• Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle
• Base our work on knowledge of how children develop and learn
• Appreciate and support the bond between the child and family
These core values that they base their code of ethics on are important and interesting to me because I believe these are a fantastic foundation for our field to grow on. Without these values our field would be like any other type of for profit organization. But instead we can be focused and driven. I appreciate childhood as an important stage in human life and believe that without understanding the importance of this stage many children can be set behind.
Children develop and learn in very specific ways and if we take the time to understand and learn how they learn, our goals will be accomplished easier and they will learn and retain information much better.
One must remember at all times the bond between child and family. Many teachers take the place of a parent ole and it interferes with the family bond. This can actually do harm to the child's development. By understand and accepting this bond a teacher and educator can use their classroom time and the home life together and can find ways to encourage both school and family life together instead of one taking away from the other. This will be the most effective way of teaching, utilizing each area of a child's life.
These ideals are important in my professional life because without a strong foundation is it easy to get caught up in lingo and policies that we miss the purpose of our work and the reality that the child represent. By understanding development we can create better policies and situations for children. I have seen this done poorly for far too long. And lastly I appreciate the bond because I see so many people criticizing parents and families without understanding their situation fully and I see the harm that this does to children, parents, and the family as a whole. Some people need to stop trying to parent children that are not theirs and instead become a support to the family as a whole. This is a much more effective way of changing behavior and encouraging parents to do their best with their children.
Tell me your thoughts on this matter. Please!
Anna, you and I have the same thoughts about teachers trying to raise other people's children as our own. Our focus should be on the children and the families and how we can support their development.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I also believe that teachers should support parents values rather than enforce their personal beliefs in an early childhood program. I think it confuses the child and puts them in the position where they feel have to choose. For this reason, early childhood classrooms should represent families' ideas rather than exclude them.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I appreciate your comment that educators can sometimes put a child in a position where they feel they have to choose between school and family. It is important that a program stay supportive and inclusive, but neutral at the same time. Quite a monumental task for nurturing humans. :) I suppose that when it comes down to it, we must also humble ourselves at times and realize that we may have overstepped our bounds when we respond to a child in a way that does not support a family's ideals. Hopefully, we have formed positive bonds within our own structures to make troubling moments more bearable.
DeleteHi Anna, because I have students from different cultures who attend my center, its important to have input from the parents on their family values regarding especially when it comes to religion. I have parents who do not celebrate certain holidays and I have requested that I do not confuse their child by allowing them to participate in certain activities, and I have to respect their wishes.
DeleteI wish more than anything that I could stay focused on my teaching mission, honestly I do.. But times have changed so much that those outside factors linger with us throughout the day, and the only way I can describe it is "unsettles me" and throws off my rythmn. An example: This week the idea of painting and crafts were brought up. We were told that we shouldn't allow or plan for children to do this as an extending activity. We should only do paper pencil tasks directly related to writing or reading or only allow our children to read with a buddy or alone. Even though most do not read, nor speak English...We went round and round and at the end of the meeting we were told a variation of "BECAUSE I told you so" and our meeting ended..After leaving the team couldn't stop thinking about how we were following best practices and age appropriate story extenders..I am still upset about that meeting. So how would you let this go.? This type of disagreement stays with me and ends up hurting my stomach!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you how much I appreciate you standing up for developmentally appropriate practice. Crafts, art, music, story-telling, and free-writing practice are incredible ways to develop children's academic skills. Extensions are excellent methods to bring home varying points of what can sometimes be a complicated or multi-faceted lesson/concept. In addition, when you have ESL or otherwise differently-abled children in your classroom, often these types of activities can more fully explain something in a way in which they can understand (pictorally, musically, etc.). I have also found in children who generally don't or won't participate in a group setting, sometimes the small amount of one-on-one attention or allowing them to feel that they are "flying under the radar" that can come from these extensions will actually cause them to open up. Keep up the good work and best of luck to you!
Delete