How to Teach the Concrete Operational Child

In this week we were talking about some good methods that we can apply in order to make an effective class for children. We are dealing with concrete operational children. This information is really important and we have to take it into account if we as teachers want to bring out the best effort or result from those children.

The concrete operational stage has some important aspects. For example. The concrete operational child has the abilities of conservation and reversibility. Their thinking is more organized and rational. They can solve problems in a logical fashion, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically.

Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes. To be more technical conservation is the ability to understand that redistributing material does not affect its mass, number, volume or length.

Classification is the ability to identify the properties of categories, to relate categories or classes to one another, and to use categorical information to solve problems. One component of classification skills is the ability to group objects according to some dimension that they share. The other ability is to order subgroups hierarchically, so that each new grouping will include all previous subgroups.

If want them to learn we must show and give a lesson with clear information and not with abstract methods.

We as teacher have to take into account the typical attention span. Typical attention span: When trying to estimate realistically how much time a child can focus on one activity, you can use the following formula (source unknown):

Attention span for learning = chronological age + 1

Knowing this factor our lesson should not last for more than ten minutes. We cannot waste time giving long lessons. We have to take advantage of the attention span.

Behavior: Young children often do not have the words necessary to express themselves; they express themselves through their behavior. Children are not mean, but in some cases yes they are. It is a little bit complicated to explain this situation because some people say that children do not know what they do, but in my personal opinion they does.

Choice theory: all behavior is motivated by an individual’s internal desire to satisfy basic physical and psychological needs. These needs could be:

1) Love and belonging

2) Freedom

3) Power

4) Fun.

If a child chooses an inappropriate behavior, he is doing so because his desire to meet one of the above basic needs is stronger than his desire to follow the tutor’s instructions. The tutor should view the child’s inappropriate behavior as a teaching opportunity. It could result pretty difficult to know how to deal with this, but we already know why they are acting in that way and there is the opportunity to apply an activity. Teachers should not threat or use rude attitude with children, but I think that in some cases we need to be firm with what we say.

Also in this week we learnt about Authoritative, Authoritarian and Permissive teachers.

The authoritative teacher manages the best of both worlds with regard to control and student involvement. He maintains not only high behavioral expectations but also classroom rigor and relationships; he usually encourages interactions and is warm and inviting to students. He is open and friendly, even though his boundaries are clearly established; he is a steady and reliable role model. An authoritative teacher praises and motivates students; he encourages respect and cooperative learning among students.

Authoritarian teachers are the antithesis of permissive supervisors, as they set out insuperable barriers to student-teacher involvement, which effectively distance them from personal connection to pupils. Their rules are copious and absolutely enforced; in a classroom setting, the authoritarian is a dictator who frequently lectures, encourages little interaction and establishes fervent competition among students. Inevitably, the authoritarian's atmosphere is fearful and punitive, as this teacher exercises rigorous control but shows little interest in involvement.

Permissive teachers are popular, but have a low control threshold; their locus is self- rather than other-centered, they make few demands on students and they generally show apathy toward student progress. This particular style, despite its lax control and relaxed student involvement, is suitable or a learning situation in which advanced students, the kind that need little or no supervision, complete independent studies or advanced projects on their own. The teacher isn't required as an educator; his role is only as a supervisor, and a dissociated one at that

In my opinion I think that we need to apply the three of them, but not at the same time because that is impossible. There is a time for being authoritative. There is a time for being authoritarian and there is a time for being permissive. However I consider that authoritative teacher is the best option that we can apply most of the time. Obviously you cannot be too much permissive with children perhaps you can be like that, but only in minimal things or situations.