Kolb’s model to explain my problem of working in a nursery

Kolb’s model to explain my problem of working in a nursery

Introduction

This paper uses Kolb’s model to explain my problem of working in a nursery. The article explores Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning to describe the issue at hand. I start by giving the details of the problem. Then I discuss how Kolb’s model has helped me identifying and critiquing the root cause of the issue.

The problem

As a nursery school teacher, I have experienced differences in the performance of pupils who attend school full time and those who partially attend classes in a week. Some parents complain to me that their kids are not performing as they should. Kids who learn slowly are the ones who come to nursery one and half days a week. This makes it difficult for such kids to learn fast compared to their counterparts who come to school 3-5 days a week. This is a problem that I have experienced for a long time. Some parents do not let their kids come to school every day. These kids do not have consistency in learning and miss many things that are taught in class. The kids end up learning slowly, and they are usually the last in the class. Despite my efforts to talk to their parents to let the kids attend school for all the days of the week, the kids only attend one and half days of the week. Some parents wonder why their children do learn fast, like others. I usually have a tough time explaining to these stubborn mothers to let their children come to school every day of the week. This is the problem I have and which I will explore using Kolb’s experiential model.

How Kolb’s model has helped me identifying and critiquing the root cause of the issue

Kolb has identified four experiential learning cycles. These are concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. These four cycles can be used to explain why kids who attend school consistently perform better than those who attend school without consistence. Concrete experience means that you consciously experience a situation that makes you realize that you need to reflect for you to learn new skills systematically. During this stage, you describe what you see by making a note of a specific situation. You also explain what you see, feel and think. The kids who come to school one and the half-day will learn little in school, they will have fewer situations to see in school, and this makes them learn slowly compared to those who attend school 3-5 days full day. Those who come to school 3-5 days will have more significant experience, feeling and thinking compared to others which come to school for a lesser period of time. The kids who attend school 3-5 days a week encounter more new experiences compared to their counterparts who attend school for fewer days and hours. Those who attend school the whole week also experience new situations which help them learn faster than those who attend school for fewer days. This is supported by Kolb’s experiential first learning cycle.

The problem can also be explained using reflective observation of Kolb’s model. In this stage, you ask yourself what worked and what failed, what caused the situation? The complaints by the parents are brought about by the failure of their kids to perform well in school. They learn slowly because they attend school for only and half days a week. As a result, they end up missing most of the class processes and are unable to catch up. In this situation, we can say that attending school full time is what has worked for kids who come to school from Monday to Friday. These kids learn faster than those who come to school for one day. What failed? What failed is the situation where kids who come to school one and a half days learn slowly. These kids end up learning slowly, and this makes their parents complain. The other question that Kolb relates to this situation is why the situation arose. Here we can say that the situation arose as a result of some kids failing to learn fast as their parents expected. That is the reason why the parents always come complaining to me about their performance.

The third cycle of Kolb’s model is abstract conceptualization. The guiding question for this stage is what could I have done better or differently? How can I improve? This stage can also be used to explain my problem. For example, for the first question, I can do better by talking to the parents on the importance of their kids attending classes every day. I can speak to the parents so that they let their children come to school every day so that they can learn with others. This is what the parents should do. They should let their children attend school full time like the other kids. It has been proven that kids who attend school for 3-5 days a week learn first, and those parents should learn from kids who attend school every day. Therefore, the only to improve my situation is to make the kids attend school every day so that they can learn faster like others and avoid complaints from the parents.

Active representation is the last stage of Kolb’s reflective model cycle. This stage involves practising the newly acquired knowledge. It consists in putting to practice your reflections and trying out the new strategies. As such, I will use this stage to solve my problem by putting the strategy into practice. I will talk to the parents so that their kids attend school every time and every day. Am pretty sure when the kids have the same duration of learning like the others, they will learn faster like their counterparts.
Consideration as to how I responded to the experience at the time

I returned to this issue by talking to the parents about the importance of their children attending school every day of the week. Attending school every day allows the kids to build incrementally on their learning. They also create consistency in education which makes them remember what they have been taught previously. They are also less likely to be feeling overwhelmed. Also, consistency enables them to acquire new knowledge and move to the next level in their abilities. These are one of the reasons I explained to the parents why they should let their children attend school every day. Also, children who are frequently absent usually fall behind their classmates which leads to self-esteem issues.  Regular attendance of school makes the kids master most of the things taught in class. Children who struggle in school require consistency in attending school for them to improve and perform better. Thus, I used to explain and convince the parents on the importance of regular attendance of school by their children. If a child misses some days in a week, they lose a lot and find it difficult to catch up. Those kids who miss school also miss a chance of making friends with their friends. They end up being isolated from their friends and eventually underachieve in their examinations. This is the reason behind the poor performance of kids who miss school.

What the experience has taught me about my leadership in practice and positionality

The problem that I have experienced has taught me about my direction in training and positionality. I have learned problem-solving techniques. I usually talk to the parents with the utmost respect to convince them. I have some valuable leadership traits as a nursery school teacher. I have learned to solve problems as well as interact with people. The experience has taught me to be resilient. Parents usually ask me why their kids are not performing like others. I often explain to them that they should allow their kids to come to school every day.

Implications

The problems experienced at my workplace will help me to be a good leader in future. These challenges are essential in building my character to face challenges in future. I use these problems as lessons which will help me in future.

How Kolb’s model has supported me in understanding the issue

Kolb’s model has helped me in understanding the problem of slow learning by children who come to school inconsistently as opposed to those who come to school every school day. Those who come to school everyday experience new situations in school. Those kids who come to school every day have active learning because they progress through Kolb’s cycle of four stages. They first have a real experience, then followed by observation and reflection on that experience. This leads to the formation of abstract concepts and conclusions which are used for hypothesis testing in future situations.