Early Years Essay
Learning, according to Churchill et.al (2016 pg. 82) is the way people ‘understand’, ‘experience’ or ‘conceptualise’ the world around them. Children in early years’ education express their learning in a plethora of ways, and it is the role of the educator to support this learning by respecting the individual and creating a positive image of the child that encompasses the multiple ways of understanding, experiencing and conceptualising. It is essential that an early childhood professional postulates such an idea because the image drawn on underpins the way we interact with children, respond to their ideas and behaviours and overall affects the choices we make about their learning (Woodrow, 1999). It is my belief that each child is powered by
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an expansive curiosity of their world that drives their learning and development. Children are active and competent explorers that have strong desires to engage in their environment and learn as much as they can from it and the people within it. This is reflected through children’s constant question asking, which powers their persistent search for knowledge, developing the way they understand and experience the world. This opinion is supported by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) in Outcome 4 as it states, “Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity.” Through this, I believe that my personal ‘image’ of the child is one whom is agentic and able to make sense of their world through the engagement and interaction within it. However, I also believe that sometimes children need to be protected from their own curiosities, and it is the duty of educators and adults alike to watch over children and prevent them from delving into a curiosity that could harm them. For example, a child who becomes vastly curious about how fast cars go should be protected at all costs from stepping out onto a busy road. However, one must be cautious about applying this perception to all areas of a child’s development because in some cases, it may result in a child being too afraid to follow their curiosities in fear of being turned away. Sally Neaum (2010 pg. 75) recognises that when emotional needs, such as desire to follow curiosities, are not met nature ensures that we suffer considerable distress as an indication. In terms of child development, when we overprotect children from their curiosities, we undermine their personal decision making and can compromise or hinder their mental development. As a future educator, I understand that there is a fine line between letting a child freely explore and engage in their world, and protecting them from harm. Understanding this allows me to gauge learning unique to each child, catering to each individual’s development as it occurs. I am also able to visualise learning by recognising that it can occur in all shapes and forms thus making me more adept at interacting with a child’s learning and shaping development through my responses.
Beliefs about teaching
My personal views about children, learning and development postulated in the above section align with contemporary approaches to early childhood education.
There are two approaches that I deeply affiliate with and believe will influence my teaching practices; the forest school philosophy, and the Reggio Emilia approach. Forest school philosophy recognises that when a child is free to explore the natural environment they able to trust in their own abilities, and decision making (Knight S, 2009). By allowing children to engage with their surroundings and take appropriate risks under the supervision of educators, forest schools foster an image of the child who is capable, confident and able to make sense of their world through their own interpretations of it. This philosophy aligns with my own because I believe it is natural for children to need to explore their own environment and through exploration they are able to foster their curiosities and begin to understand and conceptualise what it means to be a part of the world. The UK Forest School community articulated in 2011, in their fourth guiding principle that “Forest School opportunities are designed to build on an individual’s innate motivation, positive attitudes and/or interests” which I believe perfectly connects to my own philosophy. As a future educator, this approach to learning will greatly impact my teaching practices as I will encourage children to explore their environment, both indoor and outdoor, and to always
question what they don’t know or want to find out. I will foster a learning space that encourages each child to follow what interests them. For example, if a child is curious about how paper is made, I will create an activity where children can make their own paper, allowing then visualising the process and thus prompting learning. By fulfilling a child’s search for knowledge, I encourage them to trust in their own abilities and thoughts and through this, children are able to move away from the reliance of adults (Pound & Hughes, 2012) thus creating a wave of independent children. The Reggio Emilia approach, developed by Loris Malaguzzi, recognises the plethora of ways in which children learn and come to understand the world around them through the mantra of 100 languages. This ideology is best summarised by Malaguzzi (1993) when he suggested the approach reveals how a classroom is composed of individual children and subgroups of children with different affinities and abilities. I affiliate with this approach because I also recognise that no two children will learn in the same way and to be an effective educator, I must change my perception to cater to each individual child’s abilities. All children come to an education setting with different past experiences that affect their beliefs and learning (EYLF) which is why it is important for educators to personalise the learning environment so that children can learn in the ‘language’ that they best affiliate with. As Carolina Rinaldi (2001) explains, each child is full of curiosity and a desire to live and communicate which allows them to react with a range of abilities and learning strategies. This particular approach will guide my future teaching practices as I implement lesson plans that cater to all the different learning languages within the room. For example, when teaching a literacy lesson, I may incorporate music and dance to articulate rhyme so that those who learn best through rhythm are included. As an educator, I will recognise each child as a learner that thinks and understands in a way that is unique to them and I will actively engage with that individual’s beliefs in order to cater learning to them specifically.
an expansive curiosity of their world that drives their learning and development. Children are active and competent explorers that have strong desires to engage in their environment and learn as much as they can from it and the people within it. This is reflected through children’s constant question asking, which powers their persistent search for knowledge, developing the way they understand and experience the world. This opinion is supported by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) in Outcome 4 as it states, “Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity.” Through this, I believe that my personal ‘image’ of the child is one whom is agentic and able to make sense of their world through the engagement and interaction within it. However, I also believe that sometimes children need to be protected from their own curiosities, and it is the duty of educators and adults alike to watch over children and prevent them from delving into a curiosity that could harm them. For example, a child who becomes vastly curious about how fast cars go should be protected at all costs from stepping out onto a busy road. However, one must be cautious about applying this perception to all areas of a child’s development because in some cases, it may result in a child being too afraid to follow their curiosities in fear of being turned away. Sally Neaum (2010 pg. 75) recognises that when emotional needs, such as desire to follow curiosities, are not met nature ensures that we suffer considerable distress as an indication. In terms of child development, when we overprotect children from their curiosities, we undermine their personal decision making and can compromise or hinder their mental development. As a future educator, I understand that there is a fine line between letting a child freely explore and engage in their world, and protecting them from harm. Understanding this allows me to gauge learning unique to each child, catering to each individual’s development as it occurs. I am also able to visualise learning by recognising that it can occur in all shapes and forms thus making me more adept at interacting with a child’s learning and shaping development through my responses.
Beliefs about teaching
My personal views about children, learning and development postulated in the above section align with contemporary approaches to early childhood education.
There are two approaches that I deeply affiliate with and believe will influence my teaching practices; the forest school philosophy, and the Reggio Emilia approach. Forest school philosophy recognises that when a child is free to explore the natural environment they able to trust in their own abilities, and decision making (Knight S, 2009). By allowing children to engage with their surroundings and take appropriate risks under the supervision of educators, forest schools foster an image of the child who is capable, confident and able to make sense of their world through their own interpretations of it. This philosophy aligns with my own because I believe it is natural for children to need to explore their own environment and through exploration they are able to foster their curiosities and begin to understand and conceptualise what it means to be a part of the world. The UK Forest School community articulated in 2011, in their fourth guiding principle that “Forest School opportunities are designed to build on an individual’s innate motivation, positive attitudes and/or interests” which I believe perfectly connects to my own philosophy. As a future educator, this approach to learning will greatly impact my teaching practices as I will encourage children to explore their environment, both indoor and outdoor, and to always
question what they don’t know or want to find out. I will foster a learning space that encourages each child to follow what interests them. For example, if a child is curious about how paper is made, I will create an activity where children can make their own paper, allowing then visualising the process and thus prompting learning. By fulfilling a child’s search for knowledge, I encourage them to trust in their own abilities and thoughts and through this, children are able to move away from the reliance of adults (Pound & Hughes, 2012) thus creating a wave of independent children. The Reggio Emilia approach, developed by Loris Malaguzzi, recognises the plethora of ways in which children learn and come to understand the world around them through the mantra of 100 languages. This ideology is best summarised by Malaguzzi (1993) when he suggested the approach reveals how a classroom is composed of individual children and subgroups of children with different affinities and abilities. I affiliate with this approach because I also recognise that no two children will learn in the same way and to be an effective educator, I must change my perception to cater to each individual child’s abilities. All children come to an education setting with different past experiences that affect their beliefs and learning (EYLF) which is why it is important for educators to personalise the learning environment so that children can learn in the ‘language’ that they best affiliate with. As Carolina Rinaldi (2001) explains, each child is full of curiosity and a desire to live and communicate which allows them to react with a range of abilities and learning strategies. This particular approach will guide my future teaching practices as I implement lesson plans that cater to all the different learning languages within the room. For example, when teaching a literacy lesson, I may incorporate music and dance to articulate rhyme so that those who learn best through rhythm are included. As an educator, I will recognise each child as a learner that thinks and understands in a way that is unique to them and I will actively engage with that individual’s beliefs in order to cater learning to them specifically.