ITI CORNER
By Ryan Cardwell, Director of Ivy Training Institute
T
he question of “How can we encourage a spirit of
innovation in young people?” is often discussed
in the media and the academy. Typically, these
discussions focus on high school and college
aged young people. Occasionally, the conversations
may even reach children in elementary school, however
these discussions almost invariably miss our highest
potential innovators: young children.
Young Children are Natural Innovators
Unlike most people, children are natural explorers and
innovators. They spend their entire lives encountering
unique problems and searching for solutions. Watching
a group of young children in an excellent ECE classroom
will give you a sense of what I mean. You will see
children working hard to figure out the way the world
Ivy Schools Fall/Winter Edition 2018
works. From the nature of gravity, to how to make
friends with others, children are constantly working to
solve problems, and to them at least, every problem is
a new challenge. So how then can schools and educators
best support this natural spirit of exploration?
Put Play at the Centre of the Classroom Experience
One of the more famous quotes in the ECE field is that
“Play is the work of children” which is attributed to
Maria Montessori. For those of us in the field of ECE
we could not agree more. The deepest kind of learning
occurs when children are at play. Play is, at its core, an
open exploration. Children can play by themselves or in
groups. Play is unplanned and open ended exploration.
If it can’t be planned, then how can teachers support
it?