References

  Lane, C. (n.d.). Multiple Intelligences. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html

  Learning Through Play. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/innovation-application/innovation-in-action/learning-through-play/

  NAEYC. (2017, November 01). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/play

  Santrock, J. W. (2014). Child Development(14th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

  Thibodeau, T. (n.d.). Top 3 Benefits of Learning Through Play. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://centerforparentingeducation.org/library-of-articles/baby-through-preschool-articles/top-3-benefits-of-learning-through-play/

How Child Development Affects Learning

Learning is directly impacted by a child's current development level. Clearly, an infant will learn very differently than an 8 year old child. Understanding where a child is developmentally will help you as you seek to teach said child.

I personally agree with Erickson's theory of child development, specifically that cognitive development is social in nature. Erickson holds that there are eight stages of development that people progress through during their lifetime. 

How do these stages of development affect learning? Let's look at some examples. A child in the Initiative vs. Guilt stage learn best though play. Research (specifically found here, here, and here) has demonstrated that children in this age range benefit from play as opposed to more traditional academic tasks. 

In contrast, a child in the Industry vs. Inferiority stage is naturally curious and desires to master the tasks set before them. They would do quite well in a regular academic setting. On this point, Santrock notes: 

"Teachers need to challenge students without overwhelming them: be firm in requiring students to be productive, but not be overly critical; and especially be tolerant of honest mistakes and make sure that every student has opportunities for many successes." (21)

As educators, we must strive to understand how a child's current developmental level affects their ability to learn. We must not ask children to do things that they are not developmentally able to do. For example, we should not ask a child to complete a task that requires executive attention (such as writing an essay) before they have developed that ability. We must be sure to teach on the appropriate level so that children can be successful and become confident in their own ability to learn.

How Do Children Learn?

As educators, we have a great responsibility to help children learn. In order to do this, we must first understand how children learn. 

There is no concrete formula that explains how children learn. Every child learns in a way that is unique to them. Some children learn best by reading a book while others require a hands on activity. We must be able to recognize each child's learning style and incorporate that into our teaching. This idea is not new. Dr. Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences supports the idea that each person has different strengths. 

While each child learns in their own way, there are still some universal methods that we as teachers can utilize. Presenting the same information over and over again in a variety of ways helps children commit it to long term memory. On this topic, Santrock notes:

"Repeat with variation on the instructional information and link early and often. These are memory development research expert Patricia Bauer's (2009) recommendations to improve children's consolidation and reconsolidation of the information they are learning. Variations on a lesson theme increase the number of associations in memory storage, and linking expands the network of associations in memory storage; both strategies expand the results for retrieving information from storage" (208)

It should also be noted that how children learn is closely tied to their development level. A toddler learns very differently from an adolescent. More on this topic can be found in my next post ("How Child Development Affects Learning").

So, how do children learn? That's not really a question that can be answered in a brief blog post. It can't even really be answered in an essay. But when we boil it down to it's most basic points, children learn according to their own intelligences and utilizing repetition and variation can help children learn.