Schema and Forest School

Today I take a look at Schema and Forest School

I’m super excited to be letting you into the deeper psychological world of Forest School. This is what I love geeking out about and is the bread and butter of my role.

For me, theories of learning are tools that can be used to identify how your child is learning and effective ways forward in their learning journeys.

The Wonderland Of Child Development Theory

Now as you may or may not know I am a big believer in that all children are unique, different and competent whilst their needs should be met where they are at and this I suppose is the complex skill of the Forest School leader role.

However, every child will pass through the hallmark stages of every popular Forest School and child development theory stages in their own time.

You may recognise some of what I will be speaking about and be able to link a name or theory to it from now on.

Over the next few weeks I am going to attempt to explain some of the theories of learning and development which are relevant to, unsurprisingly Forest School, but can be also applied more widely. These are almost engrained in the DNA of the movement.

The Pioneering Father Of Child Developmental Psychology

I’m going to start with one of the most influential child development theorists of their time, who was a pioneering father, if you will, of developmental psychology and still widely quoted, learnt about and discussed in universities across the world. Jean Piaget.

Piaget was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development in children. His contributions include a staged theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational studies of cognition, simply how children think logically, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment. Simply how old your child is and their life experiences have an impact on their thought processes ability to think through problems.

Piaget’s Findings

Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children, like yours, think in strikingly different ways compared to adults.

According to Piaget, your child is born with a very basic mental structure on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.

The goal of the theory is to explain the how by which your baby then child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using reasoning and logic.

There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget’s Cognitive Theory:

• Schema
• Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (known as equilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation).
• And Stages of Cognitive Development;

Schematic Learning

An area of particular interest within this theory for Forest School leaders is based around what Piaget termed a ‘schema’. He defined the schema as the basic building block of intelligent behaviour — a way of organizing knowledge

A Schema, more specifically, is the patterns of behaviour, thinking and action used by your child to help them connect between what they are interested in and what they are doing almost always through play .

Schemas are essentially building blocks of knowledge.

Why are they so important?

The repetitive actions of schematic play allow children to construct meaning in what they are doing. Your child learns best through opportunities to engage in active learning through hands on experiences.

These opportunities allow them to problem solve, question, predict, imagine, speculate and develop independent choices as they make decisions in an area they are familiar with.

It is important to understand that children use play to develop a methodical, systematic and logical collection of information through their senses and movements as they interact with people, places and objects.

So, how does this apply in a Forest School setting?

One of the core principles of Forest School is the use of a child centred approach to learning.

Simply children decide what and how they learn, usually through play.

Play is at the heart of all sessions in Forest School due to its infinite learning opportunities and all from the imagination and creativity of a child.

It is in the best interest of a Forest School Leader to understand and appreciate this theory as it will be a large part of the behaviour patterns exhibited by young children.

The Leader will be in a better position in which to provide play opportunities for your child which tap in to these interests and lead to deeper, more fulfilled learning experiences.

The Last Schematic Word

There are many type of Schema, your child may exhibit through their childhood as they draw meaning from their investigation.

It must be said that these schema are not fixed by consistently being added to, overhauled and used to inform new knowledge.

By allowing young children to explore these schemas in a natural and uninterrupted way we help them to start develop building blocks of knowledge.

Without the early building blocks of schemas to be developed through free play children will find it harder to move through later stages of cognitive development and, as older children and adults, find it more difficult to develop new and interesting ideas. Allowing time and space for schemas in the early years helps children develop as learners who can think for themselves.

Schematic play allows children to take risks, make mistakes and learn for themselves and that’s an element of what Forest School is all about.

You’re Just One Session Away.