I shall discuss the remaining 3 dispositions: Flexibility, Reflectiveness, Collaborativeness.
Flexibility means being able to “perceive beyond one’s own expectations and to adjust to prior and new information to anticipate a result that may or may not currently exist.”
Only humans can use new solutions to solve problems without seeing them happen yet. Piaget has a notion of reversible thought, it means able to imagine what it was like before having a thought, and what could happen because of that thought.
Flexible thinking means a child can draw something that does not exist or he or she has not seen before. I have a few children who are good at academics but are weak in this area. They struggle with doing creative work, and they tend to copy exactly what their friends are drawing. Children with less cognitive flexibility will tend to copy the whole drawing and change only 1 part of it. They are unable to create something completely new.
During my art activities, I always emphasise no copying as my only rule. They are allowed to draw anything as long as it is within the boundaries of the broad topic, using any materials. Infants are capable of flexible thinking, in how they use different methods to engage a toy or object. They use their senses at once. While toddlers are even able to change their tools, not just the method of using. However, sometimes when children are unable to solve a problem, it may be because of a lack of cognitive flexibility, or the lack of knowledge of how objects work.
In my sketchbook activities, I invite children to use the picturebooks I have read over the week as a reference, but they must also come up with their own stories. Some modify the characters in the book, some take different elements, even from previous weeks, to build their own story. Though children are preoperational, and they need concrete materials, I realise that they are still able to use their imagination. Hopefully, a child can create a fantasy house, where their family lives in together with mythical creatures like the unicorn. It seems the mind of a child is so fascinating, so full of potential. The article I found about flexibility is from a website.
One way to foster flexibility is to have a standard routine that has changes introduced slowly and an adult as stable support (Eastern Connecticut State University, 2020). This is similar to curiosity, where there is orderliness (what already makes sense) and openness (to new knowledge). It is about changing at a comfortable pace for the child. Children need that stability. That is why when class teachers come and go all the time, it is very bad for children. For my class, they went through 3 English teachers, and 2 Chinese teachers last year. This year is much better, it is just me and the Chinese teacher. We will see them at the end of the year. It is unreasonable to expect children to be “okay” with abrupt constant changes.
Moving on to reflectiveness. I think this disposition is very lacking even in adults. We always say, “Give me time, I will change.” I doubt that ever happens, humans tend to put themselves on a pedestal that they are not worthy of. I digress. Essentially, it means not reacting but responding. It is about allowing children to think about what they have done, to articulate in language or words.
Going back to the sketchbooks the children use, they have opportunities every week to think back on what they have learned. Also, in the centre activities, they will do another reflection book, about what they have learned. Even in big group activities, I will always summarise the activity, recap on virtues they have learned. My emphasis is always about social skills, what they have learned with regards to working with others. There are a few who are more individualistic, and the kick is that they know when to be “nice” when I am around.
Children are capable of narrativizing or articulating what they have learned in conversations, and it helps them in meaning-making (Carr, 2011). I ask children what they drew, so I can write comments. During the summarizing of group activities, I will recap on what they have done, and get them to share. Also, it is valuable to let the child lead the conversation, as adult-led conversations tend to reach a dead-end of just close-ended questions (Carr, 2011).
The last disposition I will be talking about is collaborativeness. It is so crucial because, in the world, we need more than ourselves to solve issues. Educators can model this by having collaborative thinking with children first. Too often we allow the “louder” children to give an idea or do leadership roles. We need to give equal opportunity to everyone. Collaborative thinking is considering the needs of others. Perhaps as adults, if we are too self-centred, we are unable to do so. Even for myself, if I believe that only I am capable of doing a task, I am not considering the needs of others. I should incorporate the strengths and weaknesses of everyone, for everyone to succeed together. I enjoy being with people who believe in this. Some people seek my opinion, not because I know anything, but because they want to include me. Even if the feedback I give adds nothing, I feel that I am appreciated for who I am, not just what I can do.
We can have children pair up, to collaborate, for the stronger child to teach the weaker child. I have a leadership system for the learning centres, and I ensure weaker children are paired up with stronger children. There are 3 of them who are strong in both English and Math. They have good attitudes too, not arrogant just because “teacher choose me,” but willing to teach their peers. That makes a child who wants to be the first unhappy. I am killing 2 birds with 1 stone, I get to teach humility to that child too.
If we want to teach children to have collaborative thinking with each other, the role of the adult must only be to assist that. When children complain to me, I direct them to settle the matter themselves. When someone does not want to share, you go tell him. If children grow up having an adult to help them, they will never learn to solve their problems. I do step in when necessary, after all, I have to be a stable support for them to build dispositions.
A blog talked about strategies for teaching collaboration between students. Students learn more from each other than from the teacher, and students can either work in partners or small groups, so the teacher has to provide an environment that encourages collaboration, such as arranging tables to form squares (Jones, 2018).
That is all 5 dispositions: Curiosity, Persistence, Flexibility, Reflectiveness, Collaborativeness. They can integrate, and taught in all parts of the day, not just during “lesson time”.
References
Carr, M. (2011). Young children reflecting on their learning: teachers’ conversation strategies. Early Years, 257-270.
Chen, D. (2020). ECE102 Children as thinkers and meaning makers (study guide). Singapore: Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Eastern Connecticut State University. (2020). Foster Flexibility. Retrieved from Eastern Connecticut State University: https://www.easternct.edu/center-for-early-childhood-education/ct-early-learning-and-development-standards/essential-disposition-flexibility.html
Jones, L. (2018, January 9). Tch Tips: Teaching Collaboration Skills. Retrieved from Teaching Channel: https://learn.teachingchannel.com/blog/2018/01/09/teaching-collaboration-skills
Stone-MacDonald, A., Wendell, K., Douglass, A., & Love, M. L. (2015). Engaging Young Engineers- Teaching Problem-Solving Skills Through STEM. Baltimore, Maryland: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
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