Provocations

Ever wondered what provocations are or how you can best use provocations in early education, at Atelier? The team at Educa have put this post together sharing some fantastic resources. We hope it helps!!

In early childhood teaching the term Provocation is derived from the Reggio Emilia Approach. They are fantastic opportunities for learning that many services incorporate into their suite of learning activities.
If you search Pinterest using the terms provocations ideas there are literally thousands of ideas for provocations.

But What Are Provocations Exactly?

For children a ‘Reggio Inspired’ provocation is an open ended activity that doesn’t have a prescribed outcome, instead it is designed to stimulate ideas, initiative and imagination for and amongst children, whether they choose to explore their ideas alone or in groups.

Journey into Early Childhood defines provocations as
“deliberate and thoughtful decisions made by the teacher to extend the ideas of the children. Teachers provide materials, media, and general direction as needed, but the children take the ideas where they want. This allows children to develop skills of creativity, inventiveness and flexibility in thinking, planning and reflecting.”

How do educators use provocations?

There is often discussion among educators about the balance between child-led and teacher-led learning. Differences between provocations and outcome based learning activities.

Examples are highlighted by early childhood educators like Anna Golden . She compares provocations to “traditional” classroom set ups – for example:
Explicit activities such as literacy activity centres or Instruction Based learning (eg worksheets, letter forms for tracing, word study, small group instruction)
versus
Open ended style writing provocations which provide materials (papers/envelopes/cards and mark making implements) to ‘provoke thinking” without specifying a designated outcome although they are always designed with ‘intention’ by the educators.
Provocations use a range of items that can be linked together by children or provide a jumping off point for where their imaginations can take them.

The focus is more on developing learner dispositions rather than teaching narrower skills. There is no “wrong” as a result of a provocation.

“In reference to right answers – Knowing is a process not a product”
— Jerome Bruner

What does a provocation look like?

Educators use nature based elements, loose parts, tinker trays in a multitude of ways to inspire the kinds of creativity that small people excel at, given the opportunity – because there’s no magic formula for a provocation.

In fact the best provocations are created by reflective teachers who spend time evaluating whether their ideas work for their children.
See the setup for this flower provocation and more at An Everyday Story

• An interesting photo, picture or book,
• Nature (e.g. specimens)
• Conceptual (e.g. changing seasons, light)
• Old materials displayed in a new way,
• An interest that a child or children have,
• An object (e.g. magnets, maps)
• New creative mediums,
• Questions (from any source – i.e. What is gravity?)
• An event (e.g. a presentation, a holiday)

We are running a series of staff training events that will look at our pedagogy and how we use provocations at Atelier. Are you coming?