Brian Price/THE POST Author and Professor from the University of Illinois, Lilian Katz speaks to a crowded room about childhood development yesterday afternoon in the Music building. She has written several books on childhood development.

Ohio University education majors gained tools of knowledge last night from author and Parents Magazine columnist which they could utilize in the classroom as teachers of tomorrow.

Lilian Katz, professor of early childhood at the University of Illinois, gave a lecture on the importance of "Engaging Children's Minds." The lecture was sponsored by the OU College of Education's Early Childhood Network, at the Recital Hall in the Music Building.

The lecture focused on the basic ways of structuring developmental curriculum into the classroom.

"I encourage all of you to take these ideas professionally, not personally," Katz said. "I might be wrong with what I have to say ... but I doubt it."

When dealing with any age group there are several questions that should be addressed with learning, she said.

A teacher should first decide what the classroom objectives are going to be and how to go about teaching them, Katz said. The teacher also should decide how the children can best learn. The final step is for the teacher to assess how well he or she has applied the first decisions to the students.

A developmental approach is the tactic that Katz deems necessary for any curriculum.

"Development is a special phase in the child's learning experience," she said. "What we teach and how we teach it changes with age and the experience that stems from age."

It is important to successful development that children never hear teachers criticizing or being criticized, she said.

"When parents complain about their child's teacher in front of them, several things can happen," she said. "It can empower defiance in children, it is confusing, and it doesn't help the teacher teach in any way."

The main goal of education is to engage the mind of the learner, Katz said.

"Enjoyment is not the goal here," she said. "It is only one side of it, a result of good teaching tactics."

Katz suggests that teachers should not incorporate imaginary or fairy-tale-like objects into their classroom. Ideas of unicorns, medieval castles and pirates may confuse children when they are not able to experience them hands-on, she said.

Adam Wilson, a sophomore secondary education major at OU, said that a lot of Katz's views were eye-openers to him.

"I am just beginning the education program here, and I wasn't aware that some of the things that kids are being exposed to at an early age just aren't relevant," Wilson said. "We should be drilling the basics, not wasting time on this other stuff."

Even though the majority of the lecture focused on younger children, it could be applied at a higher level, he said.

"I learned a lot in the hour that the lecture lasted," he said. "I came for a class, but it proved to be a helpful learning experience."