joe avoided looking at me. He simply hung his head and muttered, 'I dunno, I dunno.'

Comment

After only three days in school, Gavin already has a wonderfully clear grasp of some main school events. His well sequenced script and understanding of what is required shows that he is rapidly feeling himself to be a member of the class community.

Joe, on the other hand is lost. He is unable to describe aspects of his life in school because at this stage he has no clear understanding. Things happen during the course of the day over which he feels he has no control. He needs considerable support from a caring adult to help him devise a mental framework of his school experiences (Dowling, 2009, Young Children's Personal, Social and Emotional Development, p56).

PRETEND AND FANTASY PLAY

Children's social scripts involve real events whereas when young children make stories, they move into make-believe. While both scripts and stories help children to organise information in their brains, Fernyhough suggests that 'where story really makes a difference is in the way it gives young children a handle on time. It's so difficult to keep a track of what happened, and when; story provides a structure in which a child can order these ideas in sequence' (5).

Having said that, three-year-olds are not always concerned with recounting a strict order of events but may weave a story which has a very loose time framework.

CASE STUDY

While three-year-old Emily was with her childminder she had watched a video of Mickey Mouse with immense enjoyment. She was also aware that when she was with the childminder her mother had been having driving lessons and had very recently passed her driving test. Emily lived by the coast where, during the summer, months, she often watched a Punch and Judy show with her mother.

Emily shared this script with me: 'When I'm big I'm going to have a Mickey Mouse car and Mickey Mouse sunglasses and Mickey Mouse lipstick. You can come in my car and sit in the front but you must do up your seatbelt. But first I must have driving lessons, lots and lots - to pass my test. We shall go ... to Punch and Judy. I like Mr Punch, but not the devil, he frightens me.'

Comment

Emily skilfully drew on all of these experiences as she portrayed a future script for herself. She draws on knowledge she has acquired about learning to drive and being safe in a car, the trappings needed to assume the role of Mickey Mouse and she re-visits both the pleasures and fears of the Punch and Judy show. This is a mature script which Emily has developed into an imaginative story where she envisages her future.

Vivian Paley's first-hand accounts of children's fantasy play provide secure evidence of the power of this natural means of learning. Paley asserts that 'there is no activity for which young children are better prepared than fantasy play' (6). In their play children take on different roles and explore and discuss possibilities.

CASE STUDY

Mercy and Lisa were playing being princesses. They had laid out a roll of blue fabric on the floor.

Mercy 'Pretend this is river right - you have to get across to find your daddy in the castle.'

Lisa 'But, but I mustn't mess up my beautiful dress.'

Mercy 'No, no, pretend you can fly - you have princess magic wings.'

Lisa 'But, but can I have big wings? I need big wings to fly.'

Mercy 'Yeh, yeh, fly with big wings' (she opens her arms to demonstrate). 'Go up high and you won't fall.'

Comment

The two girls enter an imaginary world where anything is possible. In their play, they use language to reflect. They reason:

• if you cross the river, you will get wet and spoil your dress
• if you fly across the river, your dress will not get wet
• if you have big wings, you are better able to fly
• If you fly up high, you are less likely to fall.

HOME, MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE

We all recognise the enduring popularity of traditional fairy tales such as Cinderella or The Gingerbread Man which influence children's thinking in fantasy play, but other potent prompts come from television programmes, DVDs and toys.

Much of children's play is centred around thinking about and replaying the characters they have viewed. In the case study of Emily, she draws on her interests in two great characters from popular culture - Mickey Mouse and Punch and Judy. While first-hand experiences continue to be paramount, digital technology can be an important source which forms the stuff of imagination.

Disasters and acts of terrorism are now replayed continuously on screen and viewed by young children on a daily basis at home. We know that children play out their experiences in an attempt to make sense, and that frequently play, particularly from boys, includes elements of aggression. This rough and tumble play has always existed and boys blend their understandings of reality with flights of imagination as they vigorously replay their versions of superheroes, goodies and baddies.

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS

Children's creative thinking happens when they generate ideas by re-enacting or representing what they have experienced or imagined in original ways - original that is, for the child; others may have thought of this before but it is the child's own discovery.

Young children's imagination and ingenuity take root:

• in rich and interesting play experiences when adult are available to encourage their investigations and curiosity
• over time when mulling things over and allowing half formed ideas to strengthen
• in moments of insight when emerging ideas start to crystallise
• when ideas are shared with close adults and other children.

INTENTIONAL THINKING

Young children are not dependent on adults overseeing their efforts or offering them extrinsic rewards. Instead, they construct their own opportunities to think, plan and solve problems and start to resist impulsive actions. Importantly, children regulate their thoughts when they talk to themselves about what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. Studies have found that this is seen most in children's own play when adults are not involved (7).

Professional check

Consider the following actions to support young children's intentional thinking:

Progress choosing to planning

• Encourage children to think ahead and plan their intentions on a daily basis - children may elect to describe their plan in a few words or provide a photograph or drawing indicating what they have in mind.
• Help children to elaborate their plans through companionable enquiries dropped into conversations. 'So, where will you build this big fire engine? 'Who will work with you?' 'What will you need?', 'What will you do first?'

Progress recall to reflection

Children's memories of their experiences can become more thoughtful if:

• they have plenty of time to consider the effects of their activity
• they start to think what went well and what they might do differently next time
• they are encouraged to think back to their original intentions and ponder whether they achieved what they wanted
• the practitioner scribes and displays some reflections using the exact words that children use.

Sustained endeavours

As children reflect on their experiences, they may want to return the next day to grapple with an unresolved problem or follow up a linked interest:

• Encourage them to place a 'please leave' sign by an unfinished piece of work.
• Provide a camera for them to take a photograph of a partially finished project; this will provide a link to what they will continue to do.

Praise

Encourage rather than praise. Children can become dependent on praise which is a form of regulation; specific encouragement will affirm children's ideas and actions.

MORE INFORMATION

Children's Thinking: Part 1 - Birth to Three (Nursery World, 1 October and online at: www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1152543/

Children's Thinking: Part 3 - Five to Seven Years will be published in Nursery World on 26 November 2012

READER OFFER

Young Children's Thinking by Marion Dowling (Sage Publications) explores the development of children's thought processes from birth to age seven and how to support them within the home, nursery and school. Included are: case studies; practical suggestions; guidance on involving parents; suggested reading, and checkpoints and questions for discussion. Due out in November, this accessible book will prove invaluable for early years practitioners and students on degree and teacher training courses.

The hardback is priced £60.00 and the paperback edition £19.99. An exclusive 20 per cent discount is available to Nursery World readers on the paperback version (ISBN 9781446210963). To receive the discount, enter the code UK12EM052 at checkout when ordering on www.sagepub.co.uk The offer is valid until 30 November 2012.

REFERENCES

1. Mindset, the New Psychology of Success, C Dweck (2006)
2. Children's Friendships, J Dunn, (2004) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
3. The Child as Thinker, S Meadows (1993), London: Routledge, p111
4. 'Nursery School Event Representation and Organisation: A Londitudinal Study in Young French Children' by N Verrier (2000) in European Journal of Psychology of Education, Vol XV No 3, pp313-328
5. The Baby in the Mirror: a Child's World from Birth to Three, C Fernyhough, (2008) Granta Books, p.169
6. A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play, V G Paley, London: University of Chicago Press, p8
7. 'Creative Play Increases Children's Self-Regulation: A Convergence of Clinical and Educational Considerations', N McEntire (2009) Childhood Education, Spring 85, 3 Docstoc, p210.