Introduction:

In a child-cantered learning, teaching is centred on the learner, ensuring that she/he can develop to her/his full potential. Child-cantered learning provides and promote multiple pathways to learning, appropriate for the children and the subject matter. In a child-cantered learning, innovative learning and teaching methodologies are applied to ensure the best possible outcomes for children. Child-cantered learning applies the best practices in pedagogy, based on research and experience from all corners of the world. Ensuring that teachers have the skills to implement innovative learning and teaching methodologies is often an entry point in the transformation to child-friendliness.

Flexible Approaches

Learning depends on what a child brings to the process as well as what the teacher facilitates. The nature of this learning process will vary with the age and developmental stage of the child. In a child-cantered learning, the teacher understands each child’s strengths and weaknesses and supports each child to achieve his or her greatest potential. Issues of language and culture also affect learning, especially when the curriculum is based on a language and culture that is foreign to the learner. Research clearly shows that children learn best in the early years when they are taught in their own language. A child-cantered learning may be flexible by adopting multi-lingual policies for dealing with children from different ethnic/language backgrounds.

Participatory Approaches

Learning requires the active, constructive involvement of the learner. Children in a child-cantered learning are not passive recipients of knowledge. They have input into what to learn and how and they are assisted in creating learning goals that are consistent with their interests and future aspirations.

In a child-cantered learning, teachers use “participatory approaches” to empower children to be active agents in their own education, at a developmentally appropriate level. A teacher in a child-cantered learning will help students to become active and goal-oriented by building on their natural desire to explore and understand and master new skills and knowledge.

Participatory approaches refer to ways of learning and teaching that involve being actively engaged in the learning process. Participatory approaches do not always mean “group work.” It also includes a variety of approaches that ensure children are participating in their learning, from engaging in dialogue, to games, to science experiments.

Creating Stimulating Classrooms

A child-cantered learning cultivates stimulating classrooms where children are inspired to learn and teachers have a range of means to facilitate the learning process. These classrooms tend to have learning corners and the teachers typically produce and use a wide range of high quality, low-cost teaching aids. Among other things, a stimulating classroom environment:

- makes use of good quality materials and resources

- defines and helps children learn what is prescribed in the curriculum

- provides quality learning outcomes by providing what children need to learn in order to become independent learners (i.e., learning how to learn)

- encourages active participation of children

- enhances a teacher’s capacity, morale, commitment, and professional status

Also note that learning is about constructing knowledge with others, and not just about individual comprehension and skills acquisition. Try incorporating more group activities into your teaching, and try to foster a sense of the classroom as a learning community.

Teaching in Stimulating Classrooms

Learning is about constructing knowledge with others, and not just about individual comprehension and skills acquisition. Try incorporating more group activities into your teaching, and try to foster a sense of the classroom as a learning community.

Stimulating Learning Environments

To make your classroom a joyful learning environment in which children will learn and thrive, try including these features:

- The walls can be used to post interesting learning materials and decorated to brighten the learning space.

- Post work created by all the children in the classroom.

- Use bright colours.

- Integrate music and games into lessons plans.

- Maintain balance for the children between stimulating noise and movement, and times to reflect and quietly process information.

Learning through Play

Children learn through play, especially when they are younger. Child-cantered learning enhances learning, and keep the learning environment lively, by integrating structured play into the learning process. From counting games to science “scavenger hunts,” the possibilities for integrating play into all areas of the curriculum are unlimited and can be used for all age groups.

Here are some of the benefits of learning through play:

- Play promotes strength, coordination and brain development.

- Play provides an opportunity to learn essential social skills, such as sharing, cooperating, taking turns and treating others with respect.

- Play enables children to express their creativity.

- Play uses all their senses (and can thus help reinforce learning).

- Children take in information and process it through play.

- Playing is fun!