my philosophy and view of the child
I am posting this because some people do not understand how i view children, and more than that, i have had people ask me how much they hate my fics when i add pregnancy or children.
i hope this clears up any confusion about my stance on children.
My overall beliefs about who children are, families and my role in the community as an Early Childhood Educator are that children are competent and capable learners, that the family and community that surrounds the child is going to be my best resource when it comes to trying to figure out what works best for the child. “I think that viewing children as smart and capable is something that all educators should be doing, in order to help children develop into the most confident and capable adults they can be.” (Miller, A. 2022) I feel that my role within the community as an Early Childhood Educator is to be a safe, reliable, responsible, and knowledgeable person, who helps both the child and the family, in any way she can, to best support the children in my classroom.
As an Early Childhood Educator, I believe my role in child development to be a role of support, encouragement and nurturing. I believe that as an Early Childhood Educator, not only should I be fostering the knowledge that they will need as they go through the school system and their milestones, but to help them learn to become empathetic, kind and accepting human beings. I believe that it is my role to help scaffold their social and emotional learning and well-being. I believe this because “Social and emotional skills determine how well people adjust to their environment and how much they achieve in their lives. But the development of these skills is important not only for the well-being of individuals, but also for wider communities and societies as a whole.” (OECD, n.d.)
I believe the curriculum within the classroom will be a huge asset to me as an Early Childhood Educator. I believe that by combining both the child’s interests and utilizing the curriculum for the age group I am working with, I will be able to create a learning environment that the child will enjoy being in every day, while still being able to gain the skills and knowledge that I am expected to pass on to them. I believe that utilizing the curriculum to my advantage in this way will allow me to learn what strengths a child has, but also to recognize what areas a child may need more support in, and will help me to provide that support to the best of my abilities.
From my experience working in the field and my education within the classroom, I believe my roles connected to the families, culture and diversity within the inclusive playroom are to recognize and represent the different cultures and abilities of the children in the room in a respectful way and to do this by collaborating with the families of the children. I believe that having different items in the room, such as baby dolls of different genders, race, and abilities, and books showcasing different cultures and family compositions, will help the children to learn to respect and include everyone, no matter what their culture, ability, or what their family may look like. I believe that it is important to have tough conversations regarding diversity, especially race, with children. I believe this because while these conversations are hard to have, especially in a child-friendly manner, it is important to educate the children on our country's past, and to show them that “despite all of the work that we are all trying to do to attempt to rectify the situation around race, some people will simply refuse to change, despite how much we want them to.” (Miller, A. 2022) and that they don’t have to accept that, that their generation can do better at reconciliation than we have done.
I believe my interactions with the children and families will be one of the most important aspects of my job. I strive to have positivity-based interactions with both the children and families. From my experience, I have found that when I have a positive interaction with the child, no matter the situation, I find the child and I have a closer, and more trusting relationship. “Simply put, by providing students with an outcome that is purely positive when they accomplish something good or when they behave in a certain desired way, students are encouraged to repeat that again” (teachmint.com, 2022) . I have found that with the parents and families of the children, positive interactions are key. I believe this because as an educator, I don’t know what the families are dealing with at home. I don’t know what struggles they may be facing with the child, so I believe that any positive interaction I can provide them with may benefit them more than telling them their child struggled a little bit, especially when this is something they may have already heard, over and over again.
I believe in an environment that supports not only the child’s learning but also their social and emotional learning. I think that children being in an environment that makes the children feel safe, accepted, and engaged, and a place where the child wants to be is one of the most important parts of education. I believe that every child should have a safe space outside of the home where they feel safe and welcomed and where they feel like they can be themselves. I believe that once these things are in place for the child, the child can learn to the best capacity possible. “It is important that Early Childhood settings and elementary schools implement Social and Emotional learning because social and emotional skills are just as important as academic skills such as math and reading, and that they can learn these skills the same way they would learn math or reading.It is important that Early Childhood settings and elementary schools implement Social and Emotional learning because social and emotional skills are just as important as academic skills such as math and reading, and that they can learn these skills the same way they would learn math or reading.” (Miller, A. 2022)
I believe my roles and responsibilities as an Early Childhood Educator are to support the children. This means supporting them in not only their learning and their milestones, but also to support them in learning how to recognize and regulate their emotions, in learning, through trial and error, how to resolve conflicts with peers, and how to recognize and deal with stressors within the classroom environment, as children cannot learn and develop properly when they do not feel safe, supported, and stress-free. “Stress and pressure can shut down the thinking brain—the prefrontal cortex that houses executive function skills. Rational thought is overwhelmed and the brain goes into survival mode, where the emotional brain takes over.” (chadd.org. 2018) I believe that my roles and responsibilities as an Early Childhood Educator are to be a safe space for all the children and to be a safe person to that they feel they can tell anything too, without fear of getting in trouble. I feel my responsibilities as an Early Childhood Educator are to recognize when a child is struggling and guide them, but not to solve the issue for them completely. I know that it is my responsibility to recognize important markers in the children and their behaviour and know what to do to best support them.
In conclusion, I believe that all children should be viewed as capable and competent humans and learners. I believe that my role in child development is a role of support, encouragement and nurturing, and I should be fostering the knowledge that they will need for their entire life, and to learn to be the best adults they can be. I believe that the classroom will be one of my most useful assets, as will be utilizing the curriculum to my advantage. Through my education, I plan to collaborate with the families to make my classroom an inclusive space for all the children. I believe that through my interactions with both the children and their families,... I believe that I will be able to be the best educator I can be when I form an environment that supports the child's learning, both social and emotional, and when I am constantly working towards learning how to support the children in my care to the best of my abilities.
