Early Childhood Education Teachers' Perspectives

EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES,
EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS
AND IMPACTS ON
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE
AND GLOBALIZING WORLD
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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES,
EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS
AND IMPACTS ON
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
KRISTINA VANN
EDITOR
New York
Copyright 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

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CONTENTS
vii
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Both Together: Social-emotional Learning and

Cognition Promote Academic Achievement in Early
Childhood Classrooms
Katherine M. Zinsser, Claire G. Christensen
and Abby G. Carlson
Assessing Self-Regulated Learning and Its
Relation to Cognitive Performance in Early
Childhood Education
Jess de la Fuente, Jorge Amate
and Mari Carmen Gonzlez-Torres
Chapter 3
Teaching and Learning in Natural Environments

Brent Mawson
Chapter 4
The Shift from Factual Teaching to Conceptual

Understanding in Early Childhood Education:
Challenges in Lesson Planning
Maria Birbili
Chapter 5
Metacognition and Student-Centered Teaching

Styles in Early Childhood
Chatzipanteli Athanasia
13
37
67
93
vi
Chapter 6
Index
Contents
Reciprocal Teaching Style and Metacognition
in Early Childhood
Chatzipanteli Athanasia and Dean Richard
109
121
PREFACE
This book assesses self-regulated learning and its relation to cognitive
education; teaching and learning in natural environments; factual teaching and
conceptual understanding in early childhood education; metacognition and
student-centered teaching styles; and reciprocal teaching.
Chapter 1 - While current education policy emphasizes academic
achievement, the authors argue for the importance of social-emotional learning
(SEL) and cognitive abilities as foundations of early academic success. This
chapter reviews positive interrelationships among social-emotional learning
(SEL), cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in early childhood. The
authors first discuss how specific social-emotional competencies promote and
are promoted by cognitive abilities. The authors then explore how SEL and
cognition work in concert to promote academic achievement. In conclusion,
the authors describe two promising preschool SEL programs: and review
teaching strategies known to support SEL in preschool.
Chapter 2 - Assessment of cognitive skills and metacognitive selfregulated learning strategies is important in order to discover students level of
cognitive processing, and be able to intervene through the teaching process to
mitigate any existing problems. The objective of this study was to assess the
use of metacognitive, cognitive and motor strategies on a given task. A total of
68 five-year-old pupils enrolled in Early Childhood Education participated in
the study. The assessment was carried out with an ad-hoc instrument based on
the think-aloud technique, and having adequate reliability and validity values.
Descriptive, associative and inferential analyses were performed. The results
showed greater use of cognitive and motor strategies than of metacognitive
strategies. A significant association was also found between the use of
strategies at each moment of the task and final performance. Implications are
viii
Kristina Vann
discussed for the teaching of cognitive skills and meta-skills during this stage
of education.
Chapter 3 - In this chapter the author discusses his findings from an
eighteen-month research study of the experiences of young children and early
childhood teachers involved in out-of-centre nature adventure programmes.
This is an area of growing interest in early childhood education that has
developed out of the Forest Schools movement. Little comparative data is
available on how the affordances offered by different natural environments
impact on teachers practice and childrens learning. The study involved
spending six months as a participant observer in each of three distinctive
environments; a forested area, a sub-tropical bush setting, and a tidal harbor
beach location. The author describes the particular intellectual and social
learning that these experiences and natural environments afforded the children
and also how teachers perceived the programme influenced their pedagogy.
The author examines how teachers confidence and risk-taking developed over
time and the manner in which their interactions with the children assumed a
different character than the interactions within the early childhood setting. In
conclusion the author suggests some strategies for centres and teachers
interested in developing an out-of-centre nature experience for the children.
Chapter 4 - An increasing number of early childhood curricula around the
world place greater emphasis on the development of conceptual understanding
than they did in the past. Teaching from a conceptual framework helps
students make connections by focusing on the powerful ideas that underpin the
content. An emphasis on conceptual learning also gives meaning to factual
knowledge, the kind of knowledge that school education traditionally favors.
The shift from teaching factual knowledge to a more conceptual way of
teaching is easier said than done. Enculturated in the traditional fact-based
approach to learning, teachers feel more comfortable with teaching and
assessing knowledge that is typically learned faster. Both anecdotal evidence
and the few studies that exist about Greek early childhood teachers practices
indicate that, like colleagues in other countries, Greek teachers are more
concerned with coverage of facts and skills than with students developing
conceptual understanding of topics and curriculum subjects. The study
presented here recorded the efforts of a group of early childhood teachers to
develop lesson plans using a concept-based model. Teachers attempts were
made in the context of a professional development course which aimed to
introduce practitioners to a new early childhood curriculum. According to the
model of developing concept based teacher, proposed by Erickson &
Lanning (2014), the course aimed to help teachers understand the difference
Preface
ix
between working at the knowledge level and working at the conceptual level
and see what concept-based instructions looks like in practice. It involved a
combination of theory and practice using models, examples and exercises.
The results suggest that shifting from factual teaching to conceptual
teaching is a process that needs time and has to overcome a number of
challenges that relate closely to teachers past practices and beliefs about
teaching and learning. In their effort to teach conceptually, the teachers of the
sample faced the following conceptual obstacles: a difficulty to actually see
key concepts and generalizations related to the topic they had selected, a
difficulty to express clearly what they felt was important for children to learn
and a difficulty visualizing learning as a sequenced process. The chapter ends
with a discussion of the implications of the findings for teacher education and
professional learning.
Chapter 5 - Metacognition is considered essential in the acquisition of
learning skills and knowledge transfer. This chapter reviews of literature on
metacognition in early childhood for the primary reason that fundamental
forms of metacognition are developed after the age of 3. An effective way of
developing metacognitive skills in this age is via participation in physical
education and sports program. Preschoolers use movement to learn concepts,
to express their feelings and thoughts, and to communicate with others.
Physical education activities particularly the use of student-centered teaching
styles such as reciprocal, self-check, convergent and divergent style could help
students to learn, think and solve problems, to develop basic elements of
metacognition such as planning, monitoring and evaluating their actions.
At the end of the chapter physical activities are presented during studentcentered teaching styles. These teaching styles help young students to reflect
on their own learning, and by implication, helping them to become
autonomous and effective individuals throughout their entire life.
Chapter 6 - The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the
reciprocal teaching style in promoting metacognition in early childhood.
Thirty eight students aged 7 years old participated in the present study.
Students were divided into two groups: (i) the experimental group consisted of
22 students (9 boys and 11 girls) and (ii) the control group of 21 students (8
boys and 10 girls). Teachers in the intervention classes used the reciprocal
teaching style during the execution of physical education activities and within
the control group the command style, was used. Metacognition was assessed
pre and post-intervention through interviews. The results imply that reciprocal
teaching style is an effective way to improve metacognitive processes in early
childhood.
In: Early Childhood Education

Editor: Kristina Vann
ISBN: 978-1-63463-984-2
2015 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 1
BOTH TOGETHER: SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL

LEARNING AND COGNITION PROMOTE
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS
Katherine M. Zinsser1,, Claire G. Christensen1
and Abby G. Carlson2
1
University of Illinois at Chicago, US

Apple Tree Institute for Education Innovation, US
ABSTRACT
While current education policy emphasizes academic achievement,
we argue for the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and
cognitive abilities as foundations of early academic success. This chapter
reviews positive interrelationships among social-emotional learning
(SEL), cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in early childhood.
We first discuss how specific social-emotional competencies promote and
are promoted by cognitive abilities. We then explore how SEL and
cognition work in concert to promote academic achievement. In
conclusion, we describe two promising preschool SEL programs: and
review teaching strategies known to support SEL in preschool.
Address correspondence to: Katherine M. Zinsser, Department of Psychology, University of

Illinois at Chicago, MC 285, 1007 W. Harrison St, Chicago, IL 60607, USA. E-mail:
kzinsser@uic.edu.
Katherine M. Zinsser, Claire G. Christensen and Abby G. Carlson
The current early childhood educational climate emphasizes early

academic skills such as pre-literacy and early numeracy. Meanwhile socialemotional skills and early cognitive competencies are also foundational to
whole-child education. Programs that aim to promote social-emotional skills
also confer academic benefits, both directly and indirectly (Denham, Brown,
& Domitrovich, 2010; Durlak et al., 2011). Social-emotional teaching
enhances early cognitive abilities that support classroom learning, including
executive skills such as working memory and attentional and inhibitory control
(Bierman, Nix, Greenberg, Blair & Domitrovich, 2008; McClelland et al.,
2007). It is important to understand how these associations play out in early
childhood settings. How does making friends support learning? In what ways
do childrens emerging self-regulation skills support the acquisition of
classroom-based skills and learning behaviors? How do teachers support
academic performance and learning through their social-emotional teaching
practices?
This chapter will explore elements of social-emotional learning (SEL) that
positively impact, and are positively impacted by emerging cognitive skills.
Then we will briefly review how both SEL and cognition work in tandem to
support early achievement. In conclusion, we describe two promising
preschool SEL programs and review teaching strategies known to support SEL
in preschool.
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN PRESCHOOLERS

SEL is the process through which children and adults develop skills to
effectively manage themselves and their relationships with others (Zins et al.,
2007). Childrens social-emotional competencies prepare them to meet the
demands of the classroom, engage in learning, and benefit from instruction
(Campbell & Stauffenberg, 2008; Denham, Brown, & Domitrovich, 2010),
ultimately enhancing well-being and school performance (Greenberg et al.,
2003). Core SEL competencies also indirectly support childrens emerging
literacy and numeracy skills (e.g., Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull, Espy & Wiebe,
2008; Ladd, 1990). According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and
Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2012), SEL comprises five core competencies:
self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships skills, and
responsible decision-making. While the process of SEL is life long, it is import
to know what these emerging skills look like and what can reasonably be
expected of young children in early childhood classrooms.
Both Together: SEL and Cognition
Self-awareness describes the ability to accurately recognize how you feel

and how those feelings influence your behavior. For a preschool-aged child
this will include learning new words to describe how he feels and the
antecedents of those feelings. Additionally, children of this age are developing
a sense of self that will include likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses.
Self-management describes the ability to regulate ones emotions,
thoughts and behaviors effectively in different situations and to set and work
toward short and long-term goals. Some young children may be very aware of
how they are feeling but most will still be learning how to control the
expression of and reaction to those feelings. At this age children are actively
learning about social norms for behavior in different situations (social
awareness, below) and how to regulate their behavior and emotional
expression to match those expectations.
Social awareness describes the ability to take the perspective of and
empathize with others and the knowledge of what behavior is socially
acceptable in different situations (e.g., different rules about laughing loudly in
the classroom, on the playground, and at church). Through interactions with
peers and caregivers, children learn how to interpret others facial and bodily
expressions of emotion and come to understand that others may feel
differently from them.
Relationship skills allow the individual to establish and maintain healthy
and rewarding relationships. Preschoolers are learning what it means to be a
good friend; how to offer help, cooperate, and share; and how to negotiate
simple conflicts. As with many of these competencies, developing
relationships skills requires several other emerging skills, particularly social
awareness.
Responsible decision-making refers to childrens ability to make
constructive and respectful choices about personal behavior. From making
choices based on personal opinions (e.g., what area of the classroom to play
in) or rules (e.g., how to respond to someone taking your toy) children in
preschool can begin to weigh the consequences of various actions, especially
with the help of a caregiver.
In early childhood, mastery of SEL and cognitive development are
intertwined. Learning relationship skills can help children form stronger
friendships and feel comfortable with their teachers, which in turn makes them
more likely to ask for and receive help when faced with academic challenges
(Ladd, 1990). In the next section we will describe some of the cognitive
competencies which preschoolers are working to master.
COGNITIVE MILESTONES AT PRESCHOOL AGES

Just as with SEL, cognitive development in preschoolers is rapid and
varied, with each child achieving developmental milestones at slightly
different times. During the preschool years, major cognitive developments
occur in the areas of working memory, language, and attentional and selfregulatory abilities. These skills, in tandem with childrens SEL, lay the
framework for classroom learning in early language, literacy, and numeracy.
Working memory refers to the amount of information that a child can hold
in mind and manipulate at any given time (Baddeley, 1992). This impacts
childrens ability to do many things in the classroom, such as copy a picture,
retain information from a storybook reading, or learn their ABCs. This
growing working memory also lays the foundation for children to learn core
SEL competencies. For instance, responsible decision-making requires
children to weigh different options and remember numerous social norms and
concrete rules, all of which draw on working memory capacity.
Language development in preschool is rapid, with huge increases in
expressive vocabulary and continued expansion of receptive vocabulary.
Children at this age are also beginning to understand conventions of formal
speech, including syntax and phonology. Language and SEL work in tandem,
as social interactions with teachers and peers serve language development and
language skills promote relationships with others. Additionally, expanding
receptive vocabulary helps children learn the social language associated with
self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness.
Attention and self-regulation are both strongly related to classroom
adjustment and school achievement (Bierman et al., 2008; Blair & Diamond,
2008; Denham et al., 2003). Attention refers to a childs ability to remain
focused on a task. Self-regulation involves controlling and maintaining this
attention, as well as controlling behaviors and emotions. Self-regulation is
closely tied to self-management, a core SEL competency. Struggling with
negative emotions may detract from childrens abilities to focus on learning.
Conversely, remaining relatively calm and positive can help children engage
with classroom tasks (Trentacosta & Izard, 2007).
These underlying cognitive competencies are necessary for SEL and they
also benefit from improved SEL. Paired together, childrens increasing
cognitive and social-emotional competencies serve as the foundation for
academic learning in the classroom.
THE INTERSECTION OF SEL

AND COGNITION IN CLASSROOM SETTINGS
SEL and cognitive development go hand in hand, with linkages found at
the neurobiological level (Blair, 2002; Huttenlocher, 2002). Developing
cognitive and social-emotional skills set children up for success in the
classroom, allowing them to function effectively and absorb information in a
learning environment (Blair, 2002). For instance, self-regulation and selfmanagement, both SEL and cognitive skills, are essential for learning difficult
academic content associated with literacy and numeracy (Dickinson, McCabe,
& Essex, 2007). Additionally, initial social competence and improvements in
social competence (i.e., cooperation, self-control, and assertion) predict third
graders end-of-year grades in reading and mathematics (Elias & Haynes,
2008).
How children approach learning is inherently intertwined with their SEL.
A childs motivation, persistence, and attitude toward learning in the
classroom play a key part in school readiness and long-term academic success
(Fantuzzo, Perry, & McDermott, 2004; Li-Grining, Votruba-Drzal &
Maldonado-Carreno, 2010). The outcomes of strong SEL - management of
ones own emotions and behaviors and resulting positive relationships - make
the classroom a happy place where children are more likely to feel motivated
and positive toward classroom learning. For instance, Fantuzzo and colleagues
(2004) found that preschoolers who showed a lack of motivation and
persistence in the classroom also had poor social relationships at school, which
is linked to decreased achievement (Ladd, 1990).
A childs ability to understand the social and emotional cues of their
classmates (i.e., social awareness) also plays an important role in concurrent
and later academic success. Children with poorer relationship skills are more
likely to have social difficulties, and thus will find school less enjoyable and
may struggle in the transition into kindergarten. Denham and colleagues found
that childrens executive control contributed to their social cognition and
emotionality, which in turn were related to later teacher report school
adjustment and kindergarten readiness (Denham, Bassett, Zinsser, & Wyatt,
2014). This longitudinal relationship continues; Normandeau and Guay (1998)
have found that kindergartners prosocial behavior predicts their cognitive
self-control in 1st grade, which then predicts 1st grade achievement.
Similarly, childrens self-awareness, their knowledge of their own
strengths and weaknesses and sense of self-efficacy, will impact their
likelihood of asking for assistance from teachers and peers during

academically challenging tasks. Help-seeking is an important contributor to
students learning. In older students, avoidance of help seeking negatively
predicts academic efficacy (Ryan, Gheen, & Midgley, 1998).
EVALUATION OF SEL PROGRAMS

Given the evidence of interconnections among SEL and early cognition
and their joint support of academic achievement, there is surprisingly sparse
evidence that preschool SEL curricula boost academic achievement. Although
there are some exceptions to this trend (e.g., Bierman et al., 2008), this gap in
research is likely attributable to the scarcity of effective preschool socialemotional curricula. Compared with subjects like literacy, there are relatively
few programs that promote SEL during early childhood in accordance with the
guidelines set out by Durlak and colleagues (2011). Fewer still have been
rigorously and systematically evaluated, and only some of these can be seen as
effective (CASEL, 2013). Although evidence of academic gains associated
with SEL curricula is limited, we will briefly describe a recent study that
evaluated three SEL curricula.
Head Start CARES

The recently completed Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches
and Resources for Emotion and Social skill promotion; Morris, Mattera,
Castells, Bangser, Bierman, & Raver, 2014) Demonstration Project tested the
effects of three classroom-based approaches to improve childrens SEL in 100
randomly assigned Head Start Centers. We will discuss two of these programs,
Preschool PATHS and The Incredible Years Teacher Training Programs,
which showed consistent impacts on childrens social-emotional outcomes.
The third program evaluated in Head Start CARES, Tools of the Mind, did not
show expected impacts on childrens self-regulation.
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (Preschool PATHS;
Domitrovich, Greenberg, Cortes, & Kusch, 2005) is a scripted curriculum
that combines short circle time lessons with extension activities to support
childrens awareness of their own and others emotions, self-control, selfconcept, peer relations, and problem-solving skills; and to create an overall
positive classroom environment. Both the preschool and elementary versions
of PATHS are based on the theoretical understanding that SEL is dependent on

interactions with the environment and that variations in childrens
competencies are based on different experiences at home and in early
childhood settings.
In the CARES demonstration, children in PATHS classrooms showed
small to moderate improvements in their knowledge and understanding of
emotions, social problem-solving skills, and social behaviors. Furthermore,
although the one year intervention did not significantly impact childrens
observed executive function skills, Preschool PATHS teachers ratings of their
childrens learning behaviors did significantly improved when compared to the
control group.
The Incredible Years Teacher Training Program uses teacher training
workshops on classroom management and support techniques to improve the
classroom climate and impact childrens social-emotional competence. The
curriculum is grounded in social learning theory and recognizes the
developmental value of adults modeling appropriate interactions and behaviors
(Posthumus et al., 2012). The CARES demonstration showed that Incredible
Years significantly improved teachers classroom management when
compared to controls, but did not significantly decrease childrens behavior
problems. Positive effects of the program included improvements in childrens
emotion knowledge, problem-solving, social behaviors, and teacher-rated
learning behaviors.
Additionally, in the highest-risk children, Incredible Years had a small but
significant positive impact on teachers ratings of childrens attention and
engagement in learning when compared to the control group.
The primary focus of the CARES demonstration was to test impact of
these programs on childrens social-emotional learning, so the limited findings
related to cognitive and academic gains are not terribly surprising.
Additionally, children participating in the intervention groups only received
the full dosage of the intervention for the final few months of the school year.
In other intervention studies that have intentionally combined SEL and
academic skills promotion, such as the REDI project (Bierman et al., 2008),
children have shown significant improvement in academic skills (vocabulary
and emergency literacy), SEL skills (emotion knowledge, social problem
solving, and behavior) and in learning behaviors such as engagement.
SUPPORTING SEL AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

IN CLASSROOMS CONCURRENTLY
The role of teachers promoting social emotional skills has received
increasing recognition (Denham, Bassett & Zinsser, 2012). Social-emotional
teaching describes a variety of activities and practices: some purposeful and
planned, some naturally occurring that can promote SEL in students (Zinsser,
Denham, & Curby, in press). Teachers may provide direct instruction in
social-emotional content when opportunities arise, or as part of a socialemotional curriculum. However, social-emotional teaching is more effective
when it is not limited to the 15-minute lesson prescribed by a curriculum
(Denham & Burton, 1996). Some research even indicates that social-emotional
teaching may be most effective when integrated in to academics (Massetti &
Bracken, 2010).
Teachers can engage in social-emotional teaching throughout academic
instruction, free-play, outside play, and meals. For example, there are
numerous opportunities for social development during a group-based science
activity, such as exploring scientific phenomena, making hypotheses about
what may happen, and sharing results (Greenfield, 2014). Below we describe
three approaches known to support childrens SEL beyond the adoption of
evidence based SEL curricula like PATHS and Incredible Years.
Social-emotional teaching includes modeling. Teachers model emotional
expressiveness, which implicitly teaches children which emotions are
acceptable and how to appropriately express and regulate them (Valiente et al.,
2004). Through their contingent reactions to childrens emotions, teachers
(and parents) encourage or discourage childrens emotional expression. Such
encouragement helps children learn to tolerate and control their own emotions
and promotes expressiveness and emotion knowledge (Gottman et al., 1997).
Additionally, teachers set the emotional climate of the classroom, which has
direct implications for social-emotional learning. In more positive classrooms,
teachers and students smile, laugh, high-five, beam with pride, and hug (Pianta
et al., 2008). In more negative classrooms, teachers and students aggress, yell,
threaten, frustrate, and disrespect one another (Pianta, la Paro, & Hamre,
2008). Positive climate, as measured using the CLASS (Pianta et al., 2008), is
associated with favorable academic outcomes (Curby & Chavez, 2013).
CONCLUSION
There is substantial momentum among educational and developmental
research scientists to explore the intimate connections among SEL, cognitive
development, and academic achievement in our youngest learners. However a
great deal of interdisciplinary work remains to be done, especially with regards
to the assessment of SEL and the identification of children or groups of
children needing additional support. Further, it is critical that teachers are
supported in their efforts to promote development in all of these critical
competencies. If public policy is to support early social-emotional
competencies, educators and researchers will need to continually communicate
with policy makers about their importance. We hope that the information
provided above will help all stakeholders understand the interconnectedness of
childrens social-emotional and cognitive development, viewing it not as an
either/or but rather a both together approach to enhancing childrens academic
success.
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ISBN: 978-1-63463-984-2
Chapter 2
ASSESSING SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

AND ITS RELATION TO COGNITIVE
PERFORMANCE IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Jess de la Fuente1, Jorge Amate2
and Mari Carmen Gonzlez-Torres3
1
University of Almera
Teacher of Early Childhood Education. Almeria
3
University of Navarra, Spain
ABSTRACT
Assessment of cognitive skills and metacognitive self-regulated
learning strategies is important in order to discover students level of
cognitive processing, and be able to intervene through the teaching
process to mitigate any existing problems. The objective of this study was
to assess the use of metacognitive, cognitive and motor strategies on a
given task. A total of 68 five-year-old pupils enrolled in Early Childhood
Education participated in the study. The assessment was carried out with
an ad-hoc instrument based on the think-aloud technique, and having
adequate reliability and validity values. Descriptive, associative and
inferential analyses were performed. The results showed greater use of
cognitive and motor strategies than of metacognitive strategies. A
significant association was also found between the use of strategies at
14
Jess de la Fuente, Jorge Amate and Mari Carmen Gonzlez-Torres

each moment of the task and final performance. Implications are
discussed for the teaching of cognitive skills and meta-skills during this
stage of education.
Keywords: Early childhood education, self-regulated learning, metacognitive

strategies, performance, assessment of cognitive processes
INTRODUCTION
Learning today means constructing knowledge. In the case of scholastic
learning, the knowledge to be learned is intentionally determined in advance.
This construction process, in turn, necessarily requires the mental activity of
the pupil, who ultimately gives sense and significance to what is learned.
Therefore, we turn from the idea of learning as merely the accumulation of
things known; instead, learning is conceived as the subjects continuous
modification of his or her own knowledge schemata. Involved in this process
is the use of metacognitive skills that enable ones personal control over ones
own knowledge and learning processes.
Explanatory Models of Self-Regulated Learning

To Zimmerman we owe the appearance of self-regulated learning as a
concept, as well as the initial research that sought to identify and understand
self-direction processes in acquiring knowledge (Bembenutty, Cleary, &
Kitsantas, 2013: de la Fuente & Eissa, 2010; Zimmerman, 1986, 1990;
Zimmerman, & Labuhn 2012; Zimmerman & Schunk, 1989). This perspective
originates from metacognitive research and holds important implications.
Some examples include: considering students as active participants from the
metacognitive point of view, and factors that influence students decisions on
how and why they decide to use a certain strategy (Gonzlez, Escoriza,
Gonzlez & Barca, 1996).
The Pintrich model (2000) is to be noted as one of the most important
attempts to synthesize the different processes and activities that help increase
self-regulation while learning (Torrano & Gonzlez, 2004). It is based on a
socio-cognitive perspective and organizes the different regulatory processes
into four phases: forethought, self-monitoring, control and reflection. Within
each phase we find four areas: the cognitive, motivational-affective,
Early Childhood Education
15
behavioral and contextual. All these phases and areas interact with each other,
and are activated also in relation to the demands of the task.
Finally, the DEDEPRO Model (De la Fuente & Justicia, 2007), a further
development from a previous model (De la Fuente & Martnez, 2000),
attempts to synthesize the former two: the Justicia and Cano (1996) model and
the Pintrich (2000) model. From the former he primarily draws the typology of
strategies, while, based on contributions from the latter, he adopts a line of
three major moments at which students apply their strategies in self-regulated
fashion: before, during and after the task (Martnez & De la Fuente, 2004):
At the first moment (before), the student is to become aware of and

plan the activity that is to be performed. Awareness requires, at a
minimum, reflection on the characteristics of the task, ones personal
way of learning, and the particularities of the cognitive process and
strategy used. These three elements are similar to those alluded to
above, when speaking of metacognitive strategies (Flavell,
1987).Forethought will guide the rest of the task performance process.
At this point it is important for the student to reflect on the objectives
of the task, and to set learning goals.
The second moment (during) involves knowing what to do, how to do
it, when and where to do it, while carrying out the learning process.
The objective is for the student to be able to regulate himself or
herself at this phase of execution. For this purpose, aside from
cognitive activity, thought should also be given to maintaining ones
motivation.
At the third moment (after) the student should carry out an evaluation
of the entire process followed until that point. This phase is the time
to reflect on what has been learned and on aspects that should be
improved in similar situations that may be encountered later.
The PRO-REGULA program (De la Fuente & Martnez, 2000) is a tool

based on this model, designed to work on self-regulation by incorporating it
into the stage of Primary Education. The empirical study that we present here
is also based on this model.
16
Self-Regulation Strategies in Early Childhood Education

There is clear evidence of a correlation between self-regulation at an early
age, and self-regulation throughout the school years and the individuals life
(Eisenberg et al., 1996, 1997). In this line, Flavell (1977) emphasizes the
importance of self-regulated learning in Early Childhood Education, affirming
that its significant growth during this period constitutes a key point of
inflection for the childs development. Recently, other authors have reached
research conclusions that self-regulation strategies do exist in preschoolers
(Sperling, Walls & Hill, 2000). Along the same line, studies from Das, Kar
and Parrilla (1998) on the childs capacity for planning (understood as
regulation of cognitive processes), attribute a true planning ability to children
at the age of five.
One of the fundamental reasons for the relative lack of interest in this
stage of education, despite the evidence described above, is the concept of the
child in Early Childhood Education as a pre, someone who is not yet able to
learn complex aspects, and therefore, is not able to make strategic use of
procedures, since they have not yet been fully mastered (Olern, 1987).
However, as Monereo (2001) explains, this opinion is not only mistaken, but it
establishes an unadvisable separation between mastery of a procedure and its
strategic use.
As for the research panorama of Self-Regulated Learning in Early
Childhood Education, perhaps the best known researcher is Pramling (1988,
1990, 1993). This author explored childrens conceptions of learning from a
phenomenological approach, considering their perceptions to be an expression
of the different levels of metacognitive awareness. Her work, carried out
through semi-structured individual interviews, includes both the referential
aspect of learning (what) and the structural aspect (how) (Marton, 1988). Her
primary conclusions are presented below (adapted by Ayala & Martn, 1997):
Regarding small childrens conceptions of what they are learning,

children pass through three successive phases, the first of which
begins in the first weeks of preschool:
- Learning always involves knowing how to do something new,
whether new manual skills (cutting things out) or intellectual
(counting). (around age three)
- Learning involves new knowledge about the world.
- Learning involves understanding reality.
17
Regarding childrens conception of how they learn, we may also

distinguish three phases:
- No distinction between doing and learning to do.
- Learning as a consequence of maturing, of getting big.
- Learning as a result of experience.
One important contribution from Pramling was categorizing conceptions

about preschoolers learning as deep and surface, as a function of their ability
to become aware of their own learning and transfer a specific thing learned to
other situations. Finally, Pramling is also attributed the intervention design of
discovering conceptions using metacognitive dialogue. This method, roughly
speaking, seeks reflection on daily situations in order to transform children's
conceptions about learning at three levels: content, structure and learning
itself.
Objectives and Hypotheses

One reason that justifies realization of this research is the scarcity of
knowledge and instruments currently available on self-regulated learning for
children under the age of six, in stark contrast to the importance that this topic
has acquired at other levels of education. Specifically, we have two
fundamental objectives. First, to describe the self-regulation strategies used by
five-year-olds while executing a specific task. Second, to establish association
relationships between the strategies used, and between these strategies and
task performance. From these study objectives, the following hypotheses were
formulated:
Hypothesis 1. Observed frequency of use of the strategies assessed will be low.
Hypothesis 2. In the case of metacognitive strategies, the frequency will be
even lower, since they have not been worked on as much at school.
Hypothesis 3. There will be significant association relationships among the
total strategies used at different moments.
Hypothesis 4. There will be significant association relationships between the
total strategies used at the three moments, and performance.
Hypothesis 5. There will be significant association relationships between the
total metacognitive strategies and performance.
18
METHOD
Participants
A total of 68 subjects participated, all of them in the final year of Early
Childhood Education (5- and 6-year-olds), at a public school in Spain. The
school was selected through a non-probabilistic procedure, as a function of
available access, and subjects included all the pupils from the three class
groups of this grade level in the school, except for two pupils who had to be
eliminated from the sample due to excess reactivity, and who could not be
successfully led through the research protocol. There were 36 girls and 32
boys. As for place of birth, there were six foreign pupils (3 Moroccans, 2
Ecuadorians, and 1 Ghanaian), all of them with full mastery of the language,
and most of them enrolled in the same school from earlier grades (T.N.
Spanish public school begins at age 3.) No child had been diagnosed with
special educational needs.
A pilot run, for the purpose of training the assessors, used a sample of 6
pupils from the same school, but at different grade levels (ECE 4-year-olds
and 1st grade of Primary) and 10 five-year-olds from another school, located in
downtown Almeria (Spain). They were selected based on ease of access to
their respective classrooms, and being considered mainly average-level pupils,
with a few low and high cases, according to their mainstream teachers.
Instruments
The instrument used for this study is a protocol which is both a guide and
a register (log) for assessment based on a specific task. This protocol is
structured along three points in time (before, during and after), and
exemplifies the think-aloud technique (Meichembaum et al., 1985) as a
variation on the interview. The instrument is described in Appendix 1. The
variables measured directly through the student protocol correspond to
strategies that the children use while resolving the task. These strategies,
summarized in Appendix 1 as a function of their type and moment of use, are
as follows:
1. Awareness. The childs response when asked what he or she considers
to be most important about the task, and what others expect them to
learn from it, according to protocol instructions as shown in Appendix
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
19
1. This variable, in turn, consists of four non-exclusive response

levels: Level 1 (I dont know, says nothing, extraneous aspects, etc.),
Level 2 (motor aspects), Level 3 (metacognitive aspects) and Level 4
(central aspects). This is considered to be a first-moment strategy
(before).
Planning. Verbalizations that the child makes about his or her
thoughts before performing the task, which may represent a guide for
how it is to be done. This variable consists of two response levels,
according to whether such verbalizations are observed or not.
Cognitive metacognition. The childs verbalizations about his or her
thoughts. This variable does not have response options, the observers
recorded its appearance when seen. This is considered to be a secondmoment strategy (during).
Motor metacognition. The childs verbalizations about his or her
motor actions. This variable does not have response options, the
assessors recorded its appearance when observed. This is considered
to be a second-moment strategy (during).
Support metacognition. The child's verbalizations that imply certain
control over his or her affective-motivational processes. This variable
does not have response options, the assessors recorded its appearance
when observed. This is considered to be a second-moment strategy
(during).
Prior organization. The childs verbalizations in anticipation of his or
her immediate actions. This variable does not have response options,
the assessors recorded its appearance when observed. This is
considered to be a second-moment strategy (during).
Explicit review. The childs verbalizations that allude to use of this
strategy. This variable does not have response options, the assessors
recorded its appearance when observed. This is considered to be a
second-moment strategy (during).
Counting. In this strategy, the observers recorded evidence from their
observation of how the cognitive operation of counting was
performed. This variable does not have response options, the assessors
recorded its appearance when observed. This is considered to be a
second-moment strategy (during).
Comparing. Evidence was recorded from observing active indication
of the cognitive operation of comparing one drawing to another. This
variable does not have response options, the assessors recorded its
20
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
appearance when observed. This is considered to be a second-moment

strategy (during).
Information seeking (asking). The childs verbalizations in the form of
asking task-related questions of the researchers. This variable does not
have response options, the assessors recorded its appearance when
observed. This is considered to be a second-moment strategy (during).
Reviewing. Evidence was recorded from observing how the child
assessed the task or some part of it. This variable does not have
response options, the assessors recorded its appearance when
Attitudes and feelings. The childs verbalizations alluding to his or her
affective states, both positive and negative. This variable does not
have response options, the assessors recorded its appearance when
Self-stimulation. The childs verbalizations for self-encouragement.
This variable does not have response options, the assessors recorded
its appearance when observed. This is considered to be a secondmoment strategy (during).
Drawing. Evidence from observing the action of drawing. This
strategy (during).
Coloring. Evidence from observing the action of coloring. This
strategy (during).
Self-assessment. The childs response when asked about the results of
his or her execution, according to protocol instructions in Appendix 1.
This variable in turn consists of three response levels: good, so-so or
bad. This is considered to be a third-moment strategy (after).
Justification. The childs response when asked about the reasons for
his or her self-assessment, according to protocol instructions in
Appendix 1. This variable in turn consists of three non-exclusive
response levels: justification based on the real objective of the task,
allusions to metacognitive aspects and justification based on motor
aspects. This is considered to be a third-moment strategy (after).
Ways to improve. The childs responses when asked about the changes
he or she would make in a hypothetical later situation, according to
protocol instructions shown in Appendix 1. This variable in turn
21
consists of the same three response levels given in the previous case.
This is considered to be a third-moment strategy (after).
Afterward, subtotals were calculated in reference to each typology
and to each moment of strategy use, as well as a grand total.
Variables measured directly (nominal type) were converted to scalar
measurements, which are more operational for carrying out
appropriate statistical analyses. This operation was carried out either
based on the design of a scale by degrees (in the case of the awareness
variables, or of the total corresponding to before) or using the sum
of the points registered for the presence of each variable that made up
a given subtotal.
19. Performance. This is the dependent variable. Evaluation of task
execution was carried out by an independent judge with a degree in
teaching, but not involved in this process, using the criteria shown in
Table 1.
As can be observed in this table, a two-fold performance was taken into
account: cognitive and motor. Cognitive performance refers to an assessment
of the task according to its cognitive demands. Motor performance refers to an
assessment of the task according to its motor demands, which in this case were
not the priority in correct execution of the task.
Both aspects were scored on a maximum of four points; in order to obtain
the first score it was necessary to first classify the product into one of four
categories, while the second score was obtained from the sum of scores
obtained according to each criterion.
Finally, total performance was the arithmetic mean obtained from the two
subtotal scores. Before assessing the exercises, we ensured that the judge
correctly understood the established criteria. The criteria were designed from
an analysis of the demands of the task, and from childrens productions in
earlier studies.
Table 1. Criteria for task evaluation
TOTAL PERFORMANCE = (COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE +
MOTOR PERFORMANCE) / 2
COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE
MOTOR PERFORMANCE
Classify each exercise into one of these categories and give it Assign each exercise one or zero
the corresponding score:
points as a function of whether each
criterion was met, and add up the
total points:
22

Table 1. (Continued)
TOTAL PERFORMANCE = (COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE +

MOTOR PERFORMANCE) / 2
COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE
MOTOR PERFORMANCE
- Not leaving gaps (blank spaces) in
- Total absence of cognitive manifestations
the colored elements.
(Any apples drawn are simply colored,, and there is no
evidence of counting or comparing, etc.) 0 points
- Not coloring outside the lines.
- Finishing all the coloring, that is,
- Comparison of the relative positions of the apples,
without exactly matching the model 1 point
not leaving elements uncolored.
- Correctly sketching the missing
- Comparison of the relative positions of the apples,
exactly matching the model 3 points
apples (if done at all), including the
complete detail of the leaf.
- Abstraction of the relative positions, and consideration
of the total quantity of apples 4 points
Maximum: 4 points
Maximum: 4 points
Procedure
Once the task was chosen and adapted to the students level and the needs
of this study, some prior studies were carried out in order to help refine the
assessment instrument (Appendix 1). The final format of this instrument was
submitted to previous evaluation by professionals working with this age group,
but not connected with the present research study, that they would judge its
suitability for assessing the strategies used by children in this age group; the
outcome was positive.
Afterward, the two people responsible for assessing strategies were trained
in use of the instrument, until they reached a degree of inter-judge reliability of
greater than 85%. Both of them were from the field of Educational
Psychology. Before proceeding with the individual assessment, which at all
times followed the indications of the protocol-register, the two assessors
visited the different classrooms, for the purpose of controlling students
possible reactivity.
When strategy assessment was completed, we selected an independent
expert in early childhood work, in order to be the judge for assessing
performance on the task. This person was training according to the design
criteria.
23
Design and Data Analyses

An ex-post-facto design was applied, not experimental in that there was no
control group. The data were subjected to statistical treatment using SPSS for
Windows (version 20.0); descriptive and correlational analyses were
performed. In the descriptive analyses, the presence of each directly-measured
strategy (nominal strategy) was described as a percentage. We also described
the mean and standard deviation of the scalar strategies, and finally, the mean
and standard deviation of each of the three dimensions into which strategies
were grouped after applying a factor analysis. As for the correlational
analyses, we analyzed correlations between strategies used at each moment,
and we created correlation matrices of the three types of performance
(cognitive, motor and total) with the scalar variables and with the empirical
dimensions just mentioned.
RESULTS
Descriptive Results
In general, one can see how at the first moment (before task execution),
planning is noticeably absent (only 8.8% of pupils show signs of planning the
activity). As for awareness, the sample seems to be divided almost equally
between those who considered cognitive aspects to be central to the task
(13.2%), and those who focused their attention on the motor aspects (14.7%).
At the second moment (during task execution), a low percentage of pupils
showed signs of using the metacognitive strategies assessed. Thus, only 10.3%
were able to explicitly state their cognitive processes, while a somewhat larger
percentage, 35.3% of pupils, were able to state their motor behaviors. As for
prior organization, just half the pupils were able to anticipate their actions;
while no child stated that he or she was reviewing (checking their work),
despite the fact that 7.4% showed signs of doing so. At the cognitive level, a
high percentage of pupils counted, in accordance with the task objectives,
while a lesser number compared the positions, this strategy not having been
asked for specifically. Regarding support for processing, there were only
isolated cases of children who referred to any type of feelings or to formulas
for motivating themselves. Almost all the children drew round figures, and a
mere 20% colored them.
24
At the third moment (after task execution), all the children rate themselves
positively. Practically 30% justify this rating based on the real objectives of
the task, while the percentage of those who do so based on motor aspects is
only about half. However, when asked for ways to improve, this relation is
inverted (10.3% compared to 14.7%, respectively). The children very rarely
address metacognitive aspects, either at this moment in particular, or at any
time throughout the interview. However, there are a good number of children
who, when asked these questions, do not speak at all, remaining silent or
speaking some random word. See Table 2.
Table 2. Percentages of the presence/absence of each of the strategies
assessed directly at each moment of execution
MOMENT/STRATEGY
MOMENT 1: BEFORE
{0>Conciencia:<}98{>Awareness:<0}
- {0>Centrada en aspectos motrices<}0{>Focused
on motor aspects<0}
- {0>Centrada en aspectos cognitivos
(centrales)<}0{>Focused on cognitive (central)
aspects<0}
- {0>Aspectos metacognitivos<}0{>Metacognitive
aspects<0}
{0>Planificacin<}98{>Planning<0}
{0>MOMENTO 2: DURANTE<}0{>MOMENT 2: DURING<0}
- Cognitive
- {0>A nivel afectivomotivacional<}76{>Motivational-affective <0}
{0>Estrategias metacognitivas:<}100{>Metacognitive
strategies:<0} {0>Control de la ejecucin:<}0{>Control of
execution:<0}
- {0>Organizacin previa<}96{>Prior
organization<0}
- {0>Revisin (con conciencia)<}0{>Reviewing
(with awareness)<0}
{0>Estrategias cognitivas:<}88{>Cognitive strategies:<0}

- {0>Contar<}0{>Counting<0}
- {0>Comparar<}87{>Comparing<0}
- {0>Preguntar<}0{>Asking<0}
- {0>Revisar<}91{>Reviewing<0}
{0>Estrategias de apoyo al procesamiento:<}0{>Strategies to

support processing:<0}
- {0>Actitudes y sentimientos
positivos<}0{>Positive attitudes and feelings<0}
YES (%)
NO (%)
14.7
13.2
0
8.8
85.3
86.8
100
91.2
10.3
35.3
0
89.7
64.7
100
50
0
50
100
82.4
63.2
25
7.4
17.6
36.8
75
92.6
0
1.5
0
100
98.5
100
94.1
5.9

MOMENT/STRATEGY
{0>MOMENTO 3: DESPUS<}0{>MOMENT 3: AFTER<0}
- {0>Actitudes y sentimientos
negativos<}87{>Negative attitudes and feelings<0}
- {0>Autoestimulacin<}98{>Self-stimulation<0}
{0>Aspectos motrices:<}0{>Motor aspects:<0}

- {0>Dibujar<}91{>Drawing<0}
{0>Colorear<}87{>Coloring<0}
{0>Autoevaluacin:<}98{>Self-assessment:<0}
- {0>Bien<}95{>Good<0}
- {0>Regular<}0{>So-so<0}
- {0>Mal<}0{>Bad<0}
{0>Justificacin:<}98{>Justification:<0}
- {0>Basada en el objetivo real de la
tarea<}0{>Based on the real task objective<0}
- {0>Basada en aspectos motrices<}83{>Based on
motor aspects<0}
- {0>Aspectos
metacognitivos<}100{>Metacognitive aspects<0}
{0>Posibilidades de mejora:<}0{>Ways to improve:<0}

- {0>Basadas en el objetivo real de la
tarea<}94{>Based on the real task objective<0}
- {0>Basadas en aspectos motrices<}86{>Based on
motor aspects<0}
- {0>Aspectos
metacognitivos<}100{>Metacognitive aspects<0}
25
YES (%)
NO (%)
19.1
80.9
100
0
0
0
100
100
29.4
14.7
4.4
70.6
85.3
95.6
10.3
14.7
5.9
89.7
85.3
94.1
As for the scalar variables which were constructed from the former in
order to make them more operational, we were able to make the following
observations:
Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the strategy totals and subtotals,
according to moment and type
1.22
1.95
STANDARD
DEVIATION
(0.51)
(0.76)
THEORETICAL
RANGE
1-4
1-6
2.79
(1.01)
1-5
(0. 00)
1-3
2.13
(0.34)
1-3
4.85
1.1
(1.47)
(0.35)
1-14
1-3
1.4
(0.67)
1-3
VARIABLE
MEAN
Total strategies at the first moment (before)

Total metacognitive strategies at the second
moment (during)
Total cognitive strategies at the second moment
(during)
Total support strategies at the second moment
(during)
Total motor strategies at the second moment
(during)
Total strategies at the second moment (during)
Total metacognitive strategies at the third
moment (after)
Total cognitive strategies at the third moment
(after)
26

Table 3. (Continued)
1.29
STANDARD
DEVIATION
(0.52)
THEORETICAL
RANGE
1-3
1.79
2.28
3.19
2.43
5.87
(0.8)
(1.08)
(1.31)
(0.70)
(1.92)
1-7
1-11
1-7
1-5
1-23
VARIABLE
MEAN
Total motor strategies at the third moment

(after)
Total strategies at the third moment (after)
Total metacognitive strategies
Total cognitive strategies
Total motor strategies
Total strategies
Source: Prepared by the authors.
One of the most noticeable aspects is the small number of total strategies
used by the children, especially obvious in the metacognitive subtype. This
fact is even more clearly visible in the following table, where strategies
observed directly were submitted to factor analysis, and thereby grouped into
three large dimensions. The mean use of strategies belonging to each of the
empirical dimensions was as follows, for our sample:
Table 4. Descriptive statistics for each of the empirical dimensions.
Source: Prepared by the authors
DIMENSIONS
MEAN
Metacognitive
Cognitive
Motor
1.59
1.95
1.71
STANDARD
DEVIATION
(0.51)
(0.55)
(0.35)
THEORETICAL
RANGE
1-5
1-4
1-3
Association Results
Correlation between Strategies Used at Different Moments
The results show that there is only one significant correlation (p<.05),
between the total strategies used before and the total strategies used during. As
for other moment comparisons of strategy use, we cannot affirm that there are
any significant correlations among them, although the correlation between
total strategies used before and total strategies used after is somewhat closer to
significance (p=.08) than the correlation between total strategy use during and
total strategy use after (p=.36). At the same time, the total strategies used at
each of the three moments has a significant, strong correlation (p<.001) with
27
the strategy total. This is especially noticeable in the case of total strategies
used during task execution.
Table 5. Correlations between performance on the task and strategies of
each type and at each moment. The upper number in each table cell shows
Spearmans rho correlation coefficient, and the lower number shows the
level of significance
Variable
Total strategies at the first moment (before)
Total metacognitive strategies at the second
moment (during)
Total cognitive strategies at the second moment
(during)
Total support strategies at the second moment
(during)
Total motor strategies at the second moment
(during)
Total strategies at the second moment (during)
Total metacognitive strategies at the third
moment (after)
Total cognitive strategies at the third moment
(after)
Total motor strategies at the third moment
(after)
Total strategies at the third moment (after)
Total metacognitive strategies
Total cognitive strategies
Total motor strategies
Total strategies
Motor
performance
0.020
.873
0.201
.100
0.173
.159
----0.386**
.001
0.306*
.011
0.080
.516
-0.010
.936
0.348**
.004
0.243*
.046
0.234
.055
0.111
.365
0.490**
.000
0.321**
.008
Cognitive
performance
0.152
.216
0.028
.818
0.427**
.000
-----0.066
.594
0.292*
.016
-0.051
.681
0.301*
.013
-0.127
.302
0.102
.408
0.047
.703
0.471**
.000
-0.125
.309
0.325**
.007
Total
performance
0.119
.332
0.087
.479
0.462**
.000
----0.121
.325
0.381**
.001
-0.016
.895
0.241*
.047
0.033
.788
0.176
.151
0.115
.350
0.461**
.000
0.101
.413
0.413**
.000
Source: Prepared by the authors.

** The correlation is significant at the level of 0.01 (bilateral).
* The correlation is significant at the level of 0.05 (bilateral).
Correlations between Strategies and Performance

As can be seen in Table 6, the strategy total has a significant correlation
(p<.01) with the three types of performance (motor, cognitive and total),
slightly higher for the last two types. Furthermore, total motor strategies also
28
has a very significant correlation (p<.01), although this relates exclusively to

motor performance. Regarding total cognitive strategies, the converse occurs;
in other words, it has a correlation in the same degree (p<.01) with cognitive
performance, and also has impact on total performance. Curiously, total
metacognitive strategies has no significant correlation with any of the
performance types assessed, even though it approaches significance with
motor performance (p<.05).
If we consider the strategies applied at each moment, it is the second
moment (during) that has the greatest impact on total performance, showing a
very significant correlation (p<.001). It also shows less significant correlations
with motor and cognitive performance. At this moment, each type of strategy
clearly correlates to the analogous performance type, that is, cognitive
strategies (count, compare, review, ask) correlate to cognitive and total
performance (p<.001), and motor strategies (drawing, coloring) to motor
performance (p<.001) although this aspect seems quite evident. Again, at
this moment, total metacognitive strategies does not in the least approach a
significant relationship with performance.
Table 6. Correlations between task performance and the empirical
dimensions extracted through analysis of the instrument.
The upper number in each table cell shows Spearmans rho correlation
coefficient, and the lower number shows the level of significance
Variable
Metacognitive dimension
Cognitive dimension
Motor dimension
Motor
performance
0.167
.174
0.176
.150
0.490**
.000
Cognitive
performance
0.051
.679
0.374**
.002
-0.127
.301
Total
performance
0.122
.320
0.400**
.001
0.124
.312
**The correlation is significant at the level of 0.01 (bilateral).

*The correlation is significant at the level of 0.05 (bilateral).
A similar situation also occurs at the third moment (after), when the total
number of strategies showed a significant correlation only with motor
performance (p<.05). Motor strategies had a very significant correlation
(p=.004) with motor performance, and cognitive strategies with cognitive and
total performance, although at lower levels of significance (p<.01 and p<.05,
respectively). Metacognitive strategies again are just as far from any strong
correlation with any of the three performance types. Contrary to the previous
29
cases, first-moment strategies (before) did not significantly correlate with any
of the assessed types of performance.
When performing the analysis by empirical dimensions extracted from
factor analysis, once again the metacognitive dimension shows no significant
correlation with total performance (p=.320), or with cognitive or motor
performance (p=.679 and p=.174, respectively) Previous analyses with the
cognitive dimension also concur with the present case, where it is significantly
associated with cognitive performance (p<.01) and with total performance
(p<.001). Finally, the motor dimension confirms its degree of correlation with
motor performance (p<.001).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

As predicted in the first and second hypotheses, the descriptive results
indicate a low level of strategy use in general, and a particularly low level in
metacognitive strategies. Accordingly, no more than 50% presence of any
strategy was found, except for certain cognitive strategies (counting and
comparing), and motor strategies (drawing) that were applied during task
execution (second moment). In the case of metacognitive strategies (according
to the empirical dimension), a meager 1.59 was obtained as the mean of usage,
on a scale from 1 to 5. This data point is an unmistakable sign of how little
attention is given to these matters in the early childhood classroom.
Nonetheless, it is remarkable that the variable prior organization (included in
this dimension) does reach the 50% level.
With regard to the third hypothesis, we note that only two moments are
significantly associated with each other, the first (before) and the second
(during): This interesting finding seems to suggest that the pupils who give the
most forethought to the task, also use more strategies during execution.
However, no other relations were found between moments. In relation to the
fourth hypothesis, the strategies used during execution seem to be the ones
most strongly associated with performance (p<.001). Perhaps we might expect
some other relationship, especially between first-moment strategies (before)
and performance, but this was not confirmed in this study. In relation to the
fifth hypothesis, using both the theoretical and the empirical strategy
classifications, we did not find the expected association between total
metacognitive strategies and total performance. Short of this, such a
relationship was found only with respect to cognitive strategies. Perhaps the
30
minimal differentiation at this age between cognitive and megacognitive

strategies can help clarify this situation.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Although we are satisfied with the contributions made, we are aware of
the need to verify these contributions through replicated studies that are
carried out with independent samples, and to compare the results with other
results obtained using different instruments. In this process, the instruments
and the assessed strategies would need to be further defined. In the case of the
direct measurement of support strategies, new formulas must be studied that
would contribute significant information. It would also be interesting to
explore relationships between specific variables such as planning and
awareness, or how variables relate to performance, such as prior organization,
which has been shown to have high discriminatory power. We hope that these
efforts help to spark interest in this topic from others in the academic or
professional spheres.
This investigation is a look at how children learn and what strategies they
use when solving a task, and caution should be used in interpreting its
conclusions.
Based on this initial study, it would be interesting to look for other
activities from different areas (reading/writing, science or social studies, etc.)
in order to determine the generalization or specificity of the strategies that
pupils use. It would also be valuable to observe whether the patterns of
strategies used by particular students show certain stability over time. This
aspect could be studied by repeating the experiment at different times.
Aside from all this, when all these observations have been more solidly
established, we must inexorably move toward intervention in these same
strategies that we have assessed. Without the hope of being able to modify
strategy use, there is no use in assessing them.
We would therefore need to design corresponding intervention techniques
and instruments for their implementation. A second phase would need to
consist of analyzing the impact of training on strategy use and on task
execution (De la Fuente, Justicia, Sander, & Cardelle-Elawar, 2014).
31
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was carried out within the framework of the R&D Project ref.
EDU2011-24805 (2012-2015), and supported by MICINN (Spain) and
FEDER Funds (Union European).
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APPENDIX
ASSESSMENT OBSERVATIONS
ASSESSMENT OBSERVATIONS: ADAPTATION DIALOGUE (to establish a relaxed, communicative environment)
PRESENTATION OF THE TASK AND AWARENESS
ON THIS WORKSHEET, YOU MUST MAKE ALL THE TREES HAVE THE SAME APPLES AS THE TREE IN THE BOX. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
NOW, LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE WORKSHEET, AND TELL ME: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT?, WHAT DO I WANT YOU TO LEARN FROM THIS?
I dont know / Remains silent or
Central aspects:
focuses the objective on
Motor aspects: drawing, coloring, not going out of the lines
Thinking, observing, etc.
counting, comparing, the
extraneous aspects
numbers, etc.
Very good. Now, while youre doing the worksheet, were going to play the microphone game, do you know how it goes?
You have to say aloud everything that youre doing and thinking while you do the worksheet. For example: Now Im thinking about what Im going to do, now I am drawing an apple
, OK? So, you can start as soon as you want, and dont forget to say into the microphone what you are doing and what you are thinking.
PLANNING
I am thinking, I am looking, I am seeing what I have to do first, etc.
Nothing that directly indicates planning
METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES
SUPPORT STRATEGIES
CONTROL OF TASK
EXECUTION
KNOWING ABOUT ONES

KNOWLEDGE
(SAYS WHAT HE/SHE IS THINKING
OR DOING.
E.G. I AM THINKING THAT I HAVE TO
COLOR, I AM COUNTING, ETC.)
Cognitive
Motor
Support
PRIOR
ORGANIZATI
ON
(Says before
doing: now Im
going to )
REVIEWING
(Says that he/she
is checking it
over)
COGNITIVE
STRATEGIES
(counting, comparing, etc.,
but not saying so)
Counting
Comparing
Asking
Reviewing
ATTITUDES AND
FEELINGS (e.g. I am
tired, I like the
worksheet, etc.)
SELFSTIMULATION
(e.g. Im almost
done!)
MOTOR AS
PECTS
(Drawing, coloring, etc.,
but not saying so)
Drawing
Coloring
SELF-ASSESSMENT
How do you think it turned out?
Good
Why?
Justification based on the real objective
of the task (e.g. I counted, I compared
)
So-so
Bad
Because I thought, I looked at...
Justification based on motor aspects (e.g. I didnt color out of the

lines, I didnt leave blank spaces, etc.)
What would you do next time to make it turn out even better?
Cognitive aspects in line with the task
Think more, look at it more
Motor aspects

ISBN: 978-1-63463-984-2
Chapter 3
TEACHING AND LEARNING IN

NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
Brent Mawson*
Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland
ABSTRACT
In this chapter I discuss my findings from an eighteen-month
research study of the experiences of young children and early childhood
teachers involved in out-of-centre nature adventure programmes. This is
an area of growing interest in early childhood education that has
developed out of the Forest Schools movement. Little comparative data is
available on how the affordances offered by different natural
environments impact on teachers practice and childrens learning. The
study involved spending six months as a participant observer in each of
three distinctive environments; a forested area, a sub-tropical bush
setting, and a tidal harbor beach location. I describe the particular
intellectual and social learning that these experiences and natural
environments afforded the children and also how teachers perceived the
programme influenced their pedagogy. I l examine how teachers
confidence and risk-taking developed over time and the manner in which
their interactions with the children assumed a different character than the
interactions within the early childhood setting. In conclusion I suggest
some strategies for centres and teachers interested in developing an outof-centre nature experience for the children.
*
Corresponding author: Email: b.mawson@auckland.ac.nz.
38
Brent Mawson
INTRODUCTION
In recent years concerns of a growing dissassociation with the natural
world in childrens lives has been voiced (e.g.Fjortoft, 2001; Palmer, 2006;
Thomas & Thompson, 2005). In England the increasing academic demands are
also seen as having a negative impact on childrens access to outdoor play
(Waite & Pratt, 2011). Increasingly in recent years, concerns about childrens
safety has led to a reduction of the challenges and opportunity for risk-taking
in outdoor play (Bilton, 2005; Little & Eager, 2010; Palmer, 2006).
One early childhood response has been a growing adoption of education
for sustainability (EfS) programmes. Elliott (2010) argues that access to the
outdoors and play in natural environments is an important part of children
gaining an awareness and empathy toward the environment. An increasing
awareness of the importance of fostering these values and attitudes in young
children (Ritchie, 2013) has been building over the last decade as
environmental sustainability becomes an increasing global issue in response to
climatic and environmental changes. The early childhood sector has responded
and more and more centres are engaging in sustainable practices in their
programmes (Prince, 2010; Ritchie, 2013a). Davis (2010a) identifies education
for sustainability originating from education in, about and for the environment.
Early childhood centres have picked up the challenge to emphasise EfS in
their programmes in two main areas. The first is through a notable increase in
nature based education (Bullock, 2013) where for part of the day children are
immersed in nature (education in the environment). Nature based programmes
had their origins in the forest kindergartens of northern Europe and are
arguably a response to a growing concern that young children are spending
increasing amounts of time indoors and have fewer opportunities to engage in
play involving supervised risk opportunities in the natural environment.
Richard Louv (2010) coined the phrase naturedeficit disorder as a way of
describing this development. The second relevant area involves the increasing
focus and visibility on sustainability in the early childhood sector as back
grounded above. While still more often associated with the environment,
sustainability has more recently taken on a broader meaning which includes
social, economic and environmental factors (Pramling Samuelsson and Kaga,
2008; Davis, 2010a) all of which are interrelated.
Many countries have instituted formal programmes to encourage the
growth of education for sustainability in their school system. The New
Zealand enviroschool programme is one of a number of similar international
whole school environmental programmes. These include ENSI Eco-Schools,
39
FEE International Eco-Schools, Chinas Green Schools Project, Swedens

Green School Award Programme, Australian Sustainable Schools programmes
and New Zealands Enviroschools programme (Tilbury & Wortman, 2005). A
consistent theme in the international literature is that the impact of these
programmes appears limited to growth in knowledge without change in
childrens practices (Gough, 2006; Krnel, 2009; de Pauw & Van Petegem,
2011).
As indicated above, one response to the estrangement from the natural
world by early childhood educators has been to incorporate experiences of
natural environments into their curriculum. The move to the greater use of
natural environments as a context for early childhood experiences was initiated
by the development of forest schools in Germany and the Scandanavian
counties. The three nature adventure programmes featured in this chapter are
examples of this trend.
The chance to explore and play in natural environments outside the early
childhood centre offers a whole new range of affordances for the children and
the adults that accompany them. Gibson (1979) defined the affordances of an
environment as being its functionally significant properties considered in
relation to an individual. Gibson also highlighted the importance of other
people as well as the natural environment. What the other persons afford
comprises the whole realm of social significance for human beings (Gibson,
1979, p.128). Heft (1988) has also emphasised the relationally specific nature
of affordance properties between an environmental feature and an individuals
personal attributes. It has been suggested that any environment offers four
levels of affordance (Kytta (2002, cited in Niklasson & Sandberg, 2010, p.
486) The first of these is the potential affordances offered by the environment,
all the possible interactions and experiences available. However, depending on
age, experience, and physical ability each individual will only perceive a range
of these potential interactions. Depending on their inclination and interest at
the time, the individual will then utilize the environment to meet their
particular desires at the time. Children and adults will see different potential
uses within the same environment and use it for different purposes. They also
may alter and shape the environment differently as they explore and work and
play within it. Affordance then is a possibility for action by an individual. The
individual needs to be able to recognize the potential and have the skills and
motivation to actualize the perceived use of the environment.
The freedom of the individual to utilize the environment is constrained
when interacting with others as part of a formal nature adventure programme.
There is a common goal which sets the bound of the affordance network
40
Brent Mawson
(Barab & Roth, 2006) Barab and Roth use the term effectivity set, the
behaviours an individual can produce to establish attunement to or resonance
with the environment, to identify the limits of an individual within the
affordance network. The concept of affordance networks has much in common
with the concept of the behaviour setting (Barker & Wright, 1955, cited in
Heft, 1988, p.31), whereby established patterns of behaviour within an
environment serve to constrain the individuals utilization of the potential
affordances within it.
All outdoor play is structured in some way by the physical and cultural
context of the setting, the values, whether explicit or implicit, of those who
work there, how time and space are organized and the resources that are
provided (Tovey, 2007). Each of the three natural environment used by these
nature programmes, an open forested area with a stream, a semi-tropical bush
and river, and a harbor beach and reserve, offered particular affordances to the
children, and each programme had its rules that further shaped the childrens
interactions with the environment. However, each environment was effective
in providing interest and giving the children sufficient choices of contexts and
activities to enable them to find different ways to explore it on each visit
(Canning, 2010).
Outdoor and natural settings offer wide possibilities for flexibility and
variety of play and learning opportunities. Storli & Hagen (2010) found that
children had increased play opportunities and activities as they were involved
in more complex and diverse natural environments. It is believed that wild
places lend themselves to transformative learning and expand existing ways of
thinking (Waite & Pratt, 2011). It is the simple and recurring aspects of the
outdoor environment that draw childrens interest (Waters & Maynard, 2010).
An unusual context may reduce reliance on custom and practice from the more
usual site of learning and open another possibility space. It is possible that
novel situations may represent a greater freedom for personal resistance to and
interpretations of general norms and ideas (Waite & Pratt, 2011).
A number of researchers have addressed the relationship between adult
teaching practices and the nature of childrens outdoor play. Canning (2010)
found that the relationships between the children and teachers was a
significant factor that determined how the children reacted to the outdoor
space in terms of their confidence to be independent of the teachers, to make
their own choices and to problem-solve. Waters and Maynard (2010) also
highlight the way in which the teacher/child interaction impacts on the
resulting experience and associated learning. Bilton (2010) believes that the
quality of the interaction between adults and children is central to childrens
41
higher order functioning. She suggests that for outdoor play to be effective it
needs adults to interact, collaborate and when necessary facilitate and interpret
in a partnership role. Cullen (1993) found that teachers in outdoor settings
tended to a supervisory role and she identfied the need for greater interaction
and sustained conversation with the children.
The Ngahere Project researched the outdoor pedagogical practice of
teachers from six diverse early childhood settings in the Waikato/Bay of
Plenty region in New Zealand (Kelly & White, 2012). A key finding was the
way in which the teachers came to see risk as an opportunity for learning
rather than a restraint to the activities of the children. A second change in their
practice was to move to a more dialogic relationship with the children.
Optimum utilisation of the affordance of an outdoor environment would
seem to be dependent on teachers having a community of practice based on a
shared, effective pedagogy for the outdoor environment (Huggins & Wickett,
2011). They believe that attempts to teach directly should always be limited
and always reviewed very carefully to consider their suitability. Similarly,
Bilton (2010) also believes that teachers need to decide what to teach and what
to let the children find out for themselves. This entails teachers using their
observation skills to fine tune the environment, to know when to get involved
in play, to decide what needs to be done in any situation and to note down
difficulties and achievements.
Children experience outdoor environments as places of meaning and
significance (Tovey, 2007). The character of a particular space is created by
the natural environment space and the common practices, what is seen as
normal to do and the underlying discourse (Waite & Pratt, 2011). Maynard and
Waters (2007) found that teachers were not fully aware of the potential uses
and benefits of outdoor environments, and they believe that the use and
management of the outdoor space by adults is as important as childrens access
itself.
New Zealand has a very strong early childhood education service, with
attendance levels and staff qualifications among the highest in the world. It has
a widely-praised national curriculum Te Whaariki (Ministry of Education,
1996). There are a number of different types of licensed and/or chartered
services. The most significant are kindergartens and privately-owned
education and care centres.
About one-quarter of the children attend kindergartens. These are fully
staffed by qualified and registered teachers. With the introduction of 20 hours
of subsidised payments for three and four year olds in 2007 most kindergartens
have moved to one longer daily session catering 30 to 40 children. Regional
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Brent Mawson
kindergarten associations are responsible for employing staff, managing the

property and allocating resources. Although no fees are charged parents are
expected to pay a small hourly donation towards the cost of the service.
Over 60% of the children attend either privately-owned (60%) or
community run (40%) services. The number of trained and registered teachers
in these services is rising due to a Government policy to have 80% of teachers
in early childhood settings to have a three year teaching qualification. In 2014
this figure was 65%. The major differences between these two types of service
is that the community based services are essentially non-profit and often use
community facilities while the privately owned services are commercial
enterprises with their own premises.
This chapter explores how three groups of children and adults created their
sense of place and community in their weekly visits to different natural
environments close to their early childhood centres. It will focus on the impact
of working on the nature adventure programme on the teachers pedagogy and
on the childrens learning during the experience.
RESEARCH SETTINGS
The research on which this chapter is based was carried out in three early
childhood centres in, or on the outskirts of, Whangarei New Zealand.
Whangarei is a provincial city of 60 000 people located 168 kilometres north
of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Two of the early childhood
centres (Pukeko & Weta) were kindergartens within the Northland
Kindergarten Association. The other setting (Possum) was a private for-profit
education and care centre. The best way to describe the environments and the
activities afforded by them is to outline a typical days experience of the
children, based on my field notes taken at the time..
Possum is located in a rural location on the outskirts of a provincial city
and is open from 7:30 a.m. until 5.30 p.m., catering to children from 6 months
to 5 years of age. Every morning about 10.30 a.m., weather permitting a group
of either 10 older children (aged 36 months to 60 months) or a group of six
younger children (aged 12 36 months) and their three teachers walk 500
metres down the farm track to the wild woods on the farm where they spend
two hours playing, exploring and lunching. On the way the children have the
opportunity to feed a deer and a pig, pick wild blackberries, and observe
horses and cattle. The main wilderness area is roughly 200 metres long and
150 metres wide and consists of a ring of open forest with large rock
43
formations enclosing a grassed area that includes a raised grassy platform and
a fire pit. The raised platform has wooden steps on one side and is faced with
climbable rocks on the other three sides. The group also occasionally accesses
a much heavily forested area with a stream running through it, which is located
a further 200 metres down the farm track. Feeding the eels is a keenly
anticipated event when visiting the stream.
Weta Kindergarten is located in the suburbs of Whangarei. The ten oldest
children enrolled in the kindergarten meet at 8.45 every Friday morning at a
local park that adjoined a semi-tropical bush reserve in the middle of the city.
Two teachers and a parent accompany the children. The reserve has a small
river running through a valley that at its highest point was 270 metres high. On
a typical morning the children will make the decision where to go first and
then proceed down the path to a small grassed clearing, stopping to look at the
changing size and colour of fungi growing on fallen trees. Here they will either
turn left and walk though the bush to the river or turn tight and follow the river
downstream to the magic tree and the rocky climbing hill. Later, they will
cross the bridge over the river, playing poohsticks on the way, and make their
way to the bum sliding hill. All decisions about where to go, what to do, and
how long to stay in one place are made by the children, voting when consensus
cant be reached. At 12.30 they climb back up the path to the park for the
parents to collect. Each child will on average have ten experiences on the
nature adventure programme before leaving to enter the compulsory primary
school system.
Mania Kindergarten is located 23 kilometres from Whangarei just above a
sheltered bay on the North side of Whangarei Harbour. The nature adventure
programme is based on that of Weta kindergarten and it also incorporates two
teachers, a parent, and the ten oldest children enrolled in the kindergarten.
Their meeting place is also away from the kindergarten and whether they go to
the beach first, or the grassed reserve is dependent on the state of the tide.
Today the tide is still going out so after walking down the hill we take the path
to the beach. The children become involved in a variety of activities. Three of
them are lying on the bridge that crosses the stream which enter the bay at this
point. They are using the nets to catch shrimps. Two of the girls are climbing
the Pohutakawa trees that line the beachfront. The rest of the children are out
on the mudflats looking for crabs and other intertidal animal life. After
morning tea we move back down the track to grassed reserve which extends
for over a kilometer parallel to the shoreline. Here the children again occupy
themselves in a number of ways, fishing in the drainage ditches that run into
the harbor, playing group chasing games, exploring the scrub between the
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Brent Mawson
beach and the reserve, drawing and reading. At 12,45 we make our way up the
hill where the parents are waiting to collect their children.
THE RESEARCH DESIGN

The aim of the research was to investigate the impact involvement in a
nature adventure programme had on childrens learning and teachers practice.
This was an interpretivist ethnographic case study of the nature of young
childrens play and interactions with adults within three wilderness outdoor
settings. A case study is an in-depth exploration of a bounded system based on
extensive data collection (Creswell, 2007). An interpretivist approach is the
systematic analysis of socially meaningful action through the direct, detailed
observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings
and interpretations of how people create and maintain their social worlds
(Neuman, 2003, p. 76). Rogoffs concept of guided participation provided a
focus for the study, particularly her belief that participation requires a
description or an explanation of how people participate in sociocultural
activities that are not formed by individuals alone, but by individuals with
other people in cultural communities (Rogoff, 1997, p. 266).
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The data consisted of field notes, interviews with the teachers, and
photographs of teacher-child interactions and childrens free play. Thematic
analysis was then conducted to find repeated patterns across the various data
(Braun & Clarke, 2006). In looking for and in categorizing the patterns, I
focused on the themes related to the research questions and the theoretical
knowledge derived from the literature. The analysis was done in a deductive or
top-down way (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Research with young children poses a number of important ethical issues
that need to be addressed. Although the children were not able to give fully
informed consent, which was gained from the parent/care giver, care was
45
taken to explain to the children in terms that they could understand what was
being observed and to make clear that they could ask not to be observed at any
time. I also looked for nonverbal indications that children were withdrawing
their consent, such as frowns or turning away from me. As parental consent
was gained for all children involved in the three settings the exclusion of nonconsenting children was not a concern when collecting data.
The unique nature of the settings means that a number of persons might
feel they could identify the early childhood centres in any publication and this
limitation to the centres confidentiality was clearly established prior to the
research beginning. The relationship with the teachers also raised ethical
issues. Although being an outsider offered a more objective view of their
practice, it also meant that I had a lesser understanding and could misinterpret
what I was observing. There was also a possible coercive influence implicit in
my privileged power position as researcher. I spent time developing personal
relationships with all the teachers and endeavoured to act with consideration,
fairness and respect in my interactions and observations of their practice. All
the teachers were given the opportunity to read and respond to the draft of the
chapter and the final version amended in the light of the feedback. Ethics
approval for the research was granted by the University of Auckland Human
Participants Ethics Committee. Ethical approval was also obtained from the
Northland Kindergarten Association for the research in the two kindergartens.
Pseudonyms are used for the early childhood centres and the teachers.
FINDINGS
Developing the Programme
One of the common elements of all three nature adventure programmes
was the role of international and New Zealand examples in sparking off the
interest and providing direction for the development of the programme. The
inspiration for the Possum programme came from the owner attending a
conference in America.
I went to the World Forum on connecting children with nature, in
Nebraska in 2008 in July. I heard Clare Warden and really liked her
philosophy and arranged for her, when she was in New Zealand in October,
to come up and do a workshop up here, and I took the whole staff along to it
And thats where we kick started the idea (Elm).
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Brent Mawson
The significance of this conference was acknowledged by Dahlia who said

we never really utilised that space until Elm went to the World Forum on
connecting children with nature, in Nebraska and thought hey we can use
this.
A similar initial experience started the Weta kindergarten on its journey.
Initially what had happened is I had gone to a presentation where Sue
Guinney had had an opportunity to go to Europe from a Cody scholarship
award and she went onto some forest kindergartens as part of that.... it got me
thinking,... and then we went through some big staff changes here and got a
team of people that their philosophy started to knit and that were really
motivated and willing to try new things (Pine).
The new teaching team began to explore the ideas that Pine had brought
back from the presentation we started really as a team to do some reading on
the forest schools over in Europe (Ash) but the real catalyst was gaining a
Northland Kindergarten Association scholarship that enabled three of the
teaching team to visit an existing Nature Adventure programme in Te Anau at
the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. Ash explained, and then we
went to Fiordland and we saw that they... it was really, really invaluable and
just to get the teachers perspectives on everything. Pine also acknowledged
the importance of the visit, it wasnt until we went to Fiordland that...
suddenly we were like oh my gosh its much more simple than everything
wed imagined. Yeah so I guess the shape that the programme initially took
was sort of based on what we saw Claire Maley-Shaw doing.
The development of the Pukeko Kindergarten programme also was
influenced by the example of Forest Schools and the programmes already
created by Fiordland and Weta kindergarten. Gum remarked, it came from so
many places with Redwood having her forest schools experience in England
and the other two of us different personal life experiences that meant that we
were very, felt very strongly that the connection with nature was important for
children. Redwood had already experience of working on a nature adventure
programme.
When I first came here one of the things that Bamboo was keen to talk to
me about was my forest skills background in the U.K.. I just went through all
the training and the certification process of Archimedes training. A training
provider who provide forest skills programmes... At the village preschool I
was working in, we took 16 children once a week for the morning into a local
woodland that wasnt being used for anything else. I did that for two years....
47
, when I came to Pukeko, Bamboo had said on her land shed always wanted
to take groups of children because shes got bush and what have you. And I
said well weve got the beach right next to us and the surf can we not go
down there and she said Ive always wanted to do but I havent had a team
thats felt comfortable because of the water aspect to it (Redwood).
Well the initial idea probably surfaced a number of years ago. For some
reason just looked out there, out the window, and down to the harbour and
thought weve got this amazing asset here. Why arent we using it.... So thats
how the idea kind of arrived and then about 3 or 4 years ago we took our first
visit just down there just to have a look. And then with Weta starting up their
nature programme just ideas built (Bamboo.
When we came together as a team we kind of identified that we all had a
real connection with nature and a real interest in involving children in nature
and so one of our team building things that we did that first year it was to go
to the Natural Phenomena Conference and we were all quite inspired by the
various speakers there. And we knew about the programme that was
happening down in Fiordland and we were aware of Weta and their
programme they were setting up and of course Possum, theyre another centre
that focuses on the outdoors. And then did some visits with Weta. Did a
workshop that they presented for people interested in doing programmes
(Gum).
One aspect that stood out was the importance of having a common vision
that all members of the teaching team were committed too. In all three centres
it was not until staff changes had occurred that the nature adventure
programmes were able to emerge.
CHILDRENS LEARNING
The teachers identified five areas of childrens experience and learning.
These were a sense of calmness, closeness to nature and an awareness of
sustainability, greater propensity to take risks and new social skills.
Teachers from all three settings commented on the way in which children
were more relaxed and calmer in the nature environments. Teak remarked,
they would get to the woods and they would just relax... and just be quiet.
Bamboo also noted a similar reaction, And then that walk down to the beach
you just see them slowly relax and talk about their ideas of where theyre
going. Slowly relaxing and making plans about what they want to do down
there. Dahlia commented, I think they just appreciate that nature a lot more,
and just slow down a lot more.
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Brent Mawson
As expected teachers also commented on the discoveries of the natural

world that the children were able to make while involved in the nature
adventure programme, They are getting that connection with nature (Gum).
Ash also felt that it was the ambience that was the important element, just the
way nature sounds and the way you move in it and the way you can see it and
listen to it and the way you feel so small because everything else is so big will
influence the children. Rose was more specific, observing, they can be more
interested in whats under this rock, and whats growing on this tree and stuff
like that, and the rain, and notice seasonal changes that come along. Teak also
commented on the significance of being able to closely observe seasonal
changes, And so seeing the seasons change.... they see the changes in nature
and in the animals, in the weather you know going in the rain is so different.
Lime made the point that children had different levels of interest in exploring
the scientific side of the natural setting, Obviously they all learn at different
levels so some really absorb it, they learn the trees,... it changes each week
what their interest is, what they pick up. Dahlia also identified a range of
nature-reated activities, what we do with the eels, or noticing maybe like the
different toadstools or the fungi that is around, the different bird life, looking
under this, how much bugs can we find that the children regularly
experienced.
The teachers consciously directed the childrens attention to these
changes. Antoinetttes comment is typical.
We try and look at the trees. Quite often when we are there we are
looking at a lot of those seeds and how they are changing, they are jellified
and so they are nearly ready to grow into seedlings and we see those
occasionally. The flowers that come out at certain times, the birds that we can
see, especially when theres lots of berries and that around (Dahlia).
There was a strong focus on sustainability and environmental protection in

the teachers interactions. Dahlia said, Theyve got different responsibilities
that kaitiakitanga, that guardianship and that responsibility for that
environment. And different children take on different roles in that different
environment. Cedar also made the message very clear, We collect horse
manure for our garden and discuss what we are doing and why whilst we do it.
We talk about respecting the living world while in the wild woods, for
example refraining from busting up spiderwebs, placing rocks back down
gently after looking for creatures, etc.
49
A third common element identified by the teachers was increased risktaking by the children. This was seen as related to the greater affordances
provided by the natural environment compared to the education and care
centre and kindergarten. As Dahlia remarked, risk taking and that challenging
up there is different. Pine also made a similar observation, they take risks
above and beyond what theyre able to do at kindergarten because the trees are
bigger, the rocks are higher. Greater willingness to take risks was something
that was also identified by the teachers when talking about their own
pedagogy.
From the teachers perspective a very important benefit of the nature
programme was the social skills that the children were developing. A key
aspect of this was the ability to accept group decisions.
Youll hear us say when someone says they want to move on, have you
asked everybody and often theyll say no and its interesting for the children
because they accept that much more than if an adult said actually were not
ready to go (Pine).
A similar comment was made by Ash, we have to work as a team and

they have to do things at times that they dont want to do, if everyone wants to
climb rocky mountain well that is what we do and that can be really tough for
some children so they have to build that resilience. Ash felt that these new
social skills were being brought back into the childrens interactions in the
kindergarten, we see those sorts of skills brought back into the centre , which
is really lovely to see. They are transferring that knowledge about
communicating and negotiating and compromising.
A second social skill was the ability to work with other children that they
did not normally associate with in the centre. Weve certainly got children
pairing together that wouldnt normally pair together at all. And the benefits
for children who dont, find it so easy to connect with other children, I think
that its of huge benefit (Redwood). Oak also saw the same thing happening
in her kindergarten nature programme, it gives them different opportunities to
actually just mix with children they generally wouldnt mix with.
The other social skill that was highlighted by the teachers was the growth
of independence and leadership. Typical reflections were Bamboos the
children take the leadership and Redwoods its teaching a level of
independence that they dont get in the kindergarten environment, theyre
really taking an ownership of it. This growth of confidence and sense of
belonging was evident.
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Theyre getting a chance to be in a small group and learn how a small
group works and what their place can be and how as they become well versed
in what goes on, that they can become the leaders and help the others along
and so theres some very nice sharing that goes on (Gum).
Dahlia gave a specific example of this trend, we had a new girl and she
couldnt get around there so Hazel was being like this is the way I do it, watch
me. So you get a lot of scaffolding between children as well.
Analysis of the fieldnotes and photographs taken when accompanying the
teachers and children identified four broad areas of learning. The regular
exposure to a wide range of plant, insect and marine life resulted in a growing
ability to recognize and describe the features of these organisms. Each
environment offered a different range of insect, animal and birdlife. During
their walk through the farm to reach the wild woods the children observed
cattle, cows and pigs. The birdlife of the forest, bush and beach was different
and the more open nature of the beach led to greater opportunities for the
children to observe and discuss the birds.
The children also became more aware of and attuned to the seasonal
changes in the environment. One aspect of this was the chance to observe and
talk about natural processes of decay and decomposition. A native pigeon died
in the wild woods and stopping to observe the changes that were taking place
became a regular occurrence. Two extracts from my field notes are typical.
We stop and look at the pigeon and discuss its state of decomposition, it is
nearly all feathers now (FN 15/5/2013). We stopped to look at the dead
pigeon on the way and discussed how much it had decomposed. Dahlia drew
the childrens attention to the beak and feet and jawbone. The children were
very interested in looking at the photograph she took of the bird (FN
13/6/2013). The children at Pukeko Kindergarten had a similar experience
with a large octopus that stranded on the beach.
Apart from this science-related learning the children also developed selfconfidence and social skills. For many children it was noticeable how they
developed their physical skills and adventurousness as they spent more time
on the programme. Kate, from the Weta programme is a good example of the
growth. On Kates first experience the field note tells the story. Kate says she
doesnt want to come next time, she is worried about the rocks etc and wants
to go home..... Kate tries to climb the big rock that Elinor has just slid down
but falls down and says she cant do it. Lime convinces her to try the smaller
rock Jacob has slid on and Kate is soon climbing up and running down the
rock in turns with Jacob and Elinor (FN 9/8/2013). Kates confidence and
51
willingness to try new physical challenges continued to develop. Oak puts a

rope over the big branch and makes a swing from it, Kate has real difficulty
getting on but does so after Elinor shows how it is done (FN 24/8/2013). I
accompany the children so that they can climb beyond the marker and soon all
of us are climbing up the rocky mountain to the path at the top. This is the first
time for Kate, Jaimie and William and we honour their achievement at the top
(FN 6/9/2013).
In keeping with the teachers remarks, the field notes also indicate
growing social competence and the ability to compromise and seek consensus.
This was clearly shown in the way in which voting was seen as a natural way
of decision-making when consensus could not be arrived at. Both approaches
are illustrated in these extracts from the Field Note of 30/8/2013.
9.25 Hore is the leader and when we get down to the fork in the path
near the fungus he wants to take the long way down the path and Kate wants
to take the shortcut down the waterfall to the meadow. There is a debate
between the children as to which way to go. Joy tries to negotiate a
compromise without influencing the decision by suggesting to Hore that they
might go down his way and come back up Kates. Kate however wont
compromise and so a vote is eventually taken among the children with the
decision 4/2 to go Kates way.
10.40 We have been at the magic tree for just over an hour. Jaimie wants
to go across the bridge to the bum sliding hill. Pine tells her that she needs to
get the agreement of the other children to move. Olivia says she wants to
finish her drawing so the children agree to move once Olivia is ready.
12.25 We make our way back to the top park, making sure to come up
Hores path.
TEACHING APPROACHES
One of the key things that stood out in all three settings was the teachers
emphasis on providing the children as much ownership of the programme, and
leadership in the day to day activities. Rose expressed it as When I go I
always try and get the kids to initiate what they want to do. Teak said, I try
to stand back and step in when I am needed. And more to give the children the
freedom that they need. In a similar vein Pine said, it sits really well with
my pedagogy and thats working alongside children and being guided by
them and Lime remarked, Well I am mainly there to work alongside them
really and observe.
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The teachers recognized the potential harm that being too directive might
bring about. This was best expressed by Gum when she said,
I stand back because I want to see where theyre going with what theyre
doing and also this is about them and them experiencing nature and its, I
think its really easy to get very directive and while youre busy directing
them to see this one exciting thing over here, actually theyre missing out on
what their friends just found over there which is probably more interesting to
them.
Gum went on to say, we want to give the children as much ownership as

possible.... There needs to be a structure initially to keep the children safe but
then within that wanting to give them as much opportunity as possible to
initiate and decide on what theyre going to be doing.
This balance between the need to keep a balance between giving some
guidance for safety reasons and fostering the childrens independence and
leadership was a common theme in the teacher interviews. Oak observed,
most of the time I would like to believe that I like to see the children make
the decisions. Sometimes they may need a bit of guidance but most of the time
I would like them to go and initiate what we are going to do. This balnce
tended to change as the programme developed and teachers became more
comfortable about the risks involved. Ash reflected, I think in the early days
we might have sometimes tried to direct the programme a little too much, we
kept thinking oh the children need to learn what tree that is and you know but
that is all still good and we still probably do that a little bit but we balance it
with letting the children take the direction of the morning.
Of the eleven teachers interviewed only Cedar expressed a preference for
taking a leadership role in directing the childrens activities. She said, I still
love to lead at times and to invite the children on an adventure: visiting the
horse paddock, to the stone wall to look over, to lie under the canopy and
notice what we can see and hear when we look up, to stand on a rock and talk
about what we can see from being taller.
The teachers noticed a change in the quality of their interactions with the
children when on the adventure programme as compared with their
experiences in the early childhood education setting where they normally
worked. Bamboo saw it as A better opportunity to develop your relationships
with the particular children that are on that programme at that time. Similarly
Redwood remarked, its just that concentrated one on one time that you get
with children down there that you dont get at kindergarten. Thats really
53
special. Gum also felt that the uninterrupted time with a small group of
children also changed the relationship, commenting, I think that we have the
time to be more engaged with the children. The change of practice was most
clearly expressed by Rose, You get longer and in-depth conversations and
explorations with them. Its a different teaching experience.
Ash and Pine also believed that working on the nature adventure
programme changed the nature of their interactions with the children. For Pine
it probably heightens the teacher that I like to be, like its that coconstructive, working alongside children and for me in particular thats a
really special time. Ash also highlighted this greater involvement saying, I
like to join in with them, I cant help myself so if I see something interesting
then I will draw their attending to it, or if they have got something interesting
that they want to show me then I am going to be there with them and talking to
them about it.
One strong element of the teachers practice in all three settings was the
rejection of plGumd teaching about the animals,birds, insects, trees and plants
in the natural environment. The basic aim of the programmes was very clearly
expressed by Oak,
I think because as a team what we wanted to do for our nature
programme was to actually get children out into nature, we didnt want to
preach. We wanted them to have the same experience as we had as children.
It is okay to climb trees, it is okay to take risks, it is okay to climb up those
rocks, it okay to fall down, it is okay to get muddy and wet and cold and hot
and all those things you know.
Ash also gave a clear reason for this reluctance to make the imparting of
content knowledge the basis of the programme,
the content knowledge of the teachers clearly is going to be really
important and if they dont have the knowledge themselves then obviously
they cant pass that on to the children anyway. And I think we have to be
quite mindful of not taking over childrens processes in their own kind of
working theories and invading it with our assumptions of what we think
children want to know.
The inclusion of content knowledge depended very much on the interests

of the children. For Dahlia, you notice what they are interested in and then I
think thats really the extension that comes in. I think you can do more
sometimes when you go up as a smaller group. They are really into these
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different mushrooms and that on the side, so we can look that up on our book
or we can look that up on the internet and that when we come back, so its
trying to follow through on what they have noticed as well.
Teachers did at times direct the childrens attention to observe aspects of
the natural environment. For Pine, I try to bring to the childrens attention
about whats happening in the seasons, like the Puriri has got flowers at the
moment so Ill talk about that and where the birds are, right now and things
like that. Ash would also focus the childrens attention on objects when she
felt it appropriate, some weeks I do, I talk to them about like if I find a
centipede I talk to them about where we would find a centipede and you know
how we know it is a centipede and is it a big one or a small one and we will
talk about that but some weeks we may not it just depends.
Where the teachers had personal knowledge they were able to share that
with the children. Pine gave two examples of this, first saying I probably
know a little bit more about trees or the names of trees or um a little bit about
the, a little bit of history, its only a tiny bit, so I talk about that in my dialogue
with children and later observing we naturally know a little bit about the
Coda and the river and the elva and the baby eels that are up there at the
moment so we can share that knowledge with children. As Rose observed all
the nature programmes did take along reference books for the children to look
at if they were interested in any particular plant or animal, We try to keep our
trees and plant book in the bag so if the kids ask and we dont know, we can
refer to that.
The initial period of the nature programmes could be very stressful for
teachers as they came to grips with the physical nature of the environment and
the childrens exploration of the environment. This was particular true of the
two kindergartens as the potential risks in the bush and at the beach were very
evident. When talking about the early days of the Weta programme Ash said,
The early day I did feel quite challenged about, I was really saw the
value of it and I absolutely wanted to do it but those first few weeks when I
ran the programme on my own it was quite nerve wracking and I would be
quite exhausted mentally by the end of it because it really drained me because
I was constantly on the alert.
Redwood also had similar feelings about her initial experiences on the
Pukeko programme,
55
I said to Bamboo one day when I came back from the trip, its mentally
quite taxing environment to take the children into because when you know
that youre the teacher responsible and youve got all this consciousness
about, are we treating this environment with respect, are the children having
the freedom to make their own choices and be leaders in my directing this or
am I manipulating whats happening in the scenario. Theres so much going
on and then the safety aspect to is. Is that a hazard. You know, do we want
them jumping off the bridge. What could happen. So by the time you get back
to kindergarten your head is really feeling quite strained
However as time went on all the teachers commented on how relaxed they
had become. The change was clearly articulated by Ash, As I have become
more familiar with the nature programme I have relaxed myself. I allow them
so much more risk than I probably did in those early days, I have become
comfortable with it now. Now I just go and enjoy it with the children. Lime
also indicated that tensions eased as the teachers gained greater experience in
the natural environment, I feel quite relaxed down there and even though the
children change we sort of learn a bit more how the environment has changed
down there and what to sort of expect on a, where it will be slippery on certain
days and I feel quite confident down there with the children. Both Redwood
and Bamboo used the term more relaxed when talking about how their
approach changed over time.
The experience of long-term experience on the programme also in Gums
case changed her perception of the environment itself, Because initially I was
looking at that reserve as a pretty muddy, sparse landscape and the beach as
just another mud flat and its, it has become, through the childrens eyes
mostly, an incredibly interesting place with lots of potential.
A consistent theme that runs through the field notes made on all three early
childhood adventure programme was the emphasis the teachers placed on
environmental protection and sustainability. A key element was respect for
living things Some of the children are breaking off living branches and
Redwood repeats the need to preserve living things on the nature walk (FN
3/4/2014). Insects and other living organisms were treated with respect.
Cedar then moves a rock and the children look at the insects underneath. She
keeps reminding them to respect the insects and not harm them (FN Possum
1/5/13). After the children have had time to look at and talk about the worm
Pine tells them its time to find a safe place to let the worm out and David
releases it from the container (FN Weta kindergarten 30/8/2013).
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Brent Mawson
As we move on to the beach Zak finds a butterfly in the grass beside the
track. Harper catches it in a net and everybody has a close look at it. Gum
says, Look at it with our eyes, if we put our hands on it, it might lose the fur
on its wings. Is it the same colour on both sides of its wings, have you
noticed? The butterfly is put back on the grass. (FN Pukeko Kindergarten,
5/6/2014)
TEAM COHESION
There was a clear difference between the degree of common philosophy
and teaching practice seen in the education and care setting and the two
kindergartens. This is most likely to be a reflection on the process by which
the programme was developed and the level of discussion about the
programme by the teaching team. The Possum programme evolved by a
process of trial and error. Elm the Centre owner, who had brought the idea
back from the Nebraska Conference and organized the seminar for her staff
said, we had never really talked about our philosophy for the wild woods.
This lack of a cohesive approach was highlighted by Rose, I think everyone
has got a different idea of how to approach it. So everyone goes in there
differently and Teak who said,
if we have any different points it would be where spirituality comes into
it that would be one of the different points in things and some of the teachers
think it is important to write the childrens play or give the children things to
do that comes more out of a primary school impetus.... we have differences in
how we view child development or the woods
In contrast the Weta team had a common vision right from the beginning.
It was great because it was really good team building at the beginning
because we had this idea and then how we were going to work that in a team
and um it started off and we started doing research and it was very much
based on forest skills.... transforming this whole kindergarten to having a
nature based curriculum because if you have a passion for that its much
easier to lead the team in terms of the management side of it
The development of the programme was a team effort right from the
beginning with every team member fully involved. Oak made this very clear,
57
we would meet every single Friday and say right this is what we have
got to do, we would brain storm ideas, where do we go, how are we going to
do this, so we would sit there as a team and just come up with all these ideas.
We shared the workload when it came to risk analysis policy writing, it
wasnt down to one person. We all had a go at doing that kind of thing, we
shared everything. Even to go and purchasing equipment as a team we would
sit down and say what do we need, who is going to do it? Okay can you do
this one, can you do this one, can you do this one...
The team unity and common understanding had also been strengthened
over time by the presentations they gave about their programme to other early
childhood educators. Ash reflected that, I do think it makes us quite strong
because we work well together as a team and those presentations, you have to
work as a team so it does strengthen how we work. She went on to say,
every time you do one you do more learning as well... because you are
rereading facts that you already know, but then you often find something else
and you are re-familiarising yourself with things and you remember why you
are so passionate about it in the first place.
Prior to the development of the nature adventure programme there has
already been a environmental sustainability philosophy that underpinned the
teacher recruitment process for Pukeko Kindergarten.
When teachers have been chosen for to work in this kindergarten theres
definitely been an emphasis on sustainable living. Im not sure what would
have happened if wed had somebody who wasnt keen on that but we tried to
build a team and a community that is passionate about it, about the outdoors
(Bamboo).
The teaching team had also played a major part in the development of the
nature adventure programme. They had all attended one of the Weta
Kindergarten professional development sessions. They worked together to set
the programme up. Redwood remembered, But in terms of shared vision,
Imean we spent a lot of time on a philosophy and there was a really good
workshop that Roimata was involved in organising and that covered Maori
principles, key Maori principles, and so we were able to interweave those into
our philosophy and that was really neat.
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Brent Mawson
INDUCTION INTO THE PROGRAMME

There were also clear differences between the way in which new teachers
were inducted into the programme between the kindergartens and the
education and care centre. Elm, the owner of Possum stated, theres no
formal induction. Its just they go up and share the enthusiasm.... they buddy
along with somebody until they are familiar with the drills or protocols or the
kaupapa of the area. This approach was confirmed by Teak who said, we
were just packed off, pretty much and these are the woods so do what you will
almost.... I was given some guidelines to follow and regulations and stuff, it
was pretty much go and see and explore.
The induction process was much more formal where the kindergartens
were concerned. Pine, the Head Teacher at Weta kindergarten explained the
process that occurred when Rachel joined the team.
With Rachel I applied for funding from the Association as our
professional development here and Rachel did a lot of reading of all the
learning stories and we talked about it in a group and then she came as a
visitor so she went with every single teacher and until she got to a point, I
think she had three visits, maybe four and then when she felt that she could
manage it she went and supervised on her own.... hers was sort of researching
and she did a whole lot of reading and documentation and we kind of fed her
in the direction of what we, and she had to read all the policies and be up to
date with all that knowledge and then as a visitor she was talked through the
process.
The teachers at Pukeko Kindergarten, while satisfied with the induction

process for teaching staff, expressed some reservations about the effectiveness
of their induction process for the parent helpers. Redwood said, I think we
could do more.... its time to review the whole programme really and... theres
certainly some more inducting that we can do. Weve had some parents
evenings about it but I think... one on one discussion needs to be had before
each parent comes in and helps. Bamboo also agreed with this view, I think
it could be improved upon,... initially we had a really good induction process.
We had meetings as we set it up. I think as new teachers, new families join the
kindergarten there is a gap... The third teacher, Gum expressed similar
concerns. At the moment they get passed a manual, read this, sign it, bring it
back and I think we need to spend more time with them.
59
PARENT PARTICIPATION
The two kindergarten nature adventure programmes relied on having a
volunteer parent helper accompanying the group to meet the adult-child ratios
required under the Early Childhood legislation. This was seen as a very
positive impact on the programme. Ash said, The parents bring a lot, they
bring their energy to the day and they bring skills and knowledge which is
sometimes just huge....I think it really strengthens the relationships that we
have with those parents. In Oaks opinion, they bring a bit of who they are
some of them have got some lovely experiences that they share.
However there were some challenges associated with the presence of
parents as part of the supervision team. Ash remarked, They do bring a lot
however sometimes it does have an effect on the child that is on the
programme and you may have seen that. The way in which children would
sometimes react quite differently on the days their parent was the helper was
also remarked on by Lime, Sometimes they can present challenges just for
the child, sometimes their child will act differently because their parent is
there. Both Lime and Oak discussed how parents sometimes were more risk
adverse than the teachers. Oak observed, I have found that parents can kind
of take over and you do need to just say it is okay. If they fall down they fall
down, if they hurt themselves they hurt themselves. You just have to remind
them sometimes that they will fall down they will get dirty and that is okay.
In a similar vein Lime said, It is difficult for them sometimes and letting their
children go, letting them climb and knowing that we are doing it safely.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAMME

In general all the teachers were happy with the adventure programme as it
was and saw no need for major change. Some changes in the area visited and
the environment itself had taken place over time at Possum. These were
generally seen as positive. Rose mentioned the creek, I mean the creek
element has been added into it, which is an exciting experience as did Elm.
One change that Rose was not comfortable with was the introduction into the
environment of artefacts created by participants to a Nature Education
Conference that had ben held at Possum. One example of this was a large
Taniwha (river monster) made of stone in the middle of of the grassed area.
Rose remarked, We have seen some kind of man made things from the
60
Brent Mawson
natural phenomena come into it, and the kids dont seem to enjoy that added
kind of elements to it. They prefer the raw natural environment rather than
man-made. We try to keep it as natural as possible. We would prefer to just
have it as it is, no modifications, no changes. Just let nature change what it has
to. One change that was seen as desirable was to increase the time that the
children had in the wild woods. Rose said, Id like to see it for longer. It
would be nice if we could get maybe a group of children dropped off every
morning so theyre there in the morning and we are ready to go straight off the
bat and then spend as long as possible. Rose went on to explain how she felt
the lack of time was affecting the current programme.
If youve got longer to explore, they find new things or you can go to the
creek and come back and still have time to play around and explore. At the
moment I think, especially with everybody going up there, kind of get a play,
have some food, and then its time to go back. So its kind of lost the whole
meaning of it.
Elm also wanted to expand the time in the natural environment, maybe
the idea of sleeping, with the idea of cooking up there, with the idea of having
lunch up there, spending time up there.
For the teachers involved in their nature adventure programme the
potential area of development was seen as being in the content knowledge that
the children gained from the children. With regard to the Weta programme
Oak observed, I think it will it can only grow, we can only introduce new
things like maybe more of a nature, learning about the trees and the soil and
the air and that kind of stuff and I think that all comes down to environmental
awareness. The major change that took place in the Weta nature adventure
programme was the rejection of the base camp and the simplification of the
equipment taken. The use of a base camp had been suggested by the visit to
the Fiordland nature adventure programme. Pine explained, they had a home
camp, a bit like what happens in Europe. So we tried to do something similar
at the beginning,... but very, very quickly we found that leaving our bags in
one spot was just a crazy idea because we were in a public space and actually
the more it was governed by the children... about what would happen, the
more we needed to take our gear. The way in which the amount of equipment
had been reduced was outlined by Ash;
At the very beginning we took on lots of the ideas that Claire had down
at Fiordland and they had like a buggy that they carried all their kit around so
we had a big trolley which was a disaster in hindsight because you know
61
what those paths are like and they are rocky and that hill at the end was
probably the worst thing. There was one person pulling it and three people
trying to push it. So we had a lot of equipment initially and as time has gone
on we went from that trolley to three big backpacks and now we are down to
two so I guess we have realized that we dont need to take a lot of stuff as
long as we have got the basics like the first aid kit
A key change in the Pukeko programme was the meeting place with the
children and parents at the beginning and end of the trip. Originally they met
and left from the Kindergarten itself but that caused problems. Gum remarked,
meeting and picking up away from the centre works well. We started out by
having everyone come here and then trying to go from here and there were
children off on the swings and, oh I dont think Ill go today, and well you
know. That didnt work. Bamboo, when discussing the direction of the
Pukeko programme remarked, I think it would be valuable and certainly
again one of the objectives of the programme to bring in more knowledge of
the area in a historic context and a cultural context.
CONCLUSION
It is rare for there to be three regular, highly successful nature adventure
programmes running within such a confined locality. There seem to be a
number of reasons for this. Whangarei is a small provincial city of 45 000
people which has a very diverse range of natural resources both within the city
and on its immediate outskirts. This is evident in the very different
environments used by the nature adventure programmes. The ease of access to
the natural environment, all were within easy walking distance of the early
childhood centre, obviously encouraged their use.
A second factor was the conjunction of an external catalyst and a strong
environmental awareness within the teaching team that made them very
receptive to the idea of a nature adventure programme. Elms participation in
the World Forum on Connecting with Nature in Nebraska, the Weta
Kindergarten teams visit to Fiordland, and Redwoods experience with Forest
Schools in England were all significant factors in the decision to develop the
programme. However, this would not have be been enough without a prior
strong commitment to education for sustainability within the whole teaching
team in the three centres.
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Brent Mawson
The close-knit, highly collegial nature of the early childhood education

community in Northland was also important. There was a willingness to share
ideas and offer assistance and support both among the three teaching teams but
also with the wider community. Both kindergarten teams provided
professional development courses for the Northland Kindergarten Association
and Possum has hosted three very successful Natural Phenomenon conferences
that have attracted national and international speakers and participants.
There were clear benefits for both the teachers and the children in their
participation in these nature adventure programmes. The three settings not
only provided new experiences that were not available in the home centre
environment, they also provided the teachers and children with opportunities
to take on different roles and practices.
The natural environment allied with the long uninterrupted time together
and smaller teacher-child ratios led to positive changes in the teachers
practice. A key element of all programmes was the relaxed nature of the
teacher-child interactions and the degree to which power and decision-making
was shared and the childrens interests allowed to direct the days activities.
The teachers were also more relaxed with regard to childrens risk-taking,
particularly as the programmes developed. The time together, and the relaxed
unhurried atmosphere also encouraged richer teacher-child relationships.
The children also gained from their involvement in the programmes. This
involved both intellectual and social development. There was a clear growth in
their knowledge and ability to identify and talk about the plants, insects and
birds they regularly encountered.
The children also developed an awareness of the fragile nature of the
natural environment and the need to protect it. Equally important were the
opportunities to assume leadership and ownership of the daily experiences and
the collaborative relationships that developed. For many children facing and
overcoming new physical challenges was a significant area of growth.
All three nature adventure programmes demonstrate the benefits that
children and teachers gain from participation in a regular, high quality out-ofdoors experience.
The ideal situation would be for similar experiences to be an integral part
of the curriculum of all early childhood education settings.
63
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473-483

ISBN: 978-1-63463-984-2
Chapter 4
THE SHIFT FROM FACTUAL TEACHING TO

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: CHALLENGES IN
LESSON PLANNING
Maria Birbili*
Assistant Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
ABSTRACT
An increasing number of early childhood curricula around the world
place greater emphasis on the development of conceptual understanding
than they did in the past. Teaching from a conceptual framework helps
students make connections by focusing on the powerful ideas that
underpin the content. An emphasis on conceptual learning also gives
meaning to factual knowledge, the kind of knowledge that school
education traditionally favors.
The shift from teaching factual knowledge to a more conceptual way
of teaching is easier said than done. Enculturated in the traditional factbased approach to learning, teachers feel more comfortable with teaching
and assessing knowledge that is typically learned faster.
Both anecdotal evidence and the few studies that exist about Greek
early childhood teachers practices indicate that, like colleagues in other
*
Email: mmpirmpi@nured.auth.gr
68
Maria Birbili
countries, Greek teachers are more concerned with coverage of facts and
skills than with students developing conceptual understanding of topics
and curriculum subjects. The study presented here recorded the efforts of
a group of early childhood teachers to develop lesson plans using a
concept-based model. Teachers attempts were made in the context of a
professional development course which aimed to introduce practitioners
to a new early childhood curriculum. According to the model of
developing concept based teacher, proposed by Erickson & Lanning
(2014), the course aimed to help teachers understand the difference
between working at the knowledge level and working at the conceptual
level and see what concept-based instructions looks like in practice. It
involved a combination of theory and practice using models, examples
and exercises.
The results suggest that shifting from factual teaching to conceptual
teaching is a process that needs time and has to overcome a number of
challenges that relate closely to teachers past practices and beliefs about
teaching and learning. In their effort to teach conceptually, the teachers of
the sample faced the following conceptual obstacles: a difficulty to
actually see key concepts and generalizations related to the topic they
had selected, a difficulty to express clearly what they felt was important
for children to learn and a difficulty visualizing learning as a sequenced
process. The chapter ends with a discussion of the implications of the
findings for teacher education and professional learning.
CONCEPT BASED TEACHING:

A NEW EDUCATIONAL TREND?
Educations interest in concept based teaching and learning is not new. In
1968 Richard Newton was writing about the new word -concept- that
educators were called to add to their vocabulary. That was time that Hilary
Tabas ideas about concepts and generalizations were revolutionizing both
instructional methodology and the organization of social studies content (Dell'
Olio & Donk, 2007, p. 167). Since the 1960s a considerable body of research
from cognitive scientists and various subject groups has established the
significance of conceptual teaching for promoting deep understanding of
discipline-specific concepts and building connections (Bransford et al., 2000, p
17; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2009; Zirbel, 2007). In
2006, the importance of seeing relationships and detecting patterns was
brought to public attention by Daniel Pink and his influential book A whole
new mind, where he argued that society is entering the conceptual age, a time
The Shift from Factual Teaching to Conceptual Understanding ...
69
when making meaning and connections will be most valued (in Smith, 2009,
p. 54).
The renewed interest in concept driven curricula seems to be the reaction
to a steady flow of studies which suggest that content and the memorization of
isolated facts are still at the centre of classroom teaching. To put it differently,
education is still serving information rather than the nature of human mind
(Kommers, 2004). As McCoy & Ketterlin-Geller (2004, p. 89) explain an
emphasis on factual knowledge means that the responsibility for drawing
connections is left to either the teacher or the students themselves. Such
evidence also suggests that classroom practices still fall short of the goal of
developing critical thinkers (Dickman, 2009).
FACTS VS CONCEPTS
So, are information and facts useless? Is learning some knowledge and
memorising it, a bad thing? (Steward, 2014)
For Erickson (2002, p. 67), an influential writer on concept based teaching
and learning, there are two main reasons why curriculum designs and teaching
should shift from facts to concepts, generalizations and principles:
1. The ongoing information explosion. That means that we cannot just
add a new history or science text each year. What we should to do is
to teach students the skills they need to deal with the information
overload, namely the skills of critical, creative and integrated
thinking to assimilate, sort and pattern information (p. 67).
2. In a rapidly changing world and global interaction, citizens need
conceptual thinking abilities to understand the many ways that
humans are connected.
In the same vein, Pink (2013) argues that in the conceptual age, educators
need to go beyond informing because:
The information that we give our students may not align with their
interests and priorities. That means that they have little incentive for
long-term retention.
People generally remember a small percentage of what they hear. If
the focus of teaching is on content most information will be lost from
Maria Birbili
70
memory. We can assist memory by processing information in

meaningful chunks.
Even if the information we give our students is interesting and easy to
remember, it changes so rapidly that it is quickly outdated.
The argument about the speed with which information changes is not new.
For example, in 1969, Brandwein was predicting that twelve years later, the
[curriculum] data knowledge will have changed and was arguing that
at the current rate of generation of knowledge, perhaps little that a child
learned will be true as fact at the time of his [sic] leaving school. His
school life would, in a sense, have been wasted (p. 38).
So what is the role of factual knowledge in todays curricula? Are facts

less valuable, because we can simply Google them when required? (The
Kings School, 2014) And if learning some facts and memorizing them is a
bad thing then how can South Korean students, who have to learn hundreds
of pages of facts to do well in exams that take place several times a year, be
among the very best in the world at problem-solving? (Stewart, 2014). On the
other hand, if factual knowledge is a good thing how can educators or
curriculum developers handle an ever-growing curriculum? How can teachers
distinguish the essential from the nice-to-know curriculum? (Reksten,
2000, p. 23). When do we stop factual teaching so breadth does not come at
the expense of depth? (Board of Studies, New South Wales, 2010) And when
do we stop learning and thinking about specific facts so creativity does not
turn out to be a casualty of the national curriculum? (Croke, 2010; Erickson,
2002).
FACTS AND CONCEPTS

As Erickson (2002) points out, knowledge has an inherent structure from
topics and facts, framed by concepts, which combine to form generalizations,
principles, and theories. Facts, concepts and principles are otherwise referred
to in the literature as declarative knowledge - knowing that something is the
case (vs procedural knowledge know how to do something) (Ben-Hur,
2006). Declarative knowledge is often described as surface learning or rote
learning and teachers are discouraged from teaching and assessing this type of
knowledge (Biggs, 2003; Oosterhof, 2011). Oosterhof (2011) explains that
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this happens in part because declarative knowledge is wrongly thought

of as being limited to memorization of facts. Although knowledge of facts is
part of declarative knowledge, so is knowledge of trends, abstractions,
criteria, and ways of organizing events. [In fact] declarative knowledge is
fundamental to ones ability to solve intellectual problems (p. 3).
At the lowest level of cognitive complexity, factual knowledge is as much

important as conceptual knowledge for effective learning to take place. In fact,
as Buser & Rooze (1970, p. 129) put it, learning is effective to the degree that
the learner uses facts, develops concepts and forms generalizations. However,
facts do not create understanding and factual teaching does not promote
thinking at higher cognitive levels (Reksten, 2000). In addition, as mentioned
earlier, the human brain seems to be limited in the amount of facts it can learn
or remember (Zirbel, 2007, p. 3). So when students are asked to store away
facts as separate items they fail to see how what happens around us fits
together (Sutherland, 1969). Coupled with the rapid growth of knowledge, the
task of making meaning becomes almost impossible (Stoll, Fink & Earl, 2003,
p. 58). This is where concepts come in the learning process (Beyer & Penna,
1971).
Research on expertise and expert performance demonstrates that when
facts are linked together into meaningful concepts, or network of concepts,
they can be used to think and solve problems (Zirbel, 2007, p. 3). More
specifically, evidence shows that experts have both a list of facts and
formulas that are relevant to the domain and the ability to think and solve
problems using that knowledge (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999, p. 24).
What distinguishes them from novices is that their knowledge is organized
around core concepts or big ideas that guide their thinking about the
domain (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999, p. 24).
In sum, research suggests that if learners construct networks of connected
information, structured around big ideas, they learn with understanding and
they are able to transfer that learning from one context to another more easily
(Brophy, 2001). Within this context, the transition from factual to conceptual
teaching does not imply a disregard of facts but, rather, a shift in their use
(Creegan, 1989).
Their function as the glue that holds together our experiences and
interactions with the world, makes concepts a powerful tool for learning not
only within disciplines but also across curriculum areas (Murphy, 2002).
Making concepts a primary objective of teaching has several benefits
(Erickson, 2012, p. 138). More specifically, apart from helping students to
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sort, organize and pattern incoming information, concept based teaching and
learning:
Increases student motivation for learning by inviting them to think

about the facts through a relevant and personally engaging key
concept (p. 138).
Requires students to think at higher cognitive levels as they relate the
facts to key concepts and principles.
Develops intercultural understanding and international-mindedness as
students identify commonalities and differences in terms of concepts
and their expressions across global contexts.
Promotes collaborative learning experiences with the belief that
understanding or constructing a meaning is a social process.
Concepts also provide a powerful tool for interdisciplinary learning. As

Reksten (2000, p. 25) points out, traditionally, curricular subjects have been
departmentalized and ignored the conceptual links that exist between
disciplines this outdated organization of curriculum lends itself to the
teaching of facts without showing students how facts relate to each other and
to other disciplines.
TEACHERS AND CONCEPT-BASED TEACHING

Concepts and facts require different teaching and learning strategies. First
of all, concepts cannot be taught directly or be given by one person to another
(Beyer & Penna, 1971). Conceptual teaching requires a bottom-up, learnercentered process (Webb, 2006). As Beyer & Penna (1971) explain
concept teaching means something other than passing information
about a particular concept. It means helping learners invent develop their
own images of a particular concept. The word help is key. Teaching
concepts properly understood, means facilitating student conceptualization. It
involves neither pure exposition on the part of the teacher, nor pure discovery
on the part of the student (p. 43).
Such learning requires new ways of thinking about teaching. For example,
facilitation is a new concept for teachers who were educated in a system that
encouraged knowledge transmission. Concept-based instruction may be both
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an unknown and uncomfortable process for teachers who teach as they were
taught, for teachers who are used to teaching in a very linear way or for
teachers who know how to teach but not how to facilitate. Teachers may also
have difficulty thinking conceptually themselves and therefore a difficulty
designing a lesson with conceptual orientation (Sutherland, 1969).
Despite its increasing prominence, concept-based teaching has been
researched very little from the experienced teachers point of view. Most
studies on concept teaching come from the field of teacher education and focus
on pre-service teachers efforts to teach concepts for the first time. Although
pre-service teachers share certain characteristics with experienced teachers
(e.g. lack of mental models) the two groups have different needs and may want
different kind of assistance and support. In addition, more research is needed
from different school levels and subject domains. Most studies about the
difficulties teachers experience in concept-based teaching come from the
sciences and mathematics, at the elementary and secondary school level. There
is, however, less data that attempts to explore how early childhood teachers
teach for conceptual understanding.
Within this context, the study presented here can help professional
development trainers plan and deliver effective training in concept based
teaching to early childhood educators.
CONCEPT-BASED TEACHING IN
THE GREEK NATIONAL CURRICULUM
The current Greek early childhood curriculum presents an interesting case:
Although those involved in its development argue that it was designed on the
principles of concept-based learning, since the beginning of its
implementation, the instruction given to professional development trainers and
teachers was to ignore the third column the column which indicated a
number of overarching concepts related to the topic proposed in the first
column (Alachiotis, 2002). The example that follows shows both the
organization of the curriculum and the way concepts were presented to
teachers (DEPPS, 2002, p. 602).
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Table 1. An example from the Greek national early childhood curriculum
Abilities/Skills
to be developed
To read simple
symbols,
diagrams and
maps
Content
Children practice:
Overarching
concepts for
interdisciplinary
practice
Communication
(code, symbol)
To recognize simple symbols (e.g. how

to symbolize roads on a map, rivers etc)
To use maps and recognize that maps are
tools which help us orient ourselves and
that they represent the world in a small
scale
(e.g. they observe how marks on the
ground get smaller as they climb up a
stair, they discuss and observe how the
world looks like from a plane etc.)
To show the sea and the land on a map.
To trace with their finger a pathway on
the map and locate where they live. The
teacher uses geographical terms (e.g. Im
about to travel north to Thessaloniki etc.)
Anecdotal evidence suggests that those responsible to introduce teachers

to the new curriculum were themselves unprepared to explain concept-based
approach to learning and teaching to early childhood educators. In their
defense, it must be noted that the new curriculum introduced a different
approach to teaching and learning from the previous national curriculum.
Trainers and practitioners had to familiarize themselves with demanding
concepts, methodologies and pedagogical practices such as the projectapproach, formative assessment, student portfolio, emergent literacy and
interdisciplinary teaching. Realizing the size of the task at hand, officials
decided to sacrifice concepts and devote their attention to the other
innovations of the new curriculum. Within this context, like the rest of their
colleagues, the early childhood teachers of the sample had no previous
experience with concept-based teaching.
Twelve years after the introduction of the new curriculum, studies on
teaching and learning practices in Greek kindergartens show a strong tendency
towards teaching as telling and focusing childrens attention on knowing the
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facts of the matter (Birbili, 2013; Kakana, 2011; Vellopoulou, 2011). This
information helps us understand participants starting point experiences as
they try to plan their teaching based on concepts and generalizations.
METHODOLOGY
The study presented here was designed to record early childhood teachers
efforts to shift from topical lessons to conceptual lessons and investigate the
challenges involved in the process of developing concept based lessons.
Teachers attempts were made in the context of a professional
development course which aimed to introduce practitioners to a new early
childhood curriculum (New School, 2010). The course took place in Athens
and Thessaloniki, the two biggest cities in Greece from November 2011 to
April 2012. It lasted 72 hours and was divided in four face-to-face sessions of
18 hours each, from 09.00am to 15.00pm. Face-to-face learning was combined
with practical application in teachers own classrooms, using email and
planned phone calls for clarifications, questions, reflection and feedback. The
sample consisted of 33 early childhood teachers, age 28 to 45, selected
randomly by the Ministry of Education to participate in the piloting of the new
curriculum. Participants teaching experience ranged from 2 to 18 years.
Following Ericksons and Lannings (2014) model of training teachers on
concept-based design and pedagogy, the course content focused on three areas
of teacher development: Understanding concept-based curriculum and
instruction, concept-based lesson planning and concept based instruction
(Table 2). More specifically, through a combination of theory, examples,
exercises and practice in school, course facilitators aimed to help teachers
understand the difference between teaching at the knowledge level and
teaching at the conceptual level and see the thinking that goes into
developing concept-based lessons. Teachers were also introduced to methods
of teaching concepts that are appropriate for young children. Due to the length
and the structure of the training program, the third stage in the process of
becoming a concept based teacher concept-based instruction was not
practiced in depth.
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Table 2. The developing concept-based teacher
THE DEVELOPING CONCEPT-BASED TEACHER

A developing concept-based teacher evolves in multiple ways. The
following three categories capture the essential areas of a teachers growing
expertise:
Understanding concept-based curriculum and instruction
Concepts-based lesson planning
Concept-based instruction
One does not need to develop mastery in all categories sequentially before
plunging into the journey.
Source: Erickson & Lanning (2014, p. 57).
To help teachers understand what concept-based instruction means in

practice we asked them to start planning lessons and/or units, in the new way
and send their plans to course instructors. To guide teachers through the
dilemmas and challenges involved in the process, instructors provided
feedback and prompted reflection through questions and suggested changes.
Feedback was given electronically, on teachers documents, using the
Comments function in Microsoft Word.
Our focus on lesson planning was based on two arguments:
a) Lesson plans can reveal teachers priorities in terms of lesson content
and structure (Brittin, 2005). We hypothesized that if teachers manage
to make the mental shift from teaching to facts alone to teaching
concepts, using the facts as a supporting tool, they will be able to
demonstrate this shift as they construct lesson plans (Erickson, 2007,
p. 98).
b) As Scarino & Liddicoat (2009, p. 81) point out, conceptual learning
involves deep learning and such learning needs to be planned if it is to
be successful. In other words, lesson planning as a way for ensuring
that teaching is focused and achieves its objectives assumes greater
significance in concept based teaching where it is important not only
to identify the concepts to be taught but also to know how to promote
deep understanding and provoke conceptual change.
Within this context, we asked teachers to engage in lesson planning,
stressing that planning in concept based learning is as important as the practice
of teaching conceptually. We also explained that working together
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instructors and practitioners will provide a safe learning environment for

teachers to reshape their practice. Teachers accepted willingly to engage in a
practice which all them admitted doing only when asked by administrators.
Until the end of the course, participants have sent 181 lesson plans in
total: 22 teachers sent 6 lesson plans, 8 teachers sent 5 lesson plans and 3
teachers sent three lesson plans. All the topics or units that teachers decided to
plan a lesson around were selected by teachers themselves (Table 3). To
facilitate the development of concept-based lesson plan, we gave teachers the
following template:
Learning Experiences Planning Form
Date:
Topic/Theme/Unit:
Key-concepts that I want students to understand for the topic/unit:
Generalizations I want children to take away from the topic:
Learning contexts* that can be used to support childrens understanding of the
topic:
* Five learning contexts: Play, focused teaching and learning, real-life
situations, investigations, routines and transitions.
Activities which can contribute to the understanding of the above concepts and
generalizations:
Learning Areas (Subject Areas) learning outcomes from the [new]
curriculum:
Assessment of childrens understanding:
Parents at home can [help by]:
The template was constructed for the purposes of the training, to help
teachers think differently about the design of their lesson. In doing so, we
recognized that using the particular template might have posed an additional
challenge to teachers.
Lesson plans were analyzed to identify both the changes made by teachers
as a result of training and instructors feedback and the messages they
conveyed about teachers thinking and practice. Using a constant comparison
process, each theme that emerged from lesson plans, was systematically
checked or compared to the remaining data. Data analysis also looked at the
degree to which the activities proposed were aligned with the concepts and
generalizations stated.
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Table 3. Themes, topics and units selected by teachers
The almond tree

The human body
Birds
Colors
Our lake
Recycling paper
The trees of our area
Flowers
Our town
The 5 senses
Friendship
The weather
Jobs & professions
The olive tree
Bread
Insects
Nutrition
Traditional costumes/clothing
Planets
25th of March Greek independence day
Our own museum
Patterns
Technology
Maps
Earth and Space
Seasons
Water
Toys
November17th - Fall of military Junta National holiday
RESULTS
Although lesson planning cannot be broken down into independent
decisions or discrete steps, to highlight the challenges involved in learning to
teach conceptually we organize this section around teachers difficulties in
three tasks: identifying concepts, forming generalizations and selecting
learning activities.
Teachers Difficulty Identifying Key-Concepts

Their lesson plans suggest that identifying key-concepts related to the
topic under study was not an easy task for the teachers of the sample. More
specifically, in the first 2 or 3 lesson plans, teachers wrote down an average of
6 concepts per topic, both abstract and concrete, both relevant and less
relevant. For example:
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Table 4. Topics and concepts

The human body (T 5)
Traditional
clothing/costumes (T 10)
Friendship (T 20)
November17th Fall of
military Junta - National
holiday (T 26)
External characteristics, similarity of body

systems, utility of body systems, senses,
cooperation (of body systems), hygiene, races of
the world
Communication, relation to the past, social
awareness, peoples relationships, similarities and
differences, patterns, evolution, symmetry
Communication, sharing, interaction, love,
interest, respect
Voting, elections, respect, opinion, rights,
responsibilities/obligations, law, equality,
symmetry, harmony
The number of concepts written in lesson plans suggests that while they
were trying to get into the habit of identifying key-concepts, teachers were still
planning with coverage in mind - to cover as many concepts as possible. This
impression was confirmed by teachers replies to feedback. Most of them (21)
were quick to defend the number of concepts proposed with questions such as
but why cant you talk about human races as well when you do the human
body? or would it be very wrong to teach symmetry, as well, when we talk
about traditional clothing? Discussions in face-to-face sessions suggested
that, during their first attempts, teachers perceived concepts as addons to
what they already had decided to teach. They also revealed that concept
selection was the result of brainstorming guided by the question what else can
we talk about with children? To help teachers who tended to write many
concepts, we asked them to write only two key-concepts in their next attempt.
Imposing a limitation in the number of concepts seemed to have helped
teachers. As one of them said, in the process of reflection, I was forced to
think harder which one is more relevant not only to the topic but also to the
children.
A significant number of lesson plans (93) and comments to feedback
suggested that many teachers either found it difficult to identify abstract
concepts behind certain topics or they began their efforts without a clear
understanding of what a key-concept is. For example, for topics like insects,
nutrition and colors, teachers wrote categorization of food groups,
natural and chemical dyes, types of insects, their body parts, useful and
harmful insects, how to treat insects bites. Their comments showed that
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teachers struggled to accept that concept-based instruction is more about

abstract concepts, broad ideas that transcend the limits of the topic, than
concrete concepts such as prevention from insect bites.
Their preference for concrete concepts may indicate that teachers focus
was still on content as opposed to concepts. Instructed to reduce facts, teachers
seemed to have resorted to the next familiar practice: teaching concrete
concepts. Of course, for the novice in conceptual teaching, not all topics lend
themselves so readily to abstract concepts. On the contrary, some topics may
trap teachers into seeing mainly the facts (see for example the almond tree
or bread). In addition, data analysis revealed the following pattern: the more
familiar or popular the topic (measured in the times they have taught the
same topic before) the more difficult seemed to be for the teachers of the
sample to see it through conceptual lenses and limit the number of facts they
used to teach until then.
Teachers Difficulty Identifying and Writing Generalizations

Despite the emphasis given, during training, on seeing generalizations as
the conclusions that we hope our students will draw from their engagement in
the activities or the understanding we want students to realize at the end of
the unit of study, teachers faced a number of difficulties in identifying the
conceptual ideas behind the topic of their choice. We have identified four
types of errors:
Facts stated as generalizations (e.g. I want children to understand

thatthe almond tree is the first tree to bloom in the spring, trees
drop their leaves, we carry an umbrella or we wear waterproof clothes
when its raining, birds fly to warmer places in order to survive)
(Table 5).
Use of value statements - messages, in teachers own words for
children to get (e.g. I want children to understand thatI trust my
friend, we are all responsible for saving our civilization, we share our
toys and our classroom with our classmates, we must protect nature).
Value statements were the most frequent error.
Lesson goals or objectives stated as generalizations (e.g. To be able
to use mathematics in their life, to be able to distinguish between
healthy and unhealthy food, to be able to see symmetry and harmony
in nature and human creations).
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Questions in place of generalizations (e.g. What do people need in

order to survive? Is speech a human characteristic? How do plants
grow? What does a plant need to grow?)
Table 5. Example
Topic/Theme/Unit: Traditional costumes (T2 3rd attempt, January 2012)

Key concepts that I want students to understand for the topic/unit:
Tradition, similarities and differences
All people have their own traditional costumes.
Traditional costumes differ in different parts of Greece and are related to the
customs, the climate and peoples habits.
Mens costumes, in the islands, are called vrakes and in the mainland
foustaneles.
Colors differ (in the island the colors are more and happier, in the mainland,
less and darker).
Traditional costumes are decorated with many patterns.
Costumes, in the old days, were different from the ones we have today.
All womens costumes have a long skirt and an embroidered apron.
In a smaller number of lesson plans (17), instead of writing

generalizations, teachers had stated the dimensions of the topic under study.
For example, for the topic a lake close to us, our lake the teacher wrote
environmental protection, living organisms relationship with the
environment, the future of the area in relation to the lake.
Another challenge that teachers faced concerning generalizations was to
frame-phrase them in a way that is understood by young children, or else as
Lanning (2013, p. 79) says, in grade-appropriate language. We asked
participants to write generalizations in childrens language in the hope that
they will see them as statements of understanding that, at the end of the day,
children should formulate themselves. Framing generalizations in simple terms
was also an exercise to help participants understand that how broad or
specific a generalization is, should be driven by developmental
appropriateness (Lanning, 2013, p. 68). Teachers first quality
generalizations seemed more appropriate for older students or adults:
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A healthy mind in a healthy body
All cultures share certain characteristics
Technology has developed through the ages
Eating habits are indicative of the life we live
Teachers use of abstract language could suggest both lack of knowledge

about concept formation in young children and a difficulty conceptualizing
generalizations as a process where students must have control (Ellis, 2011).
The latter may be expected when teachers are new to concept-based teaching
and the thinking that goes behind it. When teachers are used to teaching facts,
then generalizations may be seen as something to be imparted to children
rather than the end of a process during which students identify similarities in
meaning from a series of activities (Davydov, 1990, p. 6).
Difficulty Connecting Activities and Generalizations

Tying activities to concepts and generalizations seems to have been the
biggest challenge for the teachers of the sample. As the following examples
show, even in their fourth and fifth attempt teachers wrote down a long list of
activities which, with few exemptions, didnt seem to serve the attainment of
the stated generalizations.
Topic/Theme/Unit: We can make our own museum (T15, 4th attempt,
February 2012)
Civilization and related concepts: communication, interaction, change- space
and time
As we observe museum objects we understand older peoples way of life and as
we observe objects from our daily life, we can compare them and find
similarities and differences.
Our civilization is the continuation of the ancient Greek civilization, other
peoples civilizations, too are the continuation of another civilization
(sensitizing children to the accomplishments of our civilization but also those
of other people).
We all have the responsibility to preserve civilization.
Through interaction, cooperation and communication we create big and small
accomplishments.
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Activities which can contribute to the understanding of the above concepts

and generalizations:
Discussion, information and pictures from the internet, communication through
Skype with schools and other people who can help us, visits to museums and
exhibitions, inviting parents who can help us, gathering materials like books,
DVDs, museum brochures and leaflets, painting, constructions, organize an
event for parents and the neighborhood (for evaluation and feedback).
Topic/Theme/Unit: The trees of our area at the end of winter, beginning of
spring (T9, 4th attempt, January 2012)
Development, evolution, change, dependence
All the trees that are naked in wintertime they change in spring, they get leaves,
flowers, seeds.
The almond tree is the first tree to bloom in the spring.
In fact, almond trees bloom in winter time.
Activities which can contribute to the understanding of the above concepts
and generalizations:
We construct 3 big trees (arts). Children are divided into three teams (flowers,
buds, leaves). Game: every team puts as many leaves or flowers or buds as the
number showing on the dice. Every team presents its tree to the others.
We observe that there are changes in the trees but there are also characteristics
that remain unchangeable (trunk, branches, roots).
The ability to identify appropriate learning experiences in concept based

teaching is tightly linked to the ability to identify quality generalizations
(Erickson, 2008). Having said that, it is only fair to attribute teachers
difficulty to match activities and generalizations to their difficulty to identify
generalizations. However, their lesson plans suggested that teachers had a
more general problem in relating activities to goals or objectives. Even when a
teachers aim was the learning of facts, student activities did not seem to
contribute to this goal. In fact, judging by the number of activities proposed in
many lesson plans, one could argue that teachers are more used to list all
possible interesting and fun activities related to the topic under study than to
identify the most appropriate ones for the selected objectives. Teachers
comments during discussions in the face-to-face sessions confirmed that
activities were chosen on the basis of what children could do in the context of
the specific topic' and not on the basis of how each one of them could
contribute to the understanding of generalizations. For example:
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For bread (the topic under study) we could go to a bakery, we could
make our own bread, or call a mother to come to class. We can also talk
about the different kinds of breads and discuss that not all children in the
world have bread to eat.
For toys, I m thinking that we can try to make our own toys, we can go
to the museum, we can talk to children from other places, through Skype and
ask them about their toys...
Teachers rather random choice of activities continued even after their

generalizations began to improve. Two possible explanations behind this
observation are the following: either teachers found it hard to resist the wellknown habit of beginning the planning process by thinking about instructional
activities (John, 2010) or they still lacked the knowledge to plan concept
teaching. Although the course aimed to introduce teachers to strategies that
support the development of concepts and generalizations, it is a fact that the
number of face-to-face meetings was not enough for a full conceptualization
of what this means in practice. However, it is interesting to note that in
classroom exercises teachers were able to identify the teachable components
of a given generalization and suggest appropriate activities that helped
children to move from the concrete to the more abstract and conceptual. In
other words, when generalizations were given to them, teachers were able a) to
link activities-learning experiences to generalizations in a coherent way and b)
to see for themselves the benefits of having a clear picture in your mind of
where you want to end, as one of them put it. What they found difficult was to
form their own generalizations and then use them to direct instruction.
DISCUSSION
Training practitioners to become concept-based teachers can be a
revealing experience for both participants and instructors. Although the
training had its limitations, it had the advantage of having a duration of 6
months and gave teachers the opportunity to integrate new knowledge with
real practice. Engaging in dialogue with teachers as they planned,
implemented and analyzed their practice revealed both the challenges and the
barriers they faced as they tried to learn to think and teach conceptually. It also
showed that helping teachers to make the shift from traditional teaching to
conceptual teaching needs time, practice and reflection. Conceptual teaching is
a demanding process for both teachers and students and to be successful
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requires more than learning a set of relevant strategies - it requires a

conceptual shift that will allow teachers to see the aim of teaching as probing
understanding and facts as a means to a higher end, not as an end in itself
(Kennedy, 1997, p 14; Sutherland, 1969).
The results suggest that teachers adherence to traditional teaching
practice presents a significant obstacle for the task of learning to teach
conceptually (Kennedy, 1997, p. 8). Their lesson plans reflected a teacherfronted classroom and an activity-centered curriculum which aims to give
children as much information as possible through interesting activities,
selected without apparent consideration of the learning objectives. Inn (1971,
p. 84) argues that teachers desire to seek and use varied and interesting
learning experiences is in itself commendable. However, as she goes on to
say, unless such experiences and activities are directed to the attainment of
specific objectives, students do not really benefit from them.
In their effort to teach conceptually, teachers faced a number of
conceptual obstacles: a difficulty to actually see key concepts and possible
generalizations behind the topic they had selected, a difficulty to express
clearly what they felt was important for children to learn and a difficulty
visualizing learning as a sequenced process. Teachers difficulty to identify
and write generalizations, in particular, is revealing about their difficulty to
teach with intentionality. Like learning objectives, generalizations bring focus
to teaching and learning, they tell what a teacher actually wants his/her
students to remember when they leave the class (Erickson, 2002). They also
reflect teachers conceptual understanding of the topic under study and their
ability to separate the essential from then non-essential. Within this context,
problems in writing generalizations usually suggest a difficulty to see a topic
through conceptual lens and as Kennedy (1997, p. 14) points out, unless
teachers envision subject matter as conceptual they cannot teach it
conceptually.
Seeing factual teaching through teachers difficulties to plan conceptual
teaching can help us understand the attraction facts hold consciously or
unconsciously - for teachers, at all educational levels:
Fact acquisition is perceived as an all or nothing affair. Facts are

easy to teach and children either learn them or not. Concepts, on the
other hand, have the disadvantage of being a developmental and
continuous process that requires time - a demanding process that
cannot be assessed in the same way as factual knowledge (Inn, 1971,
p. 83).
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With facts, what you see is what you get. Concepts and
generalizations, on the other hand, have dimensions of meaning and
levels of abstraction (Inn, 1971). As Inn (1971) explains, teaching
concepts is not simply a matter of possessing content background
that supports and clarifies the concept: it is equally necessary to have
a grasp of the dimensions of meaning or level of abstraction of a
particular concept (p. 83).
As they try to move beyond factual knowledge, teachers can find

themselves outside their comfort zone (Appleby & Castillo, 2013). Conceptual
teaching is not only in direct contradiction with current classroom practice
but it is also a much more ambiguous enterprise, one that requires many
more on-the-spot decisions, one that requires teachers to guide rather than
control the learning process (Kennedy, 1997). That is why Erickson and
Lanning (in Gassenheimer, 2014) argue that it is unfair to expect teachers to
teach conceptually without mental models and understanding of what conceptbased instruction means and what it looks like in practice.
Discussing the findings of the study also requires to take into
consideration that the practitioners of the study might have found themselves
struggling at two levels: at the level of lesson planning and at the level of
planning concept-based teaching. The template we asked teachers to use was
significantly different from the typical lesson plan templates participants used
once in a while. Moreover, lesson planning is another skill that develops over
time and takes practice. If the teachers of the sample did not have the
experience of planning their teaching using systematic planning techniques,
then one could argue that their struggle with the process of delineating
concepts and generalizations before they considered anything else (i.e.
activities, resources etc.), as well as their difficulty matching generalizations
and activities were to be expected (John, 2010). On the other hand, conceptbased teaching requires teachers to be clear - from the onset on the
expected, transferable understandings that they wish students to attain from
each lesson they design (Lanning, 2013, p. 77). That is why Lanning (2013, p.
68) defines generalizations as the clear, compelling statements of
understanding that direct instruction and assessments. This takes us back to
the point that was made earlier, in the presentation of the findings, about the
importance of planning in concept-based teaching.
87
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION AND

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The findings suggest that if teacher training in concept-based teaching is
to be effective it should have a significant practical component. Learning to
teach conceptually is a process that challenges many deeply held beliefs about
teaching and learning and requires teachers to reconfigure their role in order to
teach for understanding. Engaging in dialogue with teachers as they take their
first steps towards concept based teaching is an effective way of developing
their understanding of teaching and learning conceptually. Training on
concept-based teaching and learning can also be facilitated by:
Asking teachers to plan their teaching/lessons using appropriate

templates. Although templates have their limitations, they can, as
graphic organizers, help teachers see how they can promote
understanding more by design than by good fortune and native
ability (Wiggins & McTighe, 2008).
Being explicit about the importance of child development knowledge
and in particular childrens cognitive development - in promoting
deep understanding and provoking conceptual change.
Discussing with teachers and providing experiences that directly
challenge their assumptions about what is important to know and do,
what matters the most and what is nice to know. Concept-based
teaching requires a sharper focus on learning priorities (Wiggins,
2004).
Exercises and extensive practice on forming generalizationsunderstandings in order to help teachers a) perceive the mental
processes (e.g. inferences) involved in forming generalizations and b)
understand the way generalizations determine the direction and the
depth of instruction (Erickson, 2008). Forming generalizations, more
than identifying concepts, can reveal teachers lack of conceptual
knowledge of the topic under study.
To sum up, as the findings of the study indicate, shifting from factual
teaching to conceptual teaching is a process that needs time and has to
overcome a number of challenges that relate closely to teachers past practices
and beliefs about teaching and learning. It is also a process that is greatly
facilitated by scaffolded instruction. In fact, training teachers to become
88
Maria Birbili
concept-based teachers shares many components with teaching concepts to

students (Ben-Hur, 2006): it requires practice, reflection, verbalization and
transfer of learning into new experiences.
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ISBN: 978-1-63463-984-2
Chapter 5
METACOGNITION AND STUDENT-CENTERED

TEACHING STYLES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
DPESS, University of Thessaly,
Greece
ABSTRACT
Metacognition is considered essential in the acquisition of learning
skills and knowledge transfer. This chapter reviews of literature on
metacognition in early childhood for the primary reason that fundamental
forms of metacognition are developed after the age of 3. An effective way
of developing metacognitive skills in this age is via participation in
physical education and sports program. Preschoolers use movement to
learn concepts, to express their feelings and thoughts, and to
communicate with others. Physical education activities particularly the
use of student-centered teaching styles such as reciprocal, self-check,
convergent and divergent style could help students to learn, think and
solve problems, to develop basic elements of metacognition such as
planning, monitoring and evaluating their actions.
At the end of the chapter physical activities are presented during
student-centered teaching styles. These teaching styles help young
students to reflect on their own learning, and by implication, helping
E-mail: atchatzip@yahoo.gr.
94
them to become autonomous and effective individuals throughout their

entire life.
1.INTRODUCTION
It has been observed that students cognitive process affects the quantity
and quality of learning process (Weinstein and Mayer, 1986). So, the objective
of education should be the development of a wide range of strategies and
thought processes which could be used by students in order to monitor,
evaluate and self-regulate their learning. It is posited that this could happen
during the development of cognitive and metacognitive skills (Hammouri,
2003).
The importance of metacognition upon the acquisition of cognitive skills
is important, and it is essential for the success of students in school. Students
who use metacognitive skills, learn and remember to a greater degree than
others and discover the best ways to enhance knowledge (Vandergrift, 2005).
Additionally, individuals with a high level of metacognitive skills have the
ability to solve problems effectively, because awareness of knowledge guides
them to use the most efficient learning strategies (Gourgey, 2010; Pillow,
2008).
1.1. Metacognition
Metacognition has been characterized as an essential element for maximal
learning to occur in education due to the self-improvement of students
promoted through this.
The metacognition occurs:
a) through metacognitive knowledge that includes declarative
knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional knowledge, and
concerns the awareness and understanding of students image for
himself as a learner, his relationship with the learning task and the
range of strategies which are available for the successful
implementation of this task (Schraw, 2002).
b) through the active form of students design actions in order to achieve
the learning objective, the monitoring of his/her performance during
Metacognition and Student-Centered Teaching Styles
95
the learning effort, the evaluation and correction of errors and finally,
a most accurate redesign (Livingston, 1997).
The most significant meta-cognitive skills which are responsible for
regulating metacognition are planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Planning
includes the selection of appropriate strategies and identify the factors that
affect a performance. For example, when reading a text, planning incorporates
predictions before reading, and a series of strategies such as proper time
management and attention to items that are not easily understood (Gourgey,
2002). Monitoring refers to one's awareness of comprehension and task
performance. For example, periodic self-tests by the individual of the learning
process. Studies have shown that the ability of self-monitoring grows very
slowly and develops with practice. Other studies have demonstrated the close
relationship between metacognitive knowledge and accuracy of monitoring
capacity (Gourgey, 2002). The evaluation refers to the ability of the learner to
correctly evaluate the products of his own learning. A typical example is the
resetting of objectives that have been achieved; the detection of errors and the
setting of new goals. It has been observed that learners who do not perform
well in a task, have difficulties in self-evaluation, (i.e. they can not diagnose
problems and they are unable to fix them) (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987).
Metacognitive skills that lead to the regulation of knowledge is the
cognitive feature that leads to success, and is duly used by students who
possess a wide range of strategies which are applied and adjusted in order to
meet the requirements of different situations (Vandergrift, Goh, Mareschal and
Tafaghodtari, 2006). It has been said that elements of metacognition appear
from the age of 3 to 5 years old (Flavell, 2004). Aspects of meta-level at this
age, which are associated with the awareness of knowledge as a function of
mind, is the theory of mind; children's ability to attach to themselves mental
states such as desires, beliefs, and emotions (Bjorklund and Hernandez Blazi,
2010). Whitebread (1999) states that children at 5 years old can be seen to
exhibit skills such as adaptation, planning and reasoning, when the
activity/task is interesting for them. As children grow older, metamemory
develops; conscious knowledge of how memory works alongside
metacognitive knowledge, which continues to grow throughout the life of
individual.
The fact that metacognition develops as children grow older is due to the
development of memory that occurs gradually (Siegler, 1998). This is
probably one reason why children; when compared to adults are not effective
in the transfer of learning and problem solving. Short-term memory grows
96
conjunctive with maturation. So metacognitive skills begin to develop in early

years and become more specialized when educational needs require more
frequent use of metacognitive repertoire (Whitebread, 1999). Other scholars
say that metacognition can be evidenced at the age of eight to ten years, and
develops at a normal rate during school attendance in conjunction with
development of cognitive abilities (Alexander, Carr and Schwanenflugel,
1995; Flavell, 2004).
1.2. Metacognition in Early Childhood

Metacognition plays a crucial role in the mind of students. Neuroscientists
have suggested that metacognitive elements such as "working memory" are
observed in younger students, but not higher level metacognitive elements
such as planning and organization (Denckla, 2003). It has been evidenced that
"theory of mind" is developed in a child's first year after birth; younger
students ability to assess mental states such as desires and intentions. Once
the student chooses to deal with a task, different factors determine whether
that student will persist with it when faced with resistance through how
difficult the task is to complete. These factors begin to shape very early.
Preschoolers participate actively to construct a meaning for themselves and the
world around them through constant interaction with the environment (Kuhn,
2003). From the early years, infants become aware and turn to adults for the
evaluation of their achievements. At this age they begin to build the ability to
evaluate themselves as competent or incompetent (Berk, 2003). At the age of
four, children begin to understand that knowledge is part of a process that
enables them to appreciate the importance of information, and understand
what is important for the acquisition of knowledge (Perner, 1991).
Metacognitive vocabulary and metamemory are improved during this period.
Cognitive processes such as 'know', 'think', 'remember' are developed too,
although they appear to have limited understanding (Schneider and Lockl,
2002). In children of this age, types of monitoring memory and metacognitive
behaviors are observed during problem solving situations.
Additionally, in this age students have the ability to understand the
differences between difficult and easy items and they also can focus their
attention according to task demands (Dufrense and Kobasigawa, 1989).
Preschoolers seem to apply simple strategic approaches to remember and
recall information, especially when they consider the information essential and
interesting (Schneider and lockl, 2002). Until the age of four, children use
97
simple steps to regulate their own learning, and they exhibit strategic behavior
as well as the ability to transfer these strategies to other objects (Blte, Resing,
Mazer and Van Noort, 1999). Researchers found that children as young as 3
years of age are able to monitor the problem-solving behavior. Children at
the age of 4 use strategies and employ metacognitive processing and certain
behaviors of second-grade children seem to indicate metacognitive awareness
(Sperling, Walls and Hill, 2000).
1.3. Developing Metacognition in Early Childhood

The development of metacognitive skills in the early years is important
because these skills improve students awareness about learning. Preschoolers
have the ability to use metacognitive strategies such as planning, monitoring or
persistence especially on tasks they find more interesting (Lyons and Ghetti,
2008; Schneider and Lockl, 2008). Several metacognitive strategies are
studied in early years that encourage self-reflection and allow children to
express themselves. Visible thinking routine, thinkaloud technique, selfquestioning, pretend play, and metacognitive questions such as what kind of
thinking did you do or what did you think about? why? guide children to
become aware of their thoughts and feelings (Chatzipanteli,
Grammatikopoulos and Gregoriades, 2013).
Apart from memory, knowledge and learning strategies seem to impact on
enhancing metacognition. Investigations carried out in recent decades indicate
that two main approaches can have a positive influence on the development of
metacognitive skills in school attendance: (a) the application of metacognitive
strategies in the learning process (Farenga, 2007; Lesley, Watson and Elliot,
2007 ; Lidor, 2004) and (b) a supportive environment (Theodosiou and
Papaioannou, 2006; Vandergrift, 2005).
An educational environment that provides a culture which encourages
mistakes and revisions also supports metacognition. Questions posed by the
teachers in order to connect the old with the new knowledge facilitate this
development because that allows children to talk about what they do, giving
them the opportunity to share their ideas with others. To help young people
become aware of their own thinking, teachers can demonstrate their awareness
of their thinking. Thinking out loud in front of the children encourages them to
do the same. The implementation of meta-cognitive strategies requires
appropriate supportive environments together with appropriate learning
methods, such as collaborative learning. It was noted that positive effects were
98
maximised within small groups, where members are more often exposed to
procedures for sending and receiving feedback (King, 1994).
Additionally, reciprocal teaching, can encourage the development of
metacognitive activities. Peer interactions promote metacognitive activities
such as monitoring and self-control and create metacognitive behaviors in
young children (aged three to five years) (Shamir and Lazerovitz, 2007).
Student-centered learning supports students' cognitive learning, influences
their interest and helps them to participate in the same or similar activities in
the future (Himberg, Hutchinson and Roussell, 2003).
1.4. Student-Centered Teaching Styles and Physical Education

Activities
An effective way of developing metacognitive skills in this age is via
participation in physical education and sports programs. As stated previously,
preschoolers generally like to use movement in expressing feelings and
thoughts, and also to communicate with others, develop imagination, face
problems and solve them. Specifically, physical activities during studentcentered teaching styles could guide young students to use simple
metacognitive strategies like planning, monitoring and evaluating, all
strategies that reflect on their own learning.
Student-activated teaching methods are those methods where decisions are
taken collaboratively by the teacher and the students. So while in the
command style, decisions during the preparation, conduct and evaluation
belong to the teacher (on space, time, pace, breaks, etc.), in the reciprocal and
self-check style, students take several decisions mainly in the stages of
progress and evaluation (Mosston and Ashworth, 2002).
Guided discovery, convergent and divergent methods seem to strengthen
the deep understanding and promote learning due to the positive effect shown
by the guidance of the teacher, and the relationship between them (Mayer,
2004). This kind of teaching appears to promote intrinsic motivation within
students and develop understanding through dialogue achieved by the teachers.
The interactive discussion facilitated by the teacher during these teaching
styles guides a deeper understanding, and by implication, promotes a higher
levels of thinking. Such discussions allow students to hear the opinions of their
peers, to comment, to accept or reject. The reflections that are made via these
methods leads students in personal learning progress, and aids development of
metacognitive processes. The role of the teacher in these structured teaching
99
approaches is to guide. In other words, under the guidance and aegis of the
teacher, students are encouraged to express their thoughts, and in doing so- the
aim is to promote decision-making surrounding the selection and
implementation of appropriate strategies to help achieve their goals. In this
way the teaching is no longer passive but active and evolving (van Driel,
Beijaard and Verloop, 2001).
Such approaches help students to understand what and how they learn.
When teachers support autonomous behavior (self check or divergent)
students show more interest, creativity, positive emotions and self-determined
behavior. This feeling of independence motivates students to actively
participate in the learning process, leading them to perceive learning as more
interesting. These approaches create environments where learners take an
active role in the learning process, take risks and choices about what they
learn, how to take responsibility in designing an object, and organize or
compose learning content. All these procedures activate metacognitive
processes (Gunel, 2008).
More specifically, during the reciprocal teaching style, students work in
pairs and give feedback to each other based on criteria sheets that the teacher
has prepared. The sheets include the essential elements to providing successful
performance. Reciprocal teaching style offers students the opportunity of
observation, support, demonstration, imitation, and interaction. Students work
in pairs, provide feedback, learn to obey rules, discuss and solve problems.
They learn social skills through cooperation and interaction of pairs. Studies
have shown that the reciprocal teaching style promotes cognitive and motor
skill performance. Students enjoy the opportunity to teach each other and feel
comfortable with receiving feedback from their peers (Byra, 2006; Morgan,
Kingston and Sproule, 2005).
The basic elements of the self-check style is individualization and
independence. The role of the teacher is limited to the preparation of the
course. Decisions relating to the conduct and evaluation of the course are
delivered to students and this is an important element of self-regulation.
According to this style, students evaluate their executions based on criteria
sheets that the teacher has prepared. The result of this process is the
acquisition of responsibility and awareness of their potential. They begin to
trust themselves for feedback, and improve mechanisms of finding and
correcting errors. It has been observed that this method has a positive effect on
improving knowledge, developing critical thinking and self- regulation (Byra,
2006). The observation, peer-evaluation or self-evaluation which exists in
reciprocal and self-check styles enable students to judge the performance of
100
their peers or their performance in order to learn from their mistakes. So,
within the reciprocal and self-check styles, the criteria sheets lead the students
to test and reorganize their performance using the most appropriate
movements in order to perform effectively.
More specifically, when educators want to teach a game to younger
students they firstly have to choose a simple game. Afterwards they have to
write down detailed rules on the criteria sheet, or draw cartoons/diagrams in
order to pictorially show students the correct movement. Students have to read
the criteria or look at the cartoons in order to understand how to perform
effectively. In the reciprocal teaching style, students work in pairs and the
observer has to assess the 'disseminator's' performance based on criteria. In the
self-check teaching style, the student has to assess his/her own performance.
In the convergent teaching style, students try to find out a pre-planned
concept and provide many correct movement responses in divergent teaching
style. Convergent and divergent styles guide learners to travel beyond the
known, to produce new knowledge, something which often fosters intrinsic
motivation (McCullick and Byra, 2002). These teaching styles help students
enhance their procedural and conditional knowledge and information
management, in other words, to realise how and when they have to execute the
appropriate tactical movement in order to succeed in game situations. This
gives them the opportunity to set goals and plan their performance design
(Chatzipanteli, Digelidis and Papaioannou, in press). In both teaching styles,
questioning plays an important role of students cognitive/metacognitive
development. In a convergent teaching style students have to explore only one
correct solution/answer.
In a divergent style, questions are more analytical; testing students ability
to synthesize information. Moreover, questions are always open-ended,
allowing students to express themselves.
Such approaches help students to be more cognitively engaged in the task
because they understand better what is correct and incorrect and they learn
how to perform effectively as they monitor and evaluate their own
performances.
In an effort to provide examples that could help early childhood educators,
physical education teaching ideas from each teaching style are presented
below.
101
1.5. Physical Activities

Name Game: Colored Corridors
Main goal: To improve metacognitive activities such as monitoring,
evaluation, and reflection.
Teaching style: Reciprocal.
Recommended ages: Preschoolers, first-grade students.
Other objectives: To assist young children in improving locomotor skills
(jumping, hopping, running) and setting appropriate boundaries (spatial
orientation).
Equipment: Long ribbons of different colors: 2 ribbons in every color, e.g.
2 yellow, 2 green, 2 red (about 3 m. each).
At the end of the lesson, students:
Will be able to evaluate their classmate

Will be able to perform locomotor skills
Will be able to acquire more information about the rules of a game
(boundaries).
Game Description: Divide students into pairs. One student from each pair
will perform the activity and the other will assess his peer. The students who
are outside have to check if their peers perform the right locomotor skill and
escape from boundaries.
Create parallel corridors with the colored ribbons in the courtyard area.
Choose different locomotor skill for each corridor, e.g. in the yellow
corridor students must jump like a frog. In the red corridor they have to hop
like a bunny and in the green one they have to run as an aeroplane.
Their peers are given criteria sheets where a student/cartoon jumps like a
frog in the yellow corridor, etc. Students who perform firstly form three lines.
When the educator claps his/her hands, the first student of each line has to
perform the right locomotor skill.
Points of emphasis: Students have to check how many times their
classmates perform the right locomotor skill in the right corridor.
Evaluation: The educator checks if the preschoolers evaluated their
classmates effectively.
(Were your friend jumping like a frog in the yellow corridor? How many
times?)
(Were your friend hopping like a bunny in the red corridor? How many
times?)
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(Were your friend running like an aeroplane in the green corridor? How
many times?)
- Ask children what other motor skill they themselves could perform.
Name Game: Sound and Movement

Teaching style: Self-check.
Other objectives: To assist young children in improving auditory-visual
coordination.
Equipment: Tambourine.
Will be able to monitor and evaluate their own performance

Will be able to respond fast to visual and auditory stimuli
(boundaries).
Game Description: To act in conjunction with a cue.

Students have to move forward when teacher strikes the head of the
tambourine, to move backwards when he strikes the wooden frame of the
tambourine and to perform slides when the educators foot hits the ground.
Young students are given criteria sheets where a student/cartoon moves
forward when they hear the sound of the tambourines head etc.
Points of emphasis: Students have to check how many times perform the
right movement according to the acoustic/visual stimulus.
Evaluation: The educator checks if the preschoolers evaluated themselves
effectively.
(Were you moving forward when you heard the sound of the tambourines
membrane? How many times?).
(Were you moving backwards when you heard the sound of the
tambourines membrane? How many times?).
(Were you performing slides when you heard the sound of educators
foot? How many times?).
Name Game: Chasing Ball

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Teaching style: Convergent.

Other objectives: To assist young children in improving: eye-hand
coordination, perceptual skills, physical activity.
Equipment: Ball.
Will be able to design their actions/movements

Will be able to respond fast to visual stimuli
(e.g boundaries).
Game Description: Define an area with cones.

A student holds a ball and tries to hit/burn his classmates.
The child who will be burned first he will get the ball in order to hit his
classmates
Questions: Teacher: How do you throw the ball to hit easily your
classmate? Do you have to be near or far from him?
Try to throw the ball while far away from your classmate Lets see it
Two students perform this plan.
Teacher: Try again to throw the ball while close to your classmateLets
do it.
Teacher: Which of them was easier to win?
Teacher: How to run not to be burned from the child who is holding the
ball? Having him back on or keeping an eye on him? ..Lets see it..
Having him back on?..Lets try it
Teacher: Keeping an eye on him Lets try this
Teacher: Which of the two plans helped you more?
Afterwards young students play the game chasing ball.
Evaluation: The educator checks if the preschoolers planned their
movements before each performance.
(Did you design your movements before/during the game? Which was
your plan?).
(What went wrong and your classmate hits you with the ball?).
(What will you do next time? Will you change anything else in your
plan?).
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Name Game: Postures

Teaching style: Divergent.
Other objectives: To assist young children in improving: auditory-visual
coordination, cooperation, creativity.
Equipment: Music.
Will be able to design their actions/movements

Will be able to respond fast to visual and auditory stimuli
(e.g boundaries).
Game Description: When the music stops students have to form a body
shape, different each time.
Should be noted that children are prohibited from touching each other,
both moving with the sound of music.
Evaluation: The educator checks if the preschoolers planned their
movements before each performance.
(Were you performing a different body shape each time? How many
shapes did you perform?).
Could you show us three different body shapes?
What were you thinking before you design the next performance?
Variations: The same activity could be performed by asking the students
to pair with another classmate - specifically any child that is found beside
them and not only their friend in order to create a body shape together.
CONCLUSION
Metacognition is considered as an important skill that determines the level
of school-readiness in young children. Research results show that preschool
children come to kindergarten with varying degrees of metacognitive behavior
and self-regulatory capacity. Children who do not have sufficient skills seem
to have difficulties in the transition from kindergarten to primary school and in
school performance (Ponitz, McClelland, Jewkes, Connor, Farris and Morrison
2011). This is proposed to be due to a result of the interaction between factors
105
associated with maturity and specific learning rules (Skibbe, Connor, Morrison
and Jewkes, 2011).
So, teachers have to help children develop metacognitive awareness from
early childhood. Metacognition is teachable and educators could assist their
students, even at a very young age, as it does seem that younger children have
the ability to use simple metacognitive strategies especially on tasks they find
interesting.
Physical activities during student-centered teaching styles could be
applied in order to promote childrens metacognition, since children at this
stage generally appear to enjoy active learning e.g. learning acquired through
movement and games. Within the reciprocal teaching style students work in
pairs and give feedback to each other, while in self-check style they evaluate
their own perfomance based on criteria sheets. In convergent and divergent
teaching styles; students, under the educators guidance, realise how and when
they have to execute the appropriate movement for effective performance.
These teaching approaches lead students to monitor their performance to
learn from their mistakes and reorganize their actions using the most
appropriate movements in order to perform effectively. So by implication,
educators must be flexible and they have to know how to implement studentcentered learning activities in order to develop young students high-order
thinking.
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489-507.

ISBN: 978-1-63463-984-2
Chapter 6
RECIPROCAL TEACHING STYLE AND

METACOGNITION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Chatzipanteli Athanasia1, and Dean Richard1
1
Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences,

University of Thessaly, Greece
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the
reciprocal teaching style in promoting metacognition in early childhood.
Thirty eight students aged 7 years old participated in the present study.
Students were divided into two groups: (i) the experimental group
consisted of 22 students ( 9 boys and 11 girls) and (ii) the control group
of 21 students (8 boys and 10 girls). Teachers in the intervention classes
used the reciprocal teaching style during the execution of physical
education activities and within the control group the command style, was
used. Metacognition was assessed pre and post-intervention through
interviews. The results imply that reciprocal teaching style is an effective
way to improve metacognitive processes in early childhood.
Keywords: Reciprocal teaching style, metacognition, physical activities, early

childhood
E-mail: atchatzip@yahoo.gr.
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INTRODUCTION
Metacognition is defined as thinking about thinking, and theorists
organize the skills of metacognition into two components: knowledge of
cognition and regulation of cognition. Knowledge of cognition includes: (i)
declarative, (ii) procedural, and (iii) conditional knowledge. Declarative
knowledge relates to knowledge about oneself as a learner and the factors
which influence individual performance. Procedural knowledge is the
knowledge of how to perform a specific task, while conditional knowledge
relates to the knowledge of when and why to use a procedure skill or strategy
(Schraw, 2002).
Regulation of cognition includes three essential skills: (a) setting goals
and planning- this refers to the appropriate selection of strategies for an
effective performance, (b) monitoring and controlling learning- which
concerns a persons awareness of comprehension and task performance, and
(c) evaluating ones own regulation- which is about the product appraisal of a
students work, assessing results and strategies used (Schraw, 2002).
Students who use metacognitive strategies acquire and remember the
learning skills more efficiently than others, and have more satisfactory
academic progress (Alexander, Fabricius, Fleming, Zwahr and Brown, 2003;
Hartman, 2002; Woolfolk, 1998). This is because a learner engaging in
metacognitive behavior exhibits more strategic, flexible, and productive
actions, and by implication, they become more autonomous and productive
learners (Glaser and Chi, 1988; Vandergrift, 2005).
Some simple aspects of metacongitive behavior appear at the age of threeand four- years, especially on tasks children find more interesting (Lyons and
Ghetti, 2008; Schneider and Lockl, 2008). Therefore it is incumbent upon the
educator to help students develop metacognitive awareness from early
childhood. In lineage to this, researchers claim that students can be
metacognitively trained in school subjects; this being especially relevant
within lessons with an 'active' basis such as physical education (Chatzipanteli,
Grammatikopoulos and Gregodiadis, 2013).
Many researchers have investigated factors that could enhance
metacognitive behavior in school subjects. Some of them found that studentcentered teaching styles, where students have an active role in their own
learning process can enhance metacognitive behavior (Chatzipanteli, Digelidis
and Papaioannou, in press). In these teaching styles the teacher supports the
construction, but not the transmission of knowledge, and students take a lot of
111
decisions or even full responsibility for their own learning (Kirk, McDonald
and O'Sullivan, 2006; Mosston and Ashworth, 2002).
The environment of collaboration and negotiation that is encouraged,
serves to lead students to think critically, exposing them to a social context
that encourages independent learning. Students glean higher satisfaction from
the learning process and gain exposure to higher-level critical thinking, via a
social and cultural environment. During these teaching styles students have the
opportunity to create new views of their own accord which are associated with
the previous knowledge,that leads self-made conclusions and a new cognitive
structure (Byra, 2006).
These styles seem to promote the development of cooperation and
effective communication between students, as well as develop critical thinking
and social responsibility (Byra and Marks, 1993; Digelidis, 2007). Under
certain circumstances, researchers have reported that the reciprocal teaching
style is more effective in fostering student learning than the traditional
methods of instruction (Anania, 1983).
Studies have shown that reciprocal teaching style promotes cognitive and
motor skill performance (Byra, 2006), a high percentage of students enjoy the
opportunity to teach each other (Morgan, Kingston and Sproule, 2005) and
feel more comfortable by receiving feedback from their friends (Byra and
Marks, 1993). The reciprocal teaching style seems to be more effective: (a) in
the first stage of acquisition of motor skills or cognitive stage where
immediate feedback is critical, and (b) in enhancing social interaction and
group cohesion (Byra, 2004; Ernst and Byra, 1998; Mosston and Ashworth,
2002). Other researchers report that in studies that have been conducted in
reading and math; peer-tutoring seems to be very effective (Ernst and
Byra,1998; Iskala, Vauras and Lehtinen, 2004). Such approaches influence
learner interest, helping them to engage in the same or similar activities in the
future (Himberg, Hutchinson and Roussell, 2003; Lee, 1997).
Applied within physical education seetings; the reciprocal style of
teaching means that students are paired; and while the one learner performs a
motor task (the active participant), the other (the observer) watches and
provides feedback to his classmate based on information presented on a
criteria sheet. These criteria sheets are crucial to the implementation of this
teaching style, as studies showed the effectiveness of the reciprocal style of
teaching in developing cognitive knowledge of motor skills (Ernst and Byra,
1998), and positive effects in social and affective domains (Byra and Marks,
1993). These sheets also facilitated peer assessment in a cooperative-learning
strategy in sports such as in handball (Barrett, 2005) in basic racquet strokes
112
(Johnson and Ward, 2001) and tennis (Iserbyt, Madou, Vergauwen and Behets,
2011). In the reciprocal style of teaching, specific feedback to the skill cues of
the task is provided by the observer immediately. So, students learn to give
and receive feedback with a peer; and they expand their socialization skills.
Students learn to perform and at the same time, analyze movements by
observing the performance of their peer. This performance is then compared
against the criteria, in order to give feedback to the active participant, who can
then draw conclusions about the effectiveness of his/her performance
(Mosston and Ashworth, 2002).
Researchers investigated the effectiveness of student activated teaching
styles in developing metacognition in secondary school (Chatzipanteli et al., in
press) but how the reciprocal teaching style could enhance metacogntive
behavior in younger students has not been researched. According to Mosston
and Ashworth (2002) different teaching styles could achieve different learning
objectives (Wu and Huang, 2007).
Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effectiveness
of the reciprocal teaching style in promoting metacognition in early childhood.
The more specific purpose was to investigate the effectiveness of reciprocal
teaching style in the development of metacognitive behavior in physical
education classes. It was hypothesized that reciprocal teaching style could
enhance metacognitive behavior, helping students to become more
independent as learners and sporting performers.
METHOD
Participants and Settings
A total of 38 students, aged 7 years old sampled from two classes
participated in this study. Students were divided into two groups: (i) the
experimental group consisted of 20 students (9 boys and 11 girls) and (ii) the
control group of 18 students (8 boys and 10 girls). Consent for student
participation was provided by parents or guardians.
Procedure
The students in the experimental group were taught by a physical educator
who was trained in the appropriate use of the reciprocal style of teaching. In
113
addition, the teacher had previously taught a number of lessons to elementaryaged students using this teaching style. For eight 40-minute lessons teachers in
the intervention classes used the reciprocal teaching style during the execution
of physical education activities. Within the control group the command style,
was used.
Student Pairings
An equal number of girls and boys were assigned to pairing conditions.
Pairing by same gender was utilized because the students had worked with the
same partners before.
Treatment
First of all, the teacher used cones to mark where pairs could practice
safely. Before practice, the teacher instructed all observers to take a criteria
sheet and look at the cartoons. The students who were able to read were
encouraged to read audibly. Students were paired; one student from each pair,
formed a group who had to perform the physical education activities. The
other students were instructed to observe and evaluate the active participant's
performance.
Next, the teacher used a definite signal to start the lesson. When the
learners began to play, the observers checked the active participant's
execution, in accordance with criteria, and when the teacher stopped the
activity with his signal, the observers provided feedback based on criteria that
were presented on a task sheet. Afterwards, the pairs reversed their roles.
Throughout the events stated above, the teacher was observing observers
feedback and the active participant's performance taking note of interaction
and collaboration between the pairs. Each lesson began with a warm-up (5 to
10 minutes). Following this, the teacher explained and demonstrated the
activities to be completed, and reviewed the roles of the active participant's
and observers.
A Physical Activity Sample

Name of activity: circles and squares
114
The students are divided into pairs. One student from each pair performs
the activity and the other assesses his peer.
The teacher cuts small shapes of paper in circles (red color) and squares
(green color). He tapes shapes on the floor in the movement area in a small
distance between them. He asks children to move around the room. When he
claps hands, children have to stand on one foot and get a body shape in the red
circles and balance on one foot and one hand getting a body shape in the green
squares. Their peers are given criteria sheets where a student/cartoon stands on
one foot in the red circle, etc. The peer checks if the performance of his/her
couple is correct.
Students check how many times their classmates perform the right balance
in the right shape.
Evaluation: The educator checks if the preschoolers evaluated their
classmates effectively.
(Were your friend standing on one foot in the red circle? How many
times?).
(Were your friend standing on one foot and one hand in the green square?
How many times?).
Interview: A pre and post-lesson interview was conducted to discover

students metacogntive behavior, in other words how the students performed
the activities. Following each of the eight lessons, students were instructed to
respond to four basic questions. In the post-lesson interview one more question
was added in order to find out how the reciprocal teaching style helped
students from the experimental group.
When you have to perform the activity do you think firstly how to act?
(planning).
When you play do you observe your classmates movements, maybe to
find for mistakes or a good reaction...if yes for what reason do you do
this action? (monitoring).
Does it help you when you observe and find your classmates
mistakes if yesfor what reason? (evaluation).
When you have to play the same game again do you change something in
your movements-actions or do you just play? (reflection).
The fifth question: Did you like to observe your classmates
performance?..if yes What did you like firstly; to be the observer or the
active partner? for what reason?.
115
Assessment of Metacogntive Behavior

The interviews were taped and the audiotapes were transcribed.
Afterwards the judgments of two experts were used to code the participants
responses and students were categorized into three metacognitive levels.
Low metacognitive level: Students rarely think firstly how to act. When
they play they rarely try to observe if they make mistakes. When they have to
play the same game again they rarely modify their movements or actions
(students use none or just one metacogntive strategy).
Medium metacognitive level: Students sometimes think firstly how to act.
They sometimes observe their mistakes when they perform an activity. When
they have to play the same game again they sometimes change their
movements or actions (students use two startegies).
High metacognitive level: Students very often think firstly how to act.
They very often observe their mistakes and they try to change them when
they have to play the same game again (students use more than two
strategies).
RESULTS
The interviews were transcribed verbatim and 28% of them were coded in
accordance with the strategies used by the students. This process was carried
out by two trained coders. Students were then categorized into three
metacognitive levels. Cohens kappa ( = .86) indicated high overall interrater
reliability.
Descriptive statistical analysis showed that before the intervention
program, both groups were categorized into the low metacognitive level on
the basis that all students used none or just one metacognitive strategy. After
the intervention program-from the control group: 28,6% of students were
categorized into the medium metacognitve level and 71,4% of them into the
low metacognitve level. From the experimental group: 77,2% of students were
categorized into the high metacognitive level and 22,8 % of them into the
medium metacognitive level.
116
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of reciprocal
teaching style in the development of metacognitive behavior in physical
education classes. The results from data analysis revealed the importance of
such a teaching style in the promotion and development of metacognitive
behavior. In addition, given that the data were collected from early childhood
students in their actual classroom settings, we can conclude that learners must
be positioned at the centre of the learning process. A finding that observed by
other reserachers (Anderson, 1999; Chatzipanteli et al., in press). The results
indicate that the use of the reciprocal teaching style in the classroom has
important implications for the use of metacognitive strategies.
The findings for the statistical analysis indicate that the experimental
group, compared to the control group used more metacogntive strategies such
as planning, monitoring, evaluating and reflection. This may be due to the
advantages gained from the reciprocal teaching style. Separately, students
reported that criteria sheets which were used in the reciprocal teaching style
helped them to increase knowledge via observing the cartoons, or reading the
special cues in order to execute the activity more effectively. They claimed
that it was more powerful for them to observe or independently read; the
specific elements of each activity, as opposed to watching or listening to their
educator. Many of them said: I understand better what to do when I watch the
cartoons.... So, they learned how to execute sport-specific activities with
greater effectivity.
Additionally, students from the experimental group reported that they
liked to be observers and evaluate the performance of their peer. The observers
learned to perform, and simultaneously analyze their peer's movements
through their observations. The comparison of their performance against the
criteria, and subsequent feedback given to their active partner, helped them to
draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the performance. So the observer
understood the learning process involved within the task and this mobilised
them to play more effectively when it came to be their turn to be active. Many
of them said: I like to observe my classmates performance because I can
then try not to do the same when its my turn.. or when I made a mistake I
watched the cartoons with my classmate again, to stop other mistakes next
time... The observation and peer-evaluation which existed in the teaching
style enabled students to evaluate and judge their peers performances in order
to learn from their mistakes. So, the criteria sheets within the reciprocal style
guided them to test and reorganize their performance using the most
117
appropriate movements, which in turn allowed them to set goals and plan their
performance design.
Finally, the feeling of independence and the feedback from their friends
made learning more comfortable and intrinsically motivating. By implication,
the environment which was created diverted away from what is seen as a
typically traditional learning environment. It was more enjoyable and
meaningful, and this had a positive impact on student engagement. Our
findings support the notion that teaching styles, such as reciprocal, create an
environment more conducive to learning, which has a positive effect on moral
development (Byra and Marks, 1993) and students achievement and attitudes
(Patmanoglou, Mantis, Digelidis, Tsigilis and Papapetrou, 2008; Topping,
1998).
In contrast, students from the control group conceded that they didnt pay
attention to their mistakes, and they performed the same actions when playing
the same game again. They also stated that they were dispositionally inclined
toward winning.
As educators, we have the obligation to use teaching styles that enable
metacognitive expansion. We must be flexible, and it's important to know how
to use student-activated styles, in order to help our students to become
productive and autonomous learners for their entire life.
It would be fruitful and productive to find out which other studentactivated teaching style has impact in developing metacogntivite behavior in
early childhood in different subjects.
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INDEX
A
abstraction, 22, 86
academic achievement, vii, 1, 6, 9, 11
academic learning, 4, 11
academic performance, 2
academic progress, 110
academic success, vii, 1, 5, 9, 10
access, 18, 38, 41, 61
acquisition of knowledge, 96
action research, 63
adaptation, 95
ADHD, 106
adjustment, 4
Administration for Children and Families,
12
administrators, 77
adolescents, 106, 107, 118
adults, 2, 7, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 81, 95, 96
affirming, 16
age, ix, 3, 4, 9, 16, 17, 18, 22, 30, 39, 42,
68, 69, 75, 91, 93, 95, 96, 98, 105, 110
American Psychological Association, 33
APA, 33
apples, 22, 34
Aristotle, 67
arithmetic, 21
Asia, 63
assessment, vii, 9, 12, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 22,
25, 74, 119
atmosphere, 62
attitudes, 24, 25, 38, 117
auditory stimuli, 102, 104
avoidance, 6
awareness, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 16, 21, 23, 24, 30,
38, 47, 62, 79, 94, 95, 97, 99, 105, 107,
108, 110, 119
B
barriers, 84
base, 12, 60
behaviors, 3, 4, 5, 7, 31, 96, 97, 98
benefits, 2, 41, 49, 62, 71, 84
birds, 48, 50, 53, 54, 62, 80
body shape, 104, 114
bottom-up, 72
brain, 57, 90
brainstorming, 79
buffalo, 107
burn, 103
C
caregivers, 3
cartoon, 101, 102, 114
case study, 44
catalyst, 46, 61
categorization, 79
cattle, 42, 50
122
Index
certification, 46
challenges, ix, 3, 38, 51, 59, 62, 65, 68, 75,
76, 78, 84, 87
chemical, 79
Chicago, 1, 10, 11
child development, 56, 87
childhood, vii, viii, ix, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14,
22, 29, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 45, 52, 55, 57,
61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 73, 74, 75, 88, 90, 92,
93, 100, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 112,
116, 117, 118, 119
China, 39
cities, 75
citizens, 69
civic life, 91
civilization, 80, 82
classes, ix, 106, 107, 109, 112, 113, 116,
118
classroom, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 29, 64,
65, 69, 80, 84, 85, 86, 90, 106, 116
classroom environment, 6
classroom management, 7
classroom settings, 116
climate, 2, 7, 8, 81, 107, 108, 119
clothing, 78, 79
cognition, vii, 1, 2, 6, 9, 11, 110
cognitive abilities, vii, 1, 2, 96
cognitive activity, 15
cognitive development, 3, 4, 5, 9, 87
cognitive dimension, 29
cognitive level, 23, 71, 72
cognitive performance, 28, 29
cognitive perspective, 14
cognitive process, vii, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 94
cognitive processing, vii, 13
cognitive skills, vii, 2, 5, 13, 94, 95
collaboration, 111, 113
colleges, 119
color, 34, 35, 101, 114
commercial, 42
communication, 82, 83, 111
community(s), 41, 42, 44, 57, 62
complexity, 71
composition, 105
comprehension, 95, 110
concept-based model, viii, 68

conception, 17, 31
conceptual level, ix, 68, 75
conceptual teaching, ix, 68, 71, 80, 84, 85,
87
conceptual understanding, vii, viii, 67, 68,
73, 85
conceptualization, 9, 72, 84
conference, 45, 46
confidentiality, 45
conscious knowledge, 95
consciousness, 55
consensus, 43, 51
consent, 45, 89
construction, 14, 110
contradiction, 86
control group, ix, 7, 23, 109, 112, 113, 115,
116, 117
conversations, 53
cooking, 60
cooperation, 5, 79, 82, 99, 104, 111
cooperative learning, 117
coordination, 102, 103, 104
correlation(s), 16, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29
correlation coefficient, 27, 28
cosmos, 92
cost, 42
course content, 75
crabs, 43
creativity, 70, 89, 92, 99, 104
critical thinking, 99, 111
cues, 5, 112, 116
culture, 97
curricula, viii, 6, 8, 67, 69, 70, 89
curriculum, viii, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 39, 41, 56,
62, 64, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76,
77, 85, 88, 90, 91, 92
Cyprus, 90
D
data analysis, 80, 116
data collection, 44
decay, 50
declarative knowledge, 70, 71, 94
Index
decomposition, 50
deep learning, 76
deficit, 38, 64
democracy, 91
Department of Education, 91
Department of Health and Human Services,
12
dependent variable, 21
depth, 44, 53, 70, 75, 87
detection, 95
developmental milestones, 4
deviation, 23
direct measure, 30, 107
disaster, 60
disorder, 38, 64
dosage, 7
draft, 45, 88
drainage, 43
drawing, 19, 20, 28, 29, 34, 44, 51, 69
dyes, 79
E
early childhood curriculum, viii, 68, 73, 74,
75, 92
early childhood education, vii, viii, 2, 37,
41, 52, 62, 64, 90, 106, 118
early childhood teachers, viii, 37, 67, 73, 74,
75
economics, 91
education, vii, viii, ix, 1, 2, 11, 14, 16, 17,
37, 38, 41, 42, 49, 52, 56, 58, 61, 62, 63,
64, 67, 68, 69, 73, 90, 91, 93, 94, 106,
108, 118
educational system, 88
educators, 9, 39, 57, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 100,
105, 117
elementary school, 10, 11, 32, 89
emergency, 7
emotion, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12
emotionality, 5, 32
empathy, 12, 38
encouragement, 8, 20
energy, 59
England, 38, 46, 61, 63
123
environment(s), vii, viii, 7, 34, 37, 38, 39,

40, 41, 42, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 59,
60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 81, 96, 97, 99,
111, 117
environmental awareness, 60, 61
environmental change, 38
environmental factors, 38
environmental protection, 48, 55, 81
environmental sustainability, 38, 57
equality, 79
equipment, 57, 60, 61
estrangement, 39
ethical issues, 44, 45
Europe, 38, 46, 60
European Union, 91
evidence, viii, 6, 8, 16, 19, 22, 31, 67, 69,
71, 74
evolution, 79, 83
exclusion, 45
execution, ix, 15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 30,
109, 113
executive function, 7, 9
executive functioning, 9
exercise, 21, 81, 108
expertise, 71, 76, 118
exposure, 50, 111
expressiveness, 8
expressivity, 12
extracts, 50, 51
F
facilitators, 75
fact-based approach, viii, 67
factor analysis, 23, 26, 29
factual knowledge, viii, 67, 69, 70, 71, 85,
86
factual teaching, vii, ix, 68, 70, 71, 85, 87
fairness, 45
false belief, 9
families, 10, 11, 58
feelings, ix, 3, 20, 23, 24, 25, 54, 93, 97, 98
first aid, 61
fishing, 43
flexibility, 40
Index
124
flowers, 48, 54, 83
food, 60, 79, 80
formation, 82
foundations, vii, 1, 31
France, 64
freedom, 39, 40, 51, 55
functional approach, 63
funding, 58
fungi, 43, 48
fungus, 51
G
general education, 88
geography, 91
Germany, 39
gifted, 105
glue, 71
grades, 5, 18
grass, 56
Greece, 67, 75, 81, 93, 107, 109, 119
group work, 50, 106
growth, 16, 32, 38, 49, 50, 62, 71, 108
guidance, 52, 98, 105
guidelines, 6, 58
image(s), 72, 94
imagination, 98
imitation, 99
improvements, 5, 7
in transition, 106
income, 11
independence, 49, 52, 78, 99, 117
individuality, 89
individualization, 99
individuals, ix, 44, 94
induction, 58
infants, 96
inferences, 87
information retrieval, 92
informed consent, 44
insects, 53, 55, 62, 79
instructional activities, 84
instructional methods, 89
integrity, 91
intentionality, 85
intervention, ix, 7, 9, 10, 12, 17, 30, 106,
108, 109, 113, 115, 118
intrinsic motivation, 98, 100
islands, 81
J
H
harmony, 79, 80
higher education, 33
history, 54, 69, 88, 91
horse manure, 48
horses, 42
human, 11, 39, 69, 71, 78, 79, 80, 81
human body, 78, 79
human brain, 71
human cerebral cortex, 11
hygiene, 79
hypothesis, 29
I
ideal, 62, 90
identification, 9
jumping, 55, 101

justification, 20
K
kindergarten(s), 5, 9, 11, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45,
46, 49, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 74,
104
kinetics, 118
knowledge level, ix, 68, 75
L
landscape, 55
language development, 4
language skills, 4
languages, 91
Index
lead, 52, 56, 91, 95, 100, 105, 111
leadership, 49, 51, 52, 62, 91
learners, 9, 71, 72, 91, 95, 99, 100, 110,
112, 113, 116, 117, 118
learning behavior, 2, 7
learning disabilities, 108
learning environment, 5, 77, 117, 119
learning outcomes, 77
learning process, 14, 15, 71, 86, 94, 95, 97,
99, 110, 111, 116
learning skills, ix, 93, 110
learning task, 94
legislation, 59
lens, 85
lesson plan, viii, 68, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81,
83, 85, 86, 89
light, 45
literacy, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 64, 74, 106,
108
locomotor, 101
long-term retention, 69
love, 52, 79
lying, 43
M
man, 59
management, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 41, 56, 95, 100
materials, 83
mathematical achievement, 9
mathematics, 5, 73, 80, 88, 91
matter, 75, 85, 86, 92
measurements, 21
mediation, 9, 108
memorizing, 70
memory, 4, 9, 70, 95, 96, 97, 108, 119
memory capacity, 4
mental activity, 14
mental model, 73, 86
mental processes, 87
mental state(s), 95, 96
messages, 77, 80
metacognition, vii, ix, 19, 32, 93, 94, 95, 97,
105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112, 118, 119
metacognitive knowledge, 94, 95
125
metacognitive skills, ix, 14, 93, 94, 96, 97,

98
methodology, 68
Microsoft, 76
Microsoft Word, 76
military, 78, 79
Ministry of Education, 41, 64, 75, 91
models, ix, 68
modifications, 60
modules, 91
momentum, 9
moral development, 117
motivation, 5, 15, 32, 39, 106, 107, 108,
118, 119
motor actions, 19
motor behavior, 23
motor skills, 111
motor task, 111
museums, 83
music, 104
N
natural environments, vii, viii, 37, 38, 39,
40, 42
natural resources, 61
negative emotions, 4
negotiating, 49
negotiation, 111
nerve, 54
Netherlands, 90, 118
New South Wales, 70, 88
New Zealand, 38, 41, 42, 45, 46, 64
nutrition, 79
O
obstacles, ix, 68, 85
octopus, 50
officials, 74
OH, 90
opportunities, 8, 38, 40, 49, 50, 62
organ, 14
organize, 72, 78, 83, 99, 110
Index
126
ownership, 49, 51, 52, 62
P
Pacific, 63
pairing, 49, 113, 118
parallel, 43, 101
parental consent, 45
parents, 8, 12, 42, 43, 44, 58, 59, 61, 83,
112
participants, 14, 59, 62, 75, 77, 81, 84, 86,
115
pedagogy, viii, 37, 41, 42, 49, 51, 75
peer assessment, 111
peer tutoring, 118
performers, 112
personal control, 14
personal learning, 98
personal life, 46
personal relations, 45
personal relationship, 45
phonology, 4
photographs, 44, 50
physical activity(s), ix, 93, 98, 103, 109
physical education, ix, 93, 98, 100, 106,
107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116,
117, 118, 119
pigs, 50
plants, 53, 62, 81
platform, 43
playing, 42, 43, 117
policy, vii, 1, 9, 42, 57
policy makers, 9
portfolio, 74
positive emotions, 99
positive relationship, 5
practical knowledge, 108
preparation, 98, 99
preschool, vii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 16, 33,
46, 104, 108
preschool children, 12, 33, 104, 108
preschoolers, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 98,
101, 102, 103, 104, 108, 114
preservice teachers, 107
prevention, 9, 11, 80
primary school, 43, 56, 63, 104

principles, 57, 69, 70, 72, 73
problem behavior, 32
problem solving, 7, 33, 88, 95, 96, 106, 108
problem-solving, 6, 7, 70, 97, 108
problem-solving behavior, 97
problem-solving skills, 6
procedural knowledge, 70, 94
professional development, viii, 57, 58, 62,
68, 73, 75
professionals, 22
profit, 42
project, 7, 74
prosocial behavior, 5
psychological problems, 89
psychologist, 11
psychology, 10, 12, 32, 63, 105, 119
public policy, 9
Q
qualifications, 41
questioning, 97, 100
R
reactions, 8
reactivity, 18, 22
reading, 4, 5, 30, 44, 46, 58, 95, 107, 111,
116
reality, 16
reasoning, 88, 95
recall, 96
recall information, 96
reciprocal teaching, vii, ix, 98, 99, 100, 105,
109, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116
recognition, 8
reform, 108
regulations, 58
rejection, 53, 60
relevance, 89
reliability, vii, 13, 22, 115
requirements, 95
researchers, 9, 20, 40, 110, 111
Index
resilience, 49
resistance, 40, 96
resources, 40, 42, 86
response, 18, 19, 20, 21, 38, 39, 88
rights, 79
risk(s), viii, 7, 10, 37, 38, 41, 47, 49, 52, 53,
54, 55, 57, 59, 62, 65, 99
risk-taking, viii, 37, 38, 49, 62
roots, 83
routines, 77
rules, 3, 4, 40, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104,
105
S
safety, 38, 52, 55, 64
scarcity, 6, 17
schemata, 14
scholarship, 46
school, viii, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17,
18, 32, 38, 39, 46, 64, 65, 67, 70, 73, 75,
83, 89, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 104, 108, 110,
112
school achievement, 4, 12
school adjustment, 5, 11
school failure, 9
school learning, 32
school performance, 2, 104
school success, 10, 12
science, 8, 11, 30, 50, 69, 88, 106, 108
seasonal changes, 48, 50
seedlings, 48
SEL, vii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
self-assessment, 20
self-awareness, 2, 4, 5
self-confidence, 50
self-control, 5, 6, 12, 98
self-efficacy, 5
self-improvement, 94
self-monitoring, 14, 95
self-reflection, 97
self-regulated learning, vii, 13, 14, 16, 17,
31, 33, 108
self-regulation, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17,
31, 32, 33, 99, 108
127
senses, 78, 79
services, 41, 42
shape, 39, 46, 96, 114
shoreline, 43
showing, 28, 72, 83
signs, 23
skill acquisition, 118
social behavior, 7
social cognition, 5
social competence, 5, 10, 51
social context, 11, 111
social development, 8, 62
social interactions, 4
social learning, viii, 7, 37
social learning theory, 7
social norms, 3, 4
social relations, 5
social relationships, 5
social responsibility, 111
social sciences, 89
social skills, 47, 49, 50, 99
social support, 11
social-emotional competencies, vii, 1, 2, 4,
9
social-emotional learning, vii, 1, 2, 7, 8, 10
socialization, 112, 118
society, 64, 68
solution, 100
South Korea, 70
Spain, 13, 18, 31
special education, 18
speech, 4, 81
spending, viii, 37, 38, 60
spirituality, 56
sports program, ix, 93, 98
Spring, 91
stability, 30
stakeholders, 9
standard deviation, 23
state(s), 20, 23, 43, 50, 91, 95
statistics, 25, 26
stimulation, 20, 25
strategy use, 15, 21, 26, 29, 30
structure, 12, 17, 52, 70, 75, 76, 111
structuring, 89
Index
128
student motivation, 72
student teacher, 90
student-centered teaching, vii, ix, 93, 98,
105, 110
style(s), v, ix, 32, 93, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102,
103, 104, 105, 109, 111, 112, 114, 116,
117, 118, 119
supervision, 59
sustainability, 38, 47, 48, 55, 61, 63, 64, 65
Sustainable Development, 63
Sweden, 39
symmetry, 79, 80
T
task demands, 96
task performance, 15, 17, 28, 95, 110
teacher support, 110
teacher training, 7, 87
teaching experience, 53, 75
teaching process, vii, 13
teaching strategies, vii, 1, 2
teams, 62, 83
techniques, 7, 30, 86, 118
technology, 91, 119
tensions, 55
testing, 100
think critically, 111
thoughts, ix, 3, 19, 92, 93, 97, 98, 99
top-down, 44
toys, 80, 84
traditions, 63
training, 18, 22, 30, 46, 73, 75, 77, 80, 84,
87, 105
transmission, 72, 110
treatment, 23
trial, 10, 56
tutoring, 111
U
UK, 108
UN, 63
UNESCO, 64
universities, 119
urban, 11
USA, 1, 105, 106, 107, 118
V
variables, 18, 21, 23, 25, 30
variations, 7
vein, 51, 59, 69
vision, 47, 56, 57
visual stimuli, 103
visual stimulus, 102
vocabulary, 4, 7, 11, 68, 96
vote, 51
voting, 43, 51
W
walking, 43, 61
Washington, 12, 33, 88, 89
watches, 111
water, 47
wear, 80
well-being, 2
wilderness, 42, 44
woodland, 46
working memory, 2, 4, 9, 96, 108
workload, 57
Y
young people, 97

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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD