14.022 - Sensitivity to Subtleties in Children's Early Learning and Teaching

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Young children are astute learners and precocious teachers, and these abilities develop over the preschool years. As learners, they selectively learn from accurate and knowledgeable teachers. As teachers, they make decisions about whom and how to teach based on what the person they are teaching knows. A fundamental but as yet unanswered question concerns the relationship between these complementary abilities. To begin to answer this question we bring together research that shows how surprisingly sensitive preschool children are to subtle differences in the behavior of teachers and learners (e.g. how a demonstration is worded, the race of the teacher, the kinds of mistakes a learner makes), as revealed by the child’s own opinions and behaviors.

Sub Unit

• Division E - Counseling and Human Development / Division E - Section 2: Human Development

Chairs

• Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University

• Samuel Ronfard, Harvard University

Papers

• The Pedagogy of Discovery - Audrey Kittredge, University of Cambridge; David Klahr, Carnegie Mellon University; Anna Fisher, Carnegie Mellon University

• Young Children's Evaluation of Teachers' Instructions - Taylor Hovish (Brown), Hillbrook School; Alex Was, Harvard University; Samuel Ronfard, Harvard University

• Teaching Self-Regulatory Strategies: The Importance of Model Social Group Status - Grace Min, Boston University; Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University

• Preschoolers' Capacity to Infer Differences in Understanding From Learners' Mistakes Impacts the Way They Teach - Samuel Ronfard, Harvard University; Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University

Discussant

• Kathleen H. Corriveau, Boston University