Sharing Good Practice
Equip young learners
to become problem solvers
By Jenny Murray
T
he development of problemsolving skills is valued across
curricula and equipping our
young learners with the ability
to assess and respond to challenging
situations is central to good teaching.
While
complex
problem-solving
is often associated with teaching
older students, the foundations for
developing these essential life skills are
undoubtedly laid in the younger years.
So, how can we promote problemsolving skills in young learners? Here
are 5 ideas you could use in your
classroom!
Be ‘stuck’ and talk about it!
Modelling is key to engaging and
supporting young students as they
learn and problem solving is no
exception. By showing our students
that adults face situations when we
draw on our problem solving skills, we
embed an understanding of real-life
learning. Young learners should know,
through our behaviours as educators,
that being ‘stuck’ is not something
to be feared, that making mistakes
can be valuable and that there are
many different approaches to solving
any given problem. Openness and
honesty are key to developing a
classroom environment where children
feel it is O.K. to take risks and ‘have a
go’ at solving problems.
Develop a language of
strategies
Develop a shared bank of vocabulary
to use when problem solving. This
can support young learners and
improve both their resilience and their
communication skills. Question sticks,
displaying visual prompts, introducing
puppets who represent strategies
and acronyms for steps involved in
approaching a problem are all great
tools to support young learners as
they develop their skills.
Add an element of surprise
Role-play areas in Early Years
classrooms are a great way to promote
independent thinking and encourage
children to respond to challenges.
18 | Sep - Oct 2015 |
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Problem-solving
skills
can
be
developed in a familiar learning context
and through dialogue. Children can
be guided in using strategies to solve
problems. I have seen great examples
of problem solving challenges based
on familiar stories. Use characters and
contexts for problem solving as a way
that immerse children in practicing
their skills. A class mascot who delivers
a ‘Can you help?’ challenge to the
class on a regular basis can prove to
be an exciting opportunity to promote
problem solving skills in a class setting,
while differentiated problems can be
assigned to smaller groups.
Use ‘real life’ situations
While many children enjoy immersion
in role-play to develop problem solving
skills, others engage best when there
is a ‘real-life’ purpose as a context.
Engage the school community
in developing problem solving
opportunities. This can help children
understand the relevance of their skills
to the world outside their classrooms.
Whether
problem
solving
and
reasoning challenges are built around
a request for help to share out new
Class Time
playground equipment from the
school Principal or a homework
challenge about budgeting to be
acted out in the supermarket, many
children will respond well to knowing
their skills are relevant to the wider
world.
Make metacognition matter
While you’re unlikely to share the
term ‘metacognition’ with your young
learners, ‘thinking about thinking’ and
‘learning about learning’ are key when
promoting problem-solving skills. In
a busy classroom schedule, it can be
challenging to find enough time to
encourage reflection on learning and
processes involved in problem solving.
Asking children to hypothesise before
approaching a problem and recording
their ideas helps to value them.
Additionally, offer a range of materials
to support problem solving and cater
to different learning styles. Reflect on
what went right and what could have
been done differently. This helps to
ensure that young learners develop
awareness of their own strengths and
preferred approaches to problem
solving.