Apple Cutting and Creativity as a mathematical beginning

• Sweden has recently adopted a national curriculum for preschool (Utbildningsdepartementet, 1998a) and a revised curriculum for school (6-16 years of age) (Utbildningsdepartementet, 1998b). Both curricula have the same structure in form of goals, that is, what education is expected to contribute to the development of children. This means that Sweden has adopted the life-long-learning perspective, also seen in other countries' curricula (see e.g. New Zealand, Ministry of Education, 1998). In Sweden life-long-learning is a distinguished perspective focused on learning as such, but also as a means to a solid base of values and norms. In addition, the content in terms of qualities (or skills) and an understanding of different aspects of the surrounding world is a common thread woven througout the entire school system, although on different levels of complexity. This perspective on learning is based on the idea that "formation of knowledge is an internal relation between the child and the world around him/her” (Marton, 1994). This implies that every child's earlier experiences are used as a foundation for developing a broader and deeper understanding of the specific content dealt with in school-based education. The child's earlier experiences also guide how the child experiences the educational setting, the teacher's role, what is expected of him- or herself, how to accomplish specific tasks, how to interact socially, etc. Knowledge formation therefore is both content and context dependent and formed from clearly defined perspectives, values and the content of early childhood education, if it is to be benificial to the child's life-long-learning process (Pramling, 1990, 1994; Doverborg & Pramling, 1995; Doverborg & Pramling Samuelsson, 1999, manuscript). Implied in this perspective is how young children learn – by being active with their bodies and minds and through communication with peers and teachers. Children experience the world emotionally, socially and cognitively, simultaneously. Therefore the early years lay the critical foundation for the child's interests, for example in mathematics, the value of working in this area, ability to make sense of the topic, and the child's feeling of competence within this topic (Lundgren, 1979). Because of this, the system of education must learn from children and from what they seem to be most devoted to – and that is play – the child's individual realm to be scientifically explored (Pramling Samuelsson, 1999). The characteristics of play, such as joy, freedom, spontaneity, symbolism, communication, engagement and sociability, should be factors that also guide learning in early years. If these factors guide education the child's intention to create meaning from experiences result in confidence and learning opportunities. If this perspective to learning and knowledge formation is accepted, then play serves an important role both before and during school-based education. The goals specifically related to mathematics in the Swedish curriculum for 1–5-year olds states that "The preschool should try to ensure that children develop the ability to discover and use mathematics in meaningful contexts and situations, and develop their appreciation of the basic characteristics of the concept of numbers, measurement and form, as well as the ability to orient themselves in time and space" (Utbildningsdepartementet, 1998a, p. 12). The above perspective of learning and the goals described from the Swedish curriculum provide the bases for the study presented in this article, however, a more narrow description of the approach to learning adopted in the studied group follows in the next section.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

ECE

Children

Mathematics

Maths

learning

preschool

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)