Resource - High/scope In The Elementary Classroom

HigH/SCoPE ELEMENTARY
When adopting the problem-solving
approach to conflict, teachers in an elementary
program need to consider that
school-aged children can be physically
strong and able to cause considerable
Teachers in traditional
classrooms often
indirectly encourage
conflict by reinforcing
the importance of
privilege, status,
and ownership.
harm to others, unlike pre-K children
who are still relatively small. Moreover,
unlike many children in a pre-K program,
school-aged children may be able
to identify the problem without the
Children at the Rose School use words and
pictures to detail their plans for work time
and then reflect on what they’ve done.
teacher needing to define it for them.
School-aged children may have had
years of experience in conflict and thus
may exhibit a greater sense of inflexibility
to their solution; this may result
in a longer period of time in finding a
mutually satisfying solution.
on the other hand, although schoolaged
children may have experience with
conflict, they may be inexperienced in
having a say in the resolution. Schoolaged
children seem to have an innate
sense of fairness and conception of
reason; therefore, their solutions are
more likely to be logical than solutions
proposed by preschool children. Lastly,
school-aged children are more likely to
remember previous conflicts and prior
ways of solving problems. Teachers in
an elementary program can facilitate the
problem-solving process by empowering
students to believe they are problem-
solvers; giving children opportunities
to solve non-threatening problems and
to solve problems as a group; accepting
children’s solutions; supporting children
in their efforts to come up with a solution;
and being consistent in allowing
children to solve problems.
Plan-Do-Review
High/Scope’s plan-do-review in the
elementary classroom is based on the
same principles as plan-do-review in
a preschool setting: it involves active
learning, is a child-initiated time of the
day, and uses the same adult-support
strategies. in the plan-do-review process,
children learn to take initiative, solve
problems independently, work with
others, and build knowledge and skills
(Epstein, 2007).
When elementary teachers first hear
of plan-do-review, they worry that it
takes time away from the curriculum.
www.highscope.org ReSource Fall/Winter 2008 15