By: Alexis
Why
do educators spend so much time making children sit still while they are in
school?
I recently attended a conference where
the presenter asked this question. The room full of teachers responded with
utter silence. I’m unsure why the educators in the room couldn’t respond, but I
know that it is impossible for me to sit still and when I really think about
it, I wonder why we think children should.
This question really stuck out to me
because the presenter made the point that it is natural to move and even most
adults can’t sit still for too long. If adults can’t even sit still for too
long, then how can young children be expected to? I feel like educators know
that developmentally children ages three to eight years old cannot sit for long
periods of time. I think the reason why educators force students to sit still
in their desks is because they feel movement creates chaos and disrupts
instruction. With that being said, I decided to further investigate this topic
and discover why movement is important and how movement can easily be
incorporated into every classroom.
The greatest part of brain development takes place from birth to five years of age, in which part of this time is when children are in school. Teachers must think of their young students’ brains like wet cement—with new information constantly being embedded into their brains (Coburn, 2013). Can children possibly absorb all this new information while remaining in the same place? Incorporating movement into the classroom allows children to recharge during a busy learning day and helps them develop and refine their gross motor skills (Furmanek, 2014). Young children should be exposed to movement in the classroom because long periods of structured work generate cognitive interference for children, which will often result in students seeming less actively engaged in instructional lessons (Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005). There are many resources available to help educators implement small movement activities in their classroom. For example, it is feasible to start implementing songs in daily transitions to promote moving. In addition, I have even seen some teachers provide their students with a bouncy ball to sit on instead of a chair, which allows the students to move freely while working.
Research proves that movement matters
and enhances children’s learning (Furmanek, 2014). If teachers are provided
with evidence that movement helps improve children’s cognition process then why
aren’t all teachers giving their students time to move? Here are some reasons
of why educators may be hesitant in incorporating movement in their classroom
and resources they can use to respond to those barriers:
·
Fear of movement in the classroom
getting out of control? Planning helps! Get tips here: http://wonderteacher.com/tips-for-classroom-movement/
·
Not sure how to start gradually
incorporating movement in class? Here are five simple ways: http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/news/five-ways-to-work-gross-motor-movement-into-your-daily-class-schedule/
·
Afraid of what your administrator will
say? Educate them: http://www.corwin.com/upm-data/33298_Pages_from_Lengel_The_Kinesthetic_Classroom_Ch1.pdf
·
Want families to be on board? Offer
them ideas to incorporate movement at home: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5rcL1D-b1DWMjF4aTRVZ0RIWE0/view?pli=1
·
Not sure about using movement within
transitions, but want to help students with attention needs? Check out this
article: http://life.gaiam.com/article/how-sitting-ball-helps-kids-focus-and-do-better-school
·
Not sure what material to use to help
incorporate movement in your classroom? Get your students moving to fun songs
with the help of this website: www.thelearninggroove.com
References
Coburn, E. (2013). Why
early childhood music and movement classes? http://makingmusik.com/.
Furmanek,
D. (2014). Classroom choreography: Enhancing learning through movement. Young Children, 69(4), 80-85.
Pellegrini,
A.D. & Bohn, C. (2005). The roles of
recess in children's cognitive
performance and school adjustment.
Educational Researcher, 34, 13-19.
