How Children Learn: A Window to Opportunity

The common thread running through this week's readings is the importance of working with the learner as a whole human versus merely a student.  Specifically, these readings deal with children as learners and the misconceptions and new understandings of how children at different stages of development see and perceive the world around them.  This comprehensive approach to education, addressing human needs and incorporating all of the developmental stages of a learner, emphasizes that the complexity of what being a human is and how those many facets must be satisfied in order to create the conditions for learning.

The two biggest takeaways from both readings were these: there is no age that is too young to start educational endeavors, and children learn best when they are educated and cared for holistically.  Humanistic education, as it is summarized in Snowman, et. al. (2009), addresses the three basic psychological needs - belonging, autonomy, and competence.  While autonomy and competence are stressed in traditional American educational settings, the humanistic model incorporates the needs of the learner as one who "belongs".  When children feel that they lack human connections for belonging, or that they do not have their basic needs taken care of, their last goal is education.  Without a strong base of support and sustenance, formidable obstacles are then created for a young learner to fulfill their potential.

The research also points to the importance of education from the earliest days.  Moving away from the assumption of infant as a tabla rasa, much of the literature now points to the infant to toddler phase as one of great educational opportunity (Bransford 1999).  But what happens when parents are children themselves?  What happens when 0-3 year old children have no parent reading to them?  What happens when students are concerned with whether or not they will have enough breakfast to keep them from passing out in third period gym class?  Having worked in an area of extreme poverty, with rates of teen parenthood and dropout rates, I saw the consequences of structural violence and the opportunities missed for learners of all ages.  When students are not struggling to meet their daily physiological needs, their minds can expand and grow as other children’s do.

The humanistic model is one shining possibility in an otherwise bleak outlook.  If schools begin to incorporate a needs-based model that provides for the psychosocial and physiological needs for those who need it, there is more potential to reach every young learner, regardless of socioeconomic status.  One prime example of holistic/humanistic education is the work of the Harlem Children's Zone.  Under the guiding principle of "whatever it takes", the Harlem Children's Zone recognizes the need for care and education from birth through high school, as well as the need to incorporate the human needs outlined on Maslow's Hierarchy.  (The public radio program This American Life highlighted HCZ's work and founder Geoffrey Canada for a segment called "Harlem Renaissance".)  Under the guiding principle of "whatever it takes", the program offers a number of services aimed at addressing the whole learner experience.  Charter schools, foster-care prevention, afterschool activities are offered with the intent on creating well-rounded students who can focus on their intellectual development without fear of being taken away from their families or going hungry.

Similar programs have followed HCZ’s example (including the nearby Allentown Youth Success Zone sponsored by the United Way), and a campaign promise from President Obama would replicate the program in 20 cities.  Such tapped potential could help bring educational opportunities to all learners regardless of race, class, or location.  The solutions to poverty are most often theorized to be employment, loans, and other financial incentives.  However, if a child's human security can be strengthened through the educational system, it would not only translate into better educational outcomes, but it would give them the means to break free from the cycle.