Problem-Based Learning in the Preschool Setting

Problem-Based Learning in the Preschool Setting

Problem-based learning (PBL) is perhaps the most innovative pedagogical method ever implemented in education. Its effectiveness in facilitating student problem-solving and self-directed learning skills has been widely reported (Barrows and Tamblyn, 1980; Schmidt, 1983).

A primary assumption of PBL is that when we “solve the many problems we face everyday, learning occurs” (Barrows and Tamblyn, 1980, p. 1). Although such a statement may appear self-evident, this assumption is countered by the public assumption that learning occurs only in formal education settings, so once we leave school we cease to learn.

These statements resonate with early childhood educators. We know that the most valuable learning happens when children are allowed to make their own discoveries with guidance, not constant direction, from teachers. When given the opportunity to find a solution to a real world problem, learners attempt a variety of strategies to solve that problem. Sometimes their attempts are successful, and sometimes they aren’t. With failure, children learn to reassess and adapt their strategies to fit the demands of the task at hand. 

For example, at Earthplace Preschool, four and five year old students were asked to build a house that could withstand strong wind. They were introduced to the problem, given access to materials, and allowed to design and build their homes with little or no help from the teachers in the room.

Young children, at the preschool level, are accomplished problem-solvers. They are uninhibited by social and peer pressures. We must, as educators, capitalized on this brief period in their life when children are open-minded and uninfluenced by outside pressures in order to provide a foundation on which their educational futures will be built.