Learning & Development: Symbolic Thought - See the signs

There are very few three-year-olds who do not recognise the yellow 'M' symbol outside McDonald's restaurants as they anticipate the goodies within. Their growing knowledge about how to translate symbols into meaning is central to their ability to understand the world around them and begin to have some control over it. This ability is known as symbolic thought.

WHAT IS SYMBOLIC THOUGHT?

We all use symbols every day. Whether we are going shopping, planning our next holiday or reading a book, our ability to interpret symbols is key to our ability to undertake these activities. Symbols can be in the form of diagrams, as in road signs, pictures, as in holiday brochures, words or objects, but in every case they represent, or mean, something else.

At its simplest level, a symbol is a visible sign that stands for something different, such as a wooden brick that a child uses to signify a telephone in their play. At a more complex level, we, as adults, may wear a wedding ring to symbolise marriage, or a uniform which represents the job that we do. Often a symbol is a simple way of referring to a more complex idea. Think of a clock face and how it represents time.

The purpose of symbolic thought is to internalise experiences, emotions and ideas. Very young children's new learning about concepts will be external and visible, such as the ball that is continually thrown out of the pushchair to check that it rolls away just as it did last time.

As children become more sure of their concepts, there is no need for this constant checking, and concepts can be said to become internal and abstract. Think, perhaps, of the adult who takes a map with them the first couple of times they make a new journey. After a few more trips the route has become securely learned; there is no longer any need for the map.

WHEN AND HOW DOES SYMBOLIC THOUGHT DEVELOP?

The ability to use one object to stand for something else usually begins in a child's second year. It is at this point that a parent or carer may see a child push a teaspoon towards the mouth of a doll; this is a clear sign that the child has grasped the notion of the doll representing a baby and the child representing a parent.

This is a hugely significant moment in a child's development, because it is from this point on that they can imagine a world of their own creating. They are no longer bound by 'what is' and can enter the world of 'what if?' A toddler can been seen to wave 'bye-bye', and if this happens at an appropriate moment, that is, when people are going away, it can be said to demonstrate an understanding of the symbol of waving to represent 'good-bye'.

The child's ability to use symbols will gather momentum if supported by adults who encourage this new behaviour and join in with any imaginative games that the child initiates.

A significant feature in the progression of symbolic thinking is children's increasing use of language. As their vocabulary grows, so does their ability to use thought to guide actions. A toddler will use trial and error when learning about a concept, such as gravity, and find things out by repeating actions over and over again to check on their new ideas.

A child who has developed knowledge of spoken language and the thought processes that accompany it can begin to predict and plan what might happen and begin to anticipate cause and effect. This increasing ability to use symbols to represent their experiences by role play, paintings, drawings, writing or numerical symbols gives children the gradual understanding that not only are there things all around to be learned about and played with, but there are also ideas that can be learned about and played with too.

HOW DOES PLAY HELP SYMBOLIC THOUGHT TO DEVELOP?

Play places children in control of their learning. The child who is interested in learning about what it feels like to be a fireman, for example, can choose to dress up in the appropriate clothes and decide to use a prop as a symbolic hose while making the accompanying sounds.

The child who is in role uses not only objects, or symbols, but actions and sounds to create a powerful experience that is extremely close to reality. The child playing in this way is completely involved in their play and is engaged at a high cognitive level as they bring all that they feel, all that they can do and all their understanding to their chosen role.

Role play helps the development of symbolic thought in important ways:

• - It helps children to understand how the world looks from another point of view. Young children are often thought of as being egocentric - that is, they believe that everyone perceives the world as they do. Engaging in role play helps them to feel empathy with others. This is sometimes known as the 'theory of mind'.
• - It encourages children to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. The child acting the role of a fireman has not, hopefully, had any first-hand experience of fighting a fire, and yet can replicate the experience realistically. The pretend element allows a child to rely on what is sometimes known as 'testimony', or other people's experiences, which they can use in their game. These may be pictures, stories or the sighting of a fire engine on the way to an emergency. Thus it is sometimes thought that a child does not simply imitate a fireman's role but recreates it in his own way. Often, it is the magical and the exotic that seem to be particularly attractive to young children in their play, despite the fact that they will not have experienced them.
• - It can help children to regulate their emotional responses. Often in role play they will be exploring concepts that involve emotions, such as fear of separation. As the child is in control of their play, they can withdraw or alter the game so the emotion is kept within manageable proportions. This growing ability of the child to retain control of their emotions leads to a stability and resilience that will stand them in good stead throughout life.

The role of the adult in supporting this type of playful learning is, above all, to concentrate on supporting children's intentions rather than their actual performance. By engaging in conversations with children as they play, they will be using what is known as 'sustained shared thinking' in furthering children's learning. If this is approached with sensitivity, children will benefit from increased vocabulary, logical reasoning, creativity, empathy, problem-solving skills and an increased understanding of new concepts.

Pamela May is an early years consultant and author of Child Development in Practice - Responsive teaching and learning from birth to five (David Fulton, £18.99)

PLAY IN ONE AREA OF THE EARLY YEARS SETTING

The role-play area of the early years setting supports children's developing symbolic thought by providing the opportunities they need to interpret many different kinds of symbols and use them in their own ways.

If the area is created to represent, for example, a railway station, there will be costumes to symbolise the roles of the station staff and some indoor climbing equipment, rearranged to replicate a train in which the passengers will ride.

There will be opportunities for children to experience that most complex of symbolic systems, the written word, as they decide on their destination and receive a ticket with their destination on it. Perhaps there will be a telephone in the ticket office with a note book where queries can be noted.

There will be rules to be adhered to, as there always are with play, such as how many children can ride on the train. This may give an opportunity for practitioners to introduce number symbols or money in this make-believe environment. The concepts children may be able to learn more about in this kind of role-play area are:

• - travelling from one place to another
• - the differences between places, such as the city and the seaside
• - playing collaboratively
• - how trains move
• - excitement and anticipation
• - speed and direction
• - choice
• - paying for tickets
• - decision making
• - map making
• - storytelling
• - reading, writing, numbers
• - time.

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