Child as "Scientist" and "Apprentice", Aren't They a Bit Of Both?

Throughout this class I have found the idea of children acting as small scientists somewhat fascinating. Just the thought alone that a 10 month old is testing gravity by tossing a stuffed toy from the high chair 30 times in a row is great stuff. I always assumed it was just a simple version of fetch that I was taking part in, when my nephew would make toss after toss, I hadn't a clue that he was doing an investigation.

Some of the points that were made in class gave some support to ideas that until that time I had failed to think of. For example I remember a sand box in my preschool classroom. When I think of preschool children I think of messes, and one doesn't really need to add sand to the equation to see that. But by adding the sand box we were given a jump start to conversion tasks, so it really did have a purpose.

Another point made involved a small child asking question after question, to the point you feel like you are being interrogated by the police. The thing that comes to mind for me here is the scene from "Big Daddy" with Adam Sandler, and the toddler he is taking care of. They are in a rush to make it to McDonald's before they stop serving breakfast, and they encounter a homeless person sitting on the street. The child not knowing what to make of the situation asks the homeless person why he is homeless. The homeless man gives a generic answer and the child responds with "why" and they continue this pattern until the homeless man pretty much gives his life story to Adam Sandler and the child. Even though this was a movie the premise is believable in this scene, the child doesn't understand something and will investigate to reach the answer, I've seen it, and taken part in it before.

But not all the time is the child a "scientist" sometimes they require some help to learn so they are deemed the "apprentice". The best example that I can think of for this is "scaffolding". This occurred the last time my brother brought his kids to town for a visit. I don't have much to entertain small children so they brought some puzzles to work on. His daughter was just starting to work on one, by starting I mean sitting there looking at the pieces not knowing how to get started. Her brother sat down and attached several of the border pieces without saying a word. Jensen took the cue from her older brother and worked on the border before tackling the middle. Without his little bit of help she wouldn't have gotten as far as she did, so I believe that was an example of scaffolding before my eyes.

Another example of the child as the "apprentice" happened the same day as the puzzle incident. In fact it was occurring as Jensen worked on the puzzle. She was coyly told of how hard a puzzle it was and cheered every time she got a piece together with another (I was even encouraged to clap along like I was at some sort of sporting event), and every time the crowd went wild she would just light up as she looked around the room, before diving for another piece. when the puzzle was done her mother was right there to tell her how well she did on that hard puzzle. I believe the emphasis was placed on that particular puzzle, not all puzzles in general (at least I hope so, I'd hate to see her develop some sort of complex like you discussed in class).

Anyways these are just a couple of simple examples of times where I have seen a child as both a "scientist" and "apprentice" so I feel safe to say that children are in fact both.