Thursday, 28 March 2013

CAMERA bringing people together


One day when I used some of the te reo phases with children, one of the girls asked me which language I was speaking. This child S started kindergarten not long ago and she is an immigrant from Netherlands.  I explained her about I using te reo Māori and it is a New Zealand language.  I asked S if she could speak any other language than English, S replied “I can speak Dutch as well as English”. 
Later in the day when I was taking pictures of children at the playground, S asked me if she could use camera as she is interested in photography. S went and took some awesome photos; most of the photos were of different toys. She wanted to make a book, so we printed out the photos. I scaffold her through this process (Santrock, 2009).  When S was finished with pasting photos on a bigger paper she asked me to write her thoughts about the photos. I asked S “how can we say it in Dutch?” she translated it asked me to write in Dutch as well. S was really excited as she had never done something like this before.
 It was an amazing experience not only for me but for S. When S translated a word and I spoke it wrong, S corrected me and at that time S acted like a competent peer and she scaffold me through this process of translation.  This can be related to Vygotsky’s “Zone of proximal development (ZPD)” (Santrock, 2009, p. 220). We had lot of giggles and fun writing a bilingual book.
When the book was all finished I asked S if she would like to share it with her friends on the mat time, S was really excited to show it to her friends. During mat time when she showed her book to other children everybody was amazed and S was really proud and happy about her book. Mindes (2006) says that through shared and cooperative learning discussions with peers and the teacher, the children are able to figure out how the task could be accomplished. In the beginning when we started writing book S was not sure about it but we work it out together.
We had lot of giggles on mat time that day as some of the words sound really funny for example monkey was called ‘gedragen’. At home time S showed the book to her mummy and told her about how she translated it in Dutch with me. The mum was really surprised and happy that we made a book in English as well as in Dutch.
 This whole experience was really wonderful, not only do I learn some Dutch words but forms an understanding about the child S’s family and back ground. This experience has surely increased S’s confidence and made her proud of her language and country. Smorti (1999), states that technology is also about solving problems, and S translating her thoughts from English to Dutch is surely a lot of problem solving. This experience also made S and her family feel that they have a unique place at the centre and have a sense of belonging (Ministry of education, 1996).
I believe that all this credit goes to the wonder full technology tool camera, which acted as a bridge between S, her family and the Kindergarten. Because of this particular event S stepped out and expressed herself and talked about the language which she never opened up before. McManis and Gunnewig (2012) say that children working with technology in day to day activities can be a powerful type of learning for self and social skills development. The example of S using her favourite tool camera and forming a book out of the photos she clicked is clearly an example of that.  Children learn most effectively when they are provided with time and opportunities to engage with new learning (Ministry of Education, 2007).
Reference
McManis, L. D., & Gunnewig, S. B. (2012). Finding the education in educational technology with early learners. YoungChildren, 14-24. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/McManis_YC0512.pdf
Mindes, G. (2006). Social studies in kindergarten: In D. Gullo (Ed.), K today: Teaching and learning in the kindergarten year (pp.107-115).Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki  mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Leaning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007).The New Zealand curriculum. For English-medium teaching and learning in years 1-13.Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents
Santrock, J.W. (2009). Lifespan development (12th ed., International). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
 Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.
Google Images. (n.d.) Technology in preschool [Photo] Retrieved from
             https://www.google.co.nz/search?   
q=children+using+cameras+early+childhood&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=QaZUUcuqI8HUkwXFyIHAAw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=705#imgrc=CPlRCqeUVSCqRM%3A%3BA-Ch7XSaBsTRUM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fisher-price.com%252Fimg%252Fproduct_shots%252FM8072_d_1.jpg%253F1225043718700%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fyainuco20.blogspot.com%252F2010%252F11%252Fearly-childhood-today-are-young.html%3B500%3B500
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown28 March 2013 at 19:17

    Hi Pam,
    As an immigrant to this country I know how important it is to keep a person’s own culture and language. It certainly helps with the sense of belonging and especially for a child must be a great empowerment. For the child having the opportunity to include her mother tongue in her learning and teach you something would also have aided in the development of her self-esteem and a sense of contribution (Ministry of Education, 1996).

    Do you have many different cultures at your kindergarten? Did you think about including other languages in your practice? Maybe you could create a photo book with the children which would have the words written in all of the languages present at your setting. I believe that it would show the children that they are being valued and included (Ministry of Education, 1996).

    At the end you mentioned that all the credit for the result goes to the camera. I don’t think so. I believe that a lot of the credit actually goes to you for “these resources are only as good as the teachers who work with them” (Hatherly, 2009, p. 7). Pam, you were the force behind the learning.

    References:
    Hatherly, A. (2009). ICT and the greatest technology: A teacher’s mind. Early Childhood Folio, 13, 7-11.

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  2. Unknown5 April 2013 at 14:20

    Tu meke tō mahi, Pam. Your acceptance of diversity and culture with the child mirrors your bicultural learning and teaching practice. Your commitment as a learner and to her learning “to think and act with developing independence” and sharing “an informed appreciation of the fundamental values of an autonomous society” that we all want for our young generation (New Zealand Teachers’ Council, 2009). Empowering her to design a fundamental book that unveiled her home language and the English language is a beautiful approach in creating a safe and welcoming environment for her and her family (Ministry of Education, 1996). The ownership of learning you have openly placed in her capable hands provided her with the opportunities of being included and valued (Ministry of Education, 1996). By encompassing problem-solving in this venture, you both silhouette literacy skills; role play (student and teacher - tuakana/teina) and positive scaffolding within the “Zone of proximal development (ZPD)” (Santrock, 2009). Every step you both took edged you forward in skill and experience.
    Smorti (1999) harmonizes that with your approach in scaffolding the learning and teaching of ‘S’, you are developing your own understanding of technology and its’ purpose within early childhood education. I would also like to acknowledge that the technology of the camera represented a bridge between you and your professional development in creating a purposeful learning and teaching environment for you and the community.

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