DOCUMENT RESUME ED 327 290 PS 019 262 AUTHOR Hazareesingh, Nedra

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 327 290 PS 019 262

AUTHOR Hazareesingh, Nedra, Ed.; Livingston, Jean, Ed. TITLE Early Education: Building Bridges to the FUture. Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Early Childhood Education (8th, Duluth, Minnesota, September 30 and October 1, 1988). INSTITUTION Minnesota Univ., Duluth. Dept. of Child and Family Development. PUB DATE 88 NOTE 50p. PUB TYPE Collected Works - Conference Proceedings (021)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Art Education; Child Development; Cognitive Development; Community Programs; Coping; Curriculum Design; Disabilities; Early Childhood Education; *Educational Practices; *Fire Protection; Instructional Development; Learning Activities; Manipulative Materials; Mathematics Instruction; *Parenting Skills; *Piagetian Theory; *Play; Story Reading; Teacher Characteristics IDENTIFIERS *Constructivism; Empiricism; Screening Programs; Transition Time

ABSTRACT This collection contains the keynote address and several presentations that were delivered at a University of Minnesota conference on issues in early childhood education. Keynote speaker Rheta DeVries discussed three tasks facing the educator who is learning to be a constructivist teacher: understanding the nature of the child's mind; overcoming four empiricist ideas aboutteaching and learning; and completing four phases in movement toward the practide of constructivist edudation. Sectional presentations concerned: (1) developing an understanding of artistic works through art education during early childhood; (2) planning for play;(3) rearing competent children by applying developmental concepts; (4) teaching young children concepts in fire prevention, evasion,and safety; (5) using books in the classroom; (6) using community-based screening in early childhood in public schools, preschools,and child care programs; (7) using a Piagetian approach tomathematics with manipulatives; and (8) coping with disability by means of identification of positive contributions made by disabled persons, an informal support network, mixed support from professionals, and limited expectations for the future. Citations accompanying the presentations number 80. Mailing addresses of presenters are provided. (RH)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

EARLY EDUCATION: BUILDING BRIDGES TO THE FUTURE

September 30 and October 1, 1988 Duluth, Minnesota

EDITED BY: NEDRA HAZAREESINGH, Ed.D. JEAN UVINGSTON, M. Ed. DEPARTMENT OF CHILD. /MD FAMILYDEVELOPMENT

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, DULUTH DULUTH, MINNESOTA 55812

i First published in 1981 by the AdvisoryCouncil of the Early Child Care and Development Programs and Continuing-EducAtionand Extensim, Uni- versity of Minnesota, Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota.

Cover design by Alyce Johnsen.

The opinions expressed in these papers arethose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.

ii Preface and Acknowledgements

The Department of Child and Family Development, Universityof Minnesota, Duluth, offers Early Childhood Studies Programs ( formerly Early Child Care andDevelopment) at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The programs have an interdisciplinarycunicula designed to prepare students for work in a variety of settings. Sincel 981, the Advisory Council of the Early Childhood StudiesPrograms have sponsored an annual conference in Early Childhood Education during Fall Quarter.Each conference highlights a particular topic of interest to professionals and parents of youngchildren. The focus of the Eighth Annual Conference was Early Education: Building Bridges to the Future.The featured speaker was Dr. Rheta DeVries, Professor, Department of Human Development andConsumer Services and Director, Human Development Laboratory School, University of Houston. Thismonograph includes the keynote address presented by Dr. DeVries and several sectional presentations. We wish to express our gratitude to our colleagues andmembers of tke programs' Advisory Council for their advice and support; to Dr. Terrie Shannon,Associate Dean, College of Education and Human Service Professions for her words of welcome to theconference participants; to the Continuing Education and Extension staff for all of their efforts; and to SueSiverson, our word processor, for her work in preparing the monograph for publication. Wededicate this monogaph to Dr. Jeane Sword whose vision and commitment to early childhood educationhas inspired all of us.

III

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS

iii Preface and Acknowledgements 5 Introduction of Keynote Speaker

I.Keynote Address Constructivist Educition: Implications of Piaget'sTheory 6 Rheta DeVries

II.Sectional Presentations Developing an Understanding of Artistic Works Through Art Education During Early Childhood 18 Jarfies H. Brutger 22 Planning for Play Bruce Cunningham Rearing Competent Children: DevelopmentalConcepts for Parents, Teachers, and Day Care Providers 26 Darryl Dietrich Steve and Patty Do the Great Chicago Fire 31 Steve Hansock and Patty Bennett 34 Ideas for Extending Story Sharing Lee Karnowski and Kathleen Buss Community Based Screening: An InteragencyAlternative 37 for Public Schools and Preschool/Child CareCenters Leese Maxwell 40 Mathematics Using Manipulatives Mary Ann Rotondi and Nedra A. Hazareesingh Four Themes in the Lives of Farr :esCoping With Disabilities 44 Crody S. Spillers 47 III. Author Index with MailingAddresses

6 INTRODUCTION OF THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Rheta Devries

Eighth Annual Conference on Early Childhood Education

Dr. Rheta De Vries is Professor, Department of HumanDevelopment and Consumer Sciences, and Director, Human Development Laboratory School atthe University of Houston. Following four years of pubiic school teaching in Illinois,she entered graduate school at the University of Chicago where she received a Ph.D. in developmentalpsychology. She has lectured on constructivist education in the United States, and in Mexico, Austaia,France, Germany, Argentina, and Korea as well. Her research hasinciuded studies of cognitive, social, and moral development in young children, and work with teachers in classrooms toconceptualize and articulate principles and examples of constructivist education informed bythe work of Jean Piaget. She has authored several books including Physical Knowledgein Preschool Education and Group Games in Early Education: Implications of Piaget's Theory(with Dr. Constance Kamii), and Programs of Early Education: The ConstructivistView (with the late Dr. Lawrence Kohlberg). Recent research focused on comparing sociomoral competencein children in Montessori and constructivist preschool programs. Currently, Dr. DeVries is swdyingsociomoral competence in kindergarten children in DISTAR, constructivist, and child.centeredpublic school classrooms.

5 7 CONSTRUCTIVIST EDUCATION: Implications of Piaget's Theory

Rheta DeVries University of Houston

Education based on Piaget's work is called point to it.Almost all high-IQ six and seven-year- constructivist education because Genevan research olds conservedthat is, they picked the shorter row has demonstrated that children actively construct of six as having more to eat. However, of the high- their knowledge and even intelligence itself.A IQ five-year-olds, over 60% took the longer row of constructivist teacher is one whose teaching is in- five, and of the average-IQ children, half the six and formed by the body of research and theory supporting seven-year-olds failed to conserve. It amazed me to this idea. Becoming a constructivist teacher is not see so many children count the six M&Ms, then the easy because education based on Piaget's workis five, yet still insist that the longeirow of five had more in many ways very different from traditional views of to eat.One bright nonconserving kiddergartner teaching and learning.I see three tasks for the (who was almost six years old) did not count, but was educator in learning to tr a constructivist teacher. encouraged at the end to do so. When she counted, First, one must understand the nature of the child's she expressed conflict, commenting, "This one (six) mind. Second, one must overcome empiricist ideas should have more because it's six and this has five, about teaching and learning that dominate our cul- but this (five) has more because it's spreaded out." ture.Third, one must complete four phases in She seemed highly aware of the "moreness" of the move ment toward the practice of constructivist number six, and I thought she might then change education. her mind and conserve. So I gave her another chance and asked, "So which has more candy to Understanding the Nature of the eat?" and she said, "I pick the plate with five." For her, six was more than five only when she counted, Child's Mind but what really "counted" in determining quantity We know children construct their knowledge and was the amount of space occupied. intelligence because children have so many ideas Another situation in which I observed the intimate we never teach them. Piaget's work revealed many relation between thinking and emotion involved surprising ways in which children think. The classic conservation, but is not a classical Genevan task. studies of conservation showed that young children Kohlberg and I devised a situation with ring-segment base their judgment of quantity on the amount of cookies that present the child with a powerful illusion space occupied. During the 1960's, Kohlberg and I called the Jastrow effect. Although the two cookies devised modifications of some of Piaget's tasks in an are the same size, the one on bottom always appears effort to demonstrate persuasively that children re- larger. When the red one is below the blue, the red ally do experience the world differently from older appears larger, and when the red is moved above children and adults. the blue, the blue then appears larger. One 7-year- For example, I modified Piaget's classic experi- old clearly expected the conserved relationship and ment with number by using unequal rows of M&M was quite astounded at the apparent transformation. candies. In this tasm, two pizza plates were presented, He spontaneously began switching them back and one having five M&Ms in a short line, and the other forth, to verify the consistency of the apparent change. having six in a longer line. Children were easily able Then he made a series of hypotheses, followed by to point to the row of six when I asked which had experiments to test them.First, he said that the more to eat. Then the row of six was arranged in a board must be the cause, and looked under it. To row shorter than the five, and children were toldthey check out this hypothesis, he took the cookies away could take the row with more if they could correctly from its influence, to find out whether the change still

6 c'N occurred in mid-air. Seeing that it did, he was puzzled, This type of response was given by all the three- but then thought of superimposing them. When I year-olds, 80% of the four-year-olds, almost 40% of saw that, I expected him to understand. However, he the five-year-olds, and even 25% of the six-year- again created the illusion, and still insisted that they olds. indeed did change. For him, they were the same Piaget's books and writings by otherdevelopmen- amou nt to eat when superimposed, but in the illusion tal psychologists are filled with revelations about position, they were not the same. Eventually, he children's reasoning. However, the content studied made n arbitrary choice--but to be on the safe side, by Piaget and other developmental psychologists ho took the one on the bottom. are for the most part not the content with which In another study, I attempted further to explore teachers are concerned.In oducation, we must Piaget's view that children's "incorrect" ideas about learn how to explore children's reasoning in class- the wodd reflect a unique and different subjective room activities. experience, and that they interpret this subjective In recent research (DeVries, 1986), I have tried to experience as objective, failing to make the distinc- do the kind of research Piaget did with his tasks with tion between the apparent and the real.I wondered so me content meeting criteria for activities in whether the phenomenon of nonconservation of cbnstructivist education. For example, in research properties of inanimate objects had any parallel wifi, on children's conceptions of shadow phenomena, I the way in whiuh children thought about the charac- found many surprising ideas. Almost all 9-year-olds teristics and identity of living creatures. So I trained believe a merged shadow is still there even though a reluctant, but obliging black cat named Maynard to they can't see it. Even at this age, normal children wear a ferocious-looking dog mask and a benign attribute to shadows some properties of physical rabbit mask. Then I interviewed children from three objects and reason that the merged shadow is under to six years about whether the identity changed the larger shadow or mixed up with it. Many also when the appearance changed. Let me quote in pad believe that the way to make a shadow move iron, from an interview with Christopher, a high-IQ boy of one side of themselves to the other is to tarn them- three years and eight months. He first was invited to selves around 180 degrees. When they find this pet the cat and did so fearlessly and with great does not work, they often go to great lengths to affection. Then I screened the cat's head, and told change the shadow's position simply by their own Christopher to watch the animal's tail (so he would action--never mind the light! They turn more slowly know I was not simply putting away one animal and or more quickly, stand up, and lean forward. When taking out another). Presenting the cat with rabbit they stand behind the light source and do not see mask, I said: their shadow, many children nevertheless insist that it is still there somewhere--in thr' darkness, on the dark wall or inside themselves. One child said that (Look, now it has a face like a rabbit. What it ran out the door and went to look. When he didn't is this animal now?) Rabbit (smiles, draws find it, he decided it was in the wall.During a feet up onto seat of chair). (How can you Summer Institute on Construcfivist Education in tell?) (Laughs) Hi, rabbit. (How can you tell Houston, one participant did some shadow activities he's a raobit?) He's a bunny rabbit! Hi! Hi! with two-year-olds. They marked shadow outlines Hi! ...(Is he a real rabbit?) Yes. (What of outdoor play yard objects ;n the sand, planning to happened?) Make him out a cat--a dog-- check later to see if they wo:e in the same places. now. (Could I make him a dog?) Yes ... . Unfortunately, it rained, and all the shadows disap- Make him out a monkey this time! Make peared. One of the children said the shadows could him out something else .. .. Make him out no longer be seen because the rain had pushed a cat again .. ..(Can he hop?) Hop. Hop, them into the ground! The next day, he carefully rabbit. He don't wants to hop. Hop, please. piled sand, dirt, and leaves "over" a shadow--as he Hop. FIce for her. He'll hop for you later. said, "so no one will step on it and mess it up." What (DeVries, 1969, pp. 14-16). surprised me about these findings was that under-

9 standing shadow phenomena requires such a long five remained! Another example from Kamii's (1984) time. Most 9-year-olds have not yet achieved the research on how children understood equations highest stage of reasoning and knowledge.I was involved asking children to show what an addition statement meant by giving the number of objects to also surprised that understanding shadows requires Many children who the construction of a whole network of spatial and a doll. Take 3 + 2, for example. 10 causal relations as well as conceptions about the wrote the correct answer nevertheless gave objects to the doll! These phenomena are the result nature of light. of teaching children formalisms of mathematics Even when we think we have taught children before they have the log::: it is intended to express. in something, we often find they have understood The teaching of arithmetic especially cannotbe surprisingly incorrect ways. For example, one 8- divorced from the development of byic--and, clearly , year-old boy, Joe, tried very hard to explain to me logic is not a result of understanding number state- He what he had been taught about shadows. ments, but prerequisite to it. described a demonstration with a paper circle that The studies I described are only a few of many in was white on one side and black on theother, pasted which researchers keep coming up with the same on the end of a stick. However, asJoe talked about this experience, it became obvious that hehad result. No matter what the content domain, young different understood nothing. He told me in careful detail that children think in ways that are qualitatively adults what you do is move the stick in front of a light so the from the ways in which older children and shadow falls on the wall. When I asked him then think. Certainly no one tells the child that quantity or what that meant, he struggled to say that it was the identity changes with a change in appearance. These ideas must, therefore, come from the child-- sun and the moon. When I asked himwhere the sun from his or her own effort to make sense out ofthe was, he said it was as if the light was the sunand the circle was the moon. I probed with a hint tor him to world--from the child's logic and psychological ex- said mention the earth: "And the shadow is where?" His perience. This is what Piaget meant when he reply, "The wall." The earth was nowhere in his that thz child constructs knoviedge. thinking. I tried to get him to reflect further by saying, When we take the trouble to find out howchildren "So how does that work?" He struggled, "The light honestly think, we find that they learn many things makes--the dark." I repeated, "The light makes the we do not teach. A centralproblem in education is dark. So how does light make it dark? He sighed at the failure to adapt teaching to the waychildren his own paradox and exclaimed, "That's the hardest know. From this perspective, many learningdis- question I ever tried to figure out.He concluded, abilities are in fact created by schools.Children at "It's just a mystery. Probly nobody knows." risk and children beginning school areespecially vulnerable when teachers demand they learn what This is an example of what Piaget called "school that It is very easy for children to recite the they cannot understand. Piaget (1969) argued varnish." different from words teachers tell them. And it is very easy for "If the child's thought is qualitatively aim of education is to teachers to delude themselves into thinking they our own, then the principal 160). have therefore taught something. The sad thingis form its intellectual and reasoning power" (p. that Joe knew he did not know what he was talking Constructivist education is an effort to take into about and felt inadequate. What was really tragic account the nature of the child's mind and itsnatural was that his energy was so focused ontrying to give laws of development. Over the past 17 years, Ihave me the school varnish that he had no energyleft for struggled to figure out what this means in practical his own horest reasoning. terms.It is not so easy Decause after all, Piaget's Consider an exam& of school varnish in arith- research is not research on learning, and his theory between metic. One child quoted by Kamii (1984) wrote "5 - is not a theory of teaching. A big gap exists 2 .-: 5." This made sense because he put out five the theory and its implications for classroom prac- chips for the five, then two more for the two, then did tice. I have therefore had to build a bridge and travel theory and the what the sign said, and took away 2. Sure enough, a two-way street between the

8 JO classroom in order to conceptualize, experiment, From Instruction to Construction. The teacher and describe education informed by Piaget's work. who focuses on instruction,views teaching as trans- Many teachers have worked with me to move from mission of information. In traditional teacher train- a vague conception of active education tospecific ing, the emphasis is on subject matter and how to activities and principles of teaching. Lookinc back present it to children. The teacher's preoccupation on this process, I can see that we had to give up is with instructing through sequencing content, drill- many of our old ideas and construci new ideasabout ing, correcting, and testing. In contrast, for teachers teaching and learning. Since many of you are new informed by Piaget's theory, the preoccupation is not to what it means to be a constructivist teacher, I the teacher's Instruction, but the child's construction. thought perhaps it would be helpful to talk about Piaget emphasized that the aim of education should some of the difficulties and obstacles toconstructivist be not just to furnish the child's mind, but to form it. teaching. In emphasizing the child's construction and de- emphasizing the teacher's instruction, Piaget made Overcoming Empiricist ideas about it clear, however, that teaching in accordance with Teaching end Learning constructivism should not be misunderstood to imply that the teacher has no role to play or that the Most of the ideas to be given up in thecOurse of children should be left with unlimited freedom to becoming a constructivist teacher reflect the empiricist, behavioristic tradition in which we wereall work gor play on their own. He notes that: reared. Piaget's revolutionary research and theory It is important that the teachers present contradict this tradition. The basic assumption of children with materials and situations and behaviorism is that the child is like a mirror, a vase occasions that allow them to move forward. or a blank slate, or situated like a mirror topassively It is not a matter of just allowing children to reflect the environment. In other words, in behavior- do anything. It is a matter of presenting to istic or stimulus-response theory, the environment the children situations which offer new stimulates the child and elicits respo:Ises from an problems, problems that follow on from otherwise essentially passive creature. one another. You need a mixture ofdi- rection and freedom. (Quoted in Evans, In contrast, Piaget has shown that the child is not psychologically empty, but is born with action sys- 1973, p. 53). tems that function as instruments of knowing.The Now consider the preoccupation of instruction newborn already is acting on the world by sucking with subject-matter analysis. Too often, curriculum and grasping. Moreover, he is already elaborating makers have sequenced content to be taughtin his knowledge of objects through modifyinghis terms of what are the simplest elements fromthe sucking and grasping actions to accommodate to adult perspective. Seldom are these thesimplest (Ferreiro them.Here are the origins of intelligence that for children. For example, Emilia Ferreiro becomes more and more differentiated as the infant and Teberosky, 1979) has shown that young children expands this repertoire of actions. Notice the em- typically reject words of less than 3 or 4 letters as phasis on action In order to know. "something that can be read." They also typically reject the articles, "a," "an," and "the"as 'something Now let us be more specific about some of the old of be- idea:, constructivist teachers give up, and the new that can be written." The common practice ginning reading instructicn with short words thus ideas that replace them.I have conceptualized starts with material dominated by whatmostchildren these into four shifts in teachers' thinking: consider unreadable.For teachers informed by 1. From instruction to construction Piaget's theory, subject-matter analysis gives way to 2. From reinforcement to interest child analysisthat is, to thinking about howchildren think about subject matter. Teaching subject matter 3. From obedience to autonomy cannot be isolated from fostering reasoning. Fos- 4. From coercion to cooperation tering reasoning about a given subject matter means

9, .I. 1 that you have to be more creative than those who structive process. Sequences of instruction ordi- make the usual school curriculum. Activities sug- narily ignore the important role of the wrong ideas gested in traditional curricula are often inappropriate children construct in their etforts to make sense of for young children. By bringing knowledge about the their experience.For example, Ferreiro and mind of the child to the subject matter, you can Teberosky reveal that it is progress toward reading create better activities than those given in most when a child hypothesizes that each letter in a word published curricula. corresponds to a spoken syllable. If this hypothesis is mercilessly corrected, the child learns to distrust Teaching informed by Piaget's theory must be his own reasoning, and to believe that right answers based on knowledge of mental development within are only in the head of the teacher. Worse, thechild a subject-matter domain. Piaget himself expressed is retained because the teacher does not recognize this by drawing an analogy between the practice of progress. education and the practice of medicine. He said: Preoccupation with testing leads people to be- The art of education is like the art of lieve that tests tell what children know. However, medicine: It is an art that cannot be prac- tests only scratch the surface of right answers. They ticed without special "gifts," but one that tell us nothing about why wrong answers make assumes exact and experimental knowl- sense to children. The constructivist teacher wants edge relating to the human beings on to know the child's reasoning behind wrong an- which it is exercised. This is not anatomical swers. This is information that will informteaching. and physical knowledge like a doctor's, but Preoccupation with testing is so entrenched that not psychological. (Piaget, 1948, p. 94). only do teachers feel forced to teach for tests, but Traditional teachqr training gives almost no teaching itself often becomes just more testing. preparation in psychological knowledge about the Consider the widespread use of worksheets. I say mind of the child and its development. Without this these are tests because a childcannot learn anything knowledge, teachers will not understand children's new by doing them.If he doesn't know the right spontaneous procedures and may view them as a answer, he can't understand why he is wrong.If he waste of time. knows it already, he doesn't need the practice. Consider the preoccupation with drill in the From Reinforcement to Interest. Behaviorist transmission of information.The common as- teachers believe children learn through reinforce- sumption is that if children do not know something, ment. This assumption is built upon the ideaof the they should practice reciting right answers. How- child as basically a passive responder to environ- ever, from a constructivist perspective, when achild mental stimuli. From this perspective, the role of the does not understand instruction, it is because he school is to arrange environmental stimulation to cannot. Therefore, the worst thing we can do is modal/ the individual's behavior through condition- make that child do more of what he cannot do. This ing. It assumes that the teacher must be concerned turns out to be either a rehearsal of failure or re hearsal about reward and punishment as the essential of what the child finds meaningless. There is no mechanisms for changing the child's behavior. The better waj to kill motivation. The large number of te acher with this model of the child in mindfocusses children in learning disabilities classes are eloquent on strengthnning, weakening, extinguishing, or testimony to the futility of drill and practice, and to the maintaining behavior through positive and negative damage it can cause to self esteem. reinforcement. Preoccupation with reinforcement The next preoccupation related to instruction is leads tu efforts aimed at artificially motivating chil- teachers' obsession with eradicating children's er- dren--for example, with gold stars or other rewards. rors. Our traditional teacher training has told us that In this model, the teacher attempts to regulate the the responsible tenter tells a child when she is child's behavior.Sometimes well-intentioned wrong, ai id corrects the child's mistakes. In contrast, teachers are heard many times during a day to say the te acher informed by Piaget's theory has a healthy "Goodr to chikfren, thinking that this impro: es self- respect for errors as an important part of the c....- esteem. What such teachers fail to consider is that

10 such reinforcement can make children dependent mous."Certainly, the young child's relations to on adult approval and short-circuit their own autono- adults are necessarily and largely heteronomous. mous motivations. That is, for reasons of health and safety, as well ab reasons stemming from practical and psychological In contrast to this view, the ccnstructivist notion is pressures on the adult, parents and teachers must that the role of the school is to provide the conditions regulate children extemally in many ways. The child for development that can only be accomplished by is forced to submit to a whole set of rules whose the child himself.In this model, the child is the reasons are incomprehensible to him. The obliga- regulator of action and learning. It is not the teacher's tions to eat certain foods at certain times, to have a regulation that is imponant, but the child's regulation bath before bed, not to touch certain delicate or of knowing activity. important objects, etc., can only be felt by the child In some ways, it is much easier to teach with a as external since the necessity to carry out these focus on behavior. The teacher is the instructor who obligations cannot be felt from within. Such adult transmitsWormation and tests children on whether constraint tends to consolidate instead of to correct they can give back this information. However, when the natural egocentric tendencies of the. child. When children fail to gi' e back correct inform3tion, it is governed continually by the values, beliefs, and more difficult to teach in this behavioristic fashion. It ideas o others, the child practices a submission that is more difficult because more of the methods that can lead to mindless conformity in both moral and already failed continue to fail. intellectual spheres.In other words, so long as When traditional education fails, it is not the child's adults keep the child occupied with learning what failure so much as the failure of instruction. Piaget's adults want him to do and with obeying their rules, he work gives us the basis for an alternative to the kind will not be motivated to question, analyze, or examine of education that has failed. The alternative I advocate his own convictions and construct his own reasons requires that we revise how we think about what the for following rules.In get's view, following the child can know. This leads to fundamental revision rules of others throu_ morality of obedience or of of how we think about what we do. duty will never lead to the kind of reflection necessary for commitment to a set of internal or autono- From Obedience to Autonomy. The shift in mous principles of moral judgment. Piaget warned teacher's thinking from obedience to autonomy in- that constraint socializes only the surface of be- volves the teacher's basic objectives for children. havior and actually reinforces the child's tendency to Interest and experimentation do not thrive in an rely on purely external regulation. environment in which the teacher is the authority demanding obedience. Mental activity floudshes Piaget contrasts the heteronomous adultchild best in a particular kind of relationship with adults. relationship with a second type that is characterized This relationship sets the tone, the 'moral atmo- by mutual respect .and cooperation.The adult sphere of a class that is crucial for intellectual returns the child's respect by giving him the possi- development. Piaget (1932) contrasts two types of bility to !,ulate his behavior voluntarily. This type adult child relationships, one which promotes the of relation Piaget calls "autonomous" or "coopera- constructive process and one which retards it. tive." He argues that it is only by refraining from exercising authority that the adult gives the child the The first type of adultchild relationship is one of possibility to elaborate, at least in part, his own rules, coercion or constraint in which the adult prescribes values, and guidelines for action. In so doing, th3 what is necessary for the child to do by giving him adult helps to open the way for the child to develop ready-made rules and instructions for behavior. In a mind capable of thinking independently and cre- this relation, the respect in the relationship is unilat- atively, to construct a decentered personality, and to eral-the child's respect for the adult. The child's develop moral feelings of reciprocity in all kinds of reason for behaving is thus external to his own social relations. By insisting that the child only follow reasoning and system of personal interests and rules, values, and guidelines given ready-made by values. Piaget calls this type of relation "heterono- others, the adult contributes to the development of an individual with a conformist mind, personality, When we talk about decentering, autonomy, and and morality--an individual capable only of following cooperation, we are talking about the processes the will of others. Much education for children in poor which are simultaneously cognitive and emotional. communities is based on the idea that strict, even Adult constraint produces a constriction of children's harsh discipline is necessary "because that's what minds, personalities, and feelings. Adult coopera- these children understand." Parents often support tion produces a liberation of children's possibilities this approach. Tragically, obedience.based schools for construction of their intelligence, their personali- simply perpetuate qualities needed for submission. ties, and their moral and social feelings. Essentially, the difference between these two Although Piaget felt that mutual respect is pos- types of adult-child relationships is a difference in the sible between the child and the adult, he pointed out exercise of power. Piaget (1948) commented as that: follows: It is extremely difficult to make the child In reality, education constitutes an indis- forget that in the background there is always soluble whole, and it, is net possible to an authority which could reappear, even if create independent personalities in the one does one's utmost tr.; make him forget. ethical area if the individual is also subjected There is always a basic unilateral respect to intellectual constraint to such an extent because there is an inequality in fact. that he must restrict hmself to learning by He went on to emphasize that it is only in relations rote without discovering the truth for him- among children themselves that there is the possibil- self.If he is intellectually passive, he will ity for the real equality which can undo the constrict- not know how to be free intellectually. ing effects of unavoidable unilateral respect for adults. Conversely, if ids ethics consist exclu- There exist, of course, inequalities and unilateral sively in submission to adult authority, and respect among children as well, but this is still if the only social exchanges that make up different f rom the respect children feel toward adults. the life di the clan are those that bind each I would like to add to these general comments on student individually to a master ho' Ting all the effects of heteronomy the fcllowing remarks. power, he will not know how tc oe intel- Children who are normal or advanced in their intellectually active. (p. 107). lectual development suffer less from the effects of The method by which the autonomous relation- heteronomy than at-risk children. This is because ship operates is that of cooperation. Cooperating children who are retarded or delayed intellectually means coordinating one's own feelings and per- are less able to take the point of view of theadult and spective with a consciousness of anothers feelings understand some of the reasons behind adult coer- and point of view. The motive for such decentering cion. They also suffer less to the degree that they and reciprocity begins in a feeling of mutual affection have confidence in themselves and simply discount and mutual trust which becomes elaborated into the adult view. While perhaps placating adult wishes, feelings of sympathy and consciousness of the children can sometimes retain their autonomy de- intentions of others. Cooperation is a social relation spite adults.In contrast, children who are not between equal individuals. Obviously, children and normal in their intellectual development suffer more adults are not equals. However, when the adult is because they are unable to understand coercion able to respect the child as a person with a right to except as completely arbitrary. Coercive enviror. exercise his will, one can speak about a certain ments for these at-risk children increase inequities in psychological equality in the relationship. Piaget, of education. These children are the most vulnerable, course, was not advocating complete freedom. and thus the most fikely to manifest the three un- Rather, he suggested simply that coercion be mini- fortunate effects of heteronomy. These are rebellion, mized to the Ntent practical, and that what is most conformity at the price of loss of will, and calculation. desirable is a riixture increasingly in favor of the By calculation, I mean following adult rules when the child's regulatioi ..:f his own behavior. adult is wathing, but doing what they like when the

,4 adult is not watching. It surprises many people to learn that constructivist From Coercion to Cooperation. This shift in- education for cognitive development is equally fo- volves the teacher's most basic principle of teach- cused on effectivity. This "Piagetiarr principle was ing. It is actually the flip side of the previous shift from elaborated well before Piaget by John Dewey. I obedience to autonomy. The teacher whose objec- recommend his short book published in 1913 on tive is obedience must be coercive, even if she Interest and Effort in Education in which he argues that the aim of education is increase in ability to put attempts to foster obedience through positive means such as cajoling or bribing. Certainly heteronomous forth effort. Dewey cautions, however, that some practices can be discussed as a continuum from kinds of effort are uneducative. These are efforts in tasks that involve nothing but sheer strain and the outright hostile and punitive methods to sugar-coated coercion. What these all have in common is empha- need of external motivation for keeping at them. sis on obedient behavior. The teacher is clearly the Such tasks he describes as not only uneducative, authority, and children's behavior is regulated by but miseducative. They are miseducative because they deaden and stupefy, leading to a confused and what the teacher wants. dulled state of mind that always results when action In contrast, the constructivist teacher is a com- is carried out without a sense of personal purpose. panion and guide who expresses respect for chiklren They are also miseducative becatise they lead to and practices cooperation rather than coercion. dependence on the external pressrise of the task- Affective reciprocity in mutual affection is part of the master. When the child's interest ano motivation lie foundation for reciprocity in reasoning--mobility in in avoiding punishment or getting reward from the thought that involves coordination of relationships. teacher, it is thus focused outside the task itself. So what is constructivist education? Piaget says Dewey says we shoukl not look for motives external it is above all active. His general ideas are that active to activities, but for motives in activities. When education: teachers have to look for artifidal ways to motivate children, something is seriously wrong. 1. Engages the child's interest; Interest in activity is at the heart of constructivist 2. Inspires active experimentation with all its education. Both Dewey and Piaget recommend that necessary groping and error; we start from the active powers of children. In what 3. Fosters cooperation between adults and ways can young children be mentally active? The children and among children themselves. general answer to this question is that young chikiren Let us examine these ideas in the classroom con- are motivated to be mentally active in the context of text physical activity. Intelligence originates in infancy in action that is simultaneously mental and physical. interest. Active education does not occur in a The baby literally cannot think without physical ac- classroom where children sit at desks in isolation tion. Mental development is in large part a matter of from one another, doing paperwork. A constructivist gradually freeing mental activity from physical activity. classroom is one in which many different activities For many years in childhood, however, physical go on simultaneously. These activities include ac- activity continues to be closely associated with and tivities long associated with the child-development necessary for mental activity. Many learning dis- tradition in early educatior (for example, painting abilities may be created by teaching methods that and other art activities, blocks and other construc- require children to think out of the context of interest tion activities, and pretend play).In addition, and activity. constructivist teachers add physical-knowledge activities (Karnii and DeVries, 1978) and group In order to understand what Piaget meant by games (Kamii and DeVries, 1980).They view forming the child's mind, it is important to know the conflict as part of the curriculum and teach children special way in which Piaget (1969) saw the role of how to vote and other negotiation strategies. action in development. He distinguished two distinct types of action by which an individual obtains two kinds of knowledge. These two types of action arise 13

1 5 from two basically different types of psychological is built in the course of physi, ererience. For 0..,:be no logioai- experience. babies and yonng mathematical experieetce without objeds to put rr The first kind of experience is physical experience relationship. During tk; preperatio nal period (be- which consists of individual actions on objects and tween approximately two and ceven years), the leads to knowledge of the objects themselves. For physical-material-observable continues to dominate example, in picking up solids, the child can notice the child's thinking. The observable result of actions In order to their weight by physical experience. is the child's main interest. obtain this information , he must focus on this particular aspect ot an object and ignore other properties such These distinctions enable us to think about teach- as color and shape. Piaget refers to thisaction as ing in terms of the kind of knowledge involved in our simple or empirical abstraction. Other examples objectives. In the case cf physical knowledge, we include abstracting properties of objects by observ- need to encourage children to act on objects and ing their reactions to being dropped or pushed. think about their reactions.In the case of logico- Knowledge which thus has its source mainly in mathematical knowledge, we must devise indirect objects is referred to as physical knowledge. ways of teaching that foster the child's construction of networks of relationships. In the case of arbitrary- Logico-mathematical experience, in contrast, social knowledge, we tell children directly, but still consists of actions on objects which introduce into keep in mind that conventional knowledge, too, the objects characteristics they do not have. For must be structured.For example, to learn that example, number is not a property of any group of Austin is the capital of Texas, the child must con- objects but consists of relationships created by an struct a part-whole relationship. A five-year-old individual. That is, the "two ness" of two objects does taught me this when I sat beside him on a flight from not existin either object but is a group of relationships Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, California.He coordinated by the individual who confers on them obviously had been told he was going to another city this characteristic of quantity. Piaget refers to this in anetherstate and had h-ren pondering the meaning action as reflective abstraction. Reflective abstraction of this. As he looked down on the earth shortly after is based not on individual actions but on coordinated take-off, he asked, "Is that still Houston?" I told him actions.Knowledge which thus has its source it probably was. He then asked, "Is Houston by mainly in the knower himself is logico-mathematical Texas?" The spatial inclusion and double clas sifica- knowledge. Con are not so easy for the child to construct. A third type of knowledge is arbitrary social knowl- The theoretical distinction of three kinds of knowledge which has as its source people. This is conven- edge also helps us know that when we teach children tional knowledge that includes truths that are truths to recite numbers, we are teaching arbitrarysocial simply because people have agreed they are. For knowledge, not number in the logico-mathematical example, there is no logical or physical necessity sense., We therefore know that it is wrong totalk that leads to the fact that school days are Monday about teaching children *number facts."This is through Friday, or that July 4 is Independence Day wrong because knowledge of number requires the in the United States. The individual cannot find out child to construct the whole system of numerical these facts by deduction or by acting on the physical relationships. Consider again the example I gave world. They must be communicated in some way by earlier of the child who said six should be more than people. The communication must, of course, still be five but was not. She had some school varnish structured and given meaning by the individual. about six and five, but obviously did not understand Although Piaget has made these important dis- the relation of inclusion--that since 5 is included in 6, tinctions, he then goes on to point out that the 6 must be more than 5. TWs is not just a fact of differenttypes of experience, action, and knowledge arithmetic. It is logic. physical are really inseparable. There can be no Piaget's (Piaget and Szeminska, 1941) studies of experience without a logico-mathematical frame- class inclusion demonstrated the lack of logical work, and the logicomathematical frarnev.ork itself 14 1 6 inclusion in the reason:rig of young children.In tion because children are forced (sometimes pain- researct:!ollowing Piaget, I showed children 4 brown fully) to confront the opposed behaviors of others. M&Ms and a white mint. The class inclusion question With sensitive teacher guidance, children can begin was, "Is there more chocolate or more candy?" to take account of the opposed desires lyingbehind Even most seven-year-olds said "More chocolate." opposed behaviors, and develop methods of coop- I asked them to put all the candy in my hand. No eration--of coordinating their desires with those of problem. They had the language. They knew the others. correct referents for the words. Yet, when i asked aoain, "So--more chocolate or more candy?" they Four Phases in Moving Toward said, "More chocolate." What I want to emphasIze Constructivist Teaching is that children's difficulties with number and arith- Teachers who attempt to become constructivist metic are problems of logic. Teaching arithmetic teachers go through a developmental process that cannot be divorced from teaching to promote rea- is not easy. These are four overlapping phases I soning. The system of number is not just a pile of have observed. facts, but a network of logical relations of inclusion, 1. Skepticism seriation, and transitivity. Experimentation. With Piaget's distinctions 2. Environmental change among different kinds of knowledge inmind, 3. Paralysis Constance Kamii and I worked with teachers to 4. Autonomy develop physical-knowledge activities with objects Skepticism. The first skeptirml reaction is often out of actions in the child's repertoire (Kamii and "It won't work." Then there is the DrAtries, 1978). Such actions on objects include total rejection: pushing, pulling, rolling, sliding, tilling, throwing, skepticism in the reaction, "I can't do it," and "These dropping, blowing, sucking, swinging, balancing, children can t do it." Another type of skepticism is wili be lost: and jumping. We d..veloped four criteria for good concern that the teaching of content "Reasoning and moral ,levelopment are nice, but physical-knowledge activities involving movement what about reading and writing?" As if the teacher's that teachers have found useful. First, the move- own skepticism were not enough,there is the ment must be observable to the child.Second, the skepticism of parents the teacher must deal with. child must be able to produce it by his own action. Third, it must be variable so the child can notice I cannot allay these skepticisms.It is you who correspondences between actions and reactions. must do that through your own efforts--and skepti- Fourth, the reaction of the object must be immediate cism will not disappear overnight.I would say that because correspondences are easier to establish for most teachers, it takes about two years. In fact, when the child sees the reaction right away. The you can count on your skepticism toincrease. By reactions of adults to children's experimental efforts that I mean that as you try to implement a constructivist are crucial. Sometimes such efforts areviewed as program, the nature of your skepticism willchange. misbehavior by adults. It is easy to squelch a child's After all, constructivism is not just a process of experimental attitude. The challenge for the teacher children's development of knowledge and convic- is how to foster it. tions. Teachers, too construct their conception of what constructivist teaching means and their con- Cooperation. Social play is an important context victions about it.Through your efforts, you will for social and moral development bemuse children develop new questions and concerns that must be have opportunities fordecentering--recognizingand taking account of the behavior, desires,feelings, worked out in the course of teaching. ideas, and psychological states of others. Inevita- Environmental Change. This phase is charac- bly, conflicts arise, and children must cope with terized by such issues as "How do I arrange the opposition. Interpersonal conflicts of all sorts are an room?" "What materials do I need?" "What activities important part of a cons tructivist program of educa- do I write on the lesson plan?" A teacher new to

15 7 constructivist teaching typically goes through a pe- School say they sometimes feel coercive when they riod of panic reflecting anxiety over not having have to follow through in enforcing classroom rules. enough for children to do. The development g a They stress that they have had to make a special repertoire of activities is important. As the repertoire effort not to take children's misbehavior personally. becomes richer, the teacher also becomes more Sometimes it feels like :hildren are "out to get you." flexible in planning and changing plans to follow up The feeling that childr )n are trying to make you on children's ideas and interests. miserable is unhelpful .lecause it then keeps you from taking a professional, problem-solving attitude Resistances encountered in this phase include focused on helping the child construct now scnemes external and internal obstacles. Administrators are of social reaction. often not supportive.Fellow teachers are often critical, and their skepticism may increase your own As I have observed teachers with regard to thinking self doubts. There may be no place to put the desks about children's thinking, three sources of difficulty you want to remove. The floor may be too cold for have impressed me. children. The budget may not be large enough to 1. Some teachers spend such a large proportion of provide all the materials you need. Making materials their time in classroom organization that they give takes a lot of time. The classroom cannot be fully themselves little opportunity to observe children's equipped all at once. When you haven't done this reasoning; kind of teaching before, it's hard to know just what 2. Some teachers provide few activities . let inspire materials to give first priority. 4 children's reasoning; This phase can be softened by apprenticeships 3. When teachers do engage in activities, th ey relate with teachers who have been through it, by visiting to children in an authoritarian way that orients chil- classrooms where the program is already imple- dren to trying to figure out what the teacher wants mented, and by getting solidly into a social network them to say.This cuts off or circumvents the in which you can talk about difficulties.I cannot flourishing of children's spontaneous reasoning. emphasize too strongly the necessity for a system of mutual support with colleagues. Different people In our Lab School, the main problem for new will be learning different things, and everyone can be teachers is how to talk to children--and also how not a resource for someone. to talk too much. Experienced teachers say that one of the hardest thh igs they had to do was to eliminate Paralysis. Once the environment is basically "Don't," "Stop," and "Because I say so" from their made ready for children, the next phase consists of vocabulary. They had to retrain themselves on how I have heard questions about the teachers role. to talk so as to express respect for children. This teachers say, "I used to know what to do and say to means consulting with children, asking children for children, but suddenly I seem immobilized." In this solutions to problems, and giving real choices that phase, the leacher must confront issues of "What do preserve the child's control of his behavior.I en- I say?" "What do I do?" "How do I reduce my au- courage you to meet in groups specifically to discuss Skepticism may thority and not have chaos?" how to talk to children, and especially how to listen. take the form of concern that children are wasting Teachers at the Lab have found it helpful to know time. New problems will emerge in children's be- 'words to say" as they were working out their un- havior. In acoercive environment, children suppress derstanding of what it means to respect children, a lot.In a cooperative environment, emotional consult them, and give them choices. For example, difficulties are more freely expressed. his sometimes they learned to ask new kinds of questions. They small consolation to realize that these difficulties will gave up asking flr information, and beganasking not be overcome unless they are expressed so you ohestions that aupeal to action.An example is can work on them. Too, children who are accustomed Astead of asking "What color do you have to put in to a coercive environment in school may react to the blue to make green?"; it was more fruitful to ask, "I new freedom by testing it to see what its limits are. wonder what would happen if you put in yellow?" Teachers in the Human Development Laboratory 16 The child who already knows usualiy answers what tary education training and their own childhood he anticipates and does it. The child who does not educational experiences.They found that four know does notfeel pressured to give an answer, but years of college does not make one a teacher. is free to try and find out.In shadow activities, Instead, growing never ends because children keep teachers had to overcome a desire to get children to bringing new reactions to which teaching must be tell about shadows. Instead, they inspired experi- adapted. mentation by suggesting effects like "Could you The autonomous teacher gives up a lot of control. make the shadow bigger/longer?" and asking "What If child autonomy is to be fostered, the teacher has would happen if you backed up?" or "What would to give children the freedom to control themselves. happen if you raised your flashlight higher?" This is scary because it is hard to know whether All of this takes a lot longer than telling children children can.The teacher new to constructivist what to do. At first you may be skeptical of the worth teaching is skeptical with good reason. Developing of taking this time. Teachers I know are not really confidence in children's ability is also something that convinced until they see changes in children. For takes time. example, two teachers recently told me they heard Autonomous teachers do not just accept uncritically my advocacy of cooking activities, but did not really what curriculum specialists give them. They think understand until they tried them how powerful they about whether they agree with what is suggested. can be in engaging children's interest in reading, They take responsibility for the education they are thinkinc, and cooperating.In cooking, too, they offering children. became convinced that it is sometimes useful not to correct children's errors.For example, two five- Conclusion year-old cooks were careless with neasuring the ingredients in their cookies.At snack time, they In reflecting about the task confronting us of noticed tiat the cookies tasted "Yucky". The next constructing constructivist education, I am reminded At age time the recipe was used, they knew the reason for of an experience from my own childhood For measuring carefully. Moral development was pro- five, my mother learned to knit, and so did I. some time, I knitted a narrow fabrc that got longer moted as children felt a real responsibility to make a Finally, someone asked me, "Rheta, good snack for everyone to enjoy. These teachers and longer. began cooking because I suggested it, but they what are you knitting?"I answererl, "I don't know-- contint id it because they became convinced by I'm not finished yet?" We cannotknow ahead of time exactly what a constructivist program will be because children's reactions. this depends on what children contribute as well as Autonomy. It is this conviction that r,haracterizes what talented teachers contribute. I invite you to join teacher autonomy. Like constructivism, autonomy me in the constructive process. is not just for children. The autonomous teacher knows not only what to do, but why. She has a sad network of convictions that are both practical and theoretical.The autonomous teacher can think about how children are thinking and at the same time think about how to intervene to promote the constructive process. Auton omy, too, is reflected in new ways of evaluating teaching effectiveness, new ways of assessing learning. The teacher becomes sensitive to subtle but profound changes. Teachers in the Lab emphasized that they developed understanding in layers, each new one taking them beyond former understanding. In particular, their autonomy meant overcoming elemen-

17 DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING OF ARTISTIC WORKSTHROUGH ART EDUCATION DURING EARLYCHILDHOOD

James H. Brutger, Ph. D. Universi;y of Minnesota, Duluth

The Associated Press, in June of 1988, sent out ents and their young children. In the 1988 July issue a release based on a survey of kindergartenteach- of Art Education, Barbara Piscitelli descrVes the ers from a major city. The survey indicated thathalf program that took place in the Queensland Art of the children who enter the Chicago public school Gallery in Brisbane, Austrara. A twelve week study system are unable to say their first and last names conducted by the gallery, in col:aboration with the or to speak in a complete simple sentence.The School of Early Childhood Studies at Brisbane Col- report also stated that "...most of the youngsters are lege of Advanced Education, involved thirty families, also unable to identify basic shapes such as squares two museum educators and an early childhood and circles, hold a pencil or crayon correctly, sit still educator. The project was called *Share the Joy!" and listen to a brief story or settle disputes without (Piscitelli, 1988) and its purpose was to provide art physical aggression." If this situation exists in Chi- appreciation experiences for preschool children and cago then, in all probability, it exists elsewhere. participating adults in a gallery setting. Surveys of this type show that programs are An orientation session was held for the parents. needed which will provide children with the basic They met with the staff and were made aware of learning tools so they are able to compete success- project goals. As part of this session, they were fully in educational settings. Various programs have made familiar with the gallery and its art works. been developed for preschoolers that involve learn- Tutors were introduced and the parents were asked children. ing habits and building self confidence. A program to provide them with information about their based in art education can provide much of the At first, the tutors were used to point out various needed background for children about to enter kin themes, techniques, and concepts to the children in dergarten level. an informal way. As the groups progressed,the The current trend in art edut.drion is centered tutors found themselves isolated from the parents around learning to talk about, and produce art. This and children. The younger children, ages three to trend is referred to as Discipline-Based Art Educa- four, seemed to prefer to discuss the art works with tion. Clark, Day, and Greer (1987) speak of reasons their parents while children four and five years old for DBAE to be recognized as part of the total school seemed to relate better in a group. curriculum. "Discipline-based art education, as part To get the children to respond to works of art, the of general education, aims to develop mature stu- tutors and parents used open-ended questions and dents who are comfortable and familiar with major casual conversation to probe the children's thoughts. aspects of the disciplines of art and who are able to Other methods such as role playing, movement, express ideas with art media, who read about and dressing up, and sensory explorationwere used. criticize art, who are aware of art history, and who Props such as homemade binoculars and other have a basic understanding of issues in aesthetics." cardboard viewers were provided to help tne chil- (P. 138) dren to focus in on various aspects of the artwork. By The purpose of this paper is to discuss ways in watching the children's body language and facial which young children can develop an understanding expressions, both parents and tutors began to sense of artistic works. These techniques include looking when it was or was not appropriate to prompt re- at, discussing, and producing works of art.An sponses from the children. excellentex ample of what can be done is a coopera- The responses of the children varied from the shy tive ver;:ure undertaken by an art gallery and par- child who felt more comfortable talking quietly with a

18 20 parent to the child who enjoyed holding the floor by from the ceiling, and a huge nose into which they expressing verbal ideas to the entire group. Fur- could enter The ear contained several small speak- nished with two roils of cardboard taped together, ers; each was broadcasting an unusual sound. The the children went bird watching by peering into a children were told to place their ears against the big painting depicting a variety of birds. Some children ear to determine how many sounds they could hear. responded well to the idea of imitating the sculptural The eyes contained beautiful colors and visual pat- objects in the museum by lying down or standing in terns. The hand had pockets at the knuckles and at similar positions. The children often used the sub- the joints of the fingers. Each pocket contained a ject of the paintings and sculptures es vehicles for textural object. The objects ranged from smooth to story telling. coarse giving the children a variety of tactile experiences. The nose was a sturdy structure (some of the Following the gallery experience the children and children climbed on top of it) containing sheNes with parents were taken to an area where both could get various containers of smells. The chiKren were involved in the making of art. exposed to many different odors which challenged Another program, involving a museum, took place the sense of smell. in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1974. The St. Paul Mu- Following the sensory room the children were led seum, in cooperation with local college art depart- to a large auditorium where a movie, screen came ments, designed an environment emphasizing the down to the floor of a stage. Slides were projected Volunteers were employed to visit five senses. showing abstract images. The chitrfren were en- participating schools. The volunteers made contact couraged to come onto the stage and to use fabrics with children and teachers of the third and fourth and costume material to make themnelves blend grade classes. These classes were designated, to into the projected image. This activity involving viSit the'museum and take part in the program. The motion and play acting, accompanied by musical volunteers explained the program to the children so sounds, lasted for about a half hour. that when they arrived at the museum they would have some idea of what to look for. The next stop was at an area where several stations were set up to give the chiidren a chance to When the buses arrived at the museum, they create images using a vaelty of materials. One were met by guides who organized the children into station allowed the children to pound nails into a small groups of about twelve each. These groups board; string was then added to create abstract were given an introduction to an exhibition. They patterns. Another station contained fibers and yarn; were then told to look at the show individually or with here Ihey were encouraged to develop their own a friend. Questions about the show were answered weaving looms.One station contained several by the guides who were nearby to assist and encour- easels. The children were given paints and bmshes age the children to become involved in the exhibi- and were told to paint what ..03r they wanted. There tion. In one situation, a fiber work was displayed in were stations that had tabies of three dimensional a horizontal position under a plastic box.The materials. The children were invited to construct children were encouraged to identify with the piece shapes and objects of their choice. by lying down on the floor in imitation of the fiber work. After the period of constructive activity, the children were called together into a large area to discuss After viewing the exhibit, the children were intro- their art work. On a volunteer basis the children duced to a tunnel that led into a room where the showed their work or commented on the work of focus was on the five senses. Before entering the others. The monitor skillfully directed the conversa- tunnel, the children and adults had to take off their tion so that basic concepts of creativity and an shoes. The tunnel was dark and coated with hang- understanding of the art elements were empha- ing strings and ropes giving the person crawling sized. through it an eerie feeling. In many ways these two programs, one involving Inside ihe room the children were introduced to a a museum and the other an art gallery, are models large ear and hand lying on the floor, eyes hanging of how to give children, from preschool on up, the 19 t 21 background to formulate thoughts about the visual The problem lies in the fact that it is one more artsby means of shared experiences. An analysis of coloring book exposure that interferes with the child's the two programs shows that: (1) Pre-planning took aesthetic and creative development. The question place which prepa,ed the children, parents, and that arises is: Is it fair to sacrifice one subject area school personnel iortheir visits, (2) Volunteers were for the gain of another? 'trained to provide the direction for interaction be- Art Games and Tools tween child and adult. (3) Sensitivity was developed Besides the use of countless art activities, art to detect when it was appropriate to elicit a ;esponse games and tools can be used to nurture the child's from the child. ,(4) Basic props wet,' tl.ad to invite visual and aesthetic growth. The use of severe! easy entrance into detailed viewing of various works, prints of artists from a given art period can be made and to better understand the art elements.(5) into a learning game. In one situation children, ages Activities culminated in the use of art materials four to live, were asked to match small reproduc- where the children could express their ideas in a tions of paintings by French Impressionists with visual way. larger prints done by the same artist. The challenge Posit' ie and NegatNe Influence for the children was to look at the smaller print paying The early life of young children is one of constant attention to the theme, color, texture, brush stroke, exposure to their immediate environment.In that etc. and to match successfully the print with the environment they learn to walk, speak, and express artist. Five large prints by Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin , themselves in countless ways. They are exposed to Van Gogh and Degas and twenty small prints of the sounds of music, family anger and joy, and different paintings by the same artists were used. numerous other sounds of daily living. Visually they The children did surprisingly well even when the are exposed to surrounding colors, shapes, tex- theme was different. They knew Van Gogh's "Self tures, and lineapatterns. As the children grow Portrait" belonged with his "Starry Night".They older, they are iold stories and exposed to many knew well over 50% on the first try and rarely took feelings of adventure. It is within this framework that more than two tries for a correct response (Brown). we can assist children to develop a visual arts Another game, designed to familiarize children awareness. with various artists and the style of their paintings, is Art experiences based on problem solving or as follows: Six pairs of postcard size prints varying child-oriented discovery are best for developing a from abstract to realism are used. Prior to initiating fundamental understanding of the functioning of the the game, a discussion is held with the four to five- visual arts. Negative art stimulation should be avoided year-old children to explain the difference between as much as possible. Negative art stimulation is any abstract, realism and expressionism. (The children type of activity thrust upon the child that tends to seem to like the abstract prints because the colors interfere with his/her natural artistic development. are vivid.) When it is determined that the children understand the basic differences betwesn the styles Coloring book type activities are a good example of art being used, the game begins. The prints are of negative art. These activities call for the child to mixed and turned upside down. The challenge is to accept adult-made images of subject matter at a guess where the work of an artist (by name) or astyle time when the child's own images are forming. An of painting is located. After a brief period of time the incident now and then involving coloi ing books will children seem to have little trouble identifying the not permanently damage a child's artistic develop- location of all of the prints (Brown). ment; however, constant bombardment at home, in school, or by the social environment will interfere The "Texture Bag" is designed to allow rthildren to seriously with image formation. Coloring contests in develop an awareness of different textures. The newspapers, magazines, and through various busi- "Texture Bag" can bo a small box, a paper bag, a nesses, are constantly before the child. At school coffee can with a sock top or any other type of well-meaning teachers will often use coloring print- container large enought to hold several items with outs to teach other subject areas. varying textures. Two-dimensional or three-dimen- 20 22 sional objects can be used. There are a number of work. Using a story telling format, give some basic ways to use this tool as well. One method t;.-, to glue background about the artist. Where did he/she live? different fabrics onto cardboard disks making two of How did he/she become an artist? What type of art each kind. One disk is placed in the bag while the is it called? [Realism, Expressionism, Impression- other is displayed outside of the bag. The challenge ism, Surrealism, etcl What tools did the artist use to is to find the mate 20 the disk that can be seen by make the work? feeling the various disks in the bag. This works best When the art work has been discussed as far as when a disk is held in one hand while the other the interest of the children extends, it is time to searches for the mate.Getting the children to summarize what has been said about the work and verbalize about the appearance of each disk aids to bring the discussion to a meaningful conclusion them in their tatile search. Degrees of difficulty can by having the children do an art actllity that reflects be introduced by using obviously discrepant materi- the study of the art work. als such as cotton and fur to begin with and then An example of a good activity is one that was presenting materials such as terry cloth and silk observed at a day care center. The children ages together so that differences are more subtle. three to five were shown works by George Seurat. Another version of the *Texture Bag" is to use The subjects were discussed, using the above pro- three-dimensional materials such as shepes that cedure and the technique of pointillism (placing are basically rectangular, circular,triangt,lar. or. The primary colors side by side in dot form to create other same procedure can be followed as with thecloth colors) was explained. The activity involved having disks. Single items either two-or three-dimensional the children make a painting of any subject using the cab be placed in the bag. Another challenge would pointillism approach. A critique followed the activity be to tell a story about the items based on how they allowing each child to discuss his/her painting feel. The story can eventually be translated into a (Rainbow Day Care). drawing or painting. Unlike those children mentioned in the Chicago Talking About Art survey, children who are exposed to the visual arts Children who have a basic understanding of the through activities which allow for the discovery of the art elements of line, form, texture and color are fundamental art elements and who are given the ready to discuss the works of aGult artists. Discus- opportunity to hear about the artists am; their work, sions about art works should be conducted in such will be able to identify with the basic concepts of the a way as to get the children tobecome involved in the visual arts. They most certainly should be able to art work. To do this it is best to start byhaving the give their first and last names, hold a pencil or children identify what they see when they look at the crayon, and be able to sit to listen to abrief story by work. When the content of the work has been the time they enter kindergarten. described the next step is to get the children to look at how shapes, lines, textures, and color are usedby REFERENCES the artist.Reasonable questions to ask would be "How important are these to the art work?" "What Brown, Sheryl. Field-based report by early child- would the work look like without any color?" Open- ended and leading questions such as these will get hood art student. the children to relate to earlier discussions about the Clark, G. A. , Day, & Greer (1987). Discipline-based art elements. Other questions pertaining to likes and art education: Becoming students of art.Journal dislikes of the %v.:irk should be asked to get the of Aesthetic Education, 21 (2), 138. children to focus on the merits of the work according Piscitelli, Barbara (1988). Preschoolers and par- to their own personal choices.("Would you like to ents as artists and art appreciators. Ad Educa- hang it in your own this art work?" "Would you tion, 41 (4), 48. room?") Rainbow Day Care Center, Duluth, Minnesota. After a reasonable period of discussion, children Observation. should be told something about the history of the 21 PLANNNG FOR PLAY

Bnic:e Cunningham, Ph. D. University of Wisconsin-Stout

.'eachers of young children have long recognized include the child:en gaining a feeling of power, while the developmental values of play. Through play, some of the negative aspects include the often young children develop physical skills by actively violent and sex-stereotyped scripts of the play. using the large and small muscles of the body; social Games with rules involve conforming to accepted and emotional skills by interactrig with other chil- and preestablished rules Examples of this type of dren; and cognitive skills by manipulating a variety of play include tag, hide-and-seek, and kickball. Young materials in new ways. Teachers can help young children are not able to fully participate in this type of children reap these benefits by carefully planning a play until the cognitive abilities of decentration. variety of play experiences. The first step in this reversibility, and perspective-taking develop, which process is for teachers to recognize that there are generally occurs around six to seven years of age different types of play and different social levels of (Bogdanoff and Dolch, 1979). This type of play is play. quite popular during the elementary school years. Types of Play Social Levels of Play Rather tha n considering play as an undifferentiated Play typically takes place in a social context and activity, several researchers have identified specific several different patterns or levels of social play types of children's play. The following scheme of have been recognized. The following scheme of functional play, co nst:uctive play, dramatic play and solitary, parallel, associative, and cooperative play games with rules comes from Rubin, Watson, and was developed by Parten (1932). Jambor (1978) which in turn was influenced by Solitary play occurs when a child plays alone and Piaget (1962) and Smilansky (1968). independently with no reference to other children. Functional play, which is also called sensorimo- This type of play is the first type of play a young child tor, exercise, or practice play, involves simple repeti- engages in, although it can be found among children tive muscle movements with or without objects that of auy age. are repeated with no purpose to construct.Ex- Parallel play occurs when a child plays indepen- amples of this type of play include running in the dently but near or among other children. At this level play-yard, pedaling a tricycle, swinging, or tumbling of play, children may use the same types of materi- on a mat. als but do not generally interact with one another. As ConstructiVe play involvos the manipulation of children grow older they may use parallel play as a objects to construct or create something. The end meansto ease into, or out of, a more social level of product of the construction is somewhat important, play (Rubin, Fein, and Vandenberg, 1983). but the focus here is on the prbcess of building. Associative play occurs when a child interacts Examples of this type of play inc.:Me blocks, small with others, even while using the same materials, manipulative materials, such as legos, and most art but does not subordinate her or his own interests to materials. the other children. In this type of play, crildren may Dramatic play invblves role playoq, or pretend- play with the same materials and talk about them, ing to be someone else. Make believe transforma- but the play and the conversation has a disjointed tions, such as using one thing for another or pretend- and uncoordinated quality by adult standards. As- ing to do some action, are other components of sociative play typically occurs only during the early dramatic play. Superhero play, such as pretending years. to be He-man, has been the subject of several recent Cooperative play occurs when a child's actions articles (Holcomb, 1987; Kostelnik, Whiren and Stein, are organized and coordinated with actions of an- 1:186). Postive aspects of this type of dramatic play 22 other child. For example, in cooperative dramatic The amount of space in the classroom also influ- play, the children would have family roles and work ences play. Space is defined in square footage of toward the same goal, such as making and eating gcar space per child, minus space taken up by the dinner together. As with games with rules, coopera- tables, chairs, and shelves. Smith and Connolly tive play is dependent on a child's advancing cogni- (1980) investigated the effect of the amount of tive structures. opace on children's play and found that at 75 to 50 square feet per child there was much functional play There has been much discussion in the literature at all levels of social i.'...ty. At 25 square feet per child regarding which type or levtit .nf play is more mature the amount of functional play decreased and there or immature (Pellegrini and Perlmutter, 1987;Smith, was more associative and cooperative play.When 1978).Rather than address this issue here, a the amount of space was reduced to 15 square feet descriptive graph in Figure 1 shows at what ages the per child there was a marked increase in aggression types and social levels of play are typically present. and play seemed to break down altogether. Planning tor Play The arrangement or division of space in the Teachers of young children can influence the classroom is a more complex matter, but in general, types and social levels of play by varying the provi- large open spaces tend to encourage functional sions of materials, time, space, and preparatory play. Partitioned spaces, created by dividing the experiences in the classroom. Close observation of room with shelves or dividers encourages more the childron will then provide feedback to the te acher, associative and cooperative play. Enclosed areas, as well as suggest when and howthe teacher can such as a blanket thrown over a card table, tend to become involved in the children's play. This model encourage dramatic play amoung small groupsof of planning for play is adapted from Collier (1985), children. Manning and Sharp (1977), and Johnson, Christie, Preparatory experiences, or things children have and Yawkey (1987). done, seen, or heard about appear to be especially Provision important for encouraging dramatic play (Smilansky, Certain materials have been recognized to pro- 196e).Children need prior experience through mote certain types and social levels of play fieldtrips, guest speakers, book:, films, filmstrips, (Hendrickson, Strain, Tremblay, and Shores, 1981; songs, and other stories hebre they can adequately Rubin, 1977).For example, housekeeping toys, recreate a setting or storyline in their play. dolls, dress-up clothes, andwheeled vehicles tend to Observation promote dramatic play at the associative and Teachers whc, have planned for play and who are cooperatiave levels. Blocks tend to encourage con- familiar with the various types and social levels of structive and dramatic play at all levels of social play. play can use observation to gain valuable feedback. Natural materials such as clay, play-do, sand and Observations that focus on the type of play that is water promote functional play at the solitary and going on, and the provisions that cause those types parallel levels, while ail materials such as scissors of play will het! -Aver the question of how the and paints encourage constructive play that is soli- provisions can t..anged to encourage, enrich, or tary or parallel. extend a specific type or social level of play. Several All types of play, especially dramatic play at the scales to systematic* guide teacher's observa- cooperative level, take time for children to recruit tions of play are available in Johnson, Christie, and friends, work out differences, elaborate or extend the Yawkey (1987). play episode and repeat the play. If children do not Teacher Involvement have enough time to play in this manner they may come to understand that play is not a valuedactivity. Teacher involvement in children's play can indi- persistence, For this reason ik is recommended (Gritting, 1983) cate approval, increase rapport and that children have 30 to 50 minute blocks oftime to and encourage more elaborate play. When children's play, if on!, a few times a week, rather than short15 play is going well it may be desireable for the teacher children to 20 minute time blocks each day. to let the children play undisturbed. When 23 are not interested in the play materials, or are teacher remains outside the context of play and abusing them, then more intrusive measures are makes comments that encourage the child to make appropriate. The followng methods of teacher in- connections between their play and objects or events volvement can be used in a variety of situations and in the real world. For example, if children were laying are derived from Wood, McMahon and Crianstoun blocks on the floor and the blocks happened to form (1980). the shape of a letter, the teacher would interrupt the play rind point out that the children have made a Parallel playing occurs when a teacher is close to letter with th3 blocks. This method is appropriate the child and uses the same type of play materials when there is an important opportunity for learning but makes no attempt to interact with or influence the that the children will miss if the teacher does not child. This is similar to when children parallel play intervene. This method should be used sparingly with one another, and is best used when the child is because it disrupts the play of the children. playing well and is very involved with the play materials. Summary Co-playing occurs when the teacher joins in an Teachers can plan good play experiences by ongoing play episode and asks ler information, recognizing how the provisions of materials, time, differ- instructions, or responds to the children's actions in space and preparatory ei:periences effect the a playful manner. In co-playing it is important the ent types and social levels of play. Observing the children still control the course of the play. Co- children at play can provide valuable feedback on playing is appropriate when the play is generally the provisions foi play and suggest ways teachers going well but is repetitious or could use a little extra can become involved to extend andenrich play participation to keep it interesting and fun. episodes. Play tutoring can take several forms and involves the teacher taking on a dominant or major role and REKRENCES partially controlling the course of the play (milansky, Bogdanoff, R. & Dolch, E. (1979). Old games for 1968). This can be doneas inside int erve);:ittn when young children: A link to our heritap. Young the teacher assumes a major role within the play Children, 34, 37-45. context, models behaviors that the children have not yet performed and directs the children in their play Collier, R. (1985). Preschool teachers andchildren's behaviors. An example would be a dra:ratic play play. Paper presented at the annual Meeting of of area set up as a restaurant in which the thiloren the Association for the Anthropological Study have taken no interest or are playing there but Play, Washington, D.C. misusing the props. The teacher would assume the Gaffing, ?. (1983). Encouraging dramatic play in role of the cook or a customer, and in that role make early childhood. Young Children, 38, 13-22. suggestions and direct the play. Outside interven- Hendrickson, J., Strain, P., Trembla,, A. & Shores, tion occurs when the teacher remains outside the R.(1981). Relationship between toy and material play context and directs the children by making use and the occurrence of socialinteractive bo comments and positive suggestions, giving direc- haviors by normally developing preschool chil tions, or directly demonstrating how to use the dren. Psychology in the Schools, 18, 500-504. materials. To use the above example of re staurant dramatic play, a teacheA using outside intervention Holcomb, B. (1987). Why children are hooked on would stand in or near the play area and in the role superhercs. Working Mother, July, 94-98. of a teacher, tell the children how they need to play Johnson, J., Christie, J. & Yawkey, T. (1987). Play with the materials and props. These types of play and Early Childhood DevelOpment. Glenview, 11: tutoring are intrusive and may not be appropriate to Scott, Feresman. use when children are playing well with the materials Kostelnik, M., Whiren, A. & Stein, L. (1986). Living and each other. with He-man: Managing superhero fantasy play. Being a spokesperson for reality occurs when the Young Children. 41, 3-9. n 24 Manning, K. &Sharp, A. (1977). Structuring Play in Rubin, K., Fein, G., & Vandenberg, B. (1983). Play. Psychol the Early Years at School. London: Ward Lock In P.H. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of Child and Social Educational. ogy: Vo14., Socialization, Personality, Development (4th ed., pp. 693-774). New York: Patten, M. (1932). Social participation among preschool children. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 27, 243-269. Rubin, K;, Watson, K;, & Jambor, T. (1978). free- play behaviors in preschool and kindergarten Peliegrini, A. & Perlmutter, J. (1987). A re-examina- children, Chikl Development, 49,534-536. tion of the Smilansky-Parten matrix of play behavior. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Smilansky;S. (1968). The Effects of Sociodramatic New 2, 89-96. Rayon Disadvantaged Preschool Chikken. York: Wiley. Piaget, J. (1962). Play, Dreams and Imitation in Chikhood. New York: Norton. Smith, P. & Connolly, K. (198(J). The Ecology of Preschool Behavior. Cambridge, England: Cam- Rubin, K. (1977). The social and cognitive value of bridge University Press. preschool toys and activities. Canadian Joymaloi Behavioral Sciences, 9, 382-385. Wood, D., McMahon, L & Cranstoun, Y. (1980). Working Wdh Under Fives. Ypsilanti, MI: High/ Scope Press.

Figure 1

Frequency and Duration of Types of Pray and Social Levels of Play

functisoal

It 6 age in 0 1 2 3 5 years

solftary diesels, fowls's, parallel batiste or mkt pl. associative cooperative 25 2 7 REARING COMPETENT CHILDREN:DEVELOPMENTAL CONCEPTS FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND DAYCARE PROVIDERS

Darryl Dietrich, Ph.D. College of St. Scholastica

Because of the inadequacy of much of the As we will see later in the discussion of parenting childrearing advice received by parents and be- styles, this means that exerting control over children cause too many children in our societyfail to realize without appropriate use of the other three dimen- their full potential due to inadequate parenting, I am sions can lead to poor developmental outcomes. on a crusade to spread the wordto teachers and Eventually, control has to come from the individual if parent educators about an extensive body of re- he/she is to become a competent adult. That is why search findings from the field of developmental psy- internalization is important. chology that focuses on rearing competentchildren. PA:turIty Demands. A major developmental out- This research has led to guidelines for childrearing come focused on by Baumrind is thedevelopment of that are based on empirical connectionsbetween independence in children. Independence does not developmental outcomes in children and the type of mean isolation from others or lack ofneed for other parenting they have experienced. Throughout my people, but rather it describes children who canthink discussion, I will extend thesechildrearing principles for themselves and function competently ontheir to the educational context by highlightingrelated ,mn when necessary.Appropriate maturity de- concepts and examples covered by Dr.DeVries in mands contribute to the development of indepen- her presentations last night and thismorning. Al- dence. though the conceptual framework I use is based Maturity demands should be matched to the de- mostly on work with parentsand their children, I find velopmental level of the child. Neither unreasonable that the same concepts--if not the identical terms-- demands nor unchallenging demands will be very are applicable to educational settings. helpful to a child.Making appropriate maturity For my conceptual framework I have chosen to demands means that you expect the child to perform concentrate on Baumrind's work (1967, 19 /1, 1973), a'. her level--cognitively, emotionally, orphysically. because hers is one of the best-known studies and You expect the child to act up to that level and a little because a simplified version of her concepts has bit beyond. You would not say, "You must get allA's proven to be quite useful to me inunderstanding in school," if the child is currently doing Cwork. child-adult interactions and in introducing students Instead, you might say (if you are sure it is due to low to child development issues. [SeeMaccoby and effort), "We're going to set aside an extra halfhour for Martin (1983) for an extensive discussion of re- studying after dinner to help you learn more, and search on parenting in addition to Baumrind's.j maybe you'll be able to earn a C+ or even a B next Dimensions of Parenting term: You challenge the child in a positive manner. The four dimensions of parenting identifiedby Control and maturity demands work hand-in-hand declines Baumrind are control, maturity demands, commu- in that the amount of control a parent exerts as the child gets older, that is, as thechild becomes nication, and nurturance. more competent and internalizes moreof the behav- Control. Control-which involves setting bound- iors appropriate forfunctionirg in society. The same aries, guidelines, and expectations for children--is principle applies in the classroom.You should essential to the development of competence. Con- expect children to participate in structuring the ma- trol contributes to independence and to internaiiza- terials for the day, in helping to plan activities, orin lion of parental standards. How you communicate helping other children understand the rules of a is vital. rules and consequences for transgressions game. 26 II r' t...6 Implicit in the preceding examples is the fact that ing compassion and empathy for the child, and parents and teachers need to be aware of what their expressing these feelings both in words and dis- children and students are capable of doing. While played attitudes. Nurturance also includes interest an understanding of average abilities at given ages or involvement in the child's life. This means showing is very important for making initial "best guesses" pride in his/her accomplishments, praising his/her about a child's developmental level, careful obser- accomplishments, and showing pleasure and interest vation andassessment of the child's abilities is es- in what he/she is doing. Children need nurturance sential for appropriate individualized instruction or in addition to control, maturity demands, and com- guidance. munication. A child needs to f',I that he/she "is somebody" who is valued positively by others, be- The third dimension of Communication. cause these feelings become an important part of parenting, communication, involves conveying ex- the self concept, influencing the value (self-esteem) pectafions (i.e., controls and maturity demands) at a the child attaches to himself/herself. level the child can comprehend. Obviously, you would not give long explanations to 2-year-olds, and Using the Four Dimensions. The preceding four you would not give preschoolers complex orabstract dimensions run through my mind when I am ob- explanations of why things need to be the way they serving interactions between adults and children.I are. For the older child, of course, extensiveverbal actively think about the type of control, maturity and logical explanation is appropriate. Communi- demands, communication, and nurtu ranee exhibited. cate your expectations, but do so in a developmen- If I am consulting with a parent or teacher about a tally appropriate way so that the child can under- child, these concepts also come in handy for inter- stand. preting what the parent/teacher is telling me and for organizing my questions and suggestions. Now let The corn municafion recommended by Baumrind us see how these four dimensions can be combined is two-way communication. Instead of always telling into distinct styles of parenting. the child what to do, ask the child about a situation that you need to discuss with him/her. Ask the child Parent Patterns what he/she thinks or how he/she interprets the The next step is to describe how the scores on situation or what his/her feelings are about it. The each of the four dimensions define general patterns idea is to listen to the child's opinions. This does not of parenting. Most parents' styles correspond ap- imply, however, a purely democratic family or class- proximately to one of three parent patterns: the room. Baumrind has purposely not labeled anyof authoritative, the authoritarian, and the permissive her parenting patterns "democratic," because she patterns. A pattern is defined by a unique combina- recognizes that there is a natural power differential tion of high or low scores on the four dimensions. between the mature adult and ihe child, who simply The authoritative pattern has high scores on all does not know as much about how the world oper- four dimensions (i.e., control, maturity demands, ates. Nevertheless, it is important to solicit and take communication, nurturance).I highly recommend the child's opinion into account. This approach gives this approach to interacting with children, based on the child a sense of responsibility and a context for my values regarding what competent children are or accepting situations when their parents have to say should be. "no."li you get children to a point where they are accustomed to the constructivist style of teaching The authoritarian pattern is fairly high on control, and they are functioning well within it, then many but the authoritarian's maturity demands and com- decisions can be made democratically. But, there munication often are not appropriate. There is very still will be situations in which the teacher makes the little clear communication, and nurturant behaviors ultimate decision. and attitudes are not common. Nurturance. There are two aspects to The permissive pattern is low in control, fairly low nurturance: warmth and involvement. Warmth, in appropriate maturity demands and communica- which is what we most often think of when we hear tion, but is high in nurturance. the term nurturance, includes loving the child, hay- 27 n 0 , 4; t) Misunderstanding Development Comparing Three Patterns of Teaching It is apparent that permissive and authoritarian Now let us translate the three parenting styles to parents do not understand child development very teacher-child relationships by discussing some well.They share this characteristic with the non- classroom examples. constructivist educators we saw inDr. De Vries' First, consider the authoritarian style of teacher- videotapes. These individuals miss important clues child interaction by recalling the "drill sergeant" math in the behavior of children. I will next point out how teacher in Dr. DeVries' videotape. Her lock-step each of them, in unique ways, do not understand drilling showed high control, as did the well-trained important aspects of child development. children shouting back their answers in unison. She Authoritarian adults do not understand the inabil- also had clear control in instantly being able to get ity of the young child to reason like an adult when compliance by saying, "stop, don't sit," etc.Her faced with instructions or commands. What this style, however, might involve inappropriate maturity means is that authoritarians assume that because demands, because the lock-step drilling task itself they have stated something in simple and clear might be creating the behavior problems by boring language, the child will understand and follow a the children. command. The authoritarian may not realize sev- You certainly saw boredom in the videotape of the eral possible areas which children might not under- man teaching a board game to a child.I, too, got stand well: (a) Logical sequences of ideas. (b) The impatient just watching him teach, which helped me time dimension, as in past- or future- oriented empathize with the bored and restless child. Even state ments.(c) The understanding, not recitation, of though we did not see scolding or other harsh the concept of number. (d) Serial order relationships behaviors, this teacher showed authoritarian char- among objects. (e) Conditional statements. acteristics of high control, inappropriate maturity An extreme example: "I want you to take thethree demands, ineffective communication, and lack of smallest and four largest plants from the window in nurturance.It he had attempted to monitor his two hours if the sun is still shining brightly so that th ey effectiveness by observing the child, he might have don't burn." The likelihood of this instruction being noticed the child twisting around, not paying atten- carried out by a 4-year-old is low. What happens tion, seeming to get tired, etc.In fact, the child's when the child inevitably "disobeys instructions?" behaviors were probably brought about by the The authoritarian is likely to think, "This is an irre- teacher's need to control through lecturing, his inat- sponsible child who needs to be disciplined now. tentiveness to the student, and his failure to make I've got to impress on him the importance of listening developmentally appropriate maturity demands as to instructions. Next time he'd better listen to me." demonstrated by his choosing to communicate The general context from which these feelings arise through a monologue with the young child. indicates that the authoritarian also fails to appreci- Dr. DeVries' videotape of the woman teaching ate the child's need for nurturance. children how to play the Halloween board game is an Permissive adults do not appreciate young excellent example of an authoritative teaching style. children's need to have controls Children need You saw her nurturance (warmth) and her maturity structure or guidelines. They are still learning about demands in that she knew where her students were life and about the way the world operates.The developmentally. Yet, saw clear communication-- permissive parents are not giving the child a very not the type of communication where you tell the good chance to learn because they are following child what to do at each step but rather the type of what amounts to a "sink or swim" style of childrearing communication in which the teacher asks and sug- which ;an be overwhelming to the child and which gests. And yet there was appropriate control, and learning was taking place--those children were en- fails to help the child develop internal controls.It is no surprise, then, that the result is aless mature, gaged in the task and were cooperating nicely. If you would enjoy playing/teaching with children like that more dbpendent, and less self-reliantchild. and are envious of the teacher's "good luck" in

28 having suchstudents, keep in mind th atthe teacher's learning and. therefore, children of authoritative authoritative style probably had a lot to do with how parents tend to imitate authoritative behavior. the children behaved. Children of authoritarian parents are moderately I do not recall an example in Dr. DeVries' video- self-reliant, and it should not surprise you that they tapes of a permissive teacher, but a permissive are also moderately self-controlled, since they get a teacher probably would engender chaos in the Hal- lot of "don't do that, do this" commands. They are, loween game teaching situation. The permissive however, relatively discontented, insecure and ap- teacher would not have communicated clear expec- prehensive, withdrawn, dietrtx.tfili, and less inter- tations to the children, and at the same time he would ested in affiliating with their peers. At least when the not have provided structured guidance that would threat of externally imposed consequences is present have allowed the children to accomplish something. they behave well, but the development of internal He may have had a lot of aimless wandering or controls is not as thorough as in children of authori- inappropriate use of the board game. The permis- tative parents. sive teacher would have been nurtu rant, however, The outcome for children of permissive parents is thinking things like, "Isn't this wonderful how the a surprise for people who believe that children need children are playing.Isn't it wonderful how were to "blossom" on their own (without interference from allowing the children to blossom and bloom and do the "corrupting" adult way of seeing things), be- their own thing." cause these are the most immature children. They Developmental Outcomes are highly dependent, less self-controlled, lessself- reliant, and more withdrawn. Up to now, I have described the four dimensions of parenting and how they combine into three basic Effective Schools Are Authoritative Schools patterns of parenting/teaching. What I have not yet I would like to expand on my earlier discussions of addressed, however, are these important questions how the parenting dimensions can be applied to the about developmental outcomes in children: Do the educational setting. Let us use as an example the different styles of parenting and teaching matter? discredited, non-structured, completely "open" Why do I recommend the authoritative style? Why classroom concept. In the extreme version of the am I h ard on the authoritarian and permissive styles? open classroom, there is little recognition that some To answer these questions, let us look at what children may need quiet space, or that some chil- Baum rind found in her research about the character- dren may need suggesOns as to what learning istics of children who have been raised under the centers to address themselves to.There is no three parenting styles. structure because the teacher believes that, "I've got Children of authoritative parents are the most to ;et children blossom; I've got to let them discover mature and competent They are content, indepen- on their own because Piaget says so."This, of dent, realistic, self-reliant, self-controlled, explor- course, is a misunderstanding of Piaget. The con- ative (i.e., they are more likely to try to discover about cept of control in Baumrind's model tells us that their world on their own), affiliative (i.e., they state children need structure and guidelines. Not, how- their needs and ask questions of peers or adults). ever, the "do this, don't do thar type of structure,but, This, then, is the general picture of what Baumrind subtle, structured control that can help guide them means by competent children: independent, able to as they actively learn on their own. The constructivist function well socially, able to learn on their own, and educators Dr. DeVries described provide this kind of content aoout their life. authoritative teaching. It is not just what the authoritative adult does to or In my experience very effective teachers--and with the child that leads to these positive outcomes; here I include not just cognitive effectiveness, but the ch ild also observes an excellent model of some- also effectiveness in classroom management and one who is competent, self-assured,fair, and attending to the needs of the whole child--tend to be nurtu rant. You are all well aware that young children authoritative, no matter what particular pedagogical learn much of their behavior through observational theory they have been taught. The authoritative 29 31 pattern may have been part of their individual styles about effective schools all converge on the idea of before they began studying for their teaching de- authoritative style. Therefore, if I hao to choose just grees, or it may have developed through experience one, brief recommendation for teachers educators, as they were shaped into the types of interactions parent educators, and future teachers, it would be to that pro:3 to be most conducive to helping students encourage them to internalize the basic dimensions develop cognitive, social, and emotional compe- of the authoritative style.They should become tence. This is not to suggest that college preparation familiarwith the meaning and implications of control, is unnecessary for teachers--obviously there is a lot maturity demands, communication, and nurturance more to know about children and teaching than is so that they can use these concepts in making inherent in Baumrind's modell--but within the gen- decisions about how to work with children in the wide eral parameters that we see in good teacher drepa- variety of situations they encounter. Much of the ration programs, personal "parenting" st 'e (and training and advice that teachers and parents re- experience) contribute much to the differences be- ceive consists of myriad childrearing prescriptions tween effective and ineffective teachers. for specific situations. The power of the approach I have outlined is its emphasis on general rather than To take a broader perspective that encompasses specific characteristics of child-adult interactions. not only the one-on-one teacher-child interaction, I When internalized by the parent or teacher, the refer you to Rutter's (1983) article. Rutter reviews Baumrind ccncepts can be used (a) to generate research on (a) what wa mean by effective school- plausible solutions to childrearing situations, (b) to ing, and (b) the outcomes of schools that are effec- see connections with other terms and ideas learned tive.His review included school size, class size, through training, and (c) to systematically analyze available money, the climate of the school, the for later application examples from histher own instructional expectations, and the teachers' prepa- experience. ration. Rutter defines the better outcomes of effective schools not only in terms of higher scores on standardized tests and attendance, but also in terms of REFERENCES less destructiva school behavior, less delinquency, Baurrrind, D.(1967). Childcare practices anteceding more students going on to college, higher student three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic self-esteem. Psychology Monographs, 75, 43-88. To summarize Rutter's 25-page article in one Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental sentence: Although he did not use the term "authori- authority.Developmental Psychology Mono- tative," his conclusions indicate that unusually effec- graph, 4, (1, Pt. 2). tive schoolr ciie authoritative, that is, their characteristics as institutions are similar to those of authorita- Baumrind, D. (1973). The development of instru- tive parents. (NOTE: The use of the term "authori- mental competence through socialization. In A. tative" to describe Rutter's conclusions was sug- D. Pick (Ed.), Minnesota Symposium on Child gested by Helen Bee (1985).) Furthermore, Rutter Psychology (Vol.7). Minneapolis: University of found that the effective schools are authoritative Minnesota Press. schools from top to bottom. The adm'histration's Bee, H. (1985). The developing child (4th ed.). New interactions with teachers are authoritative rather York: Harper & Row. than authoritarian. The teachers interactions with Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization their children are authoritative rather than authori- in the context of the family: Parent-child interac- tarian or permissive.There is a climate in the tion. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Handbook of schools of clearly communicated high expectations child psychology:Vol. IV. Socialization, personali- in a nurturant environment. ty, and social development. New York: John A Concluding Recommendation Wiley & Sons. Baumrind's research, DeVries ideas on Rutter, M. (1f)83). School effects on pupil progress: constructivist education, and Rutter's conclusions Research findings and policy implications. Child 30 Development, 54, 1-29. n t't STEVE AND PATTY DO THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE

Steve Hartsock Firefighter, Duluth Fire Department Patty Bennett Early Childhood Teacher, Duluth School District

On October 8, 1871, Mrs. Patrick Oleary's cow approaching stranger is a firefighter dressed in un- kicked over a lighted lantern starting her barn on fire. familiar gear. Strong gusts of wind blew the flames from the Firefighter Steve Hartsock, from Duluth, Minne- Southwest Side barn and raced the blaze in all sota, understands children's behavior in fires and directions. This mishap is believed to be the ignition took measures to change their attitude. With sup- of the Great Chicago Fire. The people were in a port from his union, he co-created Operation EDITH, panic! Flames swept throughout the city, chasing a 16 foot by 16 foot, seven room "house"that some residents out of town, while others dove into teaches children to react quickly and sensibly to a the cool waters of Lake Michigan to save their lives. fire alert. "We, (the firefighters); want children to The fire burned for over 24 hours, killing at least 300 make their own fire escape decisions, so we built people, leaving 90,000 homeless, and destroying Operation EDITH (Exit Drills In The Home)", he the entire downtown and surrounding areas. explains. A smoke machine and a revolving beacon Recognizing the need to educate the public about light make a simulated fire in the portable house. fires, the United States established Fire Prevention The children's task is to crawl through the house, Week in 1922. The week including October 9th was avoid the fire and decide on the safest means of selected, the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire. escape. Operation EDITH travels through the community with firefighters volunteering their time to It used to be that passing out plastic fire hats and help teach the children. distributing coloring books was all there was to observing Fire Prevention Week with young chil- Like Duluth, fire departments across the United dren. But this is not enough. The July, 1987 edition States are initiating innovative fire prevention pro- of "Fire In The United States" reveals the United grams. Puppet shows, comedy acts,mechanical States as ranking third highest in deaths among robots and computer programs introduce children to industrialized nations of the world. Childre n, from 1- good fire safety habits which help rovide them with 4 years, are targeted as the second most vulnerable confidence to protect themselves in emergency victims. (Elderly people over 75 years came first.) situations.But because of limited resources, fire Identifying young children as a risky population, fire departments want to involve the whole community in departments have prompted a new strategy; "Edu- fire prevention. In many areas, public and private cation and Prevention". organizations have acted and formed palnerships against fire. Unfortunately, far too many people look Their new approach emphasizes positive fire pre- at the nation's fire problem with indifference.They vention steps for children. Fear is minimized and allow their "it won't happen to me" attitude to neglect Their theory replaced with accurate information. responsibilities. In 1973, Congress appointed the affirms that children do have the ability to think fast National Commission on Fire Prevention and Con- and clear in emergency situations, but they must rely trol to identify problems and suggest solutions to this effective. Without on previous experiences to be difficult issue. Their recommendations compiled the prior knowledge, their first reactions can be fatal to lengthy reoort,"America Burning". Last fall, fourteen them.In fires, many children run to their most years later, a conference was held to measurethe familiar exit, rather than crawl to the closest means reports progress.The disappointing results re- of escape. Some hide in closets, unaware that the 31 a 3 vealed America is still burning.Although some Firefighter Steve Hartsock and I have collabo- strides have been made in the past fourteen years, rated to bring the fire safety message to more than not enough has changed to make a difference. Lack 300 preschoolers in a six-year period. Adapting the of concern still dominates public opinion, with the "Learn Not To Burn" curriculum to meet the needs of young children ead the elderly paying the highest young children, the following concepts have been price. successfully taught: This dilemma does not have to continue. If 1. THE FIRE DRILL: Chances are, each person will education is the key to the solution, we, as early be involved in a fire once in their lifetime. In a crisis, childhood educators can make an impact on this people draw on past experiences to get them through. serious problem. Young children are capable of The fire drill, observed at various timesand places, understanding fire safety skills if these are pre- is effective in preparing children to escape. Usually sented appropriately. Also, as we teach the chil- the school has a set procedure, but also involve the dren, we influence the parents as well. Fire safety children in creating the plan. This experience gives becomes a family project, with each member partici- them the confidence to take care of themselves. pating to make it work. 2. STOP, DROP AND ROLL: If your clothes catch Emphasizing the responsibility does not rest en- fire, stop immediately and drop to the ground. Ex- tirely upon the teacher, fire departments suggest tend your arms above your head and roll over and working cooperatively for best results. Duluth Fire over until the flames are smothered. Practice Stop, Marshall, Dave Mattson, stresses this message. Drop and Roll with the children. Give the signal, "We welcome calls from teachers," he says. "If we "Clothes on firer, and encourage the children to each contribute our strengths, we can provide a respond quickly. When space is limited, suggest program that benefits all." they roll a short distance in one direction, then reverse. Roll back and forth until the fire is out. The problem occurs when we feel inadequately trained to teach fire safety. Besides assistance from 3. CRAWL LOW: Smoke rises, the cleanest air is the local fire department, there are printed resource near the ground. fires, most people die from materials as well. With cooperation from Sesame inhaling the smoke. If you are in a fire or a smoky Street, the Federal Emergency Management Agency place, remember your escape plan and crawl to sponsors the "Fire Safety Book". Geared for pre- safety.This idea helps children understand the school children, the book includes songs and plays behavior of smoke: A large piece of black material to deliver the fire safety message. A free copy can can simulate smoke. Demonstrate how smoke rises be obtained by writing: by lifting the opened fabric above head. Lower the fabric for the children to visualize how smoke moves FEMA closer to the ground as it builds up in a room. P.O. Box 70274 Encourage the children to crawl under the fabric to Washington, D.C. 20024 escape the smoke. Attn: SSFS 4. FEEL FOR HOT DOORS: When in a fire, first touch the door you plan to exit.If the door is hot, I have found the "Learn Not To Burn" curriculum, there is a fire on the other side and you must think of another means of escape. If the door is cool, open developed by the National Fire Protection Associa- tion, to be my most valued resource. Many fire it slightly and look for smoke, heat or flames before departments own copies of the curriculum and ea- exiting. Role play a house fire with the children. Include crawling to the door as part of the activity. gerly share them with interested teachers. Unfortu- nately, "Learn Not To Burn" targets kindergarten (Be sure to distinguish this role play from a school fire when they should walk tc the door.) Ask, "Is the children as their youngest age group. Even though door hot? What should we do next?" the detailed lesson plans are helpful, work is needed to make the information developmentally appropri- 5.THE MEETiNG PLACE:Many people die ate for preschool children. searching for family members in a burning house. 32 Each family should decide on a prearranged place the year, so young children have the knowledge and away from the home where they can meet oncethey confidence to help themselves in a fire alert. have escaped the fire. This lets everyone know who If someone is is safe and who may still be inside. REFERENCES missing, let the firefighters know when they arrive. Never go back inside yourself, firefighters are trained and dressed for that type of rescue. Send a note America burning (1973). Washington, D.C.:Na- home to the parents informing them of the meeting tional Commission on Fire Prevention andCon- place idea, and asking them to make selecting a trol. meeting place a family activity. Also in the note, Brennan, T. (1988). America still burning. Fire Remind stress the imponance of smoke alarms. Engineering, March, 0-71. them that working smoke alarms are usually the family's first alert lo a fire. Cadson, K. (1985. Fire! Science Teacher, Novem- ber, 21-23. 6. THE FIREFIGHTER IS YOUR FRIEND: As mentioned earlier, a firefighter in unfamiliar gear Chicago. World Book Encyclopedia (1982), 3, 345. and maskcan be frightening to a child. Contact your Eisenberg, T. & Dalton, J. (1985). Partnership locai fire department and arrang e to have a firefighte r against fire. Firehouse, September, 119-120. visit your children. (Better yet, find out if a child in the Fire in the United States (1986). Washington,D.C.: class has a parent who is a firefighter.) Ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the firefighter to bring the gear and explain to the United States Fire Administration. children how thl equipment is used. i usually dress in the gear myself while the firefighter shows the Fire Prevention. World Book Encyclopedia (1982), children how it works. We also encourage the chil- 7, 127-128. dren to try the gear themselves. This technique Fire safety book (1 988). Washington, D.C.;Federal alleviates a lot of apprehension.(Also, you will Emergency Management Agency of the United develop a big appreciation for the firefighter. The States Fire Administration. weight and bulk is tremendous!) Kimmerly, J. (1988). -America burning- revisited. 7. TREAT BURNS WITH COOL WATER:Of Firehouse, February, 33-34. course the best way to avoid burns is to stay away Learn Pot to burn (1981). Quincy, MA: NationalFire from hot objects, but should an accident occur, ProtecZion Agency. children need to get help immediately. Stop minor burns by applying cool water to the skin.Bring Make timei for safety (1981). USA: BurgerKing matches, heating equipment, coffee pot and mug, Corporation. . iron, toaster, lighters, etc. to show thechildren. tAarinuoci, R.A., Gag, M. & Kurzeju, W.M.(1987). Discuss how these are objects to stay away from. Fire on display. Fire Engineering, October,28- 8. DONT PLAYWITH MATCHES: A matchis a tool 30. with many uses, but it is also dangerous if not used Naughton, T. (1983). Can your family escape afire? safely. Matches should only be used by adults. Family Safety. Fall, 4, 5, 30. Give examples of people using matches and askif Public fire education today: Fire service programs the use is risky or safe. Extend their answersby from across America (1986).Washington,D.C.: asking the children what they should do. Federal Emergency Management Agency ofthe There is more to Fire Prevention Week thanplastic United States Fire Administration. is more fire hats and coloring books. In fact, there Simmons, K.K. (1988). Childs' eye view.Fire to fire safety than observing it one week inOctober. Engineering, January, 30-31. As teachers, we have the ability toincrease teach- awarenes s. of this serious problem.Through our Straus, D.M. (1985). Escape house program guidance, 'ire safety can be spotlighted throughout ers survival. Fire Engineering,September, 35-37. .93

,15 SHARED BOOK EXPERIENCES IN THE CLASSROOM

Lee Karnowski University of Wisconsin, River Falls Kathleen Buss University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

Corduroy's pocket, Goldilock's three bears, and art, music, science, cooking, and composing expe- Litt Is Hen's loaf of bread are familiar story concepts riences. to young childean who have had the privilege of To facilitate shared story time, we have classified spending their early years in a home environment favorite books into the following curriculum areas: rich with literature. The importance of storybook art/cooking, music, social studies (familios, friends, sharing can no longer be underplayed in programs and fealings), science, math and writing/language. for young children. Researchers have documented This will encourage the sharing of books throughout that children who have been read to at an early age the day. The shared book activities involve the have a good start in constr ;ding concepts about the children actively with the text, the concepts in the forms and functions of literacy (Baghban, 1984; teat, and with the role of storyteller. Bissex, 1980; Durkins, 1987; Heath, 1982; Sulzby, 1985; Taylor, 1983; Teale, 1981.) I. Art/Cooking For children who have not been read to at hoMe, Harold and the Purple Crayon - Crockett Johnson, itis the schoors responsibility to provide these 1955;I Can Draw It Myself - Dr. Seuss, 1970; experiences. Before educators can expect these Rainbow of My Own - Freeman, 1966; Little Blue children from non-literacy-rich environments to con- Little Yellow - Leo Lionni, 1959; Stone Soup - Marcia struct concepts about print, they need many and Brown, 1947; Chicken Soup With Rice - Maurice varied experiences with books. For children who Sendak, 1962; Poppy Seed Cakes - Margery Clark; have been read to at home, educators have the Bread and Jam for Frances - Russell and Lillian responsibility to extend and enrich their existing Hoban, 1964; Fedorich - Leo Lionni, 1963. knowledge. They will also benefit from continued experiences with literature. II. Music A curriculum designed around story sharing can Boy With a Drum Harrison;Old MacDonald - provide experiences for all children to help them Lippincott, 1972; The Wheels on the Bus - Nancy either umulale corKiepts about print or expand and Larrick, 1972; There Was an Old Woman - Rose enrich these concepts. The "Shared Book Experi- Boone, Alan Millis, 1961; A Hunting We Will Go - ence", which Don Holdaway (1979) has written John Langstaff, 1974; Frog Wera A Courtin' - John about, closely parallels the home story sharing time. Langstaff,955. A parent shares a story with the child, the child asks for repealed readings of fevorite stories, and then III. Social Studies the child enjoys "reading" the story alone.In the classroom, the sequence includes introducing a A.Families: Make Way for Ducklings - Robert favorite story for enjoyment, often in a Big Book McDoskey, 1941; Ask Mr. Bear - Marjorie Flack, format, repeated readings of favorite stories, and 1932; The Little House - Virginia Burton, 1942; A then encouraged indenendent *reading" and avail- Baby Sister of Frances - Russell Hoban, 1964; ability of activities related to the shared book. These You'll Soon Grow Into Them - Pat Hutchins, 1971 activities can be multi-sensory and can encourage B. Friends: A Pocket for Corduroy. - Don Freeman, 34 1968; The Little Red Hen - Paul Galdone, 1973; 10 Bears in my Bed - S'Izn Mack, 1974; Annos Yummers - James Marshall, 1973; Mr. Grumpys Counting Book - ,. tsumasa, 1977. Jting - John Burningham, 1971; I'm Not Oscars Friend Anymore - Marjorie Sharmat, 1975; Lers Be VI. Writing Enemies - May Jai lioe Vary, 1961; Will I Have A Frog and Toad Are Friend - Arnold Lobel, 170; The Friend - Miriam Cohen, 1971. Jolly Postman - Janet and Allan Ahlberg, 1986; C. Feelings: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Letter to Amy - Ezra Jack Keats, 1968; Frog and No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst, 1972; Toad Together - Arnold Lobel, 1972. There's a Nightmare in My Closet - Mercer Mayer; Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak, 1963: VII. Playing with words Leo the Late Bloomer - Robert Krause, 1970; The Gorilla Did It - Barbara Hazen, 1974; The Ginger- A Chocolate Moose for Dinner - Fred Gwynne, 1976; bread Boy - Paul Galdone, 1975; Nobody Listens to The King Who Rained - Fred Gwynne, 1976; Chicken Andrew - Elizabeth Gullfoile, 1957; Ira Sleeps Over Soup With Rice - Maurice Sendak, 1962; A Hole is - Weber; The Polar Express - Van Allsburg, 1985; to Dig - Ruth Krause, 1952; Don't Forget the Bacon Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears - Verna - Pat Hutchins, 1976; I Can't Said the Ant - Cameron, , Aardema, 1975; Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans, 1961. 1939; Jeanne Marie Counts Her Sheep - Francoise, 1957; A Bag Full of Puppies - Dick Gackenbach, Shared Book Activities 1981; The Story of Bluebonnet - dePaola; The Story I. Art/Cooking of Ping - Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiesa, 1933. (A) Harold and the Purple Crayon - Students can share their own experiences by drawing their own IV. Science purple lines and dictating their story. Little Blue, Little Yellow - Leo Lionni, 1959; Under (B) Stone Soup - Recipe: 1 washed agate stone; 3 the Sun - Ellen Kandoian, 1987; The King Bidgood's qts. water plus soup bone; 4 carrots, sliced;4 in the Bathtub - Audry Wood,1985; The Carrot Seed potatoes, diced;4 stalks celery, sliced; 4 small - Ruth Fraus, 1945; Inch by Inch - Leo Lionni, 1960; onions, chopped; 1 can of tomatoes. Simmer bone Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey, 1948; Caps and stone 30 minutes. Add vegetables and cook for Sale - Esphyr Slobodkina, 1947; The Very Busy until done. . Spider - Eric Carle, 1984; Whistle for Willie - Jack Ezra Keats, 1964; Swimmy - Leo Lionni, 1963; II. Music Rosie's Walk - Pat Hutchins, 1968; Country Noisy Book - Margaret Wise Brown, 1940; You Look (A) There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Ridiculous - Bernard Weber, 1966; The Very Hungry Fly - A woman is cutout of tagboard and has a plastic Caterpillar - Eric Carle; Snowy Day - Jack Ezra pocket for a stomach. Children participate by putting Keats; Stone Soup - Marcia Brown, 1947; Harbor the appropriate animals into her stomach. - Donald Crews, 1982; Gobble, Growl, Grunt - Peter Seir, 1971; We Like Bugs - Gladys Conklien, 1952; III. Social Studies A Tree is Nice - Janice May Undry,1956. (A) Families - A Baby Sister for Francis - Language Experience. Story about new siblings. V. Math (B) Friends - The Lillie Red Hen - Participation Story One, Two Where's My Shoe? - Torni Ungerer, 1964; - as teacher reads, students hold a stick puppet of a Cricktor - Tomi Ungerer, 1958; Blueberries for Sal pig, cat or duck and join in when their part is read. - Robert McCloskey,1948; Goldilocks and the Three (C) Feelings - Ira Sleeps Over - Children write their Bears - Paul Galdone, 1972; The Doorbell Rang - own stories about what they would bring to a sleep- Pat Hutchins, 1986; Three Billy Goats Gruff - Marcia over ai a fi iend's home. Brown, 1957; Millions of Cats - Wanda Gag,1928;

35 rt,..., 'l IV. Science Heath, S. (1982). What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school. Language in (A) The Carrot Seed - Children are given seeds to Society, 11, 49-76. plant their own carrots. Holdaway, D. (1979). The foundations of literacy. (B) The Snowy Day - Parts of the story are pasted Auckland: Ashton Scholastic. on a sturdy box to make a story cube. The cube is rolled and tho student tells that part of the story. Sulzby, E. (1985). Children's emergent reading of favorite storybooks: A developmental study. V. Math Reading Research Quarterly, 20, 458-481. (A)Inch by Inch - Children are given a foot-long Taylor. D. (1983). Family literacy: Young children footprint to measure things that are longer and teaming to read and write. Exeter, N.H.: shorter than one foot. Heinemann. (B) Goldilocks and the Three Bears - A dramatic Teale, W. (1981). Parents rerding to their children: play center is set up with: a table, three bowls, three What do we know and need to know. Language bears, three small chairs, three small beds, a doll. Arts, 58, 902- 912

VI. 'Writing (A) Frog and Toad Are Friends (Chapte6The Letter) - Children write a letter to Toad. (B) Frog and Toad Together (Chapter: The List) - Students write a list to share with Toad.

VII. Language (A) A Hole Is To Dig - Children make up their own definitions for familiar things in their classroom. The Shared Book Experience encourages children to join in tha reading process. Children also need many opportunities to interact with the concept of text and the concepts within the text. Developing activities for favorite books will help children become actively involved in litorature.

REFERENCES

Baghban, M. (1984). Our daughter learns to read and wnte. Newark: International Reading Asso ciation. Bissex, G. (1960). Gnys at work: A child learns to read and write. Cambridge: Harvard UniversIy Press. Durkins, D. (1987). A classroom - observation study of reading instruction in kindergarten. Early Child hood Research Quarterly, 2, 275-300.

36 COMMUNITY BASED SCREENING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD:AN ALTERNATIVE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRESCHOOL ANDCHILD CARE PROGRAMS

Leesa A. Maxwell Coordinator, Mequon-Thiensville School District

The Early Intervention System a ChildEnd strategydesigned to systematically involve preschool teachers and child care providers in Early intervention programs for children with de- the process of locating children who mayrequire velopmental delays and disabilities are recognized exceptional education programming. This approach as an integral part of exceptional educationservice is based cn the notion that if preschool/child care delivery. Today it is generally acknowledged that educators are trained to understand the purpose of children, parents, school districts and social service developmental screening and the implementation of systems will experiencv benefits from quality inter- screening strategies, they will be better equipe,ai to vention programs provided at an early age. Positive act as an Integral part of theChikffind mcess. effects of early programming are supported by both efficacy research and learning theory (Hanson, 1985; Developmnt of the Commuoity Based Screen- Peterson, 1987; Ramey, Bryant, Sperling, & Wasik, ing model began as part of Wiscorsin Departmentof 1985; Schweinhart, Berrueta-Clement, Barnett, Public Instruction Preschool Discretionary grant Epstein, & Weikart, 1985; Simeonsscn, Cooper & award (P.L. 99-457 funds) to the Mequon-Thiensville ScheMer, 1982). School District in 1986. Prior to th3 modeldevelop- ment, preschool Childfind consisted of screening all In most states, children are eligible for exceptional children entering kindergarten and screening other education services through their public school dis- preschool-aged children on an individual request trict beginning at 3 years of age. These public school basis. Using this proceduie, approximately 90% of services are mandated in the Education for All children who required early childhood-exceptional 1-iandicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) of 1975 and education services were identified before entering reauthorized in more recent legislation. P.L. 99-457 kindergarten. Although the system was working, the (1986). In addition, many children below 3 years of data also indicated that there was asignificant influx age are receiving services throughdevelopmental of children referred in the spring prior totheir kinder- centers which provide specially designed programs be consid- It is garten entry. In some cases, this would for very young children with special needs. ered appropriate timing, but in many cases interven- expected that services to children, birth through 2 tion could have been pevided at anearlier point in years old, will increase because of provisions con- time. A major goal of Community BasedScreening tained in P.L. 99-457. was to create allies in thecommunity who were Childfind Processes aware of the steps to take as soon asthey became The availability of exceptional education programs concerned about a child's development.This of at early ages is certainly forward progress, however, Childfind strategy has increased the timely nature NO program is considered useful unless children referrals in the Mequon-Thiensville School District. who can benefit from the service are properly lo- The first step in the Childfind process is Casefinding cated and identified. Efforts to access children are or accesJing thepreschool-aged population and referred to as Childfind activities. Childfind can tak3 soliciting referre. (Peterson, 1987). It is imperative many forms and may range from pamphletsabout to effectivo casefinding that wereach out to those public school exc;mtional education services to people who have access to young children.A newspaper announcements to -round-ur irlarge challenge arises with consideration of thevariety of group screening programs. situations in which preschoolers can participate. In Community Based Screening in early childhood is contrast to the school-aged population who are

37 r, ,:f essentially all accessible through their school place- between skill acquisition and the ability to acquire ment, preschoolers can be any number of places: skills." (p. 7, 1985). Developmental screening tests home with a parent or babysitter, day care centers, tell us if there is a question about a child's develop- preschool programs, community recreation pro- mental potential. neediness tests tell us if a child grams, doctor's offices, or immunization clinics. has acquired skills which will help him/her be suc- cessful in a specific curriculum. Developmental To access the school-aged population, one goes screening information allows educators to make to school buildings and informs teachers, adminis- decisions about referrals for exceptional education trators, and parents of the available screening/refer- evaluation. Readiness information is most useful for ral services, evaluation processes and program curriculum planning and it is not advisable to use this possibilities. Community Based Screening applies information to prevent children from attending kin- this same strategy to the preschool aged child. dergarten. In a recent position paper, the National Aormation and training is provided to those who Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State have contact with young children. This includes Departments of Education states "The educational preschool educators, childcare providers, and other community can no longer afford to ignore the conse- community preschool service personnel. It is impor- quence of policies and practices which...assign the tant to note that additional strategies need to be burden of responsibility to the child, rather that the considered to access children who are at home. program..." (p.2).Their recommendation is that Community Based Screening is considered an alter- programs accommodate the broad range of normal native for school districts who have a high percent- development by providingkindergartens which age of children in community settings. implement developmentally appropriate teaching The second step in the Childfind process is strategies (NAECS/SDE, 1987). screening. The term screening is defined as 1) a Community Based Screening Training brief and general measure designed to identify Model POTENTIAL problem areas and 2) a preliminary step in determining if further evaluation is necessary Communi,y Based Screening is developmental (Hayden & Edgar, 1977; Meisels, 1985; NAEYC, screening and connected to the exceptional educa- 1988). A clear definition of the prelin Aary purpose tion referral process. The following definitions have of screening is important to the Community Based been taken from the National Association for Young Screening instruction program. It is essential that Children's position paper Standardized Testing of participants do not confuse SCREENINGwith Young Children 3-8 Years of Age (p. 45, 1987). EVALUATION which is done for the purpose of These are the concepts that are used in the Commu- diagnosing a child's exceptional education needs nity Based Screening training model. and determining a program placement. Screening Developmental Screening. A test used to iden- is done to verify if further evaluation is necessary. tify children who may be in need of special services; The confusion of screening and evaluation has been as a first step in identifying children in need offurther documented as a source of ambiguity ems's the diagnosis: focuses on the child's ability to acquire countrv. A recent survey indicited that some states skills. were using terms such as screening assessment, Readiness Test. Assessment of a child's level evaluation, and identification inTerchangeably to of preparedness or a specific academic or pre- describe the purpose of their screening programs academic program. (Gracey, Azzara & Reinherz, 1981). The training model is currently being packaged as Readiness vs. Developmental Screening manual and video ripe module. The 10 hour Another aspect which plays a role in the descrip- program is designed to cover the concept ofdevel- tion of Community Based Screening is clarifying the opmental screening as a many faceted information difference between readiness vs. developmental collection process. The administration of a formal screening. Samuel Meisels states "The major differ- screening test is only a part of the process. The ence between the two procedures is the differerre ability to recognize child behaviors, share results 38 4 and concerns with parents, and access the excep- NAEYC (1988). Position statement on standardized tional education system are all addressed as goals testing of young children:3 through 8 years of age. for the training participant. The training module has Young Children, 43 (3!. 42-47. been implemented using the Denver Developmental National Association of Early ChildhoodSpecialists Screening Test as the formal tool, although another in State Departments of E.!..ation (1987). instrument could be substituted if desired. Unaccpetable trends in Kindergarten entry and Training is recommended over a five week period placement. Adopted at the Association's annual to allow for practice and self study of somematerials. meeting, November 11, 1987, Chicago, Illinois. Each two hour session is comprised of lecture, Peterson, N. (1987). Early intervention for handi- discussion, and practical experiences. The instruc- capped and at-risk children. Denver, Colorado: tor is supplied by the school district at no costto the Love Publishing. does preschool or child care providers. The training Ramey, C.T., Bryant, D.M., Spading, J.J. &Wasik, required supply the participants with credit for B.H. (1985). Project CARE: A comparisionof inservice hours for child care licensing. intervention strategies to prevent retarded devel- In conclusion, it should be noted that this is.not an opment. Topics in Early Chileod Special Edu answer for every district or community.If the circum- cation, 5 (2), 12-25. provide a stances are favorable, this program can Schweinhart, U., Berrueta-Clement, J.R.,Bamett, and time and cost effective method of locating W.S., Epstein, AS., & Weikart; D. P. (1985). It also identifying children in need of evaluation. Effects of the Perry Preschool Project on youths which can promotes a cooperative atmosphere through age 19: A summary. Topics inEarly benefit strengthen interagency relationships. The Childhood Special Education, 5 (2), 26-35. for school districts the operation of an activeChildfind Simeonsson, R.J., Cooper, D.H., & Scheiner,A.P., system. (1982). A review of the effectiveness of early Based Further information about the Community intervention programs. Pediatrics, 69 (5), 635- Screening training module can be obtained by con- 641. tacting the author. {.t REFERENCES

Gracey, C.A., Azzara, C.V., & Reinherz, H.(1984). Screening revisited: A survey of U.S. require ments. Journal of Special Education, 18(2),101- 107. Hanson, M.J. (1985). An analysis of the effectsof early intervention services tor infants andtoddlers with moderate and severe handicaps.Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 5 (2), 36-51. Hayden, A. & Edgar, E. (1977). Identification, screening, and assessment. In Jordan et al. (Eds.), Early childhood education forexceptional children. Reston, Virginia: Council for Excep tional Children. Meisels, S. (1985). Developmental screeningin early childhood: a guide. Washington, D.C.: NAEYC. 39 4 1 MATHEMATICS USING MANIPULATIVES:A PIAGETIAN APPROACH

Mary Ann Rotondi Duluth School District

Nedra A. Hazareesingh University of Minnesota, Duluth

that An understanding of intellectual orcognitive de- A third idea stemming from Piaget's theory is intelligence or knowledge is constructed. In other velopment is of crucial importance to educatorsof approach to learning words the child is actively involved in exploringand young children. A cognitive manipulating emphasizes mental processes. One of theforemost interpreting the environment. Through theories the cognitive theorists was the Swiss biologistand phi- objects, tes ting out ideas, and modifying will aid losopher, Jean Piaget. Piaget viewed the mind as child constructs generalized concepts which central to the understanding of how humanbeings learning. learn and develop. The purpose of this articleis to Ways of acquiring knowledge is a further idea outline some of Piaget's ideas and toprovide the noted by Piaget. He believed thatthere are three teacher with actMties based on Piagetiantheory, types of knowledge. The first, physicalknowledge, designed to teach mathematical concepts. is acquired through physical activity,for example, experimenting with a block might lead thechildto Plaget's Theory of Cognitive Development discover its properties and function. The next type knowledge, is Contributions of Piaget's cognitive theory to the of knowledge, logico-mathematical acquired through the observation ofrelationships. field of education are many and varied. Osbornand For irltance, having observed theproperties of a Osbom (1983), have outlined several keyfeatures group of blocks, the child might notecertain relation- of Piaget's t heory which will be discussedhere. The ships between the blocks. Social knowledgeis the first is the idea that children view their worlddiffer- third type of knowledge. The childacquires this ently from adults. This is manifested in many ways. through interactacting socially withothers in the For example, Piaget believed that youngchildren environment. are egocentric and are notwilling or able to take another person's point of view. Also, at this stagein Another key idea in Piaget's theory is thatacti..ity, their development, children often viewinanimate both physical and mental, is a vital partof cognitive about a con- objects as alive and do not seem capableof moral development. In addition to thinking experiences reasoning. cept, children need "hands on", concrete in order to make learning more meaningful.Piaget's Another feature of Piaget's theory is the process cognitive theory also posits that thismeaningful of intellectual organization.Cognitive structures or nurturing and and activity must be coupled with a schemas are the organized patterns of behavior stimulating environment, one thatchallengeschildren perception which the child attainsthroughexperience. to explore their surroundings.Lastly, play is important Schemes are constantly adapted through a process development and as make them for growth, both in terms of skill of assimilation and accommodation to Through play children learn is an imaginative outlet. better fit environmental conditions. Assimilation the skills and roles necessary for laterlife. the process of integrating new informationinto an existing schema whereas accommodationis the Piaget designed several experiments which pro- of thinking. process of changing a schema tofit a new situation. vide added insight into the child's way when ad- Through this process of assimilation and accom- These experiments or "cognitive tasks", sensitivity, can modation, the child achieves a balance orequilibrium ministered to children with care and skills. The which is important for cognitive growth. help in the assessment of thinking 40

A0 4 Piagetian tasks include one that determines cogni- onstrate increased skill, they can create more diff i- tive style, or how impulsive or reflective a child is, as cult patterns and label the pattern auditorily.For well as tasks related to conservation, classification, example, the children can make trains which corre- temporal relations, and spatial relations (Osborn spond to clapping patterns such as AABAABAAB or and Osborn, 1983). they can say the colors of the cubes as they clap a pattern (clap snap snap clap snap snap--blue yellow Activity-Centered Mathematics Curriculum yellow blue yellow yellow). Pattern block activities emphasize hand-eye coordination, strengthen left to Baratta-Lorton (1976) has suggested an activity right progression and give children the opportunity to related mathematics curriculum based on some of reproduce, extend and create patterns. Piaget's ideas. The activities suggested by Baratta- "People Row Patterns" have the children acting Lorton, which will be discussed in this section, have out a pattern and verbalizing the visual result. For been successfully used with early childhood and instance, children can draw pictures of people sitting primary children. The activities are related to real and standing. These pictures can be laid out to form world experiences and use materials from the natu- a pattern (tor example, stand stand sit standstand ral environment. When implementing an activity- Some of the children can chant the pattern centered mathematics curriculum, Baratta-Lorton sit). "stand stand sit..." as the rest of the class stands or (1976) notes that it is extremely important to let the child explore new materials in his or her own way sits to act out the pattern. . before directing those explorations. This will enable Children can also make designs using pattern the child to focus on mathematical concepts rather blocks. They can then copy their designs by cutting than on the materials themselves. out the appropriate construction paper shapes and gluing them down onto tagboard. Each child can Pattern. Pattern is an underlying theme in math- also glue a picture of himself or herself onto the ematics. According to Adams and Hamm (1989), "Patterns of mathematics - number, space, logic, tagboard. This helps to recognize the value of their contribution thereby enhancing their feelings of self- infinity and information are directly related to the worth. The completed tagboards can be used in psychological activities of perception, emotion, future patterning sessions, either by individual chil- thought, intuition ano communication" (p. 93). dren or by groups of children. Cl.,..len can also glue Baratta-Lorton note s that it is also a valuable problem their paper shapes onto 9" x 12" construction paper solving tool for the child and hasa profound effect on so as to make placemats to be usedby the class on the development of mathematical understanding. special occasions. The children can make border Children need toexperience pattern visually, auditorily patterns for placemats by using shapes cut from and physically in order to analyze, duplicate and different colors of construction paper. They can start extend each pattern in a variety of ways. with a simple pattern using two colors or two shapes Rhythmic clapping is a good introduction to the before they attempt more complicated pr tterns. skill of patterning. The teacher claps a pattern (for Crayon designs can also be used to create border example, clap clap snap clap clap snap) and the patterns for placemats. The tagboards and placemats children join in when they know the pattern. Later, can be covered with contact paperfor durability. the children's suggestions can be incorporated into Literature lends itself well to patterning as many the rhythmic clapping. Children should be encour- children's books have a predictable pattern - "Three aged to experience different ways to interpret a Billy Goats Gruff," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," pattern (for example, clap the pattern with a partner, "Henny Penny," and "Where the Wild Things Are." cross your hands on the snap or play patty cakeand Greater learning takes place and knowledge is more snap). This will help to stretch their imagination, readily transferred when there is integration ofdiffer- forcing them to think of alternatives. ent curricular areas. A pattern can also be constructed withunifix Sorting and Classifying. According to Baratta- cubes. The teacher can clap a pattern which the Lorton (1976), sorting and classifying are fundamen- children interpret with the cubes. As children dem- 41 tal aspects of life. People use these skills when they activity can continue until ten or fifteen children have go to a grocery store for particular selections, put been sorted into the two groups. This activity can be away dishes, recall a politician's name or select repeated many times, changing the categories each coins to buy an ice cream cone. Forming classes time. and dealing with the relationships within a class and A more difficult level of the same activity is "Silent among different classes encourages the growthof Sorting" in which no one is allowed to talk during the clear and logical thinking. To be able to sort and game. The teacher, having silently determined the classify a group of objects, children first need to attribute by which the sorting will be done, motions recognize atattribute, i.e. an intangible idea de- to each child to follow a particular arrow until three or scribing a partictilar property which some objects fourchildren are sorted into each category. It is then have in common. In order to sort objects, children upto the children to abstract the attribute from the need to focus on one particular property of the visual evidence and predict with their black and objects to the exclusion of the others. white cubes which arrow each child will follow. Sorting items in treasure boxes is a favorite activity When the sorting is complete a discussion can take with children. This involves manipulating matarials place as to how the sorting was done. children find attractive - buttons, bottle caps, jewels, Estimation. Estimation is a life-long skill that sea shells, nuts and bolts, keys, seeds, rocks and cannot be underestimated in the hierarchy of skills postage stamps. The most obvious attributes of taught to our children today. Estimating the number size, shape, and color are often discovered first after of objects in a jar, the number of counties in our state, the child has had ample opportunity to manipulate the circumference of a pumpkin, and the time it takes and talk about the objects. The children can work in to walk to school are everyday opportunities tc teach groups to sort the objects in a variety of ways. They this skill. According to Poulas (1988), in order to can be enccxaged to use vocabulary to describe avoid innumeracy, the mathematical analogue of the relationships of size, shape, color, texture and functional illiteracy, we need to develop a feel for other properties. Children's cognitive andlanguage numbers and probabilities - some ability to estimate development can thus be assessed by the teachei answers to the ubiquitous questions: How many? as she observes the children working in groups. How likely? The recent Mathematics Report Card "People Sorting" is another activity which uses released by the Educatio nal Testing Service indicates the skills of observation, problem solving, prediction the rampant innumeracy of our high school students and drawing conclusions.Before beginning the showing the urgent need to emphasize estimation at activity a black and white arrow pointing opposite an early stage of mathematical awareness. directions needs to be cut out and pasted on the This is on4 a beginning, but a beginning in the floor. Each child Is then given a black ano dhite right direction - away from teacher talk and testing unifex cube. The teacher can begin the activity by into application of reai-world situations. We need to saying that the children are going to sort themselves increase children's ability to &al with the various according to a particular attribute (for example, levels of mathematical reality rather than overem- buttons on shirt or no buttons on shirt). Each child phasize computation and arithmetic. As Minsky (in is asked to come to the front of the group. If a child Adams & Hamm, 1989) notes, our children's math- has a button on his/her shirt, then he/she is asked to ematics knowledge must be shaped into "robust, follow the black arrow.If he/she does not have a cross-connected webs" (p. 91) instead of "slender, button on his/her shirt, then the child is asked to shaky tower chains" (p.91), which can break at any follow th e white arrow. As each child comes forward, link. the rest of the children can be asked to show with their cubes what arrow the child should follow. (the group shows their black cubes if the child has REFERENCES buttons on his/her shirt and their white cubes if the Adams, D., & Hamm, M. (1989). Media and literacy. child does not have buttons on his/her shirt). The Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

42 44 Baratta-Lot:3n, M. (1976). Mathematics their way. Mon lo Park, CA: AddisonWesley. Poulas, J. A. (1988). Innumeracy: Mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. New York: HID & Wang. Osborn, J. D., & Osborn, D.K. (1983). Cognition in early childhood. Athens, GA: Education Associ- ates.

43 45 FOUR THEMES IN THE LIVES OF FAMILIESCOPING WITH DISABILITY

Cindy S. Spillers, Ph.D. University of Minnesota, Duluth 10

Practitioners who work with people who have the following criteria: one or both natural parents at disabilities have recognized the need to identify and home, one member with a moderate-to-severe examine different impacts of disability on families at disability; variety of disabilities represented; member with the disability in transition into or out of formal va rious transitions in thelife cycle (Bristol& Soho !pier, 1983; Turnbull, Summers, & Brotherson, 1986). school; and li"ing in urban or rural areas. Examining these impacts and issues could help Data Collection. Data were collected from indepth identify problems that interfere with life cycle transi- interviews and field notes. The indepth interviews tions.Strategies to aid families in preparing for were semi-structured in nature, in that the researchers those transitions can eventually be found.This used a set of general questions to guide the inter- study was conducted in an attempt to understand actions.The interviews were conducted in the more fully how the continuous presenceof a member families' homes with at least two researchers present with a disability may affect a family throughoutthe to conduct the interviews and to take field notes. family life cycle. The original study, on which this Each interview was tape recorded and later tran- paper is based, examined families at twotransition scribed verbatim for analysis (Stainback &Stainback, points in the life cycle: transition into and transition 1984). member with a cut of formal school for the family Field notes are personal logs that help research- disability.This paper will focus primarily on the ers document the development of theinvestigation. effects and issues pertinent to the families with a During each interview, the researchers recorded child in transition into school. For a more complete field notes containing two separate sections. In the report of the study and its results, seeBrotherson descriptive section, the researchers attempted to and Spillers (in press). note exactly what they saw and heard.In the Methodology reflective section, the researchers noted their own The current study used a qualitative research feelings, speculations, and impressions (Stainback design to investigate and examine issues that families & Stainback, 1984). identified at the transitions into and out of formal Data Analysis school. The design of this research study gave Data analysis involved the process of indepth family members the opportunity to express issues reading.2 nd rereading of over 400 pages of interview and cnncemsin their own words. Qualitative research transcripts and over 60 pages of interviewer field focuses on what actually occurs in the lives of people notes. The researchers organized and categorized and how the individuals describe those eventsin information in a search for patterns. Through this their lives.For a more detailed description of method of data analysis, four major themes emerged qualitative methodology, see Brotherson and Spill- regarding the impact of disability on the families with Taylor and Bogdan er s (in press), Patton (1980), or a child in the early life cycle transition(transition into (1984). formal school). These themes cut-across disability Subject Selection. A purposive sampling proce- areas, and in fact, cut-across both life cycletransi- dure was used to obtain subject families for the tions, as they were salient in the other two families present study. With purposive sampling,subjects as well. This section will describe thefour themes were chosen to provide divergentrepresentation on and will substantiate the results with statements selected characteristics.Originally, four families from the interviews and field notes. The four major were chosen to provide diverserepresentation on themes discussed are the identification of positive 44 4 G contributions made by the member with a disability, other side of the !wilily supports them and accepts the importance of an informal support network, the Chris. These grandparents have attended signing mixed support from professionals, and the limited classes with Mr. and Mrs. A. They, and an aunt and expectations for the future. uncle, often provide respite care and work at com- municating with Chris. Identification of Positive Contributions. The literature on f amilies with disability is replete with examples Similarly, Family B experienced positive support and evidence of the negative impact of a disability on from one side of the family and little or no support family members (Longo and Bond, 1984; Wikler, from the other side of the family. In speaking of one don't get 1981). Very few sources have acknowledged that set of grandparents, Mrs. B said that, "We positive growth and benefits can occur in relation to support...For a long time theyd just say (Shawn)'s a disability. Both of the families with a youngchild going through the terrible twos. (The grandfather) with a disability spoke freely of the positive contribu- tried to discipline Shawn once because he thought tions that the disability and the member with the all that Shawn needed was more discipline. That disability have made toward the family. didn't work at all."Mrs. B further described how Shawn became the family joke. "At first it was funny, In Family A, both parents said that they have but then it got old and it hurl" become more observant of people since the birth of Chris, their child with a severe-profound hearing Both families reported changes in theirfriendships impairment. Mrs. A expressed that, "We saw a lot of because of their child with a disability. Close friends t hings in people that we never really noticedbefore... became distant and some acquaintances and neigh- We've become more sensitive to the problems and bors became closer to them. Mr. A expressed his struggles of others." The members of Family B feelings this way: "You visualize that your friends expressed how they haie become a closer knit would come to help you out. It wasn't that way at all. family since Shawn, their child with communication And people that you don't expect anything from turn delays and behavior problems, was born. Mrs. B out to be your friends." said that she "explains so much to Shawn." Both Mixed Professional Support. Interactions with Mrs. A and Mrs. B shared several instances in which professionals was a prominent topic of discussion they noticed themselves becoming more assertive within both families. Each family reported a host of than before. AsMrs. B explained it: "When you have negative experiences with medical and educational to fight for your child you can get pretty demanding." personnel. For each family, however, at least one Importance of Informal Support. Both families professional emerged as a positive support person discussed the importance of an informal social net- to whom the parents could pm questions, express family work in their lives.In situations where informal concerns and fears, and whose opinions the support was not available to families, the void was trusted. evident as a source of pain or stress. In Families A and B most of the discussion and In Family A, one side of the extended family communication with professionals centered around demonstrated support, whereas the other side did diagnosing the disabi:ity and finding appropriate not, and in fact, denied the ramifications of the services for the child.Both Mrs. A and Mrs. B disability. Mrs. A reported that one set of grand- reported having a suspicion that something was infants, yet their parents refused to learn sign language. "They think wrong when their children were they're signing something when they're really not. family physicians discounted the intuitions and in They want to be blind to it." Mr. and Mrs. A spoke of knowledge of these women. As Mrs. A said their difficulty reconciling the strain and distance reference to explaining her observations of Chris' "I just don't between themselves and these grandparents. Mr. impaired hearing to the pediatrician: When A said with some resignation in his voice, "You can't understand why she wasn't listening to me." family disown them (grandparents) yetyou can't turn around the diagnosis was eventually made and the sought a second opinion at a renownedteaching and say,'Well, we're not going to let liou see him anymore.'" Conversely, Family A described how the hospital, Mr. A described their experiences as

45 "awful...it was a nightmare...they were cruel." serve. The identification of the issues in this study have given us more Information with which to work Mrs. B described her difficulty in convincing a with families so that we can give optimal support to physician to take her seriously. With incredulity, she persons and families with disabilities. recalled her third visit to a physician's office regarding Shawn's behavior: "He gave Shawn the Sucker Test. He said, 'S hewn, if you come over here, I'll give REFERENCES to you a sucker.' Well, of course Shawn went over Bristol, M.M. & Schopler, E. (1983). Stress and him, so the doctor figured there was nothing wrong." coping in families of autistic adolescents. In E. Mrs. B continued to explain how the physician Schopler and G.B. Mesibov (Eds.) Autism in referred her to a child psychiatrist, although she adolescents and adults (pp. 251-278). New Yol k: would have to waft four to five months for an appoint- Plenum Press. ment with this professional. No referrals for speech- language or behavior therapy were made by these Brotherson, M.J. & Spillers, C.S. (in press). A professionals. Mrs. B said that she found out about qualitative study on families with disability: Two potential services and agencies through conversa- transitions in the life cycle. Family Relations. tions with one of her neighbors. Longo, D. & Bond, L. (1984). Families of the Limited Expectations for the Future. These families handicapped child: Research Ind practice. Fam- indicated limited expeclations for the future and ily Relations, 33, 57-65. demonstrated difficulty with making long range plans Patton, M. (1980). Qualitative evaluation methods. for needs of the individual with a disability. Each Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. family had different reasons for their limited expec- Stainback, S. & Stainback, W. (1984). Method- Both families tations and difficulty in planning. ological considerations in qualitative research. focused on short term, concrete goals, mther than Journal of the Association for Severe Handicaps, on long term goals. As Mr. A said: "I'm notgoing to 9, 296-303. be shooting for goals that Chris can't obtain." The concerns for both families centered around educa- Taylor, S. & Bogdan R. (1984). Introduction to tional placement and general development. Family qualitative research methods: The search for A expressed that they just "want to stay ahead of meaning. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Chris in signing so that he can still learn from us." Turnbull, A.P., Summers, J.A., and Brotherson, M.J. Family B expressed concern that "Shawn will slip (1986). Family life cycle: Theoretical and empiri- through the cracks and not get the help that he cal implications and future directions for families needs. He got where he is because of a lot of hard with mentally retarded members. In J.J. Gallagher work."Mrs. B captured the sentiments of both & P.M. Vietze (Eds.), Families of handicapped farnilies when she said: "It's hard to look at what's persons: Research, programs and policy issues down the road so we're just looking at next Fall." (pp. 45.65), Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes. Conclusion Wi' ler, L. (1981). Chronic stresses of families of Both of these families provide evidence that at mentally retarded children. Family Relations, 30 least four themes typify their lives as they raise their (2), 281-288. child with a disability. Families having children with disabilities have many stresses, issues, and chal- lenges before them. Sometimes professionals be- corne too narrowly focused in their work withfami- lies. We acknowledge the needs of the family and child at only one life cycle stage or transition. We neglect to consider the state of their inforrnal support networks. We treat the parents as "part of the problem" and deny them the respect that they de-

46 4'S Author Index with MailingAddresses

Patty Bennett Steve Hartsock Firefighter, Duluth Fire Department and Early Childhood Teacher/ECFE Coordinator, Adult Education Fire School, Duluth Duluth Public Schools -ISD #709 Technical College Duluth, MN 55802 Duluth, MN

James H. Brutger, Ph.D. Nedra A. Hazaraesingh, Ph.D. Associate Professor Assistant Professor Department of Art Department of Child and Family Development University of Minnesota, Duluth University of Minnesota, Duluth Duluth, MN 55812 Duluth, MN 55812

Kathleen Buss, Ph.D. Lee Kamowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor Assistant Professor School of Home Economics Department of Elementary Education University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point University of Wisconsin - River Falls Stevens Point, WI 54481 River I:alls, WI 54022

Bruce Cunningham, Ph.D. Leesa Maxwell Assistant Professor Community Consultant, Early Dovelopment Department of Human Development, Family Awareness Project Living, Mequon-Thiensville School District and Community Educition Services Mequon, WI 53092 University of Wisconsin - Stout Menor )inee, WI 54751 Mary Ann Rotondi Gifted/Talented Curriculum Specialist Rheta DeVries, Ph.D. Duluth Public Soh( )1s, ISD #709 Proicssor Duluth, MN 55802 Department of Human Development and Consumer Services Cindy S. Spillers University of Houston Assistant Professor Houston, TX 77004 Department of Allied Clinical Health University of Minnesota, Duluth Darryl Dietrich, Ph.D. Duluth, MN 55812 Associate Professor Psychology Department College of St. Scholastica 47 Duluth, MN 55811 4 The University of Minnesota is anequal opportunity educator and employer.