Essay on Teacher-Child Relationship

Essay on teacher-child relationship
I chose pure mathematics and apply mathematics as my high school main subjects. However, I mathematics result was bad in primary school, until I met a fantastic mathematics teacher, he used lots of extra times teaching me different thinking methods to solve the same questions and helping me to find the interest of mathematics. It is important that teacher-child relationship would affect children’s learning. In this essay, I will first discuss about different kind of teacher-child relationships and how those relationships influence children’s development. After that I would like to think about what kind of relationship with children I wanted and the issues of building relationship with parents.

Teacher-child relationship is a concept, the whole curriculum basis on it. “I always keep in mind that I am teaching someone’s baby – someone who means the world to those parents” (Fumoto, 2011, p.20). As a teacher, we need to remember that children are extremely meaningful for parents; we have responsibilities to do our best. Not only kindergartens, but also primary school, secondary school, even university, children need to face different teachers. Therefore, as the first school teacher for children, we could help their to build up a concept of teacher by using of the internal working models (IWM), according to Music (2011), though daily interactions, children would think about what relationships are likely to be like, and this would develop be a nonconscious model in their minds, which also an internal representation of themselves in relation to others. When children grow up and they would understand the concept of teacher-child relationship clearly.

“To consider teacher-child relationships from the perspective of ‘Human Encounter’ is to approach a teacher and child equally” (Fumoto, study guide, S7, p.4). This is a concept which means we need to see children as persons; it is the basis for children to learn how to respect others. Also it mentions sharing experience and understanding in teacher-child communication. For instance, in YCIS visiting, a child shared his travel experience in class, then teacher would lead the class to discuss where were other children travelled, and teacher also shared her own experiences to children. Fumoto(2011, p.21) explains that ‘human encounter’ is a two-way street of process, it conceptualizes human development in the life span. Therefore, when children grow up, they can feel comfort to ‘shared memories’ with their friends or family; they would understand others feeling and become peacefully to face issues. On the other hand, in the video I saw during the lesson, the experience ECE teacher Nancy walks with a stick. Children always help her to pick up things she need on the floor instead of she does by herself. We can know that children as respect their teacher and see her as a person too.

“Both ‘human encounter’ and ‘co-constructive relationships’ highlight the importance of listening to children’s thoughts and feelings, and appreciating how children experience the world, and what is being learnt.” (Fumoto, study guide, S7, p.6) Children usually have some interesting ideas, for example, can I living in the ocean? As adults, although we already know this idea is impossible, it is a chance to discuss with children and thinks about why. Though the communication with children, we show our listening and trusting to children, we lead children to discuss and encourage them to find the answers from different ways, such as surfing the internet, find some books in library and so on, which similar to project approach, children find some topics that they have interest, and do different researches are leaded by teachers for a period. According to Fumoto (2011, p.21), ‘scaffolding’ is related to co-constructive relationship to help children learning through their interactions with adults. When children grow up with this kind of relationship with teachers, can be more creative and would not afraid to think oppositely with others. Whereas, learning though spoon-feeds education, children do not have such kind of relationship with teachers, and they would think more directly and would not judge what their teachers taught them.

“Teachers play an important role in providing children with emotional security when their primary caregivers are not around” (Fumoto, study guide, S7, p.7). Therefore, teacher-child relationship also is an alternative attachment relationship. It means that children can build up lots of attachments with different persons as they want. Kindergarten is the first place for children to leave their parents and explore the world by their own, so ECE teachers can affect children development directly and mainly. It is necessary to explain by make use of the Key Persons Approach which is built by attachment theory. Fumoto (study guide, S8, p.2) mentions that a ‘special adult’ to take care of young children can help them to stay in ECE settings without help of primary attachment figures. When children first came to kindergarten, they would have different feelings, and some of them may afraid for the new environment, if they can link with a person that they could trust, and build the reliable relationship, children could feel comfort to go to school. Moreover, the key person can reduce parents’ separation anxiety of children staying in kindergarten, because they would know that is a person who is caring my child, so that my child can quickly adapt to the class. For being the key persons, they have a powerful impact on child develop; they are not only developing a sense to children, but also their families. They play the most important role in early years setting; also can help to develop professional teachers and high quality kindergartens. “The Key Person who notices and remembers the smallest details that makes the biggest difference to the individual child’s learning” (Elfer, 2012, p.27). Therefore, the children grow with alternative attachment relationship would be deeply affected by those Key Persons, like teachers and parents, also they would be attentive to people around them, which can handle their social network better since they grew up with linking to lots of different attachments.

All of the relationships we discussed before, they are also the basis of professional relationship. Teachers can control child’s well-being at school, have right to decided child’s actions, and have power on physical to pick up the child. “This is reflected in the way teachers and children are generally considered to form ‘vertical relationships’ as opposed to ‘horizontal relationships’” (Fumoto, study guide, S7, p.7). It also represented that teachers have responsible to look after children and they can see children as friends, yet, this kind of relationship would need an optimal distance, teachers cannot too close and attach with some children because it is unfair to others. As a human, it is acceptable to have ‘favorite child’, however, as a professional ECE teacher, we must solve out negative thinking, and have positive relationship with every child. ECE teachers almost are the first teacher in human lifespan; again, it is the best time to build up a concern in child’s mind that what is teacher. On the contrary, in the personal relationship, it is necessary that to set up the emotional boundaries between teachers themselves and spread their resources to all the children at the same weight, and also to avoid any emotional burnout in the work because of over-involved in each child (Fumoto, study guide, S7, p.8). Everyone has his/her own space, the working issues should not affect the personal life, and it would be over-loading for thinking all about the children, also will develop to be some psychology issues. It is important to let children know that teachers are similar to them; teachers need to have a rest after school too.

Basis on the professional relationship, there is ethical relationship between teacher and children. In teacher-child relationship and ‘human encounter’, we discussed teachers need to understand individual differences, so they should not change children to their own expectations, every child is unique and have their own developing, teachers should not obstruct child’s own characteristic. Children grow up with this relationship can develop their own personality, maybe they hope to be a bus driver or zoo keeper, this is their own decisions and we need to support them.

I have been a tutor for three years. In the first year, I hoped to be a better tutor as I can. In my tutorial group, there was a special need girl, which aged 11 and studied in normal primary school. She was very shy and scared of me, I spent most of time to reduce her angst so that ignored others in my group. Day after day, she was still like we met at the first moment, although my head teacher helped me to face this issues, I always thinking of what can I do, all of my mind was thinking about this girl, it was affected my own studying until the girl gave me a Christmas card and talked to me as others. And now I think that this is a kind of emotional burnout. This is like an alarm on my mind that if I want to be a professional, I must set up the emotional boundaries.

Besides, I am still learning how to be a professional ECE teacher everyone hope to be the best, so all of the relationships we discuss above are the important guidelines for me to be the teacher I expected. According to the Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory, in micro-system, children would be affected by ECE teachers directly; and the school curriculum may decide what teachers should teach in meso-system, the Education Bureau in exso-system can change the curriculum when the society in macro-system is unseasonable. All of these in chrono-system would involve child’s notion how the world has been influenced on me. Therefore, it is important to ECE teachers teaching children with professional knowledge.

“School is a miniature of society, and a bridge between family life and school life” (Issued by The Curriculum Development Council, 2006, p.9). Therefore, home school co-operation also the main factor to affect teacher-child relationship. Children are everything in parents’ mind, as teachers, we should build their confidence to avoid any misunderstanding. Elfer, Goldschmied and Selleck (2011) also explain that although parents want ECE teachers to have special relationships with children, they do not expect to be ‘too special’. Teachers also need to notice that mother’s views on professional ‘love’. We love children so that we want to work with them. However, this kind of ‘love’ has different with mother’s love; it should be respecting, caring, and sharing to all the children equally. It is essential to mother “understanding of the role of the child-minder in a close loving and intimate relationship with her son in line with Elfer et al.’s (2003) contention of the role of the key person”(Page,2011, p.317). As a result, mother’s angst of children in school will be reducing. Moreover, it gives a big help on teacher-parents relationship, it can be kind of partnership, they can “formulate reasonable expectations” (Issued by The Curriculum Development Council, 2006, p.9). Teachers can totally understand the expectation from parents and they may try their best to teach children, this is a positive relationship to guide children development.

In conclusion, every relationship is easy to say more than follow them in reality, my target is be a professional ECE teacher, so I will always keep in mind that I am the first teacher in someone lifespan. By understanding different relationships around teachers and children, I also remember that every relationship would affect children being and someone’s personality. We need to empathy to children’s feelings and care parents’ angst at the same time. Therefore, being a professional ECE teacher is more toilsome than I expected.

Reference

CouncilCurriculum Development (2006). Guide to the pre-primary curriculum.

Elfer, P. E. (2011). Key Persons in the Early Years (2 ed.). London, New York: Routlege.

Fumoto, H. (2011, January 28). Teacher-child relationships and early childhood practice. Early Years, pp. 31:1,19-30.

Fumoto, H. (2013). Study Gride Session 7. Yew Chung Community College.

Fumoto, H. (2013). Study Gride Session 8. Yew Chung Community College.

MusicG. (2011). Nurturing Natures: Attachment and Children’s Emotional, Sociocultural and Brain Development. Psychology Press.

Page, J. (2011). Do mothers want professional carers to love their babies? Journal of Early Childhood Research, pp. 9(3), 310-323.

Papalia, D.E., Feldman, R.D. & Martorell, G. (n.d.). Experience Human Development (12 ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.