Toward Child – Centered Pedagogy: Creating Support for Indonesian Children Learning English as a Foreign Language

Toward Child – Centered Pedagogy:

Creating Support for Indonesian Children Learning

English as a Foreign Language

4^th Meeting (October 13^th, 2014)

BACHRUDIN MUSTHAFA, M.A., PH.D

Children Centered Learning represents both a mindset and a culture within a given educational institution and is a learning approach which is broadly related to, and supported by, constructivist theories of learning. It is characterized by innovative methods of teaching which aim to promote learning in communication with teachers and other learners and which take children seriously as active participants in their own learning, encouragement movable skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking and reflective thinking. Children-centered learning, that is, putting children' interests first, is in contrast to traditional education, by proponents of "children-centered learning" also dubbed "teacher-centered learning". Children-centered learning is focused on each children's interests, abilities, and learning styles, placing the teacher as a facilitator of learning. This classroom teaching method acknowledges children voice as central to the learning experience for every learner, and differs from many other learning methodologies. In a children-centered classroom, children choose what they will learn, how they will learn, and how they will assess their own learning. Teacher-centered learning has the teacher at its center in an active role and children in a passive, receptive role. In a teacher-centered classroom, teachers choose what the children will learn, how the children will learn, and how the children will be assessed on their learning. Children-centered learning requires children to be active, responsible participants in their own learning and with their own pace of learning.

Children centered pedagogy has provided serious challenges to traditional lecture and test modes of education in elementary school.  Believers of children-centered pedagogy generally proceed from the constructivist position that maintains that learners construct their understandings through their actions and experiences on the world. Children centered thinking has produced a growing interest in the use of a variety of different active learning methods in and out of the classroom. These include collaborative learning, experiential learning, problem-based learning, and a variety of other pedagogical methods.  However, the theory and practice of children-centered pedagogy is not without its problems. Children centered learning is often defined in contradistinction to teacher centered pedagogy. The idea that children must be active in the construction of knowledge is often understood to imply a weakening role for the teacher in the learning process. Teachers are called upon to abandon singular claims to authority or power in the classroom. An alternative approach is based upon the socio cultural constructivist idea that learning is a form of guided participation in socio-cultural activity.  From this view, knowledge in any given discipline is the historical product of socio cultural processes that have evolved over long periods of time. Such knowledge is preserved and communicated through the cultural vehicle of language. It follows that learning within any given discipline requires mastery of the language-based meanings that define disciplinary knowledge and practice. Such knowledge can only be acquired through active participation in language-mediated learning activities that are structured by more expert individuals. All learning is thus viewed as a form of doing.  Pedagogy becomes a task of articulating learning goals and identifying the forms of doing that promote development toward those goals.

! Contextual Condition: English as a foreign language in Indonesia’s elementary school

To increase children development of English start from the elementry school level is a hard decicion for the regional area. Because when that decision has been taken a new problem start here. For example, the elementary school should find a teacher that able to teach English well in this area. At this level of education not all of the level of society discuss about it especially in a public area. Not all of the education beckground of the children parents are same. That means, their knowledge of education are also not same.

There is no an equal development of English along the country. It is different the knowledge of the children who live in the middle of the city than the children who live in the edge of the city or far from the city. The children access to English when they want to know a alot about an English. They can find an English lesson easier such as from, TV (cartoon movie, kids song), electronic games or other. But some of the families has  a limited access to an English because of so many reason such, they hove no televisio, or Handphone, etc. In other reason, the school facilities has no a good time management with an English lesson. There is no majority of an English lesson time, because in Indonesia generally learn English 1 time a week. That the thing we always face every week. It is not give so many time to us teach them well. Because, it is better if we teach them more then one time meeting but regularly eventhought it’s only 20 minutes meeting.

In some area, a young children believe that even with an English that they didn’t got a good purpose. Also for the teacher who teach an English. They not always get good experience from learning English as well as other. Some of them sometimes have a bad experience with their english lesson, that make sense when he/she teach an English will give the same effect if they do not change their mind sets.

! Present Challenges in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to Young Learners

There are three issues conditions for learning English that we lack them all the young learners, such as: Exposure (student learn from what they see and hear), Engagement (Means, young learner do a lot of things in English), and support (means, young learner feel and see for themselves that what they have learned is valued).

Exposure, what should we do in this issue? That question sometimes pop out from us. This means that when the student learn something, they learn from what they see and hear. The young learner learn something that she/he saw, from a movie, a neighbour, a parents, etc. They can hear it. What they can hear, anything. What is out from movie, her/his parents, a neighbour, friends, family, etc. Is it good thing or a bad thing what they have see and and hear from any source.

Engagement, young learner should do a lot of thing in english to encourage their english skill. Some simple thing is more effective then less of activities with english or rarely activities in english. It means, if we want to teach English to young learner, stared from a simple thing but use a repeatation language. It effective to them then talk in Bahasa but less in english. Talk a lot in simpel english less talk in english.

Support, its means, when the young learner start to learn english. Avoid to correct them, let they learn by themselves. Give some response with what they want to ask us eventhough its not related with what they have learn by that time, so they feel we appreciate them well. So, in the next meeting they want to learn more about english because they got something valuable from learning english.

In teach that is not an easy. Not every person can teach, because when we teach is not ony learn from book, read a lot of books or wacth so many movie about education, but it is about how to make a student learn something that valuable for them. Sometimes the teacher can lost their confidence and capabilities in teaching EFL to young learner, why? Because they were not accustomed teaching English also by using English. That’s why teacher of English should harness the MGMP (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran), which this can be a place to share about our problem as English teacher as well as other. Give some solution to each other.

In other way the sponsonship to enrich young learner ability should be supported by the parents, government, or school itslef. Because the successfull in teaching is not only depends on teacher, it also grounded by a parents, school or government.

Routes to chart towards Child-centered pedagogy

Children are unique, they learn by their own culture and ways of learning. Route to chart towards child centered pedagogy start by knowing who childern are?, how they learn?, how to serve and facilitate children learning?, how to reflect on what have been learned by a students? There re so many points to chart towards children centered pedagogy. Let’s start from who children are? In this, we have to know who are the children that we teach. Where they come from, who is their parents, how old they are, etc. By knowing some information about the child we know how to start with or how to close with them. Bruner (1996) proposes a hierarchy of children’s learning modes: enactive (which means relying on physical activities), iconic (which represents residual mental images resulting from the contacts with material entities), and symbolic (which comes later by way of symbolic means such as language). Including the following statement: children learn from direct experiences; children learn from physical activities; children’s thinking context of situation. Students are easy to learn English, how? By doing something intresting to them they can learn it easily. For example, we put some picture in the wall such as so many color on it, then we ask them to touch it by ask them what is your room color? Or what is you favourite color of your cloth? Then ask them to act by move forward.

When we teach EFL in class try to serve that children, as I said it before. Do not judge them eventhough they asked something not related to the material that we teach. How do we serve them and facilitate them? To facilitate them we have to prepare it before we start to teach them. We prepare the thing that we have to teach them, anything that related to the material that we want to teach them. How do we reflect what they have been learnt? For example, In the end of the class, a sk them to bring something that he/she really intrested. Such as: a doll, robot, or anything. Then what they have learn that they we give them some appreciate that what they have learn.

Teacher’s Responsibilities to Ensure Learning

First of all, it should be made clear here that effective teachers of English are those who can fluently use English for functional communicative purposes, including for instructional purposes. With their good command of English and skills in using the language for communication, the teachers can serve as a role model to the learners they teach. To reiterate important points mentioned previously, what follows are seven suggestions to “save” the decision already made by the district goverments so that the teaching of English to young learners can function as expected. These are some activities that teacher should do in teaching young learner:

1.    English used all the time to exposure their language in English

To provide exposure to the language of English, it is better to teach children often in english then rare. Its means that when we often teach them English by using a simple questioning its easier to them to practice it than teach them rare or only one meeting teaching. English teaching is practicing all the time using repetition and often. We are as a models to them we act a lot of english they will try to find what we do then the children try to do so. When we often to use it during the learning time they try to carried out what we have done. By using this, children observe their teacher an try to participate with us by using an English as purposes.

2.    Print-rich environment in English.

during the calassroom activities try to create a good athmosphere around the classroom. Create a learning environment rich in classroom activities. Provide the room with a lot of functional of reading and writing materials in English such as picture, posters that was written in English, comics picture, magazines pictures of advertisement, dictionaries and encyclopedias so that functionality of English is visible to the children in the classroom.

3.    Use activity-based teaching-learning techniques such as total physical response (TPR), games, and projects

There are so many techniques in teaching English, one of that are such as using TPR, games, and projects. By using any kinds of a teaching learning to the young learner it make them not frustrated when they learn it. We use TPR (Total Physical Responses), ask them to practice it. We say one word then they act like that. Such as, we say chicken then they act or sound like a student. It is effectively than we talk and give explaination to them all the time.

4.    Use various techniques for short periods of time

To maintain the interest level of the children in engaging the English lessons we have to use various teaching techniques for short periods of time. Why? It is to avoid boredom on the part of learners. At the same time, keep focus on the teaching items from one instructional move to another so that children’s learning is ensured.

5.    Focus on functional English for vocabulary development, and immediate communicative needs of the learners

Teaching English to young learner is not as easy as we think. Because, when we start to teach them they have to know about the vocabulary so try to teach them with as easy word and they can use it all the time. Eventhough in their daily activity, give some responses with what they have learn to emerge their intresting with English. They can developed it by themself in their daily life activity, but it also carry on by their parents.

6.    Reiterate often to ensure the acquisition of English

Repetition of English is useful to enrich their vocabulary items and expressions. The more frequently we repeat that words and expressions in the communication, the easier they would find them to acquire. Do this activity consistently and we will learn how fast our students take the language and use it in daily life and writing.

7.    Provide useful, acquisition-promoting routines

Every activities in teaching English to the young learner should be enrich. For example, before we start to teach them, in the beginning of the class try ask them to pray together in English. Some simple sentence of English to pray together. Some joke or funny thing before start the lesson. Act like this all the time before start the lesson but do not use the same joke or the same funny thing improve every meeting. That why teaching is not easy. We have to prepare it as well as possible to make the students not bored.