TCHR5010 Theory to practice: Competency and capability of Preschoolers
Assessment One: Portfolio
Task 1: Professional Philosophy (approximately 500 words)
Write your professional philosophy statement for working with Preschool age children.
Consider important aspects of pre-schoolers’ learning and development that we have
been focusing on in the unit such as:
– Relationships
– Quality
– Diversity and inclusion
– Transition to school
– Supporting pro-social competencies
Task 2: Goals and Critical reflection (approximately 1000 words/200-300 words per
goal)
Set 4-5 goals that you want to achieve on your forthcoming professional experience with Preschoolers. Critically reflect on these goals, and your philosophy, and identify anticipated challenges you may face achieving your goals and putting your philosophy into practice. How do you intend to overcome these challenges? Analyse according to the set text, and the NQS and EYLF.
TCHR5010 Theory to practice: Competency and capability of Preschoolers
Professional Philosophy
When working with preschoolers, it is essential to embrace a professional philosophy that encompasses all aspects of a child’s development. I have taken up a professional philosophy that aims at ensuring the holistic development of the preschoolers under my care. This philosophy helps ensure that these children can develop meaningful relationships, get quality education, feel included and embrace diversity, have a smooth transition to school, and even become socially competent.
Relationships play a crucial role in EYLF, which is why this aspect serves as a foundation of my philosophy (Department of Education, 2022). Establishing a strong relationship with each child is crucial in promoting the children’s sense of belonging and well-being. Such a relationship can help children to develop better relationships with each other. It can also help feel confident enough to be authentic, curious, and explorative. By maintaining strong and responsive relationships with each child under my care, I help ensure that everyone feels seen, valued, and ready to unleash their full potential.
I am also quite committed to ensuring that I provide quality education to each child. I am committed to ensuring that each child in my care gets access to appropriate experiences that help them to learn, and become creative, curious, and critical thinkers (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2018). I promote quality education by integrating play-based learning with traditional teaching practices to help ensure that the interests and strengths of each child are nurtured.
The preschoolers come from very diverse backgrounds, something that makes it crucial to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in my classroom. I always ensure that children feel confident enough to embrace and take pride in their diverse backgrounds. I also strive to create a space where each child feels welcome and valued (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2018). I include culture in my teaching practices to help ensure that each child feels as though they belong in my classroom. This helps them not only love and appreciate themselves, but also helps them to be mindful, empathetic, and respectful of each other regardless of their differences.
Transitions can be tough for young children when not handled correctly. I always aspire to make the transition from preschool to elementary school smooth by working with families, other educators, and the community at large (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2022). I also implement various transition strategies that not only help these children transition to the next level of their learning but also ensure that they can handle whatever transitions they face in life.
Preschool is a sensitive level as this is where the children get to develop and shape their social competencies. My philosophy creates opportunities for the children to cooperate as they play, resolve any conflicts that may arise, and even be empathic towards each other. Supporting the children’s pro-social competencies is crucial as it can help them develop social and emotional skills that will ultimately help them become kind and respectful adults (Arthur et al., 2021). My goal is to not only help these children excel academically but I desire to see them become emotionally intelligent with the social skills that will help them build and maintain connections now and in the future.
Goals and Critical Reflection
Building trusting relationships
Trust is one of the main qualities that children need while still young. Trusting relationships can help a child to feel secure, something that can help such a child to become a confident, well-balanced adult (Wylie, 2019). My goal is to lay a secure foundation for the children to make meaningful connections. Establishing trusting relationships with preschoolers can be quite challenging especially if a child does not have a trusting relationship with the parents or guardians (Arthur et al., 2021). It is also quite challenging since most of the children can be quite shy and resistant to new people. I will address these challenges by spending one-on-one time with each child, something that will help them feel valued. I will also take part in some of the child-led activities, something that will help the children to open up to me. I will also use positive reinforcements to help build this trusting relationship. For instance, having parents present during the welcoming part of the class will help the children feel confident enough to trust me since preschoolers tend to follow what their parents do (Davies, 2019). I will also build meaningful connections with the children by ensuring that our learning space is culturally safe for children and families from all backgrounds. Children who learn to develop trusting relationships with those around them are in a much better place to develop healthy brains, something that can help them develop abilities such as self-regulation (Davies, 2019). Self-regulation is such a crucial ability since it can help ensure that these children do not develop behavioral problems as they grow older.
Creating a safe physical space
Children learn best when they are in a safe environment (Department of Education, 2022). Such an environment can help them feel free to express their curiosity and creativity. Such an environment can also help the children to participate in the learning experience since they feel valued and safe enough. A safe physical environment includes both indoor and outdoor spaces that can help the children to thrive in different environments. Such an environment also has enough resources that will make it easier for preschoolers to take part in play-based learning. A safe physical environment is also free from hazards of all kinds and accessible to all children (Phillips, 2020). Creating such an environment is easier said than done, especially since it requires an educator to be careful with all the details. Creating such an environment also requires an educator to be fully equipped to handle any problems that may emerge. Such problems may include safety hazards (especially when it comes to outdoor spaces) and maintenance of a clean space. To address these challenges, I will need to collaborate with other educators to ensure that I have all the resources needed. I will also need to conduct regular assessments while still guiding the children on how to maintain the spaces.
Raising environmentally conscious preschoolers
Young children need to learn not only how to take care of themselves and thrive academically and socially, but they also need to learn how to take care of their environment (Lamanauskas, 2023). I am to teach the children under my care the need to be environmentally responsible. I will achieve this by promoting eco-friendly behaviors such as recycling, not wasting resources, and loving and taking care of nature. This will perhaps be one of the most challenging goals to achieve especially since the world is now spending more time on their screens than interacting with nature. To achieve it, I will need to be creative since it may not be easy to get some children to care about the environment the children may also have a hard time understanding some of the new environmental concepts (especially the abstract concepts) (Department of Education, 2022). To deal with these challenges, I will have to take the children outdoors and allow them to relate with nature. To help develop their curiosity and love for nature, I will allow them to interact with the environment by taking them to spaces such as gardens and animal parks. I will also add environmental themes to daily learning. I will also need to collaborate with the families to ensure that they learn to love and protect the environment not just in class but even at home (Lamanauskas, 2023). By teaching the children about their natural world and why they must protect it, I will help raise environmentally conscious citizens who will be committed to protecting the environment and even to reducing the harm that has already been done to it.
Promoting inclusivity
Creating an inclusive environment that honors diversity is one of the main goals. I have seen what harm can be done when children are brought up in spaces that have no respect for diversity. It is even worse when a child feels like the odd one out in such an environment. My goal is to lay a good foundation for my preschoolers by ensuring that they not only feel valued and seen but that they also make each other feel the same. I will achieve this by incorporating multicultural perspectives into the curriculum. I will also use inclusive language, reading, and learning materials that will help the children learn about and respect different cultures. An environment that has respect for diversity is a rich environment where children from all backgrounds can thrive in it (Department of Education, 2022). However, creating such an environment will require not just implementing practices that promote inclusivity and diversity but continually assessing these practices, how children are responding to them, and whether they cater to the unique needs of every preschooler. Addressing cultural biases can be quite challenging in any environment, and this is a challenge that the preschool learning environment will not be exempted from (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2018). To deal with this challenge, I will have to seek professional help whenever needed. I will also need to take various trainings to ensure that I am equipped to handle such a challenge. I will also need to collaborate with families to ensure that these children feel included and valued and that they also learn how to treat others with the same understanding and empathy. Promoting inclusivity is one of the most critical goals for any preschool educator since it helps lay a foundation for how these children grow up seeing themselves and everyone else around them (Phillips, 2020).
References
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2021). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (8th ed.). Cengage AU.
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA]. (2018). Guidelines for documenting children’s learning. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA]. (2022). National Quality Framework. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/about
Davies, H. (2019). Trust and distrust: Listening to children about their relationships with professionals. Social Sciences, 8(9), 251. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8090251
Department of Education. (2022). Belonging, being and becoming: Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf (acecqa.gov.au)
Lamanauskas, V. (2023). The importance of environmental education at an early age. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 22(4), 564-567. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/23.22.564
Phillips, A. (2020). Exceeding the National Quality Standard: An investigation of high-quality long day care services in Australia [Doctoral dissertation]. https://researchportal.scu.edu.au/esploro/outputs/doctoral_external/An-investigation-of-long-daycare/991012915900302368?institution=61SCU_INST
Wylie, C. (2019). Shaping adulthood: Relationships, values, and experiences of the Competent Learners @ 26. New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER).
