Maths in Daily Plans: Is it Possible to Conduct in Outdoors for Preschool Teachers?
Dr. Mehmet Mart, Lecturer at Necmettin Erbakan University & Post-Doctoral Researcher at University of Plymouth
The plans for teachers are important to follow the curriculum and to have effective delivery of curriculum to children. In this case, it is important to have a critical approach to teachers’ daily plans are used formally to show their practice as well as learn about their perspectives. The general practices are parallel to curriculum, but the outdoor is always given less importance although enabling natural aspects into teaching can increase children's awareness, persistence, attention and joy in the learning process (Kuo et al., 2019; Zippert et al., 2020) as well as providing a better learning outcome for mathematical knowledge (Noviyanti & Suryadi, 2019). As the results show, in the light of daily plan analysis, the participating teachers are unlikely to utilize children’s interests and the opportunities around themselves. The used plans have less emphasis on such topics and concern to individuals’ needs. Even though the teachers have a controversial approach to the needs of children and maths outdoors, it is unlikely to address the expected outcomes of the programme.
As I am focusing on outdoor activities in early years in my research, and I have an interest in maths teaching, considering maths in outdoor activities is an important subject to move forward. Therefore, having a descriptive and analytic approach to plans of teachers were important. Also, the informal and formal conversations with teachers about their plans are always using commercially prepared plans. This causes overlooking to children’s needs and individual differences as there are lots of variables in education and in particular working with young children. In Turkey, early childhood teachers mostly used commercially prepared plans for their plan of the day, so this led me to consider about investigating daily plans and teachers’ perspectives to analyse maths activities in terms of conducting outdoors.
I am looking forward to sharing information about the context in depth at BECERA 2022, so you will have a chance to get a different perspective to practice in Turkey.
Mehmet Mart is a lecturer in Preschool Teachers Training Department at Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey, and post-doctoral researcher at University of Plymouth, UK. His research area is mostly around outdoor activities and maths in early years. Currently, he is conducting a project about maths attainment in outdoor activities as a post-doctoral research in Plymouth.
Twitter: drmehmetmart
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mehmet-Mart-5
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehmetm/
References:
Kuo, M., Barnes, M., & Jordan, C. (2019). Do Experiences With Nature Promote Learning? Converging Evidence of a Cause-and-Effect Relationship. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(305), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00305
Noviyanti, M., & Suryadi, D. (2019). Basic Mathematics Knowledge of Early Childhood Teachers. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 1, 19–27.
Zippert, E. L., Douglas, A.-A., Smith, M. R., & Rittle-Johnson, B. (2020). Preschoolers’ broad mathematics experiences with parents during play. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 192, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JECP.2019.104757