CHILDREN SPECTACULARLY LEARN FROM EACH OTHER

 CHILDREN SPECTACULARLY LEARN FROM EACH OTHER

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

 

 

Today’s children are being deprived of many things. They have plenty of toys, electronics and other devices. If a child asks for the latest fashion, it immediately becomes part of their wardrobe. When a child as young as a preschooler asks to take a karate class, gymnastics, dance, music class or any sport today’s they are immediately signed up for these many different enrichment experiences.

 

What modern youngsters do not have is time to play unsupervised and uninstructed with peers. They cannot play on their own without adult supervision and instruction due to the parent’s fear. Even recess in public schools is being eliminated for child safety reasons. Children are shielded from their peers. This is stunting their growth in many areas. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. 

 

American families have shrunk in size. “The one and done slogan” of parents has produced many single child families. Couple this with our social mobility that has separated family members: grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins from interacting with each other. It has resulted in a child being isolated from their young relatives. In the past adult family members talked and gossiped while the children played and learned from each other.

 

When children allowed limited freedom and choice by not being chaperoned by adults, a pecking order is established for different activities, skill areas and natural leadership development. A child who has been taught proper behavior might tell another that he should not act that way or treat another child disrespectfully.  Often a child will role model others who already have learned leadership skills without being conscious of it.  Children learn from each other. 

 

The natural resource of children teaching each other is underutilized in our public schools. Our public schools have become centralized from national and state bureaucratic mandates, which are to be followed by each and every teacher. Teachers common sense has been stifled by the concept that the whole class has to be at a certain point in the curriculum at a certain time. This cookie cutter approach to education does not allow for students to teach and help each other. Instead, often the child is labeled and assigned to a specialist or para-professional to remediate the child’s academic difficulty. The child may improve with an Individual Educational Plan but once the specialist or paraprofessional is reassigned to another child, the student’s confidence and achievement often evaporate. Peer teaching is a cost-effective alternative to hiring specialists and paraprofessionals. There is never enough of these “specialists” because of the enormous cost to the school staffing.

 

That peer teaching of students helps students has been demonstrated to be very effective in assisting student learning. One-room schools were considered by researchers to be the most cost effective and efficient method of educating children. A teacher of multi aged students in the same classroom would have no option but to use the better students to help others with academic problems. This system also encouraged student leaders to counsel inappropriately acting students.

 

Maria Montessori, an internationally recognized education authority, incorporated “peer teaching” as an integral part of her world-famous education system. Montessori schools all over the world have had incredible success in motivating academic learning and have used peer teaching as a major component. The peer teacher learns by doing and verbalizing the accurate information while the other student learns the lesson. This learning technique becomes personalized by employing different methods and examples to help the student understand the new concept. The student who needs more practice or conceptual understanding receives it and improves.

 

Children normally teach each other. Older children are role models to their siblings and friends. Often younger children can assist older children to reach levels they did not think possible. If a child needs assistance, they can overcome their inhibitions and fears. The student can learn to be independently successful. “I can do it myself!” becomes a reality. The power of peer teaching is significant and should not be overlooked.

 

 Children helping other children is as old as human history. Children learn from each other. As a society we should maximize these opportunities. Children need to learn how to interact with other children. These experiences do not have to be orchestrated by adults as they can happen spontaneously. Children have to develop these difficult life skills on their own to gain self- confidence in themselves. 

 

Let us not rob our children of these necessary experiences with other children because of our adult fears. Our children need to believe their loved ones have faith in them to become responsible adults. Let our children be sufficiently free to learn from each other.

 

 

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers and blogs, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN and a recent book entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING in a PC World. You can see many of Dr. Maglio’s articles at www.drmaglioblogspot.com.