ReferencesArcher, A.L & Hughes, C.A (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. The Guilford Press.
Brown, S. & Vaughan, C. (2009). Play: how it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. Victoria, Australia: Scribe publications. Bukor, E. (2013). The impact of personal and professional experiences: holistic exploration of teacher identity, WoPaLP, 7, pp. 48-73. Commonwealth of Australia. (2009). Being, belonging & becoming: The early years learning frame work for Australia. Barton, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. (2011). Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework: for all students from birth to eight years. Melbourne: Early childhood strategy provision. Gonzalez-Mena, J & Eyer, DW. (2009). Infants, toddlers, and caregivers. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies. Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teaching. New York, NY: Routledge. MacNaughton, G. (2003). Shaping early childhood. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (n.d). Theories of Child Development and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea7lk18.htm. Powell, K C. & Kalina, C K. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: developing tools for an effective classroom. Education, 130 (2), 242- 250. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. (2010). The full day early learning. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindergarten_english_june3.pdf. Readman, K., & Allen, B. (2013). Practical planning and assessment. South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. |
My PhilosophyThroughout my four years of my Bachelor of Education, I have been required to read about all the different theories on how children learn. Through these perspectives, I have developed my own personal philosophy that has been adapted from the ideas of those theories. I believe there are many factors that contribute to the way that children learn. I believe that children learn best when they are active participants in their learning.
I believe that all students are individuals. What I see as individuality in a child is the way that every child has their own interests and own ways of learning. All students have their individual’s experiences that make up who they are and help them learn (MacNaughton, 2003). This statement corresponds with Vygotsky’s theory constructivism; he believes that students learn from their personal experiences (Powel & Kalina, 2009). Students have their own interests; therefore, they may have different ideas on what is fun to them (Brown & Vaughan, 2009). I believe that the educators need to have effective relationships with all students to provide a beneficial learning environment for them. The relationship between child and teacher helps the educator to get to know the child. By getting to know the child the educator can find out their interests, their background, values and beliefs (Gonzales-Menza & Eyer, 2009). If the educator knows these things about a child it can help them to understand why they may behaviour a certain way. Also by knowingc the child’s interest’s educators can create learning experiences that are meaningful to them. Also if the child has a positive relationship with the educator they can gain a sense of security and the ability to turn to someone they can trust (Commonwealth of Australia (COA), 2009). The environment shapes the child’s knowledge as well as the students adapt to their surroundings, this can also give them a sense of belonging and identity (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, n.d). In welcoming environments students can are able to achieve their potential because they feel safe and supported (Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2010). I also believe that assessment is an important aspect of a student’s learning. The use of summative, formative and self-assessment gives a more holistic view of each student’s development which can help the educator gauge areas of need and success (Archer & Hughes, 2011). I also believe that regular assessment is essential as regular assessment ensure students are given tasks that are at their level (Readman & Allen, 2013). The ongoing process of assessment is beneficial to the students because it supports them in the way that it generates personal feedback for the student that they can use to know how they are going and where they might go next (Hattie, 2012). I believe that educators need partnerships with families so that they can get to know the student better (Department of Education and Early Student Childhood Department (DEECD, 2011). No-one can know a student more than their own family; therefore, it is important that educator has a reciprocal relationship with families so that they can gather additional information about the student in accordance with their home life. Educators can also ask families what their child enjoys doing, that way the educator can support the student’s interests in their planning. Another reason I believe that educators need partnerships with families is so that the educator can learn about the family (Gonzales-Menza & Eyer, 2009). Knowing about the student’s family is as important as knowing the student. The benefits of knowing the family is so that the educator gets to know the background of the family. Information about the families’ background can give the educator an understanding of the culture of the family, which can also support the educator in their planning. The educator could even get the families to come into the classroom to share something of their culture with the other students. I believe that educators need partnerships with other educators and professionals to gain more ideas on tactics for teaching. With support from peers, it is helpful in the way that it can create an opportunity for sharing new ideas and thoughts with other people who are familiar with the field they are working with (DEECD, 2011). This could also support a holistic approach to teaching a student, in the way that when working together educators can remind each other if something does not support the whole student (DEECD, 2011). I also believe partnerships with other professionals are useful in the way if an educator is in need they have someone to support them with and challenges that may arise. An Educator does not know everything; therefore, they need advice time to time. When educators have effective relationships with other people that work in the same field they can contact them about any questions they may have. Educators could even ask other educators to look at their weekly plan so see what they think about it and whether they can suggest ways in making it work better (DEECD, 2011). Critical reflection is also something that I believe is essential for an educator to engage in on a regular basis. They need to critically reflect on their lesson plans to ensure that that they are meeting the intention of learning required for that area. Through critical reflection, the educator can take the time to think of new strategies to help the students who need additional support and ways to challenge the students who need to move forward. The educator also needs to reflect on their own personal development as an educator. Through this process, they can set goals that they can work towards to become a more effective educator. Reflecting on change is really important in the life of an educator because it helps them critique their practice and make changes where possible (Bukor, 2013). As an educator, the learning process never ends. |