Painting is one of the children's interest especially messy play. Most children
love to feel the paint and later on it covers the clothes, hair color, face painting,
and if they free from supervising they will explore and experiment on any object close by.
I do believe that painting is a Technology even though is non- technology.
Technology is also a creative and a purposeful activity aimed at
meeting needs and opportunities through the development of products,
systems or environment (Cousins, Judith. 1998).
S
At our centre we had a round white trough we put water half way and ask children to choose their own color and let them pour into the trough. They were exciting and can't wait to feel the paint. We just leave it and see what will be their idea next, and this boy with a bottle of water tipped into his own color. The other friend pointed to the water and said, " it's gone" the other girl said, it's moving away" but one child just came over and splash the water. Now the color spread and mixed with water, I asked them what happen to the color and where does it gone" one child said "no more color and the water is blue now." Te whariki stated that children use a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore their world. Children develop confidence working with others to explore the environment and make sense of the social and physical world."(Ministry of Education, 1996).
At our centre we had a round white trough we put water half way and ask children to choose their own color and let them pour into the trough. They were exciting and can't wait to feel the paint. We just leave it and see what will be their idea next, and this boy with a bottle of water tipped into his own color. The other friend pointed to the water and said, " it's gone" the other girl said, it's moving away" but one child just came over and splash the water. Now the color spread and mixed with water, I asked them what happen to the color and where does it gone" one child said "no more color and the water is blue now." Te whariki stated that children use a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore their world. Children develop confidence working with others to explore the environment and make sense of the social and physical world."(Ministry of Education, 1996).
Through the art and messy painting children explore ideas, materials and the environment through the art. Children started to scoop water out and pour it on the trees so I asked them can you water the plant everyone look for bucket anything to transferred water to the plant. The sorting of the resources to take the water out is problem solving and everyone contributes to their self-confidence and their well-being. The paint brushes helped those girls with their painting and problems solving in doing the job for them. As a learner , my ideas about Technology are still developing, and I expect that will change as I continue to reflect on what is happening for educators and children as we explore technology in the early childhood curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1996).
Te whariki states that in order to participate in this world, our children need the confidence to develop their own perspectives to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills.(Ministry of Education, 1996).
I have found a video from You Tube about the messy play called Messy Boots - Children's Art Class.
I hope you will enjoy that piece of messy paint.
Reference
Cousins,J.(1998). "The Technology process: Developing competency in the early years: Paper presented at the OMEP 22nd World Congress and fiftieth Anniversary. Copen hagen, Den Mark. August, 13-16th.
Ministry of Education.(1996). Te whariki He Whariki Matauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Kia ora Iveti!
ReplyDeleteI like your statement that “I do believe that painting is a technology even though is non-technology.” I like this statement because although the meaning is a kind of ambiguous, but I could see your thinking is developing about technology.
According to Ministry of Education (2005), ICT stands for “information and communication technologies” (p. 1). In foundations for discovery, ICT can be a tool which is incorporated with many others so as to empower children to learn and grow. However, it is important to know that ICT can be defined as “anything which allows people to get information, to communication with each other, or to have an effect on the environment using electronic or digital equipment” (Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford, 2003 as cited in Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 1).
I consider that from this perspective, the painting activity which you used in your reflection might not be a technology as the example has nothing to do with electronic or digital equipment. On the other hand, Smorti (1999) argued that “technology is about helping people and solving problems” (p. 5). In this point of view, your activity can be a technology because children have a lot of benefits through painting activity. I think it is a good point for us to think about.
As you said, as we are learner, our ideas about technology can be more developed through literature and critical reflection. Overall, it’s a bit short, but I enjoyed reading it!Ka pai!!
PS: I can't watch your attached video-clip.
References
Ministry of Education (2005). Foundations for Discovery: Supporting learning in early Childhood education through information and communication technologies: A framework for development. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education (2004). The role and potential of ICT in early childhood education: A review of New Zealand and international literature. Retrieved from http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/ictinecefinal.pdf
Smori, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.
Messy play is one of the best activities that I like to offer to children for play. Children examine the colours through practicing their sensory skills with seeing, touching, smelling even tasting. Through sharing ideas and discussions to enhance children understanding of how colour can be changed to stimulate their creativity thinking and to extent their learning disposition (Piaget, 1955). However, it needs good support from the teachers for the preparation and supervision while cleaning up. I was told not to do it too much as teachers were too busy and they need to do things according to the routines. So frustrated!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think the definitions of technologies are quite board. In New Zealand Curriculum states “technology is intervention by design, the use of practical and intellectual resources to develop products and systems (technological outcomes) that expand human possibilities by addressing needs and realising opportunities” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.32). Therefore, I would focus on the purpose or the need of using and the learning outcome rather than the theory. It means no matter digital or non-digital, if there is benefit for children’s learning, then that is a good resource. What do you think?
Reference:
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Piaget, J. (1955). The Child’s Construction of Reality. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Kia Ora Iveti,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about children really enjoying painting; I know from my own observations that children love painting, and yes, they will get paint everywhere if given the opportunity!
Have you considered how the tools associated with painting are non-digital technology? For example an easel, paint trays, paintbrushes, and even the paint itself. People used to grind up berries, bugs, and ash and mix them with water to use as paint – then paint with their fingers or sticks! Te Whāriki tells us that children should “experience a wide variety of the materials and technology used in the creative and expressive arts” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 81).
I like how you included a painting experience from your own centre in your reflection. I think being able to observe children using technology helps broaden and deepen our understanding of how technology influences our lives. As Smorti (1999) reminds us, we live in a world that “people have created and changed through technology” (p. 5).
References
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga ngā mokopuna Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 1, 5-10.