She is worth pursuing, the fabulous Alison Gopnik

Hope you are all taking time to listen to this TED talk by Alison Gopnik suggested in the last blog. Here are some more reasons to listen to her if you are not yet convinced!

 

This video also has an ‘Interactive transcript’,this means you can click on any part of this transcript and the video will start playing at that point! Here is a little of the transcript below. Go on to the TED.com site and try this out!

What is going on in this baby's mind? If you'd asked people this 30 years ago, most people, including psychologists, would have said that this baby was irrational, illogical, egocentric -- that he couldn't take the perspective of another person or understand cause and effect. In the last 20 years, developmental science has completely overturned that picture. So in some ways, we think that this baby's thinking is like the thinking of the most brilliant scientists.

Let me give you just one example of this. One thing that this baby could be thinking about, that could be going on in his mind, is trying to figure out what's going on in the mind of that other baby. After all, one of the things that's hardest for all of us to do is to figure out what other people are thinking and feeling.

And maybe the hardest thing of all is to figure out that what other people think and feel isn't actually exactly like what we think and feel. Anyone who's followed politics can testify to how hard that is for some people to get. We wanted to know if babies and young children could understand this really profound thing about other people. Now the question is: How could we ask them? Babies, after all, can't talk, and if you ask a three year-old to tell you what he thinks, what you'll get is a beautiful stream of consciousness monologue about ponies and birthdays and things like that. So how do we actually ask them the question?

You will also find fabulous comments from others about the blog, here is one from Robert Johnson

The idea that we should teach more (and babysit less) in very early childhood is, IMHO, totally correct. I have observed and believe that nearly all children are born "geniuses" and we teach them to be "dumb". Dumb in the manner of parroting and repeating, often by rote, what is taught. We grade children on what they regurgitate rather then their ability to observe and think. I totally agree that teachers of early age should have more training and more money. Children are brilliant individuals and it is a shame to waste (for the most part) that potential."

Also have a look at Alison Gopnik's website  http://www.alisongopnik.com/

On this website are a number of interesting links to her books, papers, research and a range of other videos to listen to.

Alison Gopnik: What do babies think? | Video on TED.com

Have a look at this great and very entertaining talk of Alison Gopnik on "What do babies think?"

"Babies and young children are like the R&D division of the human species," says psychologist Alison Gopnik. Her research explores the sophisticated intelligence-gathering and decision-making that babies are really doing when they play.

Alison Gopnik: What do babies think? | Video on TED.com

If you want to learn more about Alison Gopnik's reasearch, you might want to read her article: Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think or her book The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us about Truth, Love and the Meaning of Life.

Go, the Rugby, Go

We got up close and personal with the Namibian and Fijian players at their game at Rotorua International Stadium a few weeks ago. I was struck with the players ability to get up and face another tackle again and again. And... to run fast into another tackle just after having the magic water applied.

Hawaiki, 3 1/2, and Pipiana, nearly 2, play rugby. They have balls and some black tshirts and ALL BLACKS socks!! Hawaiki said, "I am going to be an ALL BLACK." I replied, "Oh yes and I will come and watch every game you play - it is such a lot of hard work to be an All Black and you have to do lots of practice." He nodded. I said, "Pipiana could be an All Black too". Hawaiki looked at me, the disdain and disbelief apparent on his face. "No," he said "she can be a ballerina." I gave the lecture on the women's rugby team, the Black Ferns, who have won four world cups. I know, I know, I have some work to do there! and on me too - I am not sure the lecture was the best teaching tool with a 3 1/2 year old.

Hawaiki and Pipiana play rugby with Nana. I chase them and tackle them, push and lean on them, and try very hard! to get the ball off them. They wrestle and roll, pick themselves up and run again. Pipiana sometimes falls to the ground and feigns a tackle just before I make contact and lies there "injured". I know, I know, I have some work to do there too! We play this until Nana is tired!

Last week I visited an early childhood centre and went on the 'Farm Trip' with them. We had a lovely time and lots of learning happened there for us all. They enjoyed the experience of the farm and the animals. Lambs and chickens to hold and feed are opportunities for lots of dipositional learning. We shared a birthday party with a three year old and her family. After lunch some balls appeared and it was all on. Well an expansive learning environment just appeared. The invitations and provocations were all there. Space, grass and balls.

We played rugby. Teachers and children -18months to five - were on the field. The teachers chased and tackled, and ran and refereed. I, a strange adult, tackled one little girl- yes I know a teaching intention risk that I thought I may have got very wrong as she lay on the ground and was unhappy. Another teacher came over and we supported her recovery - no magic water - just magic kindness and care - teaching about how to recover and be resilient.

And so... I have been thinking about the learning that happens with 'rugby' play. Or any play like it really. I take liberty with Margaret Carr's statement now and say 'It is not about the rugby, the running or the popular culture, it is about that activity of the child's own choice being the vehicle for the learning, and for the dispositional learning we value most'.

Learning I value such as;

• trying something new or practicing something familiar - being involved and courageousness - some children watched for quite sometime before they were ready to join in - but join in they did.
• being brave and persistent, picking yourself up even after a hard emotional or physical knock, asking for help or having another go and keeping going.
• helping a friend or care for the toddler who has joined the four year olds in the ruck, or giving the ball to the chaser who now wants to be the runner.
• being delighted and happy at the chase.
• being satisfied and reflective about the outcomes.
• being resilient. Playing the game another day or choosing another kind of game and learning something new.
• knowing that these are learning strategies that will work with other new learning.

This learning will take children far beyond knowledge and skills, it will take children in to a 'possible self' and a future we know nothing of.

A future that involves winning or losing or getting badly injured and maintaining your strength of character.

Go the All Blacks Go! and Go our passion and pleasure in joining in with children and following their learning leads.

Kathryn