Preschool education aims to ensure the self-realization and development of children, as well as the development of initiatives and research activities of the child. One of the best means of developing the above qualities is the technology of research activity, which we will discuss in detail in this article.
Why are children so curious?
The child is constantly looking for new objects and impressions for himself because he is motivated by a craving for tentative research activity, which is aimed at studying the environment. The more diverse and intense the search activity of the child, the more information he will have, and, accordingly, will have a higher level of development.
Information is best assimilated by the child when he explores the world around himself of sounds, objects and smells. For the child, the whole world around us is new and interesting; he looks at him with a straightforward look. Is it possible to know the world better than through personal feelings and experience? Research technology studies the methods and causes of the child's cognitive activity.
The reasons for the disappearance of a comprehensive curiosity in a child
What is the reason that the once cheerful and curious child suddenly lost all interest in life?
Parents, of course, with good intentions, often tell their children not to look around, not to stumble, not to touch leaves, ground and snow, not to run through puddles.
Due to such actions of unwise adults, the child sooner or later disappears interest in why the grass is green, the rainbow appears after the rain, and gasoline leaves bizarre colored stains on puddles.
The technology of research activity teaches teachers to correctly answer questions and at the same time protect the child from many troubles, because the task of adults is not to hinder, but to contribute to the diverse development of children.
Definition of research activities and related concepts
Technology of research activity is a section of intellectual and creative activity, the basis of which is search activity and research behavior. It is also an active activity of the child, which is aimed at comprehending the cause-effect relationships between the surrounding phenomena, as well as their ordering and systematization.
A few basics of research:
- Search activity - behavior, the purpose of which is to change the situation or attitude to it, if there is no definite forecast of situational results. At the same time, situational efficiency and effectiveness are constantly monitored.
- Exploratory behavior is an activity aimed at studying and searching for new information from the environment.
- Research activity is the normal state of the child, expressed in his desire to study and learn everything. We can say that research activity is a step into the unknown for the child.
Research Activities in Ontogenesis
The theory of research activity in a preschool educational institution studies children from early childhood, and at first their activity is simple experiments with things, during which differentiation of perception occurs, and the skill to distinguish objects by color, shape, purpose is perfected. Simple gun action training takes place.
At preschool age, cognitive research activity accompanies the game, productive indicative actions, a test of the possibilities of new material.
In the older group of preschool educational institutions, cognitive activity is manifested in a child both in the form of experiments and in the form of numerous questions for an adult.
Why is self-expression so important for a child?
There are several reasons why you should not neglect the introduction of technologies for design and research activities in the DOE:
- development of the child’s mental activity, activation of his mental processes;
- qualitative development of speech;
- expanding the range of mental combinations and techniques;
- the formation and development of independence, the ability to adapt certain objects for their own purposes and to achieve a certain result;
- development of the emotional sphere of the child and his creative abilities.
Thanks to the research, the child himself is looking for answers to all his questions. This is a tremendous experience for the child, as well as the development of his ability to create, think and express himself.
The advantages of child research
In the process of studying the technology of research activities on the GEF, the teacher learns to develop cognitive activity and curiosity, memory, and activate his mental processes in the child, because one cannot ignore the constantly arising need to perform operations on the analysis and synthesis of information, as well as generalization, classification and comparison of the latter. The development of speech is stimulated by the need to draw conclusions and formulate certain laws. The child accumulates numerous mental skills and abilities, develops creative abilities. Children learn to measure, count, compare. The emotional sphere of the child also develops.
Primary school research
In our time, it is very important to create suitable conditions for improving the educational process at school. The knowledge with which a student goes beyond the walls of a secondary educational institution should be applicable in practice and contribute to its successful socialization. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to abandon the classical teaching methods, which are aimed at the formation of knowledge, skills, and move on to the methods of personality-oriented development.
Priority should be given to techniques with elements of creativity. Among them, special attention is paid to such a teaching method as the technology for organizing research activities. It solves the problems of introducing personality-oriented development techniques into modern educational institutions. A child in primary school learns to analyze, study, synthesize and evaluate the information received in order to put it into practice.
The benefits of research teaching
In order to raise the learning process to a qualitatively new level, it is necessary to introduce the technology of research into the system of extracurricular and classroom instruction, the purpose of which is to develop the student’s creative and analytical abilities taking into account individual characteristics.
With the help of direct participation in research activities, students begin to realize their belonging and importance in big science, get acquainted with the ways of creative and scientific work, develop an interest in knowledge, learn to communicate with peers, take part in all kinds of research experiments.
The history of the research method
The technology of educational research activity in educational practice was in demand even in ancient times. Since humanity had a need for training, people have been thinking how to optimize and improve this process.
Socrates was the first scientist in the history of mankind to introduce research methods into teaching. Much later, Friedrich Adolf Disterweg, a well-known German scientist, recognized that the methods of Socrates are the crown of teaching art. The main idea of Socrates is that a bad teacher presents the truth, and a good one teaches you to find it yourself.
The technology for the development of research activity was reflected in the writings of representatives of educational activities of the eighteenth century. These include such scientists as Feofan Prokopovich, Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, Ivan Tikhonovich Pososhkov. At the end of the nineteenth century, such scientists as Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky and Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy made an invaluable contribution to the study of children's research activities.
Directions and tasks of research activities on GEF
The main tasks in the technology of research activities in the DOW on GEF include:
- identification of the interests of the student and its inclusion in research activities;
- teaching students in accordance with modern scientific literature and the development of information retrieval skills;
- the study of science under the guidance of experienced scientific leaders;
- providing a review of the work of students participating in scientific conferences;
- conducting various contests and olympiads.
The main tasks of the teacher when working with research methods are:
- satisfaction of the student’s research craving by the teacher;
- Awakening a student's interest in search activities;
- the use of tools that activate the process of learning and cognition;
- help the child find his own individual learning strategy;
- to convey to the child the idea that awareness is the fruit of cognitive need;
- bringing the student to a stable result;
- Stimulating the student by creating suitable and comfortable conditions for learning.
Research Productivity
The child will show remarkable interest in research if he feels his importance in this process. In order for the first successes to appear in the student, the teacher must know a few simple rules.
There are several principles that a teacher must follow in order for a student to wake up interest in research:
- accessibility principle;
- principle of leveling;
- principle of temporary development.
The principle of accessibility means the selection of individual tasks and teaching methods for the student, taking into account age and time characteristics.
The principle of leveling means participation and ensuring accessibility in research at all levels of preschool and school education: the school administration, the collective of teachers, parents and the preschool children and schoolchildren themselves. At the same time, each level takes into account the individual characteristics of the student, his talents, abilities and desires, as well as the convenience of time and employment. For example, research activities in technology lessons at school are different for girls and for boys.
The principle of temporary development takes into account the characteristics of each period of time and sets tasks based on temporal features and frameworks. The principle of temporary development presents a certain difficulty for students, since it requires remarkable persistence and skills to achieve the goal, as well as a certain level of hard work.
Principles of personality-oriented education
Of course, the modern approach to the realization of students' potentials should be based on a system of personality-oriented education. Thanks to this system, the child develops as a person and at the same time receives the knowledge necessary in the future.
Thanks to the introduction of the theory of research into the educational process, the child learns to value finding and solving problems and problems independently. Person-oriented interaction is impossible without a constructive dialogue between teacher and student. In this interaction, it is very important that the teacher does not just impose his point of view, leading the student along the beaten path, but helps to draw his own conclusions and independently solve the problems that arise.
Research Learning Outcomes
The results of research training can be evaluated according to two criteria: the result corresponds to pedagogical criteria and requirements and the direct development of the personality in the process of this activity.
It can be concluded that the use of technology of research activities in preschool and school helps the child to develop as a person, prepares him for possible difficulties in the modern world, helps the process of successful socialization, as well as realize his creative inclinations and abilities, become useful to the world around him and people around him.