Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
John Dewey
Younger children learn best using their own curiosity. By observing their environment and peers, interacting with their surroundings, and obeying their instincts and impulses in a safe, educational space, children are able to pursue their own education. Exploration is an essential part of development in academic spaces as well as in everyday life.
Curious Minds
In an exploratory education setting, for example, hiking, children are largely responsible for the lessons they learn along the journey. The hiking environment encourages young children to be curious. Walking along the hiking trails, a child can find new and interesting plants, snakes, fish, frogs, and birds. When my son was young, we frequented the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. He wanted to ‘hunt’ for salamanders by looking under rocks. On some trails there were waterfalls and downed trees used to walk over a stream or puddle of water. He was delighted to see all the fish in the streams and watching individuals fly fishing. Along the way we would encourage him to ask questions or simply investigate something of interest. This activity helps him to develop both the ability to ask good questions as well as developing a goal-oriented attitude. These traits are important in academic settings. Encouraging these types of activities sets a child up for success.
Collaboration
Self-guided learning and exploration are internal to the child, allowing your child to pursue activities of interest leads to making connections and building knowledge. If a child finds another child with a similar interest or a better understanding of a topic, they may be inclined to engage with the other child to enhance his or her own knowledge. Vygotsky (1934), a cognitive theorist stated that human development is a socially mediated process. He developed the “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD) theory. He stated that learning collaboratively is a social activity. Younger children learn from older children when in a group. ZPD is defined as the cognitive space between what a child can do without assistance and what a learner can do with collaboration with a more capable child. When a child ‘reaches up’ to the level of the more capable child then social learning has occured. ( I’ll stop lecturing now)
Creative & Critical Thinking
Encouraging children to direct their own education leads to the emergence of an interest, skill or talent. This discovery is often tied to a means of creative expression such as art, music, theater or sports. Allowing children to explore and experiment in order to identify what appeals to them is the point. Exploration promotes creativity, curiosity and discovery while controlling the fear of failure. Exploration is essential in education, especially for young children. Promoting exploration at all ages can help them become more confident, independent, creative, and socially collaborative.