Features
Supporting problem solving in the early childhood classroom
continued

Ava (going over to sand): “I want to play, too.”
Ava looks at Emma, then Rachel: “I want to play, too.”
Rachel: “OK, you can be the daddy or the grandma.”
Ava (pointing to Rebecca): “Great. “
Rebecca: “I wanna be the daddy.”
Ava looks at Zoe.
Rachel: “OK. Zoe’s being the ….the big sister.”
Ava (pointing to Rachel): “And you?”
Rachel (looking at Emma): “I’m being the mom.”
Rebecca (to Ava): “You can be the little girl.”
Rachel: “You can be the grandma.”
Ava: “I want to be the little sister.”
Rachel: “OK. Talk to Zoe.”
They play.

What’s remarkable about this incident is:
No one seems particularly upset in these negotiations, which go on for a fairly long time without any teacher support.
Some of the children accommodate by changing their choices seemingly without difficulty.
All the children appear to understand that they can advocate for themselves if they want something strongly, but they are able to be generous when they don’t care so much.
All seem able to switch roles fairly easily.
Some assist others in deciding on a role to play.
The children’s behavior here represents a set of negotiations that never could have occurred in the early part of the year. This suggests that, even when teacher support for problem solving was not successful, it may have helped children over time in two ways. First, it helped children feel empowered to express their needs. Second, it taught them a pattern of thinking and the process of problem solving.
It was becoming clear that children were learning the process of finding solutions on their own. There were increased incidents in which children spent time negotiating but did not call a teacher over to help them solve a problem.

Problem solving as a teaching strategy
Some problems diminished, and some increased during the year.
Overall, the number of problems decreased.
Specifically, property disputes and violence diminished greatly by mid-year.
Conflicts surrounding wanting to play and wanting space also diminished.
Children’s problem-solving strategies evolved over the year in these ways:
from simple, sometimes physical, approaches such as grabbing or running away to more complex and sophisticated ones such as using words, negotiating, and waiting (not a simple accomplishment for a young child); and
from quick solutions to negotiations that took more time.
Children could sustain longer discussions of how to resolve a problem on their own without resorting to physical means, violence, or falling apart.
Teacher strategies, however, did not change as much during the year. Teacher strategies remaining constant may be an additional clue to what helps children solve problems. The teachers were consistent in their approaches and their expectations for children’s behavior.
Previous research reveals some disagreement on what promotes problem solving. But research shows almost unanimous agreement that play, particularly dramatic play and blocks, is a significant vehicle for supporting this learning (Gross 2005). Among other reasons, children’s investment in finding solutions to problems during play is greater than during a teacher-directed (or researcher-invented) task.

Principles teachers follow
The teachers in this study used a variety of strategies to help children learn to think out problems.
They remained calm at all times, which was not always so easy.
They put the problem into words that didn’t judge either side of the disagreement.
They asked children to think of solutions that could satisfy both sides.
They allowed children to say no to any solution that did not satisfy them, so children felt safe in trusting that the teachers were on their side too.
They allotted a substantial amount of time in the day to child-directed play, a key ingredient to problem solving, as suggested by Vivian Gussin Paley (2005) and others.
Rather than sending away children who were not involved in the problem, they allowed those children to help in suggesting solutions. These children can often be helpful.
The teachers were willing to take time with children, not rushing their thinking. They themselves spent time visibly thinking about the problem, which was a model for children to think too.
They waited, in silence at times, for children to think.
I am not saying problem solving is easy. It is not. It is one of the hardest skills to build. It takes a lot of self-control for the teachers and the children. It doesn’t happen quickly, even for these experienced teachers. But when time is invested, successes begin to happen.
This study offers insight into possible teacher roles in children’s learning of problem solving as well as in building the classroom community. Problem solving is, in itself, an important element in classroom life, enriching the children’s experiences and language and learning.
In addition, studies indicate that helping children learn to think is essential to academic success in later school years (Marcon, 2002). Our hope is that when children become adults, the skill of thinking can help them solve the bigger problems in our world, just as they solved the smaller ones in the early childhood classroom.

References
Dewey, John. 1933. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Boston, Mass.: Heath and Company.
Goncu, Artin and Elsa Weber. 2000. Preschoolers’ classroom activities and interactions with peers and teachers. Early Education and Development, 11 (1): 93-107.
Gross, Carol. 2005. Promoting Problem Solving with Young Children: An Approach to Community Building and Classroom Management in One Classroom. Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Marcon, Rebecca. Spring 2002. Moving up the grades: Relationship between preschool model and later school success. Early Childhood Research and Practice, Vol. 4 (1).
Paley, Vivian. 2005. A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Piaget, Jean. 1963. The Origins of Intelligence in Children. New York: W.W. Norton.

About the author
Carol M. Gross is an assistant professor in Early Childhood Education at Lehman College of the City University of New York. In addition to teaching young children and directing early childhood programs, She has shared her expertise in college classrooms in the New York area. She earned her doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2005.