FRHD 4210 Learning Journal

A log of my personal learning and thoughts throughout the Issues in Early Education and Care course at the University of Guelph

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Week 11 - Presentations

November 13, 2014

-Roots of Empathy, basics baby as teacher, 27 week program, teaches empathy -program vs centre

One of the presentations today was about a program called Roots of Empathy, that is run wherever it is required or when someone asks for the program to come to their school or centre. It was interesting to hear about a child related program that is not simply a day to day care centre. The program was based on learning about babies, and the philosophy was "babies as the teachers". It encouraged the children in the program to learn empathy and how to care for and interact with babies. I found this presentation interesting as I could see the program being very useful for children and families who are expecting new babies or have recently brought a new child into their family. A sibling can be a large adjustment for a young child and for a family, and this program would be very helpful in teaching the young child to understand that babies do have feelings, and what they can do to help and care for those feelings. 

-Turner Fenton Play School - half day, hs room converted, hs kids get to work in the room for credit, observation booth, consistent buddy, run programming (book circle, learning circle, craft, bulletin board)

We also had a presentation on the Turner Fenton Play School, which I found to be incredibly interesting. This centre was a half day program that occurs part time during the week at a high school in a converted high school classroom. The high school students enrolled in family theory courses get the opportunity to put what they are learning in class into practice in the play school and to learn how to incorporate programming for the children.  I am extremely jealous of all of the individuals involved in this program. I would have loved to have this opportunity while I was in high school, as I would have been far more prepared for my practicum experiences once arriving at university. 

I did however find the "buddy system" that was run in the room to be a bit odd. Each high school student was paired with a young child in the program to travel around the room with and to play with throughout their duration in the room. I personally believe that this does not allow for relationship building with other children in the room. I believe it would be ideal for the high school students to use the buddy system for a period of time, but to then allow for mingling among the other young children to encourage more relationships.

Another thing that I liked about this program was the fact that the room incorporated an observation booth. This allowed for students doing projects or observations to use this area to watch the children and go unnoticed. I think observation booths are so wonderful as they allow for the observers to watch the children in a more natural environment. If a child knows you are observing them, they often act unnatural or different than they normally would. 

Again, another great class of presentations. It is so great to hear about so many different child care programs in the general area.

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Week 10 - Presentations

November 6th, 2014

So today in class we began our field visit presentations. It was very interesting to hear about some child care programs in the surrounding area. Fellow classmates clearly outlined both the positives and negatives of their visited location, which was very informative, especially if one was looking for a personal child care option for a child, or for a place of employment. I joted a couple small notes of things that struck me as odd throughout the presentations. 

- one centre in plaza (Lillian's Childcare Centre)

- basement, high shelfs, lack of windows (Harmony Kids Day Care)

- Play Care Centre ages 0-6, wide range(YMCA)

- unschooling --> ages 3 to 13, children wandering around, fully independent, parent's accepting

The Lillian's Child Care Centre was located in a plaza, which I found to be very interesting. This centre did provide enough space for programming, but my thought process was the fact that the centre would have to think about what else is within the plaza, and that the full environment is ideal and safe for families and children. 

The Harmony Day Care Centre is in the south end of Guelph within the basement of a building. According to the presenters, there was still enough natural light to provide a warm environment, however, as the windows were so high up, it did not allow the children to see outdoors and observe the natural environment. It was also somewhat concerning that the furniture in this centre was not suited for the children's ages and developmental level. All of the shelves were high up and did not promote independence in seeking out materials. Many items required adult assistance.Similar to this, there were not labels on the toys and shelves in order to encourage the children to clean up independently. Labels are also important for encouraging reading comprehension.  November 10th

I am adding to this post as I did not quite finish all of my thoughts from the presentations last class. 

A group visited the Play Care Centre at the YMCA, which is a program that provides care for children of parents and guardians who are members of the club for up to 2 hours. The age range available is from birth to age 6. I found this to be very shocking that a facility was able to care for children of so many ages and to be able to keep them safe, engaged and encourage development. The materials within the classroom needed to be of a great developmental variety. I personally would not feel very comfortable leaving my younger child in a facility that also served older kids. How are we ensuring that each child is being properly cared and receiving enough attention for during their time in the centre. 

Finally, I found the presentation on Unschooling to be incredibly interesting. I definitely wish that I could have heard more about the observation and what occurs in this environment. I personally do not think I would send my own children to this type of learning environment, but it was intriguing to hear about. The children were given complete control of their day and what they were learning. The children also believed in the learning philosophy that learning doesn't stop, it happens everywhere. The level of supervision was very lax in this environment also. The children decided for example that they wanted to go outdoors, so they went without their caregiver. Safety was looked at through a different lense, that is for sure. 

Overall, it has been very interesting so far to hear about many different childcare programs in the general area. It makes me start to think about the type of research I am going to have to put in when it comes time for me to personally choose a care option for my own children. 

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Week 9

November 06, 2014

So week 9 journal, I'm late again :( This week was crazy busy for me, including my field visit for this course!

My partner and I conducted our field visit at the Campus Child Care Cooperative of Guelph, which is located conveniently right across from UofG campus. We had the ability to view the infant room, which I found personally interesting as I have not been in a room of children that age before. 

First off, we noted the amount of staff in the room, as there were 4 staff members. At first I thought this was a lot of staff members, but then I was reminded of the ratios for infants as being a much lower 1:3 ratio than what I am used to working in. Therefore, they were meeting ratios as there were 8 infants in the room.  They were super adorable as they watched us enter the room. It was notable that they did not recognize us, and were trying to figure out who we were and why we were there.  The ECE's in the classroom were fully engaged with the infants throughout our entire observation, which was very wonderful to see! All of the children seemed very content, and trusting of the staff members in the room. 

Overall, when it comes to the physical facility itself, I was very impressed. the room was somewhat small, but definitely a big enough room as the children were still such a young age. Within the room, there was an attached bathroom and changing area, a kitchen with full fridge and two separate sleep rooms equipped with full cribs. How spectacular is that? Separate sleep rooms! I am so used to being at the CCLC, where the children simply use cots within the room. But seeing as the infants are still so young, it makes sense that they would require a separate space to sleep in safely. 

When it comes to the general areas outside of the main classroom, the facility looked like a school. It was interesting to see the set up of cubbies in a shared hallway, but such a LARGE hallway! Imagine the space available during transitions!Again, when comparing to my own experiences, the space available at this facility seemed spectacular.  It was very interesting to be able to attend a facility simply for the purpose of observation, and it really opened my eyes to the fact that there are some wonderful options for childcare in the area, it just may involve some searching and observation. An overall great experience! -Courtney

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Class 8 - Inclusion

October 26, 2014

I am slightly late on this post, but very close to the timeline that I set for myself. 

During this class, we watched the documentary Including Samuel.  Honestly, throughout the entire documentary, I felt a pull at my heartstrings. The people in the film were so wonderful, and individually special. I was especially touched by the child Samuel. It was so amazing to see the support he was getting from his family, friends at school and teachers. The documentary really showed that he IS capable of doing things, and striving to push himself to do more than is expected of him. He also always seemed so happy throughout the film. 

During the video, I was thinking about the difficulty that parents face in raising a child with a disability. Not only in the daily physical struggle, but in the mental one. One part of the film really stood out to me, it was when the parents were speaking about their fears and nervous tendencies towards their son, but when they looked at their son and saw him smiling and happy, they realized "why worry if he is happy?". 

This documentary again made me ponder my own personal future. I have been looking into professions involving children with disabilities as I have felt a growing passion in working with them and working to understand and help their abilities to grow. At the same time, I was thinking about what I would do if my own child was born with a disability. I feel as though it would definitely be something that I would struggle with. It's unfortunate because if I would be okay with working with these children, i should be okay with my own child having a disability. I guess it relates back to what I mentioned earlier, about the parents in the documentary not worrying if their child is happy. I will have to reach this point personally in my own life if I end up in a similar situation. 

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Class 7 - Full Day Kindergarten

October 22, 2014

- class ratios

- ECE treatment in the school system

- schedule for parents and principal versus actual schedule (Visual schedule)

So I posted the above notes for myself while in class to be the basis of this journal posting. I had hoped to post this entry the night of class, but as it turns out, I am again late with my posting. However, I am finishing it before next class, which is indeed a step up.  Class 7 consisted of some more guest speakers. We had a teacher and an RECE from a local Guelph school come in to talk about being an ECE with the school board, how they set up their classroom, a typical day and some general information about the new full day kindergarten program. 

I know I have posted about it before, but again, I come back to the idea of class ratios. How can a classroom possibly function with 30 children in it!? i say this in relation to both space and quality of care from the limited educators in the room. I find it to be absolutely ridiculous that people managing these schools, such as principals, think that this number is totally okay and manageable. Clearly they don't understand the amount of attention each child needs and deserves. It also makes me think about the idea of inclusion. I have always believed strongly in the idea of inclusion within the school system, as I have observed the effects first hand, but in thinking about these ratios in classrooms, there is no way that typically developing children are receiving proper attention, let alone those children who may need extra assistance and care in their learning. 

When it comes to ECE treatment within the school, it was nice to see that these particular individuals who came to speak with us had banded together to be a team, versus trying to power trip each other. It is however, very discouraging to hear how parents, principals and the school board as a whole, still tend to look down upon ECEs and still don't know how to recognize their potential and the work and education that went into their career. The guest lecturers discussed how during Professional Development days (PD days) at the school, the teacher of the classroom is expected to use this time for report card writing and planning. Meanwhile, the ECE was expected to go to a seminar, alongside the Educational Assistants, who do not have the same credentials whatsoever. It seems very insulting that the ECE who works so closely with the children in the classroom, does not have the ability to document how those children are doing developmentally and in their learning, while the teacher solely does. 

Recently, I believed that working for the school board right out of university, without requiring further Master's education, would be such a stellar job to land! But now I am starting to question whether or not I would be able to handle the challenge of facing those who are so uninformed about the profession and the lack of respect that can come with it. 

On a side note, I found it interesting that the guest lecturers showed us a copy of their weekly schedule. According to the principal of the school, and to inform parents, a perfectly set out schedule is necessary. However, in real day to day life, the schedule may not actually be followed. Working with children, especially in Play Based Learning, needs to be flexible, and I believe that the ECE within the classroom will aid a lot in maintaining this flexibility. 

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Class 6 - Careers in ECE

October 9th, 2014

Today in class we had a guest speaker come to speak to us about careers in ECE. I particularly enjoyed the activity where we were, as groups, to prioritize what we would look for in jobs in early childhood education. This exercise was actually very useful, as it will be important to know our own personal priorities when we finish school and begin searching for actual jobs and careers. 

Personally, I found the following things to be my priorities in a job:

- wage and benefits

- hours and job security

- location 

-philosophy of the workplace

- working conditions

It was very interesting to look at some examples of real life job advertisements and to analyze which I would prefer to apply for or have as an actual job. It was also interesting to see the outlined wages of what these jobs were willing to pay ECEs. One specific thing that I learned today was that teachers, under the school board, are paid via salary versus hourly wage, and therefore are paid over the summer months even though they are not actually working. This is different for ECEs in the school board. They are not provided with this luxury, and although they are paid decently well hourly, they are not paid over the course of the summer months as the certified teachers are. 

Another piece of information that I learned today was about the Reggio Emilia philosophy. I feel as though it did not seem like a new idea to most of the class, but it was something new and intriguing to me. I found it very interesting to know that there are entire school boards that have chosen this philosophy to backup how they wish to have children learn within their schools. It incorporates more open spaces and more natural elements in the classroom versus colourful ones. I will definitely be looking more into this particular philosophy out of my own interest. 

- Courtney

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Class 4 - What is quality?

October 9th, 2014

In week 4, we focused on quality and attempting to define what it is. I came to realize that there are sooooo many things that can actually make up "quality" and what it is. As a class we discussed the different perspectives that the definition of quality can come from. The two perspectives that I found intriguing were those of the employers and of society. 

The idea of quality from the point of view of employers does make a lot of sense. I am just very surprised that I didn't think of it myself. I do believe that the perspective of employers is very important. Employers should desire that their place of work be of high quality, and therefore are important in defining it. 

When it comes to society's view of quality, I am still a bit unsure. In my opinion, in the focus of quality in ECE, I feel our general society will not really have enough knowledge to be able to properly define "quality". If I do try and give society the benefit of the doubt, I do believe that some things they may be able to identify are a safe and caring environment and availability of services. 

What I really enjoyed about this class was hearing everyone's opinions on what quality in childcare really was. I was able to broaden my own personal definition of what quality in ECE really is. 

- Courtney

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Class 3 entry - Policies in ECE

October 9th, 2014

In week 3, we had another guest speaker come to speak about policies in early childhood education. The two main things that I found interesting about this class's learnings were how the child care system still does not support both parents in the workplace, and how many European countries create policy on the basis of promoting fertility. 

When thinking about the first statement, I get quite upset. It is very ridiculous how we as a Canadian society are in a never ending circle. The economy is so low, which then requires both parents to work to make a living for their family, yet childcare is still too unaffordable for a large population, which therefore cancels out the second parent even working to try and bring their family more income!

The second statement was very interesting. The fact that there are some European countries that are encouraging more births and fertility is somewhat mind blowing. My logic automatically goes to; A) the fact that the Earth is constantly losing space and our world's population is growing at an enormous rate, and B) the fact that in Canada, we still have multiple children who are not able to be in child care due to not enough child care spaces. There is no way we would be able to promote more births in our province, because we simply do not yet have the full resources to properly care for and educate these new children.

Overall, was a very interesting class and tied in to some similar topics that were touched on in Social Policies; a class that I also found very interesting!

-Courtney

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Class 2 Journal Entry - The Kidu App

During this week's class, we had a guest speaker to come in and speak about a new app being created for parents. It is called Kidu and is being created to provide parents with developmentally appropriate activities, recipes, ways to stay healthy and more. It sounds like a really interesting and wonderful app to be available for parents. The use of technology is increasing drastically, and having this information on an app where it is easily accessible to most of the world is incredible! It will also be accessible in the sense that the app will be free and downloadable right to any smartphone or tablet. I was surprised with the fact that the app was to be free, but this is definitely a plus as this will allow more parents from low socio-economic statuses to have access to the great information provided in the app.

During the lesson about the app, two particular things caught my attention. The first of these was the idea of making the app culturally relevant globally. In my opinion this will be a very difficult task. There are so many different cultures and languages around the world and therefore I believe this will make it tricky to have the app as usable for all people. Some issues could be with the use of certain materials for activities (example: the use of food for a craft may be frowned upon in some cultures, but completely acceptable in others), or the actual actions involved in the activity itself may be unnatural or not supported. I do believe however, that there are ways around the language barriers for certain parts of the app such as the use of many pictures and picture symbols. I do believe however that it would be most ideal to start to translate the information to be available in as many languages as possible. Some things, such as the available vaccination schedules in the 'Be Healthy' section of the app, would be important to have available in the person's native language to be able to fully and properly understand the information provided. The second thing that stood out to me was the discussion of how in many areas of our world, personal technology is becoming available, while things like education, clean water and access to hospitals is still not. This can be argued as both a positive and negative thing. The positive aspect of this is that technology can be used in education, instead of the typical forms of education we think of here in North America. The app could provide the information and education required to ensure that the activities the children are engaged in are age and developmentally appropriate. The negative view to this idea of technology before education and health care is the simple fact that education and proper health care should be human rights and necessities. A person especially needs access to water and health care in order to live a healthy life.

Overall, this class was very interesting! I will definitely be on the lookout for this app in the near future, and wish it success in reaching many parents, children and families.

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Class 5 - October 2nd 2014

So today we had a guest speaker in to discuss professionalism and what it means. We were introduced to what it means to be a professional through the use of two models, and the parts that make up a professional identity. 

The two models we looked at were Peeters (2008) and Katz (1988). As a class we discussed what aspects of each model we believed fit in well with the profession of Early Childhood Educator and those that may not fit so well. I personally liked the Peeters model better, as I believe that more of the outlined items fit in with the ECE profession, these being: belonging to an expert group, unique body of knowledge, and restrictive entry into profession. The one that stood out to me as not fitting so well in terms of ECE was 'recognition'. I still believe that ECEs are not very well recognized in terms of their skills, what society believes they do, and working conditions (wages, benefits, etc). The profession is more recognized and regulated in Ontario, which is a plus, but I believe that society still does not yet recognize the profession as a "professional" one. 

It surprised me that many of the classmates identified better with the Katz model of what it means to be a professional. The one aspect, distance from the client, seems to be very opposite than what one would want while working in this profession. Early Childhood Educators should strive for a close relationship with each individual child they work with, as well as a close relationship with parents and other staff in the workplace. I do however agree with the model where it outlines social necessity and having a code of ethics as important aspects to what it means to be professional. 

The class was introduced to what makes up professional identity. - Regulatory body - Professional Organizations - Laws and policies

It was interesting to me to note that professional identity is constantly changing and is not linear. I find this particularly interesting in relation to my own view of my professional identity. I am still unsure of really how to define myself, or when I will feel that I am a "professional", so it was nice to hear that this is going to come with and change over time. 

I really enjoyed the class activity that we were able to do in groups. Each group was given a title for someone in the ECE profession. It was very interesting to brainstorm with others, their thought on what the pros and cons were to each 'label'. My group had the label "Ms. LAST NAME". We discussed how this could be a positive for an ECE in the classroom as it equalizes the individual with the teacher in the classroom, as well as is a professional sounding and respectful way for other staff or parents to speak to them. Some cons that were discussed were the fact that it seemed impersonal compared to using ones first name in the classroom, as well the fact that a change in last name (for example due to marriage) could be very confusing for young children. 

Overall, I enjoyed the class and having the guest speaker in.  I look forward to seeing where my future takes me in defining my own personal professional identity. 

- Courtney

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Get yourself together!

As it stands, I am not doing too well at keeping up on my journals :( I really need to buckle down and set aside time to get them done each week. I still believe that I can do it! What I can look at positively though, is the fact that I have taken point form notes specifically to use towards my journal entries, so reflecting back on the classes should not be too difficult.  I plan on writing this weeks journal entry tomorrow (friday) as well as catching up on some missed entries. 

-Courtney

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September 5th, 2014 - Reflection on our first class

So, this is to be my first journal entry after our first class on Thursday September 4th (September already!!!!). 

First of all, it was my first class back after the summer, and I did not even realize what course I was headed to, I was just looking forward to already knowing the prof who would be teaching it. As it turns out, I am really looking forward to this course as a whole! I am interested in hearing more about early child care, the College of ECE and potential career paths.  I jotted some quick things down in class to probe my memory of what to write about in my first journal entry:

-          Canada very low on meeting standards in childcare, which is surprising due to positivity around our country as a whole

-          Ratios in Full day vs quality childcare with DNA

-          Response to how Canada is doing

-          Governments that must agree on everything, Harper ended it first thing

-          Childcare spaces

I remembered learning about the results from the UN report on child care in different countries in my Social Policies class last semester. It is crazy to think about how poorly we are meeting standards, when we are such a great country in many other aspects! This report and general knowledge that I learned about Canada and childcare in FRHD 4320 is what actually pushed me towards voting in this year's election.  Hearing about the new Full Day Kindergarten ratios shocked me! I was appalled. The fact that the government is pushing and promoting this new thing is ridiculous. There is no possible way that you can provide adequate and quality care, learning and developmental experiences and safety for young children if you have 2 adults paired with 40 children. I know this isn't the case in all kindergarten classrooms, but I was definitely shocked to hear that this is being allowed in schools.  Touching back on the idea of me finally participating in the election this year, one of the biggest and main causes I was looking at had to do with child care and ways the government would affect children in Canada. I learned in FRHD 4320 how Harper immediately shut down Canada's plan for a universal child care plan and I was heartbroken. I have such a passion for children and their well being, that I believe that it should be a RIGHT in our country to have access to the best possible care for children, at very little to no cost. There should be spaces available for every child, with reasonable ratios and qualified educators.  I know this is not necessarily a reasonable and attainable thing in our country, as there are so many things that occur in life that need to be balanced out and controlled by a government....but it is hard to fully accept how poorly our country is doing in this area, and how the advocacy for better, quality childcare is still so minimal.  I am still somewhat unsure as to whether I am doing this whole learning journal thing correctly, but I just went with the flow and typed out some of my thoughts after our first class on Thursday. Looking forward to more learning in this course during the semester! -Courtney