Learning
Domains October
28, 1999
For educators, the way in which a child develops is crucial to the
understanding of how we teach. In
understanding how each child is unique in their cognitive (thinking), affective
(social) and physical maturity, we can then focus on the best learning program
for them. It also helps us to
facilitate the best environment or level of activity. Designing specific programs for each child according to their
level of development can become extremely daunting. This is especially the case when teaching physical education
(PE). The developmental levels influence all aspects of PE teaching including
adjustments in curriculum, exercises, task progressions and games. It is, therefore, of great advantage and
benefit to know the different developmental stages of elementary children.
With support from observations, course-selected literature, and the PE
Integrated Resource Package (I.R.P.), the three learning domains will be
explained. I will focus on Steve, a student
in grade two, and discuss his level of development (physical, social, and
cognitive) as well as how he faired in relation to his peers.
At the grade one and two level, there are three learning domain
characteristics that can help to identify certain developmental stages. These three learning domains are physical,
social and cognitive domains (Wall & Murray, 1994). Physically, a six or seven year old is
growing quickly while mastering the basic gross motor skills like walking, running,
and hopping. They are also improving
their ability to track objects as they move and may lack balance and control
over simple objects (balls, bean bags, hula-hoops). They also require activities that allow for the release of
sudden energy bursts.
Socially, the child needs constant encouragement and cues on how to act
in social settings. Opportunities for
classmates to work together in pairs will help them work and participate
together. Personal responsibility also
grows where the child understands how to co-operate in group settings, to
follow clear instructions and to share the space around them safely.
Cognitively, the attention span is still relatively short which requires
short, clear instructions from the teacher.
The teacher should also plan a varied number of activities for each
lesson. The child starts to recognize
people with different abilities while being creative and imaginative
themselves.
When approaching lessons, activities and games, it is vital to keep in
mind the level a child is at so you can ensure he has the prerequisite skills
to succeed while maintaining a positive challenge. I was extremely interested to see the three learning domains
clearly related to Steve. The following
are some highlights that demonstrated some of his abilities as it applies to
the domains. Please refer to Appendix A
and B for the running record observations from Observations #1 and #2.
Steve is an active, young boy in Grade 2. He is one of the taller, slender boys when compared to others in
his class. Steve demonstrated four
things that indicated a good sense of physical control. First, he had a keen sense of personal and
general space and was generally aware of others around him. At times he moved awkwardly around the gym
while playing SUBMARINE. He would run
forward while looking backward. Sharp
and sudden shifts in movement (or sudden bursts of energy) might have been the
cause of a “crash” with other boy that took them both to the floor. This may also
be linked to level of cognitive development because he was unsure as to the
areas of the ship after running in the wrong direction.
Second, he had good use of his whole body. He would cup his hands, his arms or bend his knees to catch the
ball. He ran very quickly, dashing from
side to side finding places to throw the ball in the air. He used the balls of his feet to dodge
around other classmates, stopping almost every time he was requested to. During the second observation I noted two
improvements: (1) he still made these sharp movements, but they were more
controlled, and (2) he was more aware of his classmates moving around him.
Third, there was little control over the sending away of objects. Steve showed little control over the ball
when attempting the following task, “Toss the ball up in the air and
catch. Move around the space”. He tossed the ball very high above his head
(he did this often!). He caught the
ball consistently when he stood in one place, but instantly lost control when he
began to move and toss the ball above his head simultaneously. Fourth, Steve was creative and willing to
participate in the simple games but was coached to initiate ideas and rules.
I had a positive experience interacting with Steve as we invented a game with the hula- hoops, bean bags and a bowling pin. We both played with enthusiasm, throwing the ball in the air, bouncing and catching the ball, making up new ideas and rules as we played. Steve also waited his turn to get equipment and put things back when it was clean-up time. Steve, unfortunately, was not too co-operative when he was paired up with a female classmate and did not follow the instructions that would have made it easier for his partner (see Appendix A for details of interaction). Instead, she struggled and retrieved the ball that was thrown out of control. Steve was unaware that she was having difficulties, demonstrating an egocentric attitude common at this age (Wall & Murray, 1994). Steve also showed an independent and/or anti-social nature. He would search out space in which he chose to occupy.
I noticed that during each application game, Steve would not be
satisfied with our invention and would be more interested in watching others
play their game. He adapted our game to
include concepts that he saw around him.
With these visual inputs, he was creative and confident to adapt the
game that best suited his level of development. During the tasks and application game, Steve would always
try something “bigger and better” than
his other classmates. He would toss and
bounce the ball higher, at often kick the ball to bounce of the wall. In doing this, he was using his imagination
to change the task, challenging himself to use other parts of his body, but
lost control and accuracy in the end.
He much preferred to manipulate the ball with his feet than with his
hands and arms.
On reflection of Steve’s development after two observations, I would
assess him with moderate ability in relation to the three learning
domains. He demonstrated a firm
understanding of tasks at the cognitive level but had not yet mastered the control
of gross motor skills, had difficulty with spatial awareness, balance and
object control. He worked creatively on
his own, but did not interact comfortably with his peers.
There is such a wide range of development span at each age group because
every child develops at different rates.
In this particular grade two class, I observed some children who
displayed either accelerated or decelerated physical, social and cognitive
skills. It is important to remember
that children’s development can span several age groups depending, for
instance, on their maturity, nutrition and parental involvement in physical
activities outside of school. Examples
of students in Steve’s class will illustrate how much variance there can be
even within one grade level.
There was one female in particular that had
very good gross motor and balance control.
When Hee-Won tossed the bean bag into the air, she jumped off the
ground, extended her arms fully and caught the bag with a wide base and knees
bent. She readily understood and
accepted praise and encouragement from the adults and her peers. She also challenged herself to count the
number of throws she could catch in a row.
These are all characteristics that show a higher or accelerated level of
learning that would be seen in an older child, possibly eight or nine years of
age.
In direct contrast, Grant had difficulty maintaining any of the tasks
and was under constant learning aide supervision. Due to a physical difficulty, he was limited to simplified tasks
of tossing and retrieving. He was
unable to catch the ball when it was tossed at him directly. He was very active (high energy levels) and
paid little attention to the task at hand (egocentric behaviour). He was also unaware of other’s around him
and focused on one task at a time. This
was an example of a child whose skills were at a four or five year level.
For Steve, he was still learning how to use his whole body, working to strengthen his gross and fine motor skills, to achieve the greatest height and control over the ball or the bean bag. He was well in the range for a seven year old and demonstrated skills that are typical for that age.
Some recommendations that I would consider to encourage Steve’s
development are two-fold. Steve had a
lot of enthusiasm and made every effort to participate in the activities. Extra practice at spatial awareness would
help to instill that there is general space around him. For example, Steve could practice using his
peripheral vision to notice the space differences. With continued opportunities to participate in activities that
deal with space (run around “home”, SUBMARINE, tag in hula-hoops), Steve would
learn quickly to move efficiently around his classmates.
Another area for improvement would be to practice concentration and
keeping on task. There were several
occasions where Steve would become frustrated with the task because he was not
following the directions. He adapted
the task to make it easier but in the end this made it more difficult to
complete the activity properly. This
could change as he develops better listening skills, attention to task and
detailed observation of others. More
experience with manipulative skills (catching, tossing, striking), exposure to
activities and working with peers in pairs will strengthen the social and
cognitive areas.
This opportunity to observe a class of young elementary school children
has really cemented the key concepts in learning domain characteristics. Knowing how the physical, social and
cognitive skills influence the learning process helps a teacher to adapt
activities that will best suit the individual.
Wall,
J. & Murray, N. (1994). Children and Movement. Dunuque, IA: Wm. C.
Brow Publishers, pgs. 28-31.
Activity Observations
(physical, cognitive, social)
Introduction SUBMARINE runs
quickly, right on balls of feet, tripped-collided, fell, look around as you run
Task 1 FIND
A SPACE chose far corner as home,
standing in hoop, then moved to a new place, didn’t touch too many people,
stands still for awhile, dodges people fast, used balls of feet to move around
people, good stop, not running when told to find an open space, watches
everyone else find a spot.
Task 2 THROW
AND CATCH BALL sitting quietly
for instruction, chose small ball, bounced very high, loses control of ball,
hits adult on the stage in gym, with the uncontrolled ball, holds onto ball
during instructions, anticipates STOP!, bounces ball, bends knees, catches ball underneath, changes ball to a larger
one.
Task 3 BOUNCE
AGAINST WALL takes a while to find an empty space on the wall, uses
one hand to toss the ball, good hand follow through, good stopping, throws ball
high on the wall, little control, moves around gym, where ever the ball goes,
he follows, used foot to kick the ball very high, bounces ball toward group,
little control, Foot to kick, hit another classmate, smiled at the challenge to
count the number of times he could catch the ball in a row, busy bouncing the
ball through the instruction.
Task 4 WITH
A PARTNER found partner, unhappy face
(partnered with a female classmate), stood far apart, threw the ball very high,
S throws high, E throws moderately, E follows directions and bounces the ball
so that S can catch it, S is not bouncing, throws right at E, uncontrolled, E not
able to catch the ball, S uses his foot to kick the ball at E, E runs to
retrieve the ball.
Task 5 APPLICATION
GAME chose 3 hoops and medium
ball. Lay 3 hoops on floor, touching sides. S and M stood in a hoop, tossed and
bounced the ball through the third hoop on the floor in the middle of us. Bounce ball in the center hoop. Partner catches. Spread out hoops for more of a challenge. Changed the game strategy when he saw
something another classmate was doing with their hoops.
Appendix B Observation
#2 (outdoors, court)
Activity Observations
(physical, cognitive, social)
Introduction SUBMARINE good at stopping, freezing, run in
wrong directions of the ship, looking around to avoid others as he ran,
controlled balance when stopped on balls of feet
Task 1 FINDING
SPACE run to open areas, located
Home easily
Task 2 TAG
GAME ran around first,
didn’t get tagged, good distance between him and classmates in hoops, tagged
several mates while in hoop
Task 3 CATCH
BEAN BAG b.b.) throwing b.b. up high
in air, better control in catch,
catches b.b. almost every time, catches with a wide base, throws straight up,
tracks the b.b. well, loses control when moving along
Task 4 HIT
B.B. WITH BALL throws ball
above head, misses b.b., overthrows, very strong bounces, runs after ball when
it bounces off b.b.
Task 5 WORKING
WITH PARTNERS did not observe
S. Working with 2 other students. These two girls tosses lightly and bouncing
the ball to hit b.b., one partner would bounce every time, the other had to be
reminded to bounce, demonstrated how to bounce the ball in efforts to hit the
b.b. in the middle, using the largest ball, far apart from each other, took
more strength to pass it to each other, moved closer, had to adjust the force
of the toss, more consistent with hitting the b.b.
Task 6 APPLICATION
GAME Working with S, provide a
choice of ball, went and switched to a smaller ball, choice of bowling pin or
paper, chose bowling pin, started game, changed when he observed another
classmate with another strategy, moved around to catch ball, hit the bowling
pin more consistently than I did, showed how to strike the ball with open palm,
success!