New Zealand teachers need to re-think mat time
Mat time may be an important part of a child’s education, but new research suggests that teachers need to clarify what makes it important, if students are to gain anything from it.
As an early childhood teacher herself with ten years’ experience, Victoria University of Wellington School of Education lecturer Anita Mortlock decided to focus her Doctor of Philosophy in Education on children’s peer culture during mat time, to uncover the effects it has on a child’s ability to learn.
Anita conducted her research on Year Two students–six-and seven-year-olds–and their teachers, collecting data from three classrooms in Wellington and from a range of Year Two teachers in New Zealand.
Her results suggest that teachers need to re-think the way they use mat time.
“The biggest factor is mat time is used by many teachers, but little training or support is provided to teachers during their tertiary education on how to best utilise mat time. As a sector, we need to learn how to think more strategically about its purpose.
“I noticed from my classroom surveillance and interviews that most teachers have competing goals for what they want to achieve at mat time. This might include trying to create group cohesion, where children are encouraged to think outside the square and engage with one another, yet they simultaneously ask closed questions to highlight important facts which can foster competition. These two goals of cohesion and competition create a confusing environment for children.”
Anita says that 80 percent of teachers surveyed said they believed children enjoyed mat time, but only 20 percent of teachers said that children pay attention during mat time.
“These results mean that if teachers see mat time as the time to teach core information, they should aim to have a high amount of attention paid by the children. Clearly teachers believe this isn’t happening, so maybe it means mat time isn’t the place to be doing core teaching.”
Anita believes if mat time is sensitively facilitated by teachers it can create an opportunity for children to socialise and share more about themselves.
“I identified that students with few friends or social skills really benefitted from partner or group discussions which were well-controlled by the teacher at mat time. On the flip side, if children were always allowed to choose their own friends for group activities there was exclusion of specific children, which led to their disengagement. This could impact on their learning.”
Anita’s research also showed that the concept of body control had a large impact on children’s willingness to concentrate and engage.
“Body language can be a huge contributor to how children choose to engage and share ideas during mat time. I am very supportive of introducing a circle concept to mat time where children can use their body language more. This also allows teachers to view each child individually without being obscured by others.
“The concept that children are only paying attention when they sit up straight and look ahead is not true. I had a number of children tell me the more a teacher tries to control their concentration by restricting their movement, the more inclined they are to stop paying attention. Similarly, the inability to go to the bathroom without consent can be embarrassing and difficult for children who aren’t vocal.”
Anita would like to see tertiary providers make training on the use of mat time a more integral part of their programme.
“If teachers in training are able to see the nuanced effect of mat time, and can understand the impact it has on the peer culture of the classroom, they can use it more constructively and it will benefit the children’s learning even more.”
This study was supervised by Victoria University School of Education lecturers Professor Vanessa Green, Dr Mary Jane Shuker and Dr Michael Johnston.
Anita will graduate with a PhD of Philosophy in Education Thursday 19 May.
Contact Anita
Phone: 04-463 9544
Email: anita.mortlock@vuw.ac.nz