Theory Building

“My magnet stuck to the Dome!,” OP said, while observing her red horseshoe magnet, dangling from the nearest blue bar.  “My magnet sticks too!,” responds HR, admiring his orange magnet’s balance at the top of the same bar.. “Yeah, mine too!,” TH agrees, after delicately attaching his green magnet nearby.  “Why do you think they stick to the dome?,” I ask.  (A pause, as they consider this).  OP looks up at me, raises her arms, and jumps while shouting, “Because they’re metal!”  “Yes!,” I reply, “They are metal.  What other things out here are metal?  What do you think these magnets will stick to?”  All of the children begin looking around and scattering across our playscape, hunting for materials that are suitable for a magnetic connection.

Diversity

The way each child takes on this task is different.  While some choose to see what they can pick up with the magnets, others try  to hang the magnets from larger objects.  TH is particularly interested in what the magnets would stick to.  He tries it out on benches, door handles, excavator arms, etc, while simultaneously changing his position in relation to the magnet and looking at it from a variety of angles.  Each time he does this, he’s building a theory and/or several theories, about the way the magnets work, the properties of their hosts, and the relationship that exists between the two.  Meanwhile, he is integrating these meanings into their understanding of the world, and especially, his many identities within it. The complexities of the differences of how these are constructed are connected to family, to nature, to culture.  Each of these components of a child’s milieu are saturated with meaning, and once woven together, they take on new meanings and experiences.  More on this metaphor can be found in an earlier blog I wrote found here.

Identity

To be able to create connections, to bind things together, to use a tool- all of these are experiences that communicate something to children about themselves and their role as active inhabitants/agents in the World, and/or the Universe for that matter.  These experiences further instill competencies, and confidence to exercise those competencies.  All of this aids the children in the construction of their identities, identities that are the wellspring for their creativity and being.  

The Difficulty 

Every child has a theory.  Every child has thousands of theories..  Every child is a theory-builder, meaning-maker, and young scietents of their environment.  That is what play is.  Play is an interrogation of the materials within an environment, the negotiation of its actors, and all of the relational processes that happen among all of these elements.  That is what makes play exciting and fun.  That is what makes play meaningful.    

But it is also why play can be difficult for those entrusted to childrens’ care.  Most of you are aware of the sometimes violent language and/or behaviors that children, particularly preschool children, can exhibit.  These words and actions can stir up no small amount of feelings for adults, as we try to integrate what we are experiencing with what we know about the adult world and the effect(s) of this type of behavior.  This is a value for us, a value that carries a significant weight for children, as they watch the visible responses exhibited by their caregivers.  For children, the theories that they are building are about good versus evil, right and wrong, and the effect(s) of their behavior on the behavior of others.  Therefore, when confronted by the value-laden responses of adults, new theories must be built to understand those values.  This is often the point at which children begin to direct their energies towards their caregivers in order to better understand this reality.  They know the reality of the value’s existence, but must understand the significance of it.  

The Invitation

With all this being said, what should also be pointed out is that what the children are doing in these encounters is to invite caregivers into their world of play, into their processes of meaning making, and into the curious behaviors of their theory constructions.  Here, the adults have the opportunity to be the guides, communicators of value, and the provocateurs of further learning.  Explaining to the children why all of those emotions around a behavior rise up for the adult goes a long way in children’s understanding of the values undergirding them.  They love these stories, these insights to their caregiver’s mental and emotional processes.  They love having a window into the values inherent within their environment.  

Change

But this is not to say that they have the maturity to understand all of the impacts of their investigations.  This past week at school we’ve had to create more boundaries around the way that we are making meaning of violence.  One of the ways we have done this is by refraining from using objects as pretend “weapons” at school.  This is a change from the previous agency we had offered to the children in this area, as we used to be smaller in number and more similar in age.  However, our learning community is changing, and with that change, we must respond with developmentally appropriate and safe practices that adhere to the change.  This is an important bit of learning in and of itself. It creates opportunity for new theories to be made and new learning to be had concerning the meaning of our responses to these changes.  And it offers for a further exploration of community and how communities respond to the inclusion of their newest members.  

The Journey

As teachers, we are so thrilled to be on this communal journey of theory-building with the children and you all!  Please continue to let us know how we might be better partners with you in this!