What is a Learning Provocation?
Learning provocations are used in the classroom to "provoke" thought and motivate thinking or investigation.
There is some debate regarding the difference between a learning invitation and a learning provocation. Many people use these terms interchangeably. A little research found that a learning invitation invites the child to explore, construct and represent their learning in an open-ended setting. A learning provocation however is a little more constructed, usually with visual or written prompts to provoke possible actions and guide the outcomes.
A learning provocation is designed to provoke learning. It is intentionally designed by the teacher. Learning provocations can be based on curriculum learning intentions, children’s interests or designed to cover assessment criteria.
A learning invitation is also designed with intention, but it is less transparent. In a learning invitation, the children are invited to explore the resources how they wish and at their developmental level of understanding. In my experience, what I have intended to happen in a learning invitation is sometimes not what the children envisage in the same space. Interestingly, I have noticed that their ideas are often better than mine!
The design of learning invitations and provocations for children can be compared to the pleasure of giving a gift to a dear friend.
When you want to give a gift to someone, you happily search for something you think she will love. You carefully select the gift and present it in a beautiful way, with colourful wrappings, ribbons, and fond words. You eagerly anticipate the surprise and delight your gift will inspire, and you trust she will love it because it came from knowing her so well.
In teaching, the gift of materials comes from your relationship with the children. The materials represent a bit of you and who you are, as well as the tender way in which you know the children. The children accept these gifts with appreciation, bringing their own ideas and passions to them, which in turn is a gift to you from them.
Deb Curtis and Margie Carter (2008)
Invitations and provocations are gifts of learning. To ensure these gifts will effectively develop and honour the child, the provocations and invitations need to be offered following deep consideration and with deliberate intention by the teacher.
The teacher must have a comprehensive understanding of the curriculum and the children to effectively design these learning invitations and provocations. The design concepts and principles employed are strongly influenced by the teacher’s values and understandings.
The provocations and invitations a teacher designs and offers reflect the individual teacher’s values and beliefs so the learning invitations and provocations in your classroom will provide an insight into what you as an educator believe children deserve and are capable of.
In both learning invitations and provocations, the utilised space should be engaging to the child. It should stimulate the senses and encourage children to explore and wonder. Both learning invitations and learning provocations should engage and excite the learner. These beautiful spaces intentionally designed by the educator need to promote investigation, discovery and provide the child an opportunity to demonstrate their conceptual understandings.
Provocations and invitations for learning are essential elements of any investigative, play based learning environment. Children have an innate desire to explore, learn and understand the marvels of the world around them. Offering interesting materials in a stimulating environment will enhance this innate desire. Invitations and provocations for learning are the educational right of every child and every teacher.
If you would like to see more of our classroom learning invitations or more ideas for you to set up some learning provocations in your classroom, check out my Instagram or Facebook pages. I share our classroom investigation areas on these pages regularly.
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