Identity Study

To see how a child perceives him or herself is a glimpse into his or her observational mind.  In a self-portrait, we see what children value about their physical selves and their general self-perceptions.

Over time, as we compare the differences in their portraits, we can see the cognitive and fine-motor development of the child.  By noticing similarities in the pictures, we see the aesthetic of the child's work - although the pictures become much more detailed and complex as the child develops, we are able to see the progression of the child's artistic style.

 - Lois Malaguzzi

We wanted to start the year by having the children get to know themselves.  To really stop and take a look at themselves.  And then to begin to notice similarities and differences between them and their peers.  We believed that if they truly began to look at themselves physically, they may begin to look at themselves in terms of their interests, their strengths and their weaknesses.  We wanted to lay a foundation for a year long Identity Study.

We set out mirrors around the room, some big, some small, and left paper, pencils and pencil crayons beside them.  We didn't give any instructions of what to draw.  Some students drew pictures of lowers or cars, but many of them drew pictures of themselves.  This big mirror and the free standing one below drew a lot of attention.  Without even realizing it students were watching themselves in the mirror, making faces, smiling at themselves, etc.  It was a lot of fun just to stand back and watch.

It also made me a little sad to see how some students did not like to look at themselves in the mirror.  They avoided these centers, or if they were there it was a quick glance with no smile.  This made my wonder...why is that?  Do they not like their own reflection?  Maybe they don't have access to a mirror at home at their height and so it is a whole new experience and therefore a little uncomfortable?  Does it mean nothing and would be considered "normal" behaviour?  I have no idea, but I hoped our Identity study this year would lead them to a place where they got to know themselves and truly like who they were.

The awareness of being and the means of expressing ones "me-ness"...the face discovers its own image..."  - Lois Malaguzzi

In about October/November, of last year, a colleague and I had the pleasure of going to visit the Hawkins Exhibit and attend a workshop on "messing about".  The host school let us tour their classrooms and we came across this idea that tied so perfectly into our Identity study.  We printed an 8x10 headshot photo of each student and then placed an overhead transparency on top.  We had the children trace themselves with a sharpie marker.  Intially I had planned on calling 3 or 4 students at a time and sitting with them in small group to do this.  I had envisioned me do more trouble shooting and encouraging, but after the first group I quickly realized the rich learning opportunity this was.  The kids were engrossed with the details of their face.   It was like they were discovering things about themselves for the first time.  They had so many questions and comments:  "Why do I have hair in my nose?"  "Why do I have so much hair in my eyebrows?"  "My hair is messy today!"   "My eyes are shaped like a moon".  I could go on.  It was wonderful to be a part of this self-discovery.  What we thought would be finished in a few days took almost a week and a half.  But it was well worth it.

Sample of the transparency drawings

Prior to doing this activity we had begun an identity board for each child.  It has a photo of them, their handprint, they wrote their name and there is a spot for a self-portrait drawing.  We had them do their first self-portrait drawing earlier in the year.  The day after they finished this detailed portrait using the transparency we asked them to do a second drawing for their board.  The increase in detail was remarkable.  

Where does an inquiry come from?

I am not sure about you, but this is a big question for me.  As I began my journey into inquiry-based and play-based learning this was a scary thing.  What do you mean you just listen to students?  What if I don't hear anything?  What if we get no "sparks"?

Today I met with a teacher who is new to inquiry-based learning.  She is fabulous!  Like many of us, she knows where she wants to be, she knows what vision she has for her class, but there is that big question - "How do we get there?"

When I arrived today the educators in the room had provided several pumpkins and gourds.  I noticed that they had intentionally placed a basket of click cubes beside the pumpkins.  I immediately was drawn here, and sat a listened to what was happening during play.  As I observed, I tried to think about what my "intentionally interruption" should be.  I am trying to hone my skills of listening and interrupting only to further learning.  This is tough for me....I like to chat :)  I also like to get in there and play, but I am learning that when I do that, I can sometimes stop or change the direction of play.  I am working on it :)

So we can see below that these little explorers were beginning to measure using the cubes (YES!!!  It is like they read their teachers' minds lol)

Hard at work lining up the cubes.  It was interesting to note who included the stem as
part of the height, and who only counted the orange pumpkin.

They spent quite a while doing this.  Although there was rich discussion and sharing of findings, I was wondering if I could push them to consolidate their thinking.  What should I say, if anything?  I decided to ask them if they had finished measuring all the pumpkins.  When they had, I asked them if they thought they would be able to line them up from tallest to shortest.  This made their eyes pop out a little bit, and sent them frantically to work lol.

I loved to watch as some of the students remeasured using the cubes, other students resorted to using their hand to compare (see pic below) and sometimes they just picked up 2 pumpkins and compared them visually.  I left them on their own for a few minutes and asked them to come and find me when they were done.

Note the 3rd and 4th pumpkin from the left.  There was good discussion about these 2.
Which was taller?  Should we include the stem as part of the pumpkin?

After this task was complete the boys went on playing with the pumpkins.  Some tried to roll them (**perhaps an inquiry into ramps and inclines???), while other began to build with the cubes, not concerned with the pumpkins any more.  I thought about ways to extend this learning and exploring about measurement.  So I asked some student who were around if they thought they could order the pumpkins by weights?  They  immediately began picking up pumpkins and using their judgement to determine which was heavy, which ones were light.  They began to sort them into 2 group: heavy pumpkins and light pumpkins.  I asked them if they knew of a tool that could help us weight them.  They didn't really give me a response so I offered the idea of a scale.  One of their teachers said they knew the other class had a scale, and so we went to borrow it.

We discovered quickly that it had to be quite heavy to register a weight.
They explored putting different combinations of pumpkins on the scale to see if it would work.

I went and grabbed a smaller scale to see if we could explore weighing the smaller items.  This was a new tool for the students, and so I let them freely explore the tool, and took the opportunity to discuss how to use it safely and gently.  I think they may continue to explore these scales and the concepts of weight :)

It was so wonderful to be back in the classroom laying on my belly taking notes and tons of pictures!  I love my job :)  As Early Educators we really do have the best job in the world!!

Chat again soon,

Carly