Gravity and air pressure
She tested 32 young children out of 3 to 5 years of age, 1 / 2 of whom were in regular and the other half in special education - the so-called cluster 4 education. “These are children with severe forms of ADHD or autism. It is assumed that they perform worse on other learning tasks, just like on language and math tests. Is that right, I wondered. Or do they just score poorly because taking a test behind your table requires a good dose of attention and concentration? That is why I wanted to playfully test children's understanding of science and technology in order to simulate a normal learning situation. "
She did this over a period of one and a half years, testing children every three months for their understanding of gravity and air pressure. “For the gravity test, I sat down on the floor next to a child, and together we looked at a marble court. Then I asked things like: do you know what this is? What happens if you place a ball on a marble court? Does it roll up or down? Why then? ”For the air pressure test, she made the tip of two syringes together with a tube. “What happens now if I impress one syringe? How is that possible? And what happens if I use a longer tube? Every time I built up the difficulty slightly. "
Stimulate curiosity
Van der Steen measured how many answers the children gave, how many were correct and how complex the answers were. "In other words: did the child recognize the syringe alone, or could he already connect two elements to each other: that pressing one syringe, for example, causes the other to move?" talk to their child about 'why things are the way they are' and encourage curiosity.
The children from normal and special education did not differ in the number of answers they gave or the complexity thereof. Children from special education only gave slightly more wrong answers. How well they did on average was not related to their score on language and math tests or the educational level of their parents. But with the number of interactive conversations at home that stimulate a child's curiosity.
“Of course my study is 'only' an exploratory study with few children. But I have demonstrated: how a child scores on language and math tests do not necessarily say how fast a child learns. In any case, it does not predict how much insight a child has in science and technology.
“In addition to knowledge, attention, concentration, vocabulary and perhaps also fear of failure. Such tests force children to collect isolated knowledge behind their table, without context. That's difficult. But if you let children interact with their environment and you stimulate them to think for themselves, then all those obstacles will disappear. Then they will succeed. "
Handy, but not holy
That is why, according to Van der Steen, Cito tests from the learning tracking system - which are not only taken in group 8, but also at pre-school age - are useful, but not sacred. "That is important for teachers to realize. Now only the best students - who score highest on language and math tests - can go to the 'plus class', where they can do some fun tests for some extra challenge. While other children may be here just as good at it, just as much about learning and just as much fun out of it. ”
Teachers should also not be afraid to ask young children questions and let them sort things out for themselves, Van der Steen emphasizes. "Because you will see: if you provide them with enough context, they will get quite far." "When we connected the longer tube, he suddenly said: " Ooh! There's a sigh in it! " He does not yet have the vocabulary to express himself sharply, but he does get it. ”
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