Engineering

Introduction and Importance of Engineering in Early Childhood Education

Engineering is an essential part in early childhood education as it supports developing critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving abilities of children. Preschoolers, toddlers, and infants are examples of young engineers who show talents in challenging problem solving tasks (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015). These activities also promote deeper thinking abilities and offer an engaging setting for early childhood (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015). Stone-MacDonald et al. (2015) states that teachers and parents commonly see the word "engineering" as something more difficult or unachievable than science, math, or technology, however, engineering is an organised integration of science, math, technology and creativity to the solution of human concerns. Children and adults collaborate through four stages of engineering design that are suitable for young children in the problem-solving framework (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015). 

The four stages of engineering design are (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015, p.34):

• “Think about it”

• “Try it”

• “Fix it”

• “Share it” 

These stages require thinking styles such as thinking with curiosity, constantly thinking, adaptable thinking, thinking with reflection and thinking with collaboration (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015). Children develop creativity when they experiment, create, and improve their ideas through these activities.

Creativity Theories and Perspectives

According to Piaget's constructivist theory children build new knowledge by interacting with objects in their surroundings (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015). Piaget's perspective can be used in engineering curriculum by encouraging children to develop, explore, and experiment with their concepts, which promotes creativity and also problem-solving. Vygotsky and Cole's (1978) theory as cited by Stone-MacDonald et al. (2015) states that children have a zone of proximal development where adults can provide scaffolding to children to do higher mental processes that they would not be able to complete on their own. As a real world practice, parents or teachers can help children to go beyond their current understanding and inspire them to try out new concepts related to engineering curriculum. Developing engineering activities also require adults to pay attention to the needs of young children and to purposefully act as an appropriate foundation from which children can explore since the zone of proximal development is only open when children trust the adult who provides support  (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2015).

Learning Experiences by Age Group

Three Original Learning Opportunities

Critical Reflection

When I think about my own creative attributes, I think that my passion for encouraging creativity will be very important in helping young children to think creatively. My natural ability to look into new ideas and answers is in keeping with the engineering design process, which supports critical thinking and problem-solving skills in children. Also, because of my flexibility as well as the ability to consider different approaches to teaching I will be able to successfully scaffold children's learning and guide them through each and every step of engineering design they create. As a future early childhood teacher, my main goal is to create an environment that encourages creativity, critical thinking, as well as innovation by combining digital tools with hands-on activities. The environment I create will not only be an interesting environment, it will also support children to develop problem solving skills, fine motor skills and cognitive skills.