Nowadays, the current educational system is mostly based on a standardized model that is the same for everyone. On the other hand, there are schools that opt for an innovative model, integrating various concepts and theories such as Gardner’s multiple intelligences or meaningful learning, to shape a new teaching model and new activities.
LEGO Education is one of the proposed activities, and although we will only focus on the early childhood stage, it has several alternatives for older children. As I mentioned, the aim is to integrate meaningful learning, that is, to learn by experimenting and discovering for oneself, as a much higher percentage is remembered in the long run than by reading the syllabus or listening to the teacher. For this, LEGO Education has a model they call Four Cs, which consists of:
Connect. In this phase, children are presented with a problem or a task to complete and are encouraged to look for solutions, ask questions, and imagine different possibilities before starting.
Construct. Naturally, there is a construction phase, in which there are two types of constructions. In one, children build everyday artifacts, allowing them to understand their basic functioning. In the second, they can create more complex artifacts which will provide more knowledge, thus closing a virtuous circle.
Contemplate. It’s time to talk about what we have learned in the construction phase and share this knowledge or ideas with our peers.
Continue. Each task ends with a new activity in which everything learned is used to maintain a state of intrinsic motivation.
All these tasks are carried out in groups of 2 or 3 children, to foster communication and learning, as the solutions they provide will often be better when working as a team. Constructions are carried out in such a way that the first child provides the pieces (2 or 3 pieces) to the second to place them; once placed, the role changes. In the case of groups with three children, the third checks that the pieces are correctly placed, and the roles rotate similarly.
Thus, these activities are a good motivation both for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) given the material and learning theme (logic and mechanics) that they usually enjoy, and for those responsible for the well-being of these children due to the fact that they work on social skills (turn-taking, manners, eye contact…) in a more dynamic and fun way, thus maintaining motivation.
In addition to having these materials focused on logical and mechanical learning, they present other very interesting ones for our therapy, such as StoryTales (for ages 2+), StoryStarter (for ages 6+), or BuildToExpress (for ages 6+). The first two are designed to emphasize imagination with constructions that tell stories created by children. The third manages to work on (in addition to imagination) metaphors and emotional expression through colorful constructions.
These last mentioned materials allow the therapist (with the appropriate skills) to elicit a lot of information from the stories they tell and the projections they make.