Reflective Essay On Early Childhood Education and Practice

Reflective Essay on Early childhood education and practice
Introduction
This essay begins by discussing the changes, shifts, and challenges that occurred, which are
inspired by research and practice during the semester. Then the essay will elaborate on the
emerging professional identity and link this to relevant resources. It then moves on to discuss the
understanding of the provided tasks and provides evidence. Finally, based on the previous
reflection, the essay will further address the needs for future professional development in early
childhood teaching.
Shifts, Changes and Challenges

The significance of the safety and health of children was not considered in my prior graphic
representation, which should be placed in the utmost position in practice and emphasized all the
time. The importance of the matter is stated in nearly all ECEC policies. According to the Code of
Ethics (Early Childhood Australia [ECA], 2015, p.2), educators are required to "create and
maintain safe, healthy, inclusive environments that support children’s agency and enhance their
learning". As in the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) (Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], 2009), educators should develop
children's sense of well-being including aspects of physical, emotional, social, and health.
Educators should put effort into “support students’ wellbeing and safety”, as stated in the
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) (Australian Institute of Teaching and
School Leadership [AITSL], 2011, p.17) and this is one of the beginning requirements in the
placement. It is also one of the quality assessment standards in the National Quality Standard
(NQS) (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2018). The
children’s safety and health requirements reflect all aspects of early childhood education. Not only
the teachers should attach importance to it, but also the teachers should help to develop the
responsibility of children, their families, and the community as a whole to achieve the purpose.
During the placement, educators in the center only allowed children to play with a balance bike
with helmets, and children were constantly reminded to slow down their speed when playing.
Teachers who serve food to children would wash their hands first and make sure that every child
had already washed their hands. When the teachers were guarding the children, they made sure the
children were in their eyesight, anticipated dangers, and prevented them from happening. It is
through the placement that I realized that safety and health are not as simple as they may seem, it
is a serious matter and should be given priority.
The understanding of teaching strategies has developed from a narrow aspect of teaching method
to combine a range of teaching and learning strategies, which contains Highscope, Cultural-
historical approach, Reggio, Forest school, Montessori, and the Multiple Intelligences approach
(Ailwood et al., 2016). I noticed that the place I stayed drew upon the key features of each strategy
and made them their own. Children’s interests and strengths have been recognized and considered
by the teachers and teachers set up the classroom accordingly. For instance, some of the children
had a great interest in making artwork, so the teachers set up papers and watercolour brush pens in
the classroom to engage the children. They invited the local community to participate in some
activities. For example, they had invited a child’s father who was a firefighter to run an
educational activity for the children. Children were encouraged to shorten their screen time and
explore nature by leading to the nearest park.
The previous representation showed knowledge of ongoing professional development but what
exactly should I do to improve my practice was not demonstrated. On the one hand, it is better that
I should build a wide range of resources (AITSL, 2011) through gathering storybooks, nursery
rhymes, and activities for both small group and large group, on the other hand, I should constantly
reflect on my own practice and other colleagues practice and gain feedback from them (AITSL,
2011). Writing observations on each children is also a useful way to improve my practice because
observations support teacher to evaluate children’s engagement and teaching pedagogy (DEEWR,
2009).
My understanding of communicating with children was narrow in the previous picture. Instead of
talking to children about everything without purpose, it is better if communication and teaching
bear aims. This type of teaching strategy is called “intentional teaching”. In an early childhood
setting, intentional teaching includes educators being deliberate, purposeful, and mindful in their
teaching, which is the opposite of instructing by rote (DEEWR, 2009). In intentional teaching,
educators play a leading role in the learning process. Through effective questioning, and focused
or purposeful teaching, they work with children to build an environment that is full of learning
opportunities, which include intentional instructions to ensure that youngsters have access to the
knowledge and actively engage with different objects (Ailwood et al., 2016). This teaching
strategy was highlighted during the placement where the teachers actively engaged with the
children’s playing by asking questions, modeling, extending their playing, and guiding them to
learn new concepts. For example, in an activity of making a necklace for Mother’s Day, when the
teacher saw children randomly threading the beads, she asked them whether they could make
some patterns. The children seemed confused, so she explained to them what a pattern looked like
and modeled for them how to make a pattern by threading three different colours of beads onto the
string and then continuing the pattern. The children followed her instructions and imitated the
pattern. After finishing their first necklace, the teacher questioned whether they could create other
patterns. Children started to develop their understanding of patterns and were able to employ this
knowledge in different contexts, which related to Learning Outcome 5 (DEEWR, 2009)
In the previous picture, I recognized and showed respect to students with diverse linguistic,
cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds (AITSL, 2011, p.10), which met the beginning
level of the first teaching standards, but how to put this understanding in actual practice requires
time to and efforts. I argue that it is practical to involve children’s families and the community in
the class to provide educational activities. They could explain new concepts to the children about
their culture (e.g., pictures or food from their culture), religion ( e.g., sharing religious customs),
and their social background (e.g, a father who is a firefighter can use his knowledge to talk about
fire and safety) using their own language with English as an explanatory complement. These help
to promote the children's learning of topics and their application, as well as strengthen the
relationship between school and family (Hill, 2012). It also helps to build an inclusive
environment where children understand and respect different cultures. Engaging family and
community are emphasized in the National Quality Standard 6 (ACECQA, 2018), which states
that children are significantly more likely to achieve their comprehensive capacity in life when
their family, education, and care services work together. Although I couldn't manage to fulfill this
task, I will continue to work on this aspect in my ongoing learning and practicing by observing
other teachers' practices and making this engagement sustainable.
Managing challenging behaviour (AITSL, 2011, p.16) was one of the difficulties that occurred
during placement. Behaviours such as resistance to following your request, being particular about
food or clothes, deliberately hurting others, and excessive emotion (The Royal Children’s Hospital
Community Information, Department of Adolescent Medicine, and The RCH Child Health Poll,
2018) can be found across the early childhood process. I understand that when facing these
behaviours, educators need to understand the children and stand on their feet, trying to know why
they do that. But it is still a challenge for me at the moment.
In addition, helping children and their families to go through a smooth transition is crucial as a
healthy transition to school is believed to be linked to continued accomplishment and engagement
(DEEWR, 2009). but it is also a challenge for pre-service teachers who don’t have much
experience.
Professional identity
Before I started this ECEC learning, I didn’t realize the importance of capacity educators to have
leadership since it is a relatively new sector for early childhood teachers’ ability assessment until
recent years in many countries. The function of educational leaders arose in the Australian ECEC
sector as part of a massive policy reform process that starts in 2009 (Sims et al., 2018). The
Chinese government has started a comprehensive reform in ECEC in 2010, with methods aimed at
increasing teacher leadership and improving educational quality (Wang & Ho, 2020). In
discussions regarding the creation of early childhood identity, leadership is becoming increasingly
important (Woodrow, 2008). According to the ACECQA (2018), the educational leader has a
significant impact on creating excellent results for children and their families. By inspiring,
motivating, validating, challenging, and expanding educators' practice and pedagogy, effective
educational leadership improves their ability. This collaborative project incorporates inquiry and
reflection, as well as continual learning and professional growth. ECE leadership in the Australian
context is more about collaboration and distribution and it is occurred mostly in a small and
people-oriented institutions, frequently led by women (Halpern et al., 2021). Leadership
development should be viewed as a process that influences ECEC and should be improved at all
hierarchical levels, rather than a formal leadership position. Educators who are trained as leaders
gain the ability to lead change, which benefits both themselves and their pupils (Halpern et al.,
2021). I believe that the discussion about leadership is a vital part of broadening the present
spectrum of professional discourses and identities so that they can react to the difficulties of this
profession (Woodrow, 2008).
Interactions with a variety of groups are one component of what it means to be professional
(Roberts, 2005). There are many standards and norms in ECEC that require the involvement of
family (Fenech & Sumsion, 2007). Lead to ongoing materials (e.g. DEEWR, 2009; ACECQA,
2018) convey normative expectations that early childhood instructors would participate in
"partnerships with parents" when discussing interactions with parents. Being a 'good' early
childhood teacher is expected to have caring and nurturing connections with parents and families
(Feeney et al., 2010). Parent engagement, parent education, and transformative partnerships are all
examples of partnership discourse found in EC literature (Arthur et al., 2007; MacNaughton,
2003; Rodd, 2006). In the parent engagement relation, Educators and parents are placed in
hierarchical relationships, with teachers determining the format and direction of the collaboration
based on their expertise (Thomas, 2012). In the parent education relation, Teachers are seen as
capable of teaching parents how to better assist their children and be more effective parents.
Parents are considered as needing to gain the expert knowledge possessed by educators (Arthur et
al., 2007). Parent-teacher interactions have been considered as a tool of empowerment or
transformative partnerships (Arthur et al., 2007; MacNaughton, 2003). The idea that differences,
such as beliefs, aims, and practices of teachers and parents, need to be 'fixed' or addressed
underpins such an emphasis on teacher–parent interactions as problematic. Parents who do not fit
in the educational system are labeled as needing to be fixed, which is the task of educators who
can retain a more powerful position in the parent–teacher relationship by claiming to have the
capacity to meet and fulfil this professional needs by employing expertise (Thomas, 2012).
Professional identity and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Reference
Early Childhood Australia. (2015). Code of Ethics. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-publications/eca-code-ethics/.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging,
being & becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.
Retrieved May 14, 2022, from
https://doc.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becoming_the
_early_years_learning_framework_for_Australia_.PDF
Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers. AITSL. Melbourne. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/defaultsource/national-policy-
framework/australian-professional-standards-forteachers.pdf
Ailwood, J., Boyd, W., & Theobald, M. (Eds.). (2016). Understanding early childhood education
and care in australia : Practices and perspectives. Taylor & Francis Group.
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority. (2018). National
Quality Standard. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-07/RevisedNQSHandoutA4.pdf
Hill, S. (2012). Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching (2nd ed.). Eleanor Curtain
Publishing.
Fenech, M., & Sumsion, J. (2007). Early Childhood Teachers and Regulation: Complicating
Power Relations Using a Foucauldian Lens. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 8(2), 109–
122. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2007.8.2.109
Roberts, L. (2005). Changing Faces: Professional Image Construction in Diverse Organizational
Settings. The Academy of Management Review, 30(4), 685–711. https://doi.org/10.2307/20159163
Thomas, L. (2012). New possibilities in thinking, speaking and doing: Early childhood teachers’
professional identity constructions and ethics. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(3),
87–96.
Feeney, S., Moravcik, Eva, & Nolte, Sherry. (2019). Who am I in the lives of children? : an
introduction to early childhood education (Eleventh Edition.).
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2007). Programming and planning
in early childhood settings (4th edn). Southbank: Thomson.
MacNaughton, G. (2003). Shaping early childhood : learners, curriculum and contexts. Open
University Press.
Rodd, J. (2006). Leadership in early childhood (3rd ed.). Allen & Unwin.

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Reflective Essay on Early childhood education and practice

Shifts, Changes and Challenges

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