Task 1: Directed Task – Early Childhood Studies

My biggest influence in children came from the roots of my family. Coming from an African household, my siblings and relatives were heavy in numbers. My culture heavily participated in responsibility (Bruwer, 1949, p.197, quoted in Serpell, 1933, p.59). Therefore, at a young age, my understanding of children involved nurturing and working with the family around me. This gave me the impression in making me want to work with children.

Childhood to me is the start of an important learning journey that desires a great level of attention. As children are growing rapidly they require support and help in their first stage of development. This I can reflect on due to my personal experience when I was a child, my mother tongue was not English so I was not a native speaker and the difficulties I faced was daunting, however with the extra support that was provided to me it helped me progress to be who I am today.

My passion in working with children thrived as I grew up and was exposed to numerous experiences in early years with children.  The quantity of them involving policy and practice in children’s rights that were not being fulfilled or met.  My personal belief was that children are unique learners, and need love and understanding and care. Following the UN convention on the rights of the child, it states the rights that are designed to prevent neglect and illness, provide education and protect children from abuse and exploitation (Nutbrown and Clough, 2014, p.120). As a strong minded individual, I wanted to ensure that these rights are put into place and followed correctly in early years, this further influenced me in becoming an early year’s teacher.

By pursuing a degree in early childhood studies, I aim to increase my understanding in the psychological and social impact that influence children in today’s society. This is because in my recent experience I took part in an observation study, which required me to observe individual children whilst they carried out their daily routine. This was very eye opening as it enabled me to realize the impact of certain elements that affected children, for example, children with special needs would use different equipment and resources due to their special requirement. I hope to develop in-depth reasons that are behind children’s development whilst studying this degree.

Starting regular placement during my Diploma was a big step in becoming more practical with children in their play, learning and understanding their diverse and multicultural society. This made me become more interested in understanding about children around the world and how they drive to discover the potential within themselves and the world around them (Nutbrown and Clough, 2014, p.120).

With this in my mind, my ambition in life is to learn about the children around the world including their culture, traditions and the way they live. In the future, I would like to be an early year’s teacher in the middle east, Asia, and north America. With this degree, I hope to achieve exactly that and gain more knowledge and fulfill a worthful learning journey.

Reference For Task 1:

Nutbrown, C. and Clough, P. (2014). Early childhood education. 1st ed. Los Angeles: SAGE.