New Zealand Early Childhood Education Learning Theories Link with Teaching - Essay Example

?Task B Teachers derive their behaviors, attitudes and ethics from their own personal and professional philosophies on teaching. Gore (1997) claimsthat systematic and disciplined observations of pedagogy are necessary in order to clarify and perhaps compromise on the philosophy everyone must believe in and live by. This task endeavors to explore three stories of teachers’ pedagogy in action as related in their stories. In the three stories, it is apparent that the teachers wanted to apply their knowledge and skills in early childhood education in their teaching practice, but realize that they also need to leave space for the children’s ideas to surface. Each story reflected the teachers’ chosen pedagogy. In “Learning From Very Young Children”, the teacher’s role was that of a co-learner. Muellar Tokunaga’s (2006) story illustrated a social constructivist pedagogy. Vygotsky (1978) believed that children’s intellectual development is influenced more by social context than by individual experiences. His theory places a great deal of emphasis on effective social interaction. Interactions are likely to go through a process called intersubjectivity. This is when two people are engaged in a task and begin from different understandings but with interaction, comes to an agreed, shared understanding. This is usually manifested when children initially debate opposite arguments but upon more understanding of the concept because of listening to each other’s opinions, will both end up seeing the concept in one direction. In Muellar Tokunaga’s story, she and the children eventually saw the same things in their imaginative play as it progressed to a smooth, seamless episode of a common experience. Because the play experience was so fulfilling and productive, Muellar Tokunaga, a relatively new teacher as of the time of writing gained inspiration in taking on a teaching philosophy that takes into account children’s ideas when planning the curriculum. Her story is filled with the influence of the family, the culture and context of the setting on the children’s learning. This is what Te Whaariki advocates as one of its principles. She says, “Through shared imaginary play the children were competent leaders of the moment, guiding me through their reality, sharing their understanding of life and the world” (Muellar Tokunaga, 2006, p. 44). It is not easy letting go of the reins of control and passing it over to little children’s hands, however, Muellar Tokunaga (2006) found wisdom in it. She allowed herself to be enmeshed in the children’s world of imaginative play and saw for herself how rich an experience it was not only for the children but for her as well. Accepting their invitation to glance into their world was a privilege she gladly enjoyed, as she learned that much of what they play and think about is a reflection of their culture and daily life. Consideration of this culture reflects an Ecological pedagogy which is also very strong in the Te Whaariki curriculum. Muelluar Tokunaga gives much emphasis to the cultural orientation of her students as she believes in “the importance of an open mind and awareness of cultural influences and behaviours should not be overlooked” (p. 45). This is manifested in equitable dialogues and sharing of stories with each other. To her, the significance of such dialogues lies not only in fostering feelings of mutual respect, love, belonging and responsibility for each other but on the practical side, it helps in “negotiating daily curriculum content in early childhood education”. The teacher in Patterson, Fleet and Duffie’s (1996) story, “Lambs’ Tails” shares an opposite story. Her role in the story was that of an interviewer who kept trying to elicit stories from her student, Bernie. She would have wanted the same privilege granted to Muelluar Tokunaga when the children invited her into their world, but with Bernie, Patterson et al.’s teacher overwhelmed the boy with too much enthusiasm about his world that he did not let her in. It takes a certain amount of balance, encouragement and discipline to allow children to open up their worlds to adults and if they show that they appreciate and respect that world by accepting their ideas and letting them plan their learning together, then maybe the door will be kept open. In the case of the teacher in “Lambs’ Tails,”, she remorsefully admitted, “It was then that I finally realized that the conversation was over and, in reality, the conversation as I saw it had never really begun” (Patterson et al., 1996, p. 25). She realized that the interest in the conversation was just one-way because Bernie would rather be playing with his peers. “Lambs’ Tails” showed that the teacher was using multiple perspectives in pedagogy. Her constant questioning reflected a Behaviourist philosophy, which emphasized question and answer methodology. She also gave importance to the child’s experience and interaction with others as a source of learning, which is a Social/Constructivist principle. Lastly, she tried to bring in the child’s learning experience from another learning environment, which is linked with an Ecological perspective. Lawrence’s (2004) story, “Making Sense of Planning: A Teacher’s Story” painted her as a dynamic teacher who is perennially searching for the best way to educate young children. In her more than two decades of teaching, she has adapted various pedagogies, took on its philosophy, implemented its strategies, only to realize that trends come and go. Her learning remains, though, as she maturely selects the best practices from among the pedagogies she has studied. Her quest for the best pedagogy ended when she found Te Whaariki, which blends culture, the child and learning together. Mostly, Te Whaariki is aligned with Lawrence’s personal teaching philosophy, although in a more organized format. Te Whaariki (1996)’s framework tightly weaves the principles of Empowerment, Holistic Development, Family and Community and Relationships with the strands of Well-being, Belonging, Contribution, Communication and Exploration. Although Te Whaariki may seem like a panacea to early childhood educators who seek organisation in their planning, it also leaves much room for discovery learning. The beauty of learning with children is in finding out together and not merely supplying answers to anticipated questions. This way, the teacher also engages in learning and not just dispenses information. Patterson, Fleet and Duffie’s (1996) teacher in their story had the best intention of including the child in planning the lessons with her, however, what started out as a curious exchange of pleasantries turned out to be a full-blast questioning that turned the child’s interest off. This illustrates Lawrence’s (2004) contention that responding reflectively “requires teachers to think and operate within an adjusted time frame which allows children to remain with, revisit and develop their own thinking” (p.18) She recommended that teachers should connect with children’s thinking by “staying” with the children when they share their ideas and not mentally rush ahead to plan new events and activities for the future based on those ideas. With regards to complexities in drawing from theory in teachers’ relationships with children and their families, I realize that it takes knowledge and experience as an educator to be able to discern which particular theoretical framework to draw from in developing one’s own pedagogy. In the three stories, I believe that the teachers manifested how reflective teaching should be. All stories point to their insights on teaching and relating to very young children, who seem to be teaching them as much as they are learning from them. This symbiotic relationship also reflects the interwoven strands of the Te Whaariki mat as well as Brofenbrenner’s ecological theory which explains that the behavior and development of an individual is an interplay of the individual’s biological and personality factors, his environment and the society and culture he was born into. Brofenbrenner (1979) also claims that effects of interactions between the individual and his environment are two-directional or characterized by reciprocity. This means that while a child’s development is influenced and molded by his family, teachers and peers, he likewise influences and molds the behavior of others. This implies that although there are standardized developmental expectations regarding children, teachers still need to customize their teaching to suit the needs of each individual child and not adopt a “one size fits all” philosophy (Claiborne & Drewery, 2010). For example, Wood (2009) recommends that teachers consider each child’s cultural differences and orientations to play when planning a play-based curriculum. She suggests a healthy balance of child-initiated and teacher-directed activities. This entails “high levels of pedagogical knowledge and skills, flexibility in curriculum planning and the ability to use evidence from observation” (Wood, 2009, p. 33) Playful manifestations of one’s cultural and symbol systems are effective in providing immediate benefits to the child due to its relevance to his being. It thus provides a good foundation for more ‘formal learning (Wood, 2009). The following chart sums up my personal reflection of the three stories and the teaching pedagogies they draw on in their teaching practice. Learning From Very Young Children Muellar Tokunaga, N. (2006) Making Sense of Planning – a Teacher’s Story Lawrence, R. (2004) Lambs’ Tails Patterson, C., Fleet, A., & Duffie, J. (Eds.). (1996) Social Constructivist – learning together with others and engaging in the process of Vygotsky’s intersubjectivity Ecological - consideration of learning within the culture and context of the children (New Zealand Culture) Constructivist – allowing children to direct their own learning, with teacher’s supervision (ex. coming up with their own “mobile”) Social/Constructivist – learning comes with interaction with ideas, activities and other children and teachers Behaviourist – constant asking of questions and expectation of answers Social/Constructivist – acknowledgement of learning from experience and interaction with others Ecological –consideration of another learning environment which is the farm where the lambs are. The three stories gave me a wider perspective in terms of developing my own teaching philosophy and pedagogy. Personally, I believe that an effective teacher encourages her students to direct their own learning. She is there to whet their appetite for learning and nudge them to move towards pursuing knowledge. She also finds ways to keep their thirst for learning unquenchable so they develop into life-long learners. When students are given the power to construct their own learning, it becomes more meaningful to them; hence, there is better retention. It takes a mature teacher to sharing the reins of learning with her students, and eventually passing the responsibility to them. It shows that puts great trust in their ability to learn and confidence in herself that she has trained them well. Active learning stimulates a student’s thinking on his own. Teachers cannot expect to be the main dispensers of knowledge to their students, but should recognize and respect that children are capable of coming up with their own opinions, and conclusions and ideas. Allowing students to explore their own ideas gives them more power in the acquisition of learning. Using information they have previously acquired, they are encouraged to invent their own solutions and try out their own ideas and hypotheses with the able support of their teachers. This way, they can indulge in concrete experiences that focus on their interests. The process of searching for information, analysing data and reaching conclusions is considered more important than learning facts. I also subscribe to the belief that learning is interactive. It ensues from social interactions as people bring their various backgrounds to the table so that everyone can share in the learning of past experiences and knowledge. In conclusion, I believe my personal teaching pedagogy will come from constructivist and social constructivist perspectives. I liken myself to a match. As a teacher, I am on hand to ignite the spark of interest and motivation of my students. It is now up to the students themselves to turn that spark into a burning flame that would keep them fired up for more learning. References Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Claiborne, L. & Drewery, W. (2010).Human development: Family, place, culture.  Sydney, Australia: McGraw Hill Gore, J.M. (1997) On the use of empirical research for the development of a theory of pedagogy. Journal of Education, Vol. 27 Issue 2 Lawrence, R. (2004). Making sense of planning - A teacher’s story. Early Education, 36, 15-19. Ministry of Education (1996).  Te Whariki/He whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media. Muellar Tokunaga, N. (2006). Learning from very young children. The First Years: Nga Tau Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education, 8(2), 44-46. Patterson, C., Fleet, A., & Duffie, J. (Eds.). (1996?). Learning from stories: Early childhood professional experiences (pp. 24-25). Sydney: Harcourt Brace.       Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wood, E. (2009). Developing a pedagogy of play.   In A. Anning, J. Cullen, & M. Fleer (Eds.), Early childhood education: Society and culture (2nd ed., pp. 27-38). London: Sage. Read More