Thinking About Thinking. A Study of the Adult's Role in Providing for the Development of Number Awareness in Young Children

Abstract

A number of studies have reported the importance of structured activity in early childhood settings for the intellectual development of young children. Environments which are materials‐rich, and experiences which are stimulating and challenging are reported to be the most conducive. This paper attempts to show that any provision of activities and experiences where young children are encouraged to discover solutions and to justify their actions must be accompanied by opportunities for them to reflect on their thoughts in order to confirm beliefs, or modify and change these. It is clear from research into the collaborative role of adults in this process, that the warmth of the interaction is another crucial factor in eliciting responses. Above all, such collaboration, it is claimed, should involve activities which pose significant challenges where the child is encouraged to think about solutions to problems rather than provide responses which merely involve rote learning and repetitive activity like counting. The study reported here shows that the role of the adult in eliciting informative responses from children in solving certain early maths problems, relied significantly on the kinds of tasks presented, and opportunities for the children to talk about and explain their responses. In a climate where children are rarely asked to explain how they arrive at solutions to problems, it is envisaged that these results and the prescriptions, will be useful to teachers and parents in both understanding more clearly just how young children think, and, how they make sense of their experiences, especially with collaborative adults.