The Importance Of Multi-Modal Learning Environment In Nursery School

What is multi-modal learning and why is it important for children’s learning and development?

To,

The manager,

Nursery School,

Sir,

As the nursery manager, I am sure you are aware of creating the right environment for the children at school, whether it is the indoor environment, the outdoor environment or the emotional environment. It is essential to design and plan an environment for children that can inspire and guide their imagination and behavior when they attend the school. Sometimes even very small changes can leave a significant impact on the experiences of the children and mark a higher job satisfaction for the practitioners. A multi-modal environment in a nursery school can encourage many forms of literacy in early childhood education. Before that one ends to understand the content of multimodality and highly multimodal environments.

So, what is the multi-modal environment and why is it essential for the children’s learning and development? As the early years leave a strong influence on the child’s future cognitive and social performance, there should be special efforts on the learning environment he is placed in. A well-structured learning environment can help improve his social and cognitive skills (Theodotou 2015). The activities and interactions carry an important role in children’s development. Multimodal environment and literacies are based on the use of various modes such as visual, auditory and kinaesthetic within the classroom (Thompson 2008, p.144). The students are encouraged to engage with classroom-based literacies to develop their learning. Multimodal literacy refers to interacting with multimedia and digital texts to give information and share knowledge. The mode can be listening, talking, writing or dramatizing with the help of image, words, sounds, and movements. (Walsh 2010, p. 213). So, the language and literacy practices within the nursery schools need to keep pace with the changing dimensions of knowledge dissemination. The multimodal learning environment in nursery classrooms can help support the evolving capacities of the young growing minds and motivate their learning and development. Nursery school environment must encourage a rich multimodal text culture through drawings, paintings, and photographs. Text-based activities in the kindergartens can be created by the teachers and the children (Granly & Maagerø 2012, p.384). A multimodal approach in the nursery classrooms can be a source of creativity and motivation for both teachers and students. The mode and media chosen in schools for instructions are very important.  What is to be learned and how it is to be learned are essential questions in the modal environment as asserted by Jewitt (2008, p. 33).

The role of technology and new media in early childhood education

The educational and communicational landscape in the 21st century has been changed and affected by the evolving societal and technological forces tremendously (Jewitt 2008, p. 33). The changing terrain of communication can be experienced in everyday life and has already found its way in the schools. It is against this backdrop that one must review the multi-modal literacy options in schools. The new technologies are reshaping the knowledge as well as curriculum. Today, the 3? and 4?year?old children are encountering literacy and information through a wide range of printed and digital technologies both at home and in the nursery school. These children are aware of the multiple communicative modes available in different media (Wolfe & Flewitt 2010, p. 1). It means the nursery schools should take advantage of the new technologies and add them as new dimensions into the literacy learning in the early years of a child in nursery school. Art activities like drama, art and music can help develop a multimodal environment within the nursery classroom. Moreover, these activities are favorite among the young children and provide learning as well as personal amusement (Theodotou 2015).

Play and Learning (PLA) or play-based learning is another important practice in early childhood education. When teachers facilitate or create learning opportunities through play for the children, they learn easily and naturally. The kindergartens have been established for more than 100 years’ now, and the concept of pedagogical play or use of play in early childhood education emerged during the early 1900s (Cutter-Mackenzie 2014, p. 11). Even today, play-based learning holds vital importance in early childhood education. The early play theorists, such as Rousseau and Dewey were strong advocates for play based learnings they strongly believed that “children learned best when they were allowed to observe and interact with nature and life’’ (Cutter-Mackenzie 2014, p. 11). Children love to play, and the experience gives them the opportunities to explore their immediate environment and develop physical competence as well as learn about the world around them. They learn to express and control emotions as they interact with others and develop new skills and capabilities. The philosophy and aims of PLA remain relevant even today in the different kindergartens across the world, and pedagogical education is practiced in early childhood education.  The early years of a child are the most significant for his learning and development. It is essential for the schools and teachers to create the right learning environment that can support early childhood development.

The benefits of Play and Learning (PLA) and the Reggio Emilia approach in early childhood education

Kindergarten rooms should be colourful and spacious enough for furniture and educational material. Placing colourful verbal and visual texts as non-verbal signs related to daily life information for the children can help them realize the meaning of the texts (Granly & Maagerø 2012, p.371). The use of the multimodal texts on the walls and floors can help develop a special text culture in the kindergarten. The text-based verbal language comprises paper decorations, drawings, photographs, illustrations from books and paintings (Granly & Maagerø 2012, p.375). Music in Kindergarten should be rich in multimodal experiences such as playing, creating and reflecting. An activity-oriented musical experience with children can help enrich literacy. Singing songs, using rhythms and repetition of musical notes and adding musical effects to a story can with musical instruments can help develop the child’s vocabulary of movement (Tomlinson 2013, p 7).

Reggio Emilia is a region in Italy has been funding public preschool education for children ages 3 to 6 years (Hewett 2001, p. 95). The Reggio Emilia set of schools evolved in Italy a couple of decades ago. The Reggio Emilia is seen as an innovative approach to early childhood and is the result of the cooperative efforts of parents, teachers and the community. Reggio Emilia Approach suggests a proactive role of the child in learning as a researcher. The idea behind is that children are natural researchers and all they need is the right environment to explore, observe and question to gain knowledge and education as asserted by Hewett (2001, p. 33). It is possible for the nursery schools and teachers to follow the Reggio Emilia approach within the classroom based on the needs and interests of the children to motivate the children. Reggio Emilia is looked upon as one of the leading education systems for the young growing children. Children in Reggio settings are encouraged to be ‘researchers’ and explore, employing different ways of thinking. Creative thinking develops as they come across a real-life problem and make efforts to solve them (TSC 2018) The innovative and inspiring approach is based on the innate curiosity of children and allows him to develop as a confident and resilient individual. Children in Reggio settings are encouraged to be ‘researchers’ and explore, employing different ways of thinking.

One can base the Play and Learning method on Reggio Emilia approach to developing a supportive and productive learning environment for the student based on his interests. The teacher can design activities based on the individual interests of the child so that he can pursue their own interests and explore. Teachers can observe children rather than guiding them and motivate them to explore their environment, make mistakes and learn from their mistakes. The role of the teacher is limited to creating a rich learning environment, observe them and ensure that they are safe.  For example, they can feel free to express through drawing, music, dance, painting, and sculpting. The children can choose the project they are interested in and express their creativity. Children can dance, create art or write, explore nature and learn from their experiences.

Creating a supportive and productive learning environment for students

When one looks at the different approaches and link them with multimodality, one can observe several similarities. Multimodal literacy means making use of image, words, sounds, and movements for different modes of listening, writing or dramatizing in the classroom. The multimodal learning environment can be based on play and learning method and multi-modal approaches. Each of those methods and approaches aim to facilitate learning opportunities that can help the child to learn effortlessly. The objective behind is to make the classroom experience an enjoyable and an inviting one for the child instead of forcing knowledge on him. When children are allowed to engage in play based activities based on his liking, he likes to investigate and explore in a clutter-free environment filled games and activities of his choice. He is encouraged to ask questions, and the teacher offers the answers.

To conclude on the discussion, I strongly suggest integrating PLA within the curriculum for nursery education.  As sensory play and activity stimulates a child’s senses and keeps him motivated and interested, it can be used to promote learning and development in the early years of the children. These play-based activities based on the Reggio Emilia approach is engaging for children and help to improve their concentration, coordination, and learning. As they experiment and investigate, they develop their imagination and creativity. The choices and options for integrating PLA within the nursery class activities are endless

Sincerely

Cutter-Mackenzie, A. et al. (2014) Young Children’s Play and Environmental Education in Early Childhood Education. Springer Briefs in Education, 11(1), pp. 9-24.

Granly, A. & Maagerø, E. 2012, “Multimodal texts in kindergarten rooms”, Education Inquiry, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 371-386.

Hewett, V.M (2001) Examining the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), pp. 95–100.

Jewitt, C. (2008) Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms, Review of Research in Education, 32(1), pp. 241-267.

TSC (2018) What is the Reggio Emilia philosophy? The Scots Colleg [Online] available from: https://www.tsc.nsw.edu.au/tscnews/what-is-the-reggio-emilia-philosophy [Accessed 25 Nov. 2018].

Theodotou, E. (2015) The Arts: An Interesting Approach in the Early Years Settings University of East London [Online] available from: https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/the-arts-an-interesting-approach-in-the-early-years-settings [Accessed 25 Nov. 2018].

Thompson, M (2008) Multimodal Teaching and Learning: Creating Spaces for Content Teachers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(2), pp. 144–153.

Tomlinson, M.M. (2013) Literacy and Music in Early Childhood: Multimodal Learning and Design, SAGE Open, 3(3), pp. 1-10.

Wolfe, S. & Flewitt, R. (2010) New technologies, new multimodal literacy practices and young children’s metacognitive development, Cambridge Journal of Education, 40(4), pp. 387-399.

Walsh, M. 2010, “Multimodal literacy: what does it mean for classroom practice?”, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33 (3), pp. 211-239.