The matter of the dearth of materials was an issue for six of the eight participants and summed up as follows (Jean) main challenge is obtaining materials.’ ‘the Literature is replete with the view that the use of materials in ECE is vital to the development of young pupils and hence the availability of these resources would indeed be critical. In addressing the importance of the availability of materials in constructivist classrooms, Watson (2001) asserts that physical interaction with “direct materials is often effective in enhancing thinking, especially as many do not pupils’ spontaneously use She further affirms that when young verbalisation”. (p.141). children it their sensory experience, is relaxing handle “physical materials” “extends and satisfying, and may facilitate mental (p.141). Henniger (2005, p. 290) reasoning” concurs and opines that during the early childhood years is “understanding through hands-on manipulation of It must however be emphasized materials”. that materials does not have the same impact in all situations, either across “more cultures or at home and in (Prochner, Cleghorn and Green 2008, p.196) and school” therefore the emphasis should not be only on the availability and amount of materials but rather on their effective use. It is noteworthy that the respondents stressed the availability of materials but did not emphasize that they should be effectively utilized. A solution which was employed by three of the interviewees to counteract the problem of the paucity of materials/resources was to make their own charts. This stance echoed the view of Henniger (2005) who although making specific reference to the saving of money by teachers, posited that several teachers created their own materials and this was advantageous in that the teacher-made materials were designed with specific children in mind. In agreement with this were Essa (2011) and Durmusoglu (2008). One of the respondents indicated that her solution was to ‘buy (Jean). While this is not condemned by Essa (2011) she materials where necessary’ opines that of the best early childhood materials are not purchased “some commercially but are ones that an energetic teacher or parent (p. 213). constructs” It is therefore interesting that while three of the participants specified that they requested donations of materials from parents in order to increase the limited supply in their classrooms, none of them stated that they utilized the recommendation of
The matter of the dearth of materials was an issue for six of the eight participants and summed up as follows ‘the main challenge is obtaining materials.’ (Jean) Literature is replete with the view that the use of materials in ECE is vital to the development of young pupils and hence the availability of these resources would indeed be critical. In addressing the importance of the availability of materials in constructivist classrooms, Watson (2001) asserts that “direct physical interaction with materials is often effective in enhancing pupils’ thinking, especially as many do not spontaneously use verbalisation”. (p.141). She further affirms that when young children handle “physical materials” it “extends their sensory experience, is relaxing and satisfying, and may facilitate mental reasoning” (p.141). Henniger (2005, p. 290) concurs and opines that “understanding during the early childhood years is through hands-on manipulation of materials”. It must however be emphasized that “more materials does not have the same impact in all situations, either across cultures or at home and in school” (Prochner, Cleghorn and Green 2008, p.196) and therefore the emphasis should not be only on the availability and amount of materials but rather on their effective use. It is noteworthy that the respondents stressed the availability of materials but did not emphasize that they should be effectively utilized. A solution which was employed by three of the interviewees to counteract the problem of the paucity of materials/resources was to make their own charts. This stance echoed the view of Henniger (2005) who although making specific reference to the saving of money by teachers, posited that several teachers created their own materials and this was advantageous in that the teacher-made materials were designed with specific children in mind. In agreement with this were Essa (2011) and Durmusoglu (2008). One of the respondents indicated that her solution was to ‘buy materials where necessary’ (Jean). While this is not condemned by Essa (2011) she opines that “some of the best early childhood materials are not purchased commercially but are ones that an energetic teacher or parent constructs” (p. 213). It is therefore interesting that while three of the participants specified that they requested donations of materials from parents in order to increase the limited supply in their classrooms, none of them stated that they utilized the recommendation of
FINAL%20DISSERTATION%20-%20MARCH%202017.docx