The Staple Gun
During this observation I noticed
this toddler trying to push the stapler down on the table, turning it upside
down, banging it down on the table, pushing different parts of the stapler and
just simply looking at it. After
thinking about the children that had come to the table while I was hanging up
the art work, I remember seeing this toddler with this group. I was
quite surprised how long this toddler was engaged with the staple gun. It
wasn’t until the toddler heard a pre-schooler asking if she could use the
staple gun that she actually became aware of her surroundings.
As I said before I was a
little anxious about a toddler handling the staple gun as it is a powerful
piece of technology, but I did not want to stop the learning that was
happening. I asked this toddler to sit by me at the table to which she did and
I started to scaffold her learning through showing her different parts of the
staple gun. A pre-schooler then asked “How do I get her art work to stay on the
wall”? How does the stapler work Isabel? I found this to be quite thought
provoking as I have not been asked about the stapler before.
I started to show step by
step how the stapler worked. I started off with showing them which was the
handle and how to hold the staple gun. They all wanted to have a turn at
holding the stapler, so under supervision I let them hold the staple gun. Most
had struggled to hold it properly as their hands were too small. A pre-schooler then asked “How do you get my
picture to stay on the wall Isabel? I
showed them the small U shape metal pieces in the container beside me and I let
them know that it is these U shape metal pieces which are called staples that
keep their art work stuck to the wall.
I turned the staple gun upside down and pulled
out the slide where the staples go and showed them where and how the staples
go. “How do they get out of the stapler?
So I asked one of the children to pass me a piece of art work. I held the
picture up on the wall and then I showed them what would happen if I pushed the
handle down and let it come back up again. Technology is about solving problems;
it’s about the thinking process and searches for solutions according to Smorti (1999)
I remember the heavy staplers back in my school days and
they were not gadgets that were freely accessible to us as children, so it was
mainly through observing teachers or adults on how to use it and fill it. I
grew up in an era to where you did not ask a lot of questions, so the way one
found out about technology, or what technology was, was through observing. Staplers
were as far as I can remember were not spoken of as technology but these days children
are encouraged to ask questions and teachers are encouraged to answer these
questions.
Tena koe Isabel,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read about your blog, my first initial reaction was a gasp and intake of breathe, while thoughts of safety flashed through my mind.Though fleeting, I noticed my own reaction because we have limited the staple gun in our centre for safety reasons, so I was immediately noticing where my thoughts were coming from.
I am wondering if the child had some prior experience of the stapler, as it sounds like she was very active as she tried it out, (Ministry of Education, 1996) to make sense of it.
I’m wondering if your centre has small size staplers for young children to use, to extend on the knowledge and use of the stapler. Staplers are used for connecting pages together, they fit the description of solving a problem and provide exploration in discovering how they work, providing an opportunity for children to practice capability and competence (MacNaughton & Williams, 2004).
What was the reaction within your centre?
It is really great that you allowed the child an opportunity to practice and handle the equipment. I’m not sure what I might have said or done, but I can see that you were helping to create the technological literacy that children need to be participants in our society (Ministry Of Education, 2007), as being aware of what they can do, helps children to have confidence(Ministry of Education, 1996,p.68).
Reference
MacNaughton, G. & Williams, G. (2004). (2nd ed.) Techniques for teaching young children; Choices in theory and practice. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Pearson Prentice Hill.
Ministry of Education, (1996). He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa, early childhood curriculum .Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Limited.
Ministry of Education, (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Limited.
Hi Isabel,
ReplyDeleteI learnt something new about technology from your reflection showing me how a staple gun is a part of technology too. I am wondering how much we are surrounded by technology while having a limited knowledge about it. While reading your reflection I was thinking how important it is for early childhood teachers to be aware of different areas of the curriculum. As we are becoming aware of technology just like last year’s course of maths and science we are more supportive towards children’s learning.
Your awareness of technology helped you to be encouraging about child’s learning of something new while you were there to support them. Similarly, Ministry of Education (1996) highlights that, “using many materials for different purposes enable children to recognize that different technologies may be used in various places and settings.
There is a question that is bothering me, are we mentioning to the children about how things are related to technology? As Ministry of Education (2007) states that students need to develop technological knowledge particularly to understand how and why things work.
I am asking the same question to myself too and thinking about how to support children’s knowledge regarding technology.
My initial reaction to a young child exploring a gun stapler was panic. All I could think of was what if they use it and it fires into their eyes or any other part of their body. As I continued to read your reflection I could see how you were using this experience as a learning journey for yourself and the child. We can often be too quick to jump into situations and therefore stop a great learning experience happening.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you gave the toddler time to investigate before you intervened. This was allowing them time to fully explore and experiment with the piece of equipment. Hamer (1999) states “Observation without inference allows the observer to weigh up or assess the situation by looking at what actually is happening” (p.10).
I think you were respectful in the way you realised this child wanted to know about the stapler by sitting them beside yourself and explaining how it worked. You became a listener/decoder as another child questioned you about how the artwork stayed on the wall. “Listening to children decodes what they are saying discovering both the content and the context of the interaction” (Dunkin & Hanner, 2001, p.19).
I would not have thought of the staple gun as technology before it has always been just a means of putting stuff on the wall. You have made me stop and think about how we can enrich children’s experiences with the different types of technology we use each day in the centre.
Hi Isabel,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading you reflection, I was thinking you are so brave. It is amazing how we underestimate toddlers sometimes, they are in between stage of a baby and a young child and sometimes it is hard let them do things worrying they might get hurt, brake something or hurt someone else. Before our technology class, I would never have picked a stapler as part of it, but thinking about it now it makes me realise it is technology. I am sure children loved playing up with it, exploring it, learning how things work, feeling the texture, learning about its purpose and the whole purpose of it, helping them recognise how different technologies like staplers can be used in various places and settings (Ministry Of Education, 1996). I was wondering what will happen if you let children play with a staple gun but removing the staplers, that way they get to play with it in their own time and space without you worrying about them getting hurt. At me centre we have a lot or real life things children can play with, things like toasters, printers, phones, jugs, children spend a lot of time playing with them, they can be entertaining and part of learning technology and its purpose.