Understanding Every Child to Develop Curriculum According to Their Needs
Every child is unique and have the potential to bring something special and un9que to the world. They have their own level of developmental processes and come from families who have their own beliefs and cultures. As an Early Child Educator (ECE), I believe that it is my responsibility to understand every child and develop curriculum according to its needs. A high quality and knowledge rich classroom is require for the children where children can learn, grow and explore the world according to their developmental level. Therefore, in the following discussion, I will develop my personal philosophy of ECE and talk about the teaching goals and ways of accomplishing them. I will also explore the pedagogical processes through which I will talk about my philosophy of teaching style that is best to meet the needs of every child.
I believe that as an ECE teacher, it is my responsibility to promote the social, physical, cognitive and emotional development of every child. As ECEs, I need to guide the children and move them in a direction that interests them. My philosophy is that a child should be allowed to choose its own playing and learning styles to learn and find their own answers. I believe that as an ECE teacher, one has to become a partner in learning so that the children learn at his or her own pace and share their experiences. It is my responsibility to support their learning by providing them opportunities and activities so that they feel engaged. For facilitating learning, an appropriate developing environment is required and provides adequate time for them to play, explore, interact and find fun as well as easy learning. “Early Years Learning Framework” in Australia is an important framework that helps ECE in the development of their brain, develop motor skills and enhance expression in them (Page, 2016).
Learning through play is a voluntary activity and involves mental, verbal and physical engagements. It is enjoyable and pleasurable for the children to learn through play. They love to play and I think it is the best approach for a child. Play should be an important part of the ECE curriculum that help educators to present new ideas to them and learn through learning (Tourmen, 2016). The play themes should assist children in questioning, problem solving and enticing children and redirect them towards play based learning. It also helps children to expand their ideas through planning roles, welcoming open-ended questions and encouraging them to talk to their peers. I believe that as an ECE, learning through play act as springboard for investigating their discovered ideas that they have acquired on their own. My philosophy is that to present ideas to children and to investigate their discovered ideas, play can be employed that acts as a valuable tool for efficient learning. Play planning should be intentional and it is important for ECE teachers to use the knowledge of growth and development that determines their age, stage, individually and culturally appropriate for every child in the classroom. Play is an important function in the contribution of emotional and social development of children where they develop new social skills through sharing space and different points of view and via interacting with peers (Allen & Cowdery, 2014). It gives children an opportunity to work out their emotions, feelings and learn new things through play.
Promoting Social, Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Development of Every Child
Every child has different learning style as they belong to different cultures having special learning needs and personalities. As a ECE teacher, the embracing of diversity is important that helps to create a welcoming and warming environment for the children in the classroom. Therefore, it is important for the educators to meet their different learning styles and needs. There are various types of learning styles like visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, solitary and social. Out of these, visual, auditory and physical learning styles are common (Gregoriadis et al., 2016). I believe that as an ECE teacher, it is important to understand and maximize the different learning styles to provide the children a rich learning environment. It is important to watch and listen to the needs of the children through observation. Every observation would help to understand their special learning needs like aural or visual and bring closer while addressing them. The classroom can be made engaging by using a combination of different learning styles and incorporating in the lesson plans. My philosophy of making children learn aligns with the physiologist, Jean Piaget. According to him, efforts come naturally from inside and there is no need of imposing anything on them. The learner’s efforts are a result of their intelligence that is undertaken by intelligence work. It is not based on the acceptance of pre-digested knowledge (Harrison & Joerdens, 2017). I believe that it can be done only through a practical approach that addresses their learning styles. The activities should be developed in a manner that aligns with the ability, needs and interests of the children in the classroom. I believe this can be achieved through cooperation and respecting the child’s culture.
For addressing the different learning styles, it is important for me to plan activities and opportunities so that it enhances maximum learning in the best possible way. For visual learning style, use of images, pictures, flashcards and spatial understanding can be used. Hands, body and sense of touch can be used for physical learning style. The use of words for writing and speech can be preferred for verbal learning style. Learning in groups can be preferred for the social learning style, sound, and music for the aural style of learning. Therefore, understanding every learning style and addressing them in the above ways can be helpful in making children learn in the best possible manner (Steiner, 2017).
In a classroom, there are children from different cultural backgrounds with varying degrees of learning ability. It can give rise to conflicts and issues that can hinder positive learning and in addressing every child needs. As an ECE, it is important to address children in the classroom, consider them as independent individuals, and respect them. The approach is to create a positive environment that ensures necessary equipment that is required for the fulfilment of child needs (Cossentino, 2017). The conflicts that arise between children in the classroom should be handled in a professional and appropriate manner. I believe that as an ECE I have the responsibility to make sure that every child needs should be met and provide many opportunities and space to learn and grow. They should be guided towards the right path as they spend most of their time with ECE and with their peers. Therefore, as an ECE, it is their responsibility to guide the child in the right direction so that inappropriate behaviour can be handled and conflicts can be properly dealt.
Learning Through Play as a Valuable Tool for Efficient Learning
Every child comes from different cultures, beliefs that impart cultural diversity n the classroom. I believe that inclusive curriculum is important that is culturally responsive ensuring all aspects of children and in acknowledging the unique differences of the students. A culturally responsive curriculum helps to encourage the teachers’ recognition and understanding about a child background and cultural beliefs. This helps to address the special needs and cultural diversity of the children in the classroom. I believe that instead of being a teacher, I need to be a facilitator that helps to create a nurturing environment in a culturally diverse classroom. Allowing the children to present their own ideas and by sharing stories, every child gets an opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas which impart importance to their social and cultural perspectives (Tourmen, 2016).
I believe that art of teaching is pivotal for pedagogical approach and the appropriate way to make an educator teach a child. Positive mannerism is a way that helps to guide and teach the child. I believe that every child should be included in the curriculum so that its cultural background and beliefs are addressed in a proper manner (Potrac et al., 2016). My philosophy is to include this in my curriculum being an ECE. I would avoid discrimination or biasness towards the children and try to create a positive environment for every child to help them learn and grow.
For balancing needs of a child with their peers, I would ensure provision for necessary equipments that meeting the needs of every child. I believe in the philosophy of open-minded and trusting relationship with peers and parents. I would respect every child and his or her needs irrespective of their culture, ethnicity and learning style. I would include a bit of every child need in each curriculum in teaching so that it helps me to develop my own strategy for the child education (Steiner, 2017). The teaching style of “Waldorf Education” by Roberto Trostli states that spiritual aspect of teaching aligns with the concept that a born child does not fit with the physical world completely (Alderson & Kenny, 2015). Therefore, it is the role of the educator to facilitate them to be born in harmony. I believe to use this philosophy and implement them in my ECE curriculum.
It is important to communicate the philosophy of ECE to other colleagues and parents to ensure that that they have access to the personal statement. As an ECE, it is important to explain the values of my teaching to the staff and parents of the children under my care to ensure my adopted learning styles work in accordance with the ambience that I want to create. For this, open and trusted communication channels need to be created with the parents and ECE staffs that help them to guide and be engaged in their childcare facility. Communicating with the parents regarding the ECE curriculum and personal statement through open ended questions would help them to decide that my chosen approach to the education align with their own cultural background and values (Hawkes, 2017). It would also help them to decide that if my childcare centre is good and fit for their child. Through weekly meeting with parents and questionnaires would help to assess their interest and engagement in educating their child in my childcare centre. Parent feedback is also important that would help to improve my childcare centre and in meeting the needs of every child under my care.
Addressing Different Learning Styles to Provide a Rich Learning Environment
Through my experiences, I learnt my strengths and weaknesses that helped me to work efficiently in my childcare. My experience at the Montessori school helped me to develop my own philosophy of ECE teaching. She had goal-oriented activity that aligns with my personal philosophy. In this teaching method, sense of moral can be inculcated in the children that help to meet the expectations and demands on child behaviour. The Montessori curriculums are important that help children to explore themselves by walking and living. It aligns with Jean Piaget theory that emphasizes learning through exploration of world independently (Cossentino, 2017).
My philosophy is also based on Lev Vygotsky theory where cognition development takes place through social interaction. Community plays an important role in this theory. I believe that my philosophy should program to facilitate proximal development in children (Potrac et al., 2016). They can achieve independently without any guidance that help them to become able learners. My philosophy aligns with Lev Vygotsky to facilitate effective peer interaction and inculcate social skills in them (Newman & Holzman, 2013).
From the above discussion, ECE curriculum should envision that children should be guided in a way that lead to better education and learning in the best possible way. It greatly focuses on the social, physical, cognitive and emotional development of the child. Providing guide to a child where they learn the right from wrong would help them to foster a positive foundation for learning. Being a ECE, conflicts can be resolved through fostering of a positive environment in an appropriate manner. I believe taking part in the ECE curriculum can help to inculcate the best possible learning ways for the children and support their growth and development. ECE curriculum is very important for providing best learning methods for the children and helps them to learn in the most effective way. Therefore, ECE curriculum is important for the right growth and development of the child imparting early child education.
References
Alderson, J., & Kenny, D. (2015). Getting it together for children and families. A move towards inter-organisation professional partnership practice connected to early childhood education (ECE) centres.
Allen, E. K., & Cowdery, G. E. (2014). The exceptional child: Inclusion in early childhood education. Nelson Education.
Cossentino, J. (2017). Montessori Ideology And Practice In Teacher Education. An Arena for Educational Ideologies: Current Practices in Teacher Education Programs, 45
Gregoriadis, A., Tsigilis, N., Grammatikopoulos, V., & Kouli, O. (2016). Comparing quality of childcare and kindergarten centres: the need for a strong and equal partnership in the Greek early childhood education system. Early Child Development and Care, 186(7), 1142-1151.
Harrison, C., & Joerdens, S. H. (2017). The combined Bachelor of Education Early Childhood and Primary degree: Student perceptions of value. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 42(1), 4.
Hawkes, K. (2017). Research with Children. In Realising Innovative Partnerships in Educational Research (pp. 21-31). SensePublishers, Rotterdam.
Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (2013). Lev Vygotsky (Classic Edition): Revolutionary Scientist. Psychology Press.
Page, S. (2016). Early learning: Everyone benefits-a campaign to shift the paradigm on how Australia values the early years. Every Child, 22(2), 4.
Steiner, R. (2017). Steiner Waldorf education. Alternative Approaches to Education: A Guide for Teachers and Parents, 60.
Tourmen, C. (2016). With or Beyond Piaget? A Dialogue between New Probabilistic Models of Learning and the Theories of Jean Piaget. Human Development, 59(1), 4-25.
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