“Rethinking Old Favorite Children’s Tales”
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Rethinking Three Little Pigs - (Rethinking Early Childhood Education)
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In the beginning while reading this, I asked myself why are we looking for the hidden messages in the three little Pigs story? Just enjoy the story for what it is. When Ellen Wolpert said: “The fundamental messages of the three little pigs, is that it belittles straw homes and the lazy types who build them. On the other hand, the story extols the virtues of brick homes, suggesting that they are build serious, hardworking people and are strong enough to withstand adversity and that bricks homes tend to be built by people in western countries and often by people with more money.” Are you kidding me? I looked at this story as the big bad wolf trying to take advantage of the pigs so he can gobble them up for lunch. But in the end the pigs came together to fend off the big bad wolf.
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But after reading this, I realized that, this generation of children (students) are more curious and wiser. When Ellen Wolpert said: “Let’s not to put down such beloved tales and refuse to read them, but to use them to pose questions for children. Like in many tropical areas straws homes are build to take best advantage of cooling breezes. In some areas, straw homes are on stilts as protection from insects and animals or to withstand flooding. “I love her outlook!” This is an opportunity to educate our students in different ways by using old favorite children tales.
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Why We Banned Legos (Exploring Power, Ownership, and Equity in the Classroom)
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This reading was very interesting to me. This group of teachers decided to ban Legotown:
“After nearly two months of observing the children’s Legotown construction, we decided to ban the Legos. A group of about eight children conceived and launched Legotown. Other children were eager to join the project, but as the city grew – and space and raw material became more precious – the builders began to excluding other children. Which Legotown was seen as the turf of particular kids.” Out with the Lego – “Issues of power and inequity that had shaped Legotown would hold conflict and discomfort for us all.”
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This observation talk about what does power look like, exploring power, rules and ownership, and a new ethics for Legotown. It’s amazing how these toys (legos) can really help educate our students and our teachers (including myself). Just last night, I went to Ala Moana Shopping Center and to my surprise there’s a Lego store! I didn’t have the time to go in, but next time I will ;-D!
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Now here’s my question: “Can something like old children tales and toys like Legos bring new light to this generation of children (who is living in the technology age)?”
Hi Gary,
ReplyDeleteYour question offers us something to think about -- Can something like old children's tales and toys like Legos bring a new light to this generation of children? I counter back to you and wonder if materials in the classroom should always be used in the same manner. Does this also relate to the teaching methods utilized? Should we continue to use the same methods as children become part of new contexts as the world continues to morph and evolve?
You also bring up technology -- should technology be considered in use of materials and methods?
How can teachers consider the social, political, and technological context of their students in regard to materials and teaching practices?
Jeanne
Hi Gary,
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing with the three little pigs story...however, Jeanne's response to my pos treally made me think! She asked if thinking that children will not read in to such underlying meanings suggests that we feel thet children do not think deeply about their world. On the contrary, I agree with you when you say children are wiser! A question that came to me whilst reading your post is why have such stories and materials stood the test of time?
Let's forget the Lego topic for a while and apply the same mentality to use of "guns" in the classroom. Sixty-five percent of my classroom is made up of boys and all of them come from military families (all of which their FATHERS are in the army). So, during a typical day, these boys will pretend, construct, or talk about use of guns - to fight off the bad guys, to kill the bad animals, to shoot down the airplanes, and even to hurt someone they know. I first responded by telling the boys that guns did not belong in the classroom. But was I giving the impression that guns were OK elsewhere? My goodness, what have I done! Since the boys continued to play with guns anyway, I decided to bring up the topic in small group. I wanted to know what the children knew and felt about guns. Most of them knew that guns were something you hold with your hand(s) and can and does hurt others (animals, people, inanimate objects). So I brought up the question of is this something that we want to be playing with and I was happy to see all of them shake their heads. After, I asked them what should we do to help each other if someone saw another use a "gun". Some of their responses included: put them to jail, take away their gun, tell them to stop playing with their guns, you're going to hurt someone, that's not safe, tell their mom and dad, call the police, and tell the teacher. If you think about it, aren't these the same responses that we would normally take as adults if we did see someone using a gun? So, how do we approach these sensitive subjects with children so that they are not simply being told that guns are bad but are asked to analyze what a gun is, what a gun is for, and the repercussions of guns?
ReplyDeleteHi Gary,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your reflection. Your comment, "Just enjoy the story for what it is" made me laugh! But it is also true that children's tales tell us something important to think about. When My mother read "Three Little Pigs" to me when I was little. I wondered why the three pigs did not build one big house together? Why? They did not want to live together? I realized after moving to Hawaii, people in Japan are educated to cooperate as a member of team. On the other hand, people in Europe and America are taught to think and work independently. Isn't it interesting if everybody might have a different perspective from reading the tale?
Hi Gary,
ReplyDeleteYour question is one that the ECE community struggles with everyday. Teachers are having an increasingly difficult time competing with video games and tv. This generation of children seem to have shorter attention spans and little to no patience. Who can blame them when tv shows and games constantly flash new images and provide instant gratification.
Old tales and legos I feel have an even greater importance in the classroom than ever before. When children come into our classrooms they are given the opportunity to socialize and interact with others (something that tv and video games deprive them of). Keeping things as simple with the least amount of technology in our classrooms is the only way to counter-balance the social deprivation they experience at home.
Hey Gary,
ReplyDeleteIn your blog you mentioned that children of this generation are a lot more curious and wiser and I totally agree with you. Children are a lot smarter than we think they are, and I think they know a lot more than we give them credit for. Knowing this, I think it's really important that we look at things from different perspectives before presenting them to children. We can take the author's example from the article about "The Three Little Pigs" and look deeper into the stories that we share with children in order to educate them in different ways.
-Jaychelle