Montessori schools

Montessori schools were created by a women called Maria Montessori. She was the first women physician in Italy. And was given the role of taking care of uneducable children. She took this as opportunity to prove that they could be educated. She did this using only basic tools that she had and taught them through play. From this she found that the children became engaged. She opened her first school or as she called it a “children’s house” in Rome in 1907.

Now thanks to her hard work there are 4000 Montessori schools in the USA and 7000 worldwide. Montessori school can be taught from the early years up to secondary school and further however in the UK it is mainly in early years setting. However outside the UK Montessori education in secondary school is a lot more popular.

The Montessori school day is very different to ordinary state schools. Firstly, each child is greeted at the front gate individually by their teacher/governess and shake their hands. Then the children get to do whatever activity they want and set it up themselves. They also make their own lunch if they want to. Another thing that is different about Montessori schools is that they try to get the surroundings of the school to suit the children’s likes and dislikes. One example of this was that they kept the windows dirty so that one little boy could clean them because that’s what he enjoyed doing. They found that this was useful because it developed hand eye co-ordination through imitating domestic chores.
Everything is child orientated in these schools from the furniture to the learning. The teacher does not shout or intervene unless necessary or unless the children want them to join in. The furniture is child sized and the shelves are all at a height so that they are easily accessible for the children.

Montessori schools are successful all around the world. One reason is because it uses the key developmental stages. This is a benefit because it helps young children develop language and motor skills. Another reason Montessori schools are successful is because they encourage co-operative play. This is a benefit because it gets children to work together and share experiences. Another benefit is that it is all child centered. This is a benefit because it means that the learning is based around the children so it will suit them best. Also it allows them to work at their own pace.

Forest schools

Originally the aim of forest schools was made to increase children’s self-esteem and independence. These schools originated in Sweden in the 1950’s and was used to teach children about nature. In 1995 a team from Bridgewater College visited a group of forest schools in Denmark. After seeing how successful they were there they decided to set up the first forest school in the UK.

Forest schools in the UK started in 2001 and has now got over 6500 practitioners within the UK. In The last 10 years they have applied their methods to different surroundings such as Beach schools and Bush schools in Australia and New Zealand.

The values of forest school are inspire, aspire and transform. They try to inspire people to become ambassadors for forest schools and aspire to push their trainees and make the best of their abilities. By transform they are referring to transformational learning in which the trainees are taught.

This relates to foundation stage as forest schools in the early years settings contributes to six areas key areas of learning.

Forest schools have many benefits for children who take part in them. One benefit of forest schools is that it can improve fitness levels and health as they will spend most of the time running and playing outside which will ultimately burn calories. This is a benefit because child obesity has been a big problem for a while now so this help rid us of this problem.

Another benefit of forest schools is that it can improve children’s hand eye co-ordination this is due to children getting used to walking on uneven surfaces, using tools in the forest and also from climbing trees and making things out of the items they find in the forest. This could also improve creativity as the forest school leaders allow the children do what they want which allows them to use their imagination to it’s full extent.

Another good things about forest schools is that children’s social skills and confidence improves. This beneficial to the children as it can bring them out of their shell and allow them to make good friends. Also this can lead to less conflict as the children have the social skills to deal with problems e.g. they know how to share.

However, One problem people believe will happen is that’s children will become separated from society since they spend most of their time in the forest and also by learning skills that are now rendered useless in the 21^st century. 

Learning outside the classroom

Learning outside the classroom is not just about what you learn but how and where you learn as well. A manifesto was published in 2006 about learning outside the classroom. The aims of this manifesto are as follows: to improve training and professional development for schools and the workforce, to work with schools and local authorities to manage activities with young children etc.

Outside the classroom teaching is possible in a number of different contexts. One way I have seen learning outside the classroom is in Scouting. Scouts was founded by Robert Bayden Powell in 1907. It is estimated that there are between 25 and 40 million scouts in the world. The scouting association gives children of any age a sense of adventure in safe environment. This is why it is beneficial to children.

Another benefit of learning outside the classroom it can reduce behavioural problems in children. This is because they have the opportunity to do something new and that interests them whilst learning new skills.  This also develops skills and independence. This is because leaders teach the children skills through activities and trips to earn badges. They also develop independence in scouts as they get the opportunity to get away from their parents and go on camps and also take things into their own hands such as building their tents or cooking food on a fire.

Learning outside the classroom also links to the foundation phase. This is because both contexts believe that every child matters. This means that the children should be out first and every aspect should be centered around the child rather than around the subject area. They also both believe that active learning is better than learning from a textbook.

Foundation phase

The foundation phase is a new type of teaching introduced in Wales for children between the ages of 3 and 7. This curriculum is held in maintained and non-maintained settings in schools. It’s emphasis is on active learning as it has been found that children learn better through doing than from doing activities in exercise books.

This curriculum is split up in to seven different frameworks:

• Personal and Social Wellbeing and Cultural Diversity
• Physical Development
• Creative Development
• Language, Literacy and Communication Skills
• Welsh Language Development
• Mathematical Development
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World

I have personally had some experience with the foundation phase when I did work experience as part of my health and social care BTEC. One way my placement utilised the foundation phase was by having “free flow” every day. This is where the staff set up different zones and then let the children play and do whatever they lied in any zone they wanted.

One way the foundation phase is implemented in schools is through the curriculum. Between the ages of 3 and 7 teachers aim to teach children through play. Because of the foundation phase the curriculum now focuses on getting children to learn through direct experiences and active learning.  It also attempts to develop their creative, personal and social needs.

A benefit of the foundation phase is that they do the following:

•          Motivates
•          Stimulates
•          Supports
•          Develops skills
•          Develops concepts
•          Develops language/communication skills
•          develops positive attitudes
•          Demonstrates awareness/use of recent learning and skills

However, A weakness of the foundation phase is that people are not confident in the implementation of it .This is shown in the Foundation Phase: Perceptions, Attitudes and Expectations, An overview of the ethos and an analysis of the implications of the implementation report. It states that’s over half (56%) of the pilot settings were uncertain of their confidence.

Intorduction

This blog will discuss different contexts of learning. This blog will focus on four main contexts which are the foundation phase, learning outside the classroom, Montessori school and forest school. This will also evaluate these contexts by looking at how useful and effectives they are,