in the classroom
One step beyond
How educators can supercharge children ’ s learning with six organising concepts .
By Lili-Ann Kriegler
Colour is the first of six concepts educators can mobilise to enhance young children ’ s thinking and learning . Often when vocabulary is taught , the second the students can identify something , the teaching stops . So purple is just purple . It is an isolated fact . As educators we can enrich and expand concepts by deploying three strategies .
Strategy one : the definition is not the endpoint The first strategy is to see the definition of a concept not as an endpoint , but as a starting point for generating multiple connecting ideas . Asking interesting questions prompts students to analyse something in detail and to build up a much richer understanding . This can be done for any of the concepts listed , but let ’ s use colour .
What does the colour purple remind you of ? What is important about the colour purple ? What are its features ? If purple had a sound , what would it be ? Which colour would be purple ’ s friend ? What wavelength is purple ?
Strategy two : move from the specific and particular to the general Does purple have a family or belong to a group ? The second strategy , generalising the idea , places purple into a virtual suitcase with its equivalents , red , yellow , umber and crimson . The suitcase has a category handle , colour , to which they all belong . A category with its contents , behaves as an organising mechanism . When children know about the category , they see how each element within it is similar in some way . The category informs the elements and the elements inform the category . This is simple to understand with colour , but as time goes on students will encounter many more complex categories like ‘ the Fibonacci series ’, ‘ sources of energy ’, ‘ revolutions in history ’, and so on . Early practice with understanding categories paves the way for complex comparative thinking further along .
Strategy three : raise the complexity of thinking ASSOCIATIVE THINKING In developing understanding and creating connections for colour , we rely on the students ’ personal associations . They don ’ t need any definitive knowledge to engage with colour other than its name .
DESCRIPTIVE THINKING ( IDENTIFYING FEATURES ) When it comes to shape , the understanding is founded on specific , interrelated features . The features need to be identified , described , understood and internalised . Is the shape round or linear ? If linear , how many sides , corners or angles does it have and how are they related to one another ? How is one shape the same and different from another shape . Of course , students can also have a favourite shape with personal associations . After all , pizza is round . But shapes demand more work to define and compare features than colour does . Identifying features is a crucial skill which is widely applicable beyond the concept of shape , but shape is a great place to start .
RELATIVE THINKING I offer you a wooden block . It is red and cubed . Is it big or small ? You might venture an answer . If I reveal a second block , you will either stick with your first response , or you may have to revise it . The block I produce may be bigger or smaller than the first one . The concept of size is not associative , nor can it be fully defined by the features of an individual object . Size is relative . There is an increasing cognitive complexity as we move from colour to shape to size . When we think about size , children have to absorb information about the dimensions and be able to employ the skill of seriation . Rather than asking which is bigger and accepting the response , it is important to ask students to explain how and why they have come to their conclusions . Through this practice , they become adept at articulating their thought processes in precise language .
PERSPECTIVAL THINKING When we come to position , a further level of interpretation is required . What is the point of view ? Is it a personal point of view , where a branch is above you and a tree is on your left ? And if you turn around , some of the information will change ? Or is the position described in a fixed reference system like compass points . Genuinely unpacking and describing the position of things brings an increased layer of complexity because students often have to visualise in their minds what changes as things move around .
SYMBOLIC THINKING When we get to numbers and letters , we enter the arena of symbol systems . This is where the number and letter represent something . Each number or letter is an abstract representation without any equivalent in the real world . Numbers are a means for quantifying things around us and letters are the atomic particles of language .
When we introduce children to these six concepts , over time we are moving through increasingly complex modes of thinking : colour : associative – shape : descriptive ( identifying features ) – size : relative – position : perspectival – number and letter : symbolic .
If students work through and understand these modes , they will have more flexibility and technical knowhow as they encounter new learning content and experiences each day in the classroom . ■
Lili-Ann Kriegler is an education consultant and author of Edu-Chameleon .
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