Some extracts from my chapter “Art and nature as tools for rediscovering the innate capacity to learn in initial education” in an upcoming book. Explaining how The Little Helpers series is designed to promote problem-solving skills and holistic learning, I hope these may be of use to teachers and parents reading the books with children. 💚
Developing the ability to solve problems
The Little Helpers series is very effective in naturally activating children’s inherent mechanism for learning. The stories, owing to the subjects that they deal with, provide young readers with challenges that they may not have the tools to overcome, whether through lack of knowledge, or owing to their age and thus a lack of experience. When students are initially confronted by the problems dealt with in the stories, few will be aware of all of the related solutions which already exist in the real world. For this reason, when they discover the creative solutions adopted by the animal characters, they are able to activate their innate ability to learn, by inventing other innovative solutions for the same problems. In part through social learning (Bandura, 1987), which is also referred to as observational learning, upon seeing the behaviour of the animal characters, children assimilate the creative skills of these invented characters. This enables children to replicate, to a certain extent, the type of creativity shown by the characters in the stories; that is, a creativity that contributes to constructing the new world in which they would like to live. Ultimately, it is with this purpose that the innate ability to learn exists in every human being – to develop the capacity to solve problems in their immediate environment, thereby improving this same environment. Centuries ago, it was simply a question of searching for and hunting down food for the family and being able to raise younger members so that they in turn could follow the same pattern. Over time, and with the evolution of our planet, the problems have become more complicated, but the principle remains the same.
Holistic learning
Owing to their design, in part, and also owing to good fortune, the books in the series are also an effective tool for holistic learning (Mujica-Sequera, online). Each one enables teachers to exploit it for its environmental, social, linguistic and artistic content, and also to help learn maths (through elements in the illustrations), geography (the regions of the world where the stories take place), natural sciences (wildlife and natural habitats) and any other subject that may seem appropriate. According to Theodotu (2017: 489) interdisciplinarity is important in education as it tries to unite divided school-based learning to support students in effectively building up their knowledge. In fact, the books in The Little Helpers series can even form part of a programme such as “Play and Learn through the Arts”, which is mentioned by Theodotu.
References
Bandura, A. (1987) Teoría del aprendizaje social. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe
Mujica-Sequera, R. Características Del Aprendizaje Holístico | DOCENTES 2.0 – Docentes 2.0 (docentes20.com)
Last accessed 7 January 2023 https://blog.docentes20.com/2022/07/%E2%9C%8Dcaracteristicas-del-aprendizaje-holistico-docentes-2-0/https://blog.docentes20.com/2022/07/%E2%9C%8Dcaracteristicas-del-aprendizaje-holistico-docentes-2-0/
Theodotou E. (Jan 2019 – print) (16 May 2017 – online)
Examining Literacy Development Holistically using the Play and Learn through the Arts (PLA) Programme: A Case Study For: Early Child Development and Care Journal 189 (3), pp. 488-499.(Last accessed 22 December 2022) https://repository.uel.ac.uk/download/500c20fa8f9ab9533a8bf4316ee111d1573565c37d2a716e7a743c5c8350ba90/280129/Theododotu%20ECDC%20-%20Case%20study.pdf
(2015). Can we play again with Picasso Miss? The effects of the arts in children’s involvement during literacy activities in the Early Years Settings: A case study in the Greek context. Istanbul: EBSCO