Prepare for school, climb a tree!

I am in a very fast train, flying through gorgeous Danish countryside. This time in daylight, and it's a great way to see the various landscapes: the forests, fjords, farms, towns and villages, all gone quick as a wink so that I'm reluctant to be writing in case I miss something. But write I will because I want my reflections on my stay here to be fresh in my mind. Once I'm in the next place it will be harder to access what I am thinking and feeling now. 

I have been able to gain immense personal satisfaction during this leg of my study tour. From the friendship with Jane and Keld to the knowledge that I can survive and cope in very difficult situations (as it took nearly 24 hours to get here from Edinburgh, see blog entry 'can someone tell me why I'm doing this'). Not to mention being in a beautiful place on a lake that was good for walks, picnics and a haven for the soul to take respite. And then of course there was the joy of the buggy ride and being in good company, human and animal. 

But these personal aspects are an added bonus and I keep reminding myself that I'm here for serious professional learning. I have gained new perspectives and understandings of the nature kindergarten concept from being here in Denmark. This is where it all began and each country has taken bits of it and made it their own. The places I visited previously, in Scotland and in England, have developed it and tweaked it and turned it into what is appropriate for their education community and for their own culture. 

What I saw here was, in my mind, raw and pure. It seems that it is just part of the way it works. The three centres I visited are, according to Jane and my own observations, exceptional in the quality of their education. In Denmark nearly all children from six months to six years are in care (it's free and expected that all children will be cared for by pedagogues during the working hours), and every centre has an outdoor component that is an important inclusion in the curriculum.  On one of my walks I passed a regular kindergarten. The outdoor space was extensive and I saw one adult in the space, near the sandpit. The area had all sorts of play areas such as mud pits, hides, climbing areas, plants and gardens, and right in one corner, out of sight of anyone, were five or six older children on a swing. It was two tires with a plank secured between and these kids were working together to send it flying. They were having a fantastic time, calling out to each other and laughing and then two girls leapt before the climax of the curve to land in the dirt below. No adult was hovering, they just don't do that here. The children know what to do if they need help, and have been given thorough guidance in risk assessment since their early days in the centre. 

So, what do you think? I find regulation and fears of bumps and bruises, plus the terror in our minds that a bad accident might happen, really prevents us from achieving this sort of independence and freedom for children in Australia. I have to admit that one of my biggest perceived challenges in all this, from the beginning, has been how to navigate the health and safety aspects. Not from my own feelings on the subject, I love risk, can see the benefits of it when it's calculated and thought through, but from the knowledge that colleagues, parents  and regulators will give me a hard time about it. The kids, however, will be into it with bells on. "Risk and challenge are a part of children's learning environments. It is seen as an important part of the Danish approach that children learn how to assess risks and take challenges because these are vital life skills, and the pedagogues role is to support and guide the children in how to assess risk for themselves" (Williams-Seigfredson, 2012, p.12). The other important aspect of Danish society is that the pedagogue is a trusted 'other parent' by the children's parents. This is not a litigious society, trust and respect being reciprocated by both party's (Williams-Seigfredson, 2012). 

Something else that struck me here is the belief that the forest environment will provide children with all that they need in life skills, education, and knowledge to allow them not only to be who they are as learners but also to launch them successfully into the next phase, as in formal schooling. This takes care of the being and becoming that we talk about in our Early Years Learning Framework. Belonging is a given. There is an incredible sense of connection to the environment, to peers and the community in what I saw in Denmark. But I digress. Back to the 'becoming". 

The research around the benefits of this approach indicate that the opportunities for learning are all honing skills that will be useful in school. These include increased levels of concentration, more complex language development and highly developed social and emotional skills. The opportunities for children to investigate and experiment also have educational benefits in formal schooling, as does the fine and gross motor aspect of everyday life in a forest (Williams-Seigfredson, 2012). The difference is that all these aspects of a young child's development seem to be valued in Danish schools, whereas in Australia there seems to be a big focus on whether a child can sit quietly for a story, follow directions, decipher sounds, recite number orders and write their name. I know I'm perhaps being simplistic here, but I'm just thinking it through. Tell me if you agree or disagree, I'm open to other thoughts on the subject. 

I'm nearly in Copenhagen. Time to stop hurting my brain with all this thinking. I'm going to relax and enjoy the remainder of the trip. Till next time. . .

A work of the heart

Today was pretty special. I arrived at Resen Nature Kindergarten with Jane. There were children and their pedagogue in icy wind flying a kite, all in a huddle. Johann saw us drive in and left the kite with the children to come and greet us. When I looked back at them I could see them laughing and squealing as the colorful kite took flight. 

Johann showed me around the place. It has an indoor space that is heated by a wood stove. This space had the usual kitchen, dining room and a small play area with a variety of activities that children could access. These play areas are nothing like what we have in Australia. There are no shelves bursting with craft materials, construction activities, games or toys. There are shelves, there are activities that children can freely access, but they are minimal and simple. At Resen I saw very little plastic, which warmed my heart. Outside there was even less, hardly any at all, just a few sandpit toys. 

All that the children need is provided through the natural materials in the outdoor environment, and these are mostly gifts of God, not of people. Johann has turned some natural things into challenging, imaginative and inviting play props through sculpture. He's formed a car, a boat, an aero plane and a bus from logs he found in the forest. He said it takes about a week to rustle one up, and it's obviously a work of the heart, giving him immense satisfaction in his creations. More logs, tree roots and tree stumps, as well as structures made from wood provide open ended options for play and challenge. 

There were many nooks and crannies about the place that children were free to access. The kindergarten area has no fences so children are expected to stay within the boundaries, and they do so to their hearts content. I could see twenty five children scattered about, mostly in small groups of peers. They range for three to six years old and again all I could see everywhere I looked was engaged, happy, carefree children. Kind of like free range kids. We do it for chooks out of a sense of ethics to fellow living creatures, why do we find it so hard to do this for children, fellow humans. We know it's best for chooks to be able to express their natural habits, to allow them the freedom to be chooks. Don't children deserve the right to be three, or six? 

I asked Johan about how these children cope with the more formal structures of school. They go to school here at the age of six. There are no four and a half year olds exposed to formal education in Denmark, and even the six year olds attend what they call play school. It is a lot more formal than their early education but play is still considered a very important aspect of the curriculum. Johann explained to me the importance of children attaining adequate motor development before they can be expected to undergo the rigours of academic learning and formalized structures. The motor development that occurs through freely chosen, engaging and satisfying tasks in the outdoors build muscle memory, kinesthetic awareness, balance and prepares the twenty five muscles in the hands for fine motor activity. They use tools, operate many different sorts of grasps and manipulate natural materials for real purposes. In doing all of this, their bodies are becoming more and more prepared for their brains to work in the way we need them to work for academic learning. Now I'm paraphrasing here, and I will be researching this in much greater depth when I return and write a paper. This blog is a space for me to reflect and write my thoughts as they come, catching what was significant for me at each place, so please forgive me not providing research or theory to back these claims. They will be coming. 

This very young girl got herself onto this tire swing and very deliberately and patiently placed her feet so that she could begin rocking. Bit by purposeful bit she got the swing into a smooth and controlled swinging motion. Is this what Johann means when he talks about the motor development that these children have opportunity to excercise in preparation for school?

Allow me to share a special experience from today with one of the children. 

I wandered around the site, looking for a place to watch and take it all in, but I can never resist joining children in play. So I swang on a swing, balanced along a log and approached some girls obviously making cakes from soil and sand on a tree stump. There was one little girl nearby who I was told could speak English, as her father was English, but she never spoke it out of shyness. I called to her and told her I only speak English, not Danish, and it was so nice to find someone I could talk to. She brightened immediately and began chatting away about her family. When the group of girls didn't want to share their cake, she translated for me that the kitchen was closed. She did, however, run to the sandpit and bring me a bucket of 'cake', just for me. Again I was amazed at one child's capacity to feel empathy for a stranger and to connect.  She followed me around the rest of the site and there was one particularly special moment whee Johann took me to see a blackbirds nest complete with eggs that he'd just discovered in the woodshed. I lifted the little girl to see. I had a book about Australian birds to give the kindergarten as a thank you and had a little time to look at it with her and talk about the beautiful birds illustrated until it was time to leave. 

The pedagogues that I met here today showed a real heart for their work. Johann in particular, as the head, spoke to me with such passion and belief that the kind of education they are offering here is in the best interests of children. The centre is currently involved in some action research with one of the universities and I look forward to reading of the findings. Much of the research I understand is around reflective practice and the why of what they do, as well as what the results are for children. Johan used the term 'provoke' as he explained some of the process of the research. 

If you are interested their website is well worth a visit. It is all in Danish but the video link shows some wonderful images. http://www.resendaycare.dk/afdelinger/skovbørnehaven

I didn't want to leave. I was in my happy place, but Jane had a surprise waiting for me and gently coaxed me away. You can read about that in my next blog.