Thinking & Learning of Children, CDP Study Notes, Material

Thinking & Learning of Children

It wouldn’t be right to say that a child only learns from school the reality is that a child learns from anyone or anything he/she interacts with. The child starts learning from the time he/she is born. The interaction with the outside world starts from that time. He/she starts to grasp things through sense organs and after that, the child slowly starts to recognize those things. A child learns a lot from the outside world as well as from the family before he/she starts to go to school. According to Piaget, there are four different stages of learning or development are:

1. Sensorimotor stage (0 to 2 years of age): At this stage, a child is busy discovering the things around him through his senses. And when the motor skills of a child develop a child starts crawling. At this stage, a child learns both with the help of motor senses and the physical environment.

2. Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years of age): During this stage, children engage themselves in role-play activities, they don’t understand concrete logic and show ego-centrism. They don’t consider the views of others, etc.

3. Concrete-Operation Period (7 to 10 years of age): At this stage, the child begins to use data mentally, takes the information at hand, and starts to compare and contrast. At this stage, a child thinks concretely and is capable of logical thoughts.

4. Formal Operational Stage (11 to 15 years of age): At this stage cognitive ability of children develops now they start thinking logically and in an abstract form. They also develop problem-solving abilities.

The Basis of the Thinking Process in Children:

• Expression: Suppose a child perceives an object and situation in its physical and psychological environment then through these objects a child increases his knowledge and also develops his thinking.
• Fascination: A child develops a fascination for increasing his learning even if the object is not observable.
• Conceptualization: In conceptualization, a child develops his concepts about various concepts like weight, time, distance, numbers, etc.
• Good or bad experiences: A child learns a lot through his/her own experiences. He/she concludes whether something is good or bad from those experiences.
• Curiosity: Children develop new ways of thinking because of their interests and desires. So, to advance their learning, the family should encourage them.
• Copying: Under this element, children learn from imitating and copying the action of others.
• Logic and reasoning: Logic and reasoning are the highest level of thinking and develop according to the knowledge of the child’s language development.

Attempt CDP Quizzes: Attempt Here

Suggestion’s to improve the thinking of the children:

Following are the suggestions followed by parents and teachers to develop the thinking skills of the children:

1. Children should be allowed to develop their interests according to their choice and parent should encourage them.

2. Some work should be given to the children according to their capability to inculcate a sense of responsibility.

3. If children are unable to solve any problem then they should be taught to discuss that with their parents and teachers.

4. Parents and teachers should create a learning environment for the children to enhance their learning skills.

5. Children should be motivated to think of a way out whenever stuck in a situation. This would enhance their thinking power.

Why Children Fail to Achieve Success in Schools:

We know that not every child bears the same calibre and may not be brilliant in every aspect. Some children fail in school and there can be ‘n’ several reasons behind it. It can be fear of being afraid, bored, confused, or due to poor and ineffective methods used by the teachers. Some major explanations for the failure  are as follows:

Expressions of failure: Every child starts his school with full zeal but when he/she gets poor grades in an exam, he/she feels isolated from the class and lags behind all the other students. This downfall in student performance, if not checked timely leads to dropping out of school. Some of the reasons for the failure of the students are:

1. Fear: It can be seen that sometimes fear of failure and humiliation becomes the main reason for the failure either created by the parent or teacher after listening to the answer of the child to various questions.

2. Boredom: If the interest of the child doesn’t match with the task assigned by the teachers and the teacher wanted a child to perform the same task repetitively then the child feels bored with school life and wanted to escape it by any means possible.

3. Confusion: A child faces this condition due to contradictions between what he learns at school and what he learns at home. And the child gets confused with answers and tries to ask the same question to the teacher and the teacher often is not able to resolve the query, unlike their parent. After some time, the child may stop asking questions to resolve their doubt in school and this leads to poor performance in academics.

Solve CTET & TET Mock Test 2022 to Boost Your Preparation

4. Lack of motivation: If a child feels demotivated in school it would affect his/her performance. Factors like lack of communication with teachers, unfavourable class environment, inattentiveness in academics, etc are the root cause.

5. Poor teaching strategies: The teaching strategy often may not match the child’s interests and capabilities and these strategies create a fear of humiliation. As a result, the child develops a defence mechanism that results in searching the ways to avoid teachers’ questions. This problem deprives the child of school.

Ways to Avoid Failure:

1. The parent should involve in both the matters of school and family. The parent should try to make a stable environment for their children. They should also try to help them with the homework, in explaining new concepts taught in schools and other matters.

2. Both parent and teacher should help the child in developing their skills such as reading, writing, mathematical, social, etc. which will eventually prepare the child for future challenges.

3. Both parent and teacher should motivate the child by providing constant feedback. They should be taught that they have to learn from their failure and mastery over things can be gained only through continuous practice and revision.