IMPROVED METHODS FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Nguyen Thu Huong (VNU University of Education) Le Thi Huong (Gau Truc Nursery School, Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City) Abstract As smart education is the target of the world in digital age of 4 0, it is essential to reform education on a level basis And in our opinion, early childhood education should be the first level to be paid attention to, where comprehensive development, particularly[.]
Trang 1IN CHILDREN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Nguyen Thu Huong
(VNU University of Education)
Le Thi Huong
(Gau Truc Nursery School, Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City)
Abstract: As smart education is the target of the world in digital age of 4.0, it is essential to reform education
on a level basis And in our opinion, early childhood education should be the first level to be paid attention
to, where comprehensive development, particularly cognition, should be encouraged in children Cognition is the foundation for thinking and understanding intellectually; it is also the basis to obtain human knowledge Educational reforms aim to help children develop cognitive skills in early childhood education through “taking photos” And by doing research, this article is to demonstrate general understanding in terms of early childhood education and its tendency With an approach to early childhood education, this article presents the process for experimenting “photo-taking” with children in nursery schools This model can be viewed as one of the innovative methods in early childhood education to encourage and activate the brain of children, appropriate and effective with cognitive development of children in this period of age.
Keywords: early childhood education (ECE), cognitive development, educational method, “photo-taking”.
1 INTRODUCTION
Currently, there are several issues relating to education in general and nursery education in particular
in the digital age Social expectations in a child gradually change over time Now, people want children
to have not only good health, but also cognitive development; children are expected to be flexible with problem solving skills, a quick mind and good memory On the other hand, various educational approaches for young children have been advertised on media, most of which are called early childhood education (ECE) methods by experts and educators By doing research, we have identified a number
of educational approaches being in practice in many countries with certain achievements Our thesis is that, if ECE methods are carefully studied and applied, they will help children develop their cognition during the nursery Considering this as a new and necessary approach in the current situation, we have conducted this research regarding educational reform for cognitive development in nursery children with ECE methods We have identified three tasks for this article with popular methods in research: (1)
Reading documents, analysing data for general conclusion regarding the tendency of ECE methods; (2)
identifying important information related to cognition of young children in nursery; (3)and developing the procedure for organising cognitive activities for children through “photo taking”
Trang 21.1 General information about ECE methods
1.1.1 Definition
Definition of Early Childhood Education (ECE)
According to Ivan Pavlov (1890), if you start educating your child 3 days after birth, you’re 3 days late already, as the sooner you start, the better it is; just a day late and things will be much more challenging It was at this moment that the world recognized the development of early childhood education theory as a breakthrough of modern education regarding researching and educating children
in the golden age from birth to six years old, aka the fastest period for brain development In the light of this approach, educational experts have drawn on research results regarding brain functions, especially the right hemisphere, human potential, and the ability to obtain an infinite amount of knowledge of the right hemisphere to develop educational methods releasing potential in each human being, activating the right hemisphere, and balancing the two hemispheres in the most effective way
In terms of the formation of ECE methods, it is regarded that the first person to lay the foundation for them is Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) Montessori method appeared nearly a century ago, at a time when research on brain functions were not yet available, but it’s still considered as the basis for ECE later After Maria Montessori’s, several other studies have been conducted regarding human potential, functions of the brain, especially the right hemisphere, leading to the birth of ECE methods Nowadays, well-known ECE methods include the ones of Glenn Doman (American), Makoto Shichida (Japanese), Feng De Quan (Chinese), just to name a few These methods all focus on early education for children from birth to six years of age, suggesting an approach to activate the brain; facilitate its potential; boost curiosity, imagination, and a desire for learning; encourage comprehensive development in children (sight, hearing, and language)
Thenceforth, the term “Early childhood education” or “ECE methods” became popular; however, its definition varies and rather vague in modern documents Below is our approach to the definition: Education is a popular term in pedagogy Simply put, it means the process of giving knowledge, skills, and experiences from one person to another; in other words, it’s the process in which instructors (adults) exert their effects on learners (young children) to establish and cultivate values in them
Early means before an expected time When it comes to the life cycle of human beings, from a fetus
to death, the term “early childhood” here refers to the period from birth to six years of age.
Hoang Phe (2018) defined methods as structured means or ways used to solve a problem
Consequently, early childhood education or ECE methods can be understood as ways or processes
of affecting children in the period from birth to six years old to activate the cerebral cortex, especially the right hemisphere, to encourage and release their potential
In other words, ECE is an educational study of the brain It’s not the process when adults give
information to children, but the process that children absorb everything surrounding them by themselves Therefore, ECE should start during the pregnancy once the fetus has fully developed its senses to receive stimulations from the outside environment
Targets of ECE: to realize limitless potential of human beings, nurture the foundation for personality
during the period when brain development is blossoming (the developing brain) The nature of ECE is
to provide children with an interesting life, where they are stimulated and instructed appropriately to facilitate their abilities, instead of helping them accumulate knowledge only as in traditional education
Trang 3Children learn in a different way compared to adults’, they learn by absorbing and memorizing things around
As stated above, we can view “early childhood education” as below:
1) Early childhood education is the educational process fostering functions of the developing brain
during its optimum period for development;
2) Early childhood education is the educational process to fulfill potential of children during their
optimum period for intellectual development;
3) Early childhood education is also the process to nurture the foundation for personality of each child from the very beginning.
Definition of “photo taking”
This term is put in quotation marks to represent two meanings:
Literally: it’s the job of a photographer, which is to capture things with a special device
Figuratively: this is the meaning used in this article, which is the act of using eyes, ears, and the mouth to focus on any images in a quick manner to unconsciously memorise them into the cerebral cortex.
Definition of Cognition
Cognition is a term used in psychology, philosophy, and pedagogy and analysed in different perspectives
Lenin (1963) believed that cognition was the process of dialectically reflecting reality into human brain, in a positive, dynamic, and creative way
Inwood, M (2016) viewed cognition as the process of recreating reality in our mind, characterised
by social laws and closely associated with reality; it must be the purpose of reality, and subjects to facts
Bui Hien (2004) states that “cognition is the process or result of reflecting and recreating reality
into the thinking mind” Cognition here is understood as a process and a reflection Cognition is the
process in which people recognise the world around them, or the result of that cognitive process (with recognition as the low level, understanding comes next, when people truly know the nature of things) Hoang Phe (2019) stated that cognition was the act or the process of receiving knowledge and understanding through thoughts, experiences and senses, including processes such as intellect, attention, memory, appreciation, estimation, reasoning, calculation, problem solving, decision making, apprehension, and language using
Upon the approach of this article, we view cognition in children as the reflection of the world
around in their young mind They receive everything in the environment through senses, and creatively reflect the information in their mind.
1.1.2 Tendency of ECE methods
Based on research on functions of the brain, especially the right hemisphere, in the period from birth to six years of life, various educational methods for cognitive development have been introduced, such as the ones of Maria Montessori (Italian), Glenn Doman (Italian), Shichida (Japanese), Feng De Quan (Chinese), Charles H Cranford (American) Generally, these methods all aim to affect the cerebral cortex, especially the right hemisphere, to discover potential and balance the two hemispheres during the
Trang 4early stage That’s the key and the critical foundation for comprehensive development in children This
is drawn on the following evidence:
Jiang Jun (2006) emphasized the importance of an educational method realizing potential, or to put it more precisely, fostering cognitive development in children He also mentioned the diminishing principle: children are all born with potential, but it will diminish over time without appropriate support Montessori, M (2014; 2015; 2016) introduced a method with the philosophy that said, “learning is
a simultaneous need in children, which depends on the environment they are in The environment must
be equipped with a system of materials to give children ample opportunities of hands-on experiences, in which the teacher plays the role of supporting and observing to understand them.”
Doman, G (2005; 2006) developed a method based on the importance of the period from birth
to six years old to the development and balance of our two brain hemispheres, with an emphasis on the right one, to help childhood develop comprehensively, including their mind and intelligence This method received a huge favour from experts; and when put into practice by parents all around the world,
it has enjoyed considerable success
Shichida, M (2015; 2016; 2017) worked on an educational method directing to the development of the brain, especially the right hemisphere in the early stage, enhancing cognitive development in nursery and young children
Feng De Quan (2012) studied positive educational methods in the same direction and developed a structured system of theoretical basis, which has been well received and adopted in most of nursery schools with the same target of fostering comprehensive development in children, especially their intellect
In Vietnam, there have been quite a few research and documents introducing new educational methods for early childhood education in conferences such as:
Hanh, L (2017) analysed aspects of Multiple Intelligences Theory along with its success in application worldwide, to point out how this theory can be put into used in Vietnamese education; Minh, N (2014) introduced the approach of Montessori: children possess from birth an “unknown power” which is dynamic and continuous They contain an ultimate power within themselves The goal of education should be to activate that power for their natural development in their own pace Children must not be treated as objects but as who they are: human beings
Several researchers from Hanoi Metropolitan University (March 2017) have introduced positive educational methods based on educational theories and brain studies, such as Vu Ngoc Thuy, Vu Thuy Hoan – Dang Ut Phuong, Nguyen Thi Bich Nguyet, Ta Chi Thanh, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy Suggested methods are all modern and positive approaches in the world, with an emphasis on the values of both theoretical and practical aspects
Hanoi College of Education (2015) also had a share in introducing positive educational methods
for young children by Nguyen Vo Ky Anh and Tu Duc Van (2015), Nguyen Vo Ky Anh (2015) or Ngo Khai Khê (2012), Song Lam (2014); most of which follow modern educational trends in the world.
On the other hand, there are various of seminars and talks discussing about Montessori philosophy, Glenn Doman method, Shichida method organised in many places at different time of the year Besides,
some institutions in Vietnam such as “Institute of Education for Human Potential Development IPD” (Hanoi); “Shichida Educational Institute” (HCMC); “The Institutes for the Achievement of Human
Potential (IAHP) in Vietnam” have spent time investigating new educational tendency, with Little
Trang 5Einstein as a representative to adopt Glenn Doman method, along with a wide range of Montessori teacher training centres
1.2 Features of cognition in nursery children
According to psychological and pedagogic documents relating to ECE, cognition can be looked at through the following aspects: features, and factors affecting cognitive development of nursery children
Features
Tuyet, N & Mai, N (2008) defined features of cognition as: a psychological process; of a wide spectrum; with diverse assets of reflection (properties of things, relationship of objects existing in the physical world); consisting of many psychological processes (feelings, perception, thinking, imagination, memory); and a product of perception
Consequently, we can see that cognition in nursery children possess all features as in adults, but
in a developing state, or low level of the mentioned psychological process: first, the range of reflection
is narrower due to their lack of experiences; secondly, reflection assets are fewer, for example, they can only perceive some certain properties of things, or simple relationship between things only; thirdly, all psychological process are still in progress, such as feelings (senses of tactile, gustatory, auditory, visual, and olfactory only work in basic level without fully functioning as in adults), perception (to perceive things separately instead of as a whole), thinking (just on the edge of going deep down to the nature of things, children can visualise symbols in their mind but associated with actions, their thinking is pretty much based on feelings and personal desires), memory (mainly unconscious memory, memorise in a rigid manner, only memorise things associated with feelings or repetition); attention (mainly unconscious focus, children show little or no interest in boring and plain activities), imagination (mainly unconscious imagination, only things giving them a strong emotion can become a subject of imagination)
Features of cognition in children can be viewed as followed:
As for children of 3-4 years of age (visual thinking-movement stage): Enjoy physical movement and
sensorial discovery; can acquire information through communication and simple books; make questions regularly but might not understand all answers; start understanding cause and effect relationship through simple questions: Why? What for? How?; can associate two events while discussing but may have difficulty in pronouncing, and verbal expression Children need adults to listen and paraphrase what they say; they learn best in specific situations meaningful to themselves and with trust and encouragement
of adults
As for children of 4-5 years of age (visual and representational thinking stage): Children often
use role play games (pretend play) to process new information and understand complex concepts; start understanding what experiments are and become purposeful as well as more creative in exploring They normally enjoy their own experiments instead of the ones instructed by adults; start planning for a course
of action, for example, think about sowing seeds before actually do it; start making prediction based
on their experiences Children in this age enjoy making explanations about what they observe, adding fantasy into facts; love taking with other children while playing and experimenting; start using drawings
to represent and express their ideas; like speaking for adults to write down and try writing themselves
As for children of 5-6 years old (logical thinking stage): Obtain much information about some
objects and events but haven’t been able to fully understand them; can make experiments themselves to see what will happen and think of explanations for what they observe, though they haven’t been able to
Trang 6use logical and abstract thinking; can do some experiments as instructed by the teacher and can explain
in many different ways; usually spend much time on or engage with activities they enjoy Like to play
in groups of 5 – 6 children and love discussing in small groups; can get a grasp of abstract concepts but still need actual situations to explain; enjoy drawing and writing to record events
1.3 Procedure for organising a cognitive activity for nursery children through “photo taking”
1.3.1 Purpose
To help activate the brain of children in the most effective way through senses, especially visual, images are reflected onto the cerebral cortex by regularly “photo taking”, with a speed from slow to fast Cognition of children henceforth will be improved, perception gradually develops from unconsciously memorising and focusing to consciously, the number of connections and folds on the cerebral cortex positively increases, and children refine their senses, especially visual and auditory
1.3.2 Content
- Provide knowledge, information of things to children through images
- Practice thinking skills: attention, memory Practice observing, recognising, and copying images onto the cerebral cortex
- Develop senses
- Develop language through vocabulary and pronunciation
1.3.3 Method – Format – Tools
Method
Combine several educational methods, with visual method as the key one
- Visual method: Children get to see images of words, get to hear the pronunciation from the teacher that they can repeat
- Method for encouragement and compliment: Children receive loving words, hugs and appreciation from the teacher
- Practice method: Children are given chances to observe, watch and hear repeatedly on a regular basis
Format
For personal and small group lessons
- In small groups: the number of children in each group is proportional to children’s age Maximum
5 children/group
- These two formats should be used alternatively
Tools
The main material is flash cards, which can be bought, or hand made as below:
- Size: adequate to A5 (15x12cm);
- Labelled in Vietnamese or other languages (if the teacher is capable of those languages) in a simple font (Times New Roman or Arial) (or handwritten) The text must be clear, bold and should be in red (to faster and stronger stimulate the cerebral cortex) The other side of each card should be labelled too, but in small text just enough for the teacher to read
Trang 7- Dotted cards of 30x30 in size, with dots in red, white background Each card corresponds to one counting unit, starting from the blank card (zero), with no limit to the number of cards Dots must be the same in size in all cards, with diameter of 1cm
- Image, colour and other types of text cards
- No limit on the number of card types
1.3.4 Schedule for using types of cards when organizing “photo taking”
- 3 cards for each type, with a total of 15 cards/each activity
- No adding or removing cards, 3 cards of each type should be shuffled for each time
- 3 cards for each type, with a total of 15 cards/each activity
- The order of 3 cards in each type should be changed each time
Week IV:
ask children to find
requested cards
Display cards type by type Alternate 2 types each
time
Alternate 3 types each time
Alternate 4 types each time
Alternate 5 types each
time
Repeat the process for the next month with new cards, make sure to add one new and remove one old type of cards.
(Source: authors)
1.3.5 Evaluation
Based on the correct finding rate, finding speed, naming manner of children in 5 continuous days of week 4, the development of cognition and brain activation in children should be evaluated
Correct
Level 2 50 -70% Average (2 minutes) Loud but unclear articulation but Cognition and brain averagely activated Level 3 below 50 % Slow (more than 2 minutes) Soft and unclear articulation Cognition and brain slowly activated
(Source: authors)
1.3.6 Procedure
Step 1: Preparation
Materials: 5 types of cards: text, numbers, dots, images, colours (or of various themes such as national flags, sizes, shapes, etc.)
Step 2: Implementation
The teacher sits opposite to children
Trang 8Warm up: cheer up children a little bit (not too much excitement) with eye contact, words, and loving acts
Card showing: each type of cards should be shown 3 times, 2 minutes between each After each time, clap hands to compliment and encourage children to read out loud as instructed Ensure the showing duration: First time: 2 seconds/card; second time: 1 second/card; third time: 1/2 second/card Pay attention to children’s focus while showing cards
Step 3: Finish
Upon the completion, always hug children to show encouragement and appreciation
1.3.7 Rules
- Don’t forget to change cards: add one new and remove one old card each day
- Apply 2 weeks in a row, then off one week Continue in this manner
- Make sure both children and the teacher are comfortable
- The room must be airy, clean, and calm
- Time: when children are comfortable both physically and mentally
- Most effective when carried out on a regular basis, at least 2 activities per day
2 CONCLUSION
Cognitive development is one target of ECE Studies on brain development, especially the right hemisphere, in the early stage from birth to six years of age, have extended perspectives and approaches
to human intelligence and intelligence in young children This article shares a new perspective on cognitive development in young children through the activity of “photo taking” This activity is the act to record and save images, external information into the brain (cerebral cortex) unconsciously This process helps children well establish pathways, or connection pathways, to create a network of information and data on cerebral cortex The more pathways on the cerebral cortex, the more activated the brain becomes, and the better the intellect develops If this experiment is put into practice, there will
be more evidence for proving the value and meaning of activating the cerebral cortex of children during their six first years of life
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