The lecture that inspired me.

One of the key lectures from this module was listening to children after this lecture I found myself wanting to sit and listen to the stories of the children that I look after and understand the way they think about the things they see within the world. one of the key things that stood out for me was the common fraise “Indeed, a child was not even to be much in evidence to the eye.” (Shuttleworth, 2014) or in simple word children are to be seen not heard. This fraise was quite hard to believe, Having spent time with various children I found that to be very unlikely, it reminded me that children are not commonly known for their quietness and it made me wonder how they thought such thing could work.

The mosaic approach is one of the first approaches that I looked at and it has been used within different children setting as it has given guidance to practitioner on how they can better listen to children and use what they say in the way they teach and tend to each child. The mosaic approach regards children as experts in being children and that there views and experiences of life are and should be important. (Clark and Moss,2011)

I found that the notion of listening to children, although amazing and useful can be quite difficult and the government makes it clear that listening to children is very important, however, doing so is not as easy. As practitioners, you work with more than one child so hearing and listening to each child is quite hard and sometimes you may be working with children with disabilities who may have difficulties in communicating, this may make listening and understanding each child quite difficult sometimes the child has gone through abuse so they may not trust adult meaning they may not want to talk. It is hard to know whether they child is not speaking because of pressure, fear of consequence or because theres nothing they want to say. (McLeod,2008)

Malaguzzi who was the founder of the Reggio Emila preschool in Italy referred to the poem ‘hundred languages of children’ that described the many and unique ways children communicate. The Reggio Emilia pre school promotes the countless ways young children communicate. It is in the practitioners’ hands on how hard they work to give children the opportunity to be heard. (Clark and Moss,2008)

Overall, this lecture pushed me to see that listening to people despite their age is a technique that should be used within every form of job you learn so much by listening to people so how much more could we learn if we just listen to children. Children have a unique mindset that we used to have, their view on life could open doors that an adult would naturally over look. Listening to children doesn’t just benefit them but benefit us as adults.

REFERENCES
Clark, A. & moss, P. 2011. Listening to young children: the mosaic approach2nd ed., LONDON: National Children’s Bureau.

Clark, A. & Moss, P., 2008. Spaces to play: more listening to young children using the mosaic approach, London: National Childrens Bureau.

McLeod, A., 2008. Listening to children: a practitioners guide, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Shuttleworth, S., 2014. Jane Eyre and the rebellious child. The British Library. Available at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/jane-eyre-and-the-rebellious-child [Accessed July 9, 2017].

Parental partnership.

The topic I will be discussing is, what makes the parental partnership successful and why it is important to the growth of a child.

To be within a partnership is to have a relationship between two or more people where both parties work towards a goal that benefits both parties. (Soanes, Stevenson,2003) A parental partnership is ultimately the same as a normal partnership, however, the goal is for the child to improve and grow. There are many factors that can increase or decrease the success of a partnership, for example, family dynamic, culture, values, and environment. The importance of parent, practitioner relationship has become more significant over the years, it is expected that practitioners acknowledge the contribution of the parent or carers. (baldcock et 2009)

A child’s first place of learning is the direct environment they have within their lives.so for young children that would be their family. Those who are closest to the child are the one that will first have a strong effect on the childs growth, and as they go out into the world that will change to friends and teachers and other authority figures such as the police. (Bronfenbrenner.1996) The family is the first source of information meaning all information received will be used in the child first interaction with those outside that dynamic. This information can be key in helping practitioner connect with the child and understand why the child may do things differently or whether the child is sensitive to certain things. (Fitzgerald2010)

A true parental partnership is a service that is for both children and young people it should be partnership that listens to the needs of the child if we fail to listen to them the partnership fails.to have a successful partnership both parties must be willing to come together and accept the responsibilities of the growth of the child. (Cheminais,2007) Both parties have the responsibilities to up keep contact with each other without proper communication you may start to see holes in the way the child grows. For example, a child hit someone may be okay at home but at schools is frown upon.  Another thing that can further strengthen a partnership is the understanding of values, religion, culture, and financial status.  Knowing and understanding each can stop misunderstanding and argument between parent and practitioner. (Fitzgerald2010)

In conclusion, the childs well-being is set on how well these two individual parties work together if there is a lack of communication the person that is affect the most is the child. both education and social life are built within these two dynamics and can be the foundation to how the child sees the world.

References

Bronfenbrenner.U,(1996). The ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. 1st ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Cheminais, R., (2011). Family partnership working, Los Angeles, London: sage.

Fitzgerald.D, ( 2004). Parent Partnerships in the Early Years. 1st ed. London ; New York: Continuum.

Soanes C, Stevenson A, (Ed.). ( 2003). Oxford dictionary of English. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Playing outdoors: spaces and places, risk and challenge

By Helen Tovey

Chp.7 what do we mean by free play outdoors? P.G 114

Play has been a difficult concept because of its very nature and it cannot be defined precisely, childrens play is unpredictable this makes thinking about play and understanding play a lot more difficult and it can sometimes be uncomfortable for those who are accustom to more neat and orderly things. Play stands uneasily within our societies cultural standards, tests, targets, and outcomes. Pioneers of early childhood education have valued free play which caused many to criticise it concept within the 1980 researchers found that free play wasn’t quite challenging, repetitive, low level and mundane, however despite these claims it was quite hard for the researchers to prove these claims had substance as there was no setting that showed such outcomes.  This research contributed to the many demands for more structured play, this allowed for the introduction of the desired learning outcomes that were produced through the school curriculum and assessment authority 1996 and the early learning goals and the curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. These attempted to identify the learning outcomes that play would give children and show how children would learn through play. However, over time the language of play has changed and rather than referring to play as free play many writers use phrases such as structured, directed play, well-planned play or controlled play.

Structured play is a term that suggests that play is more likely to lead to a learning out come if it is pre-structured by a teacher or adult, however, all outdoor play is structured to some extent it is structured by the cultural and physical context of the setting. It is said that these hidden structures or rules are quite powerful in shaping what goes on within a space. Both Sylva and Bruner argued that the structure is a characteristic of both materials and activities.

Directed play suggests that teacher and adult have control over course and direction of the activity that is set meaning it no longer meets the criteria of play, Huizinga in his writing homo ludens stated that all play is a voluntary activity meaning that directed play can no longer be seen play.

Furthermore, the word we use as practitioners make play more complex because what practitioners always say is not always what they do. Polakow through many observation with America identified controlled play. He stated that even though a play session is labeled as free play, in practice the play has become controlled and directed by the adults. adults who have rules and restriction and are more anxious about whether all the children are playing and are safe which cause them to hover over them, meaning it is more likely that the adult would interfere with the child’s play.

free Play is often interpreted as meaning free from restriction, adult involvement or influence, however, freedom is not about being able to do what you want but about having the opportunity to do things. To Frobel play was and interaction between law, freedom, and life. Free play is a positive thing that enables young children rather than structured play, directed play or controlled play that suggest that the course of play is determined by the practitioner or adult.

Reference

Tovey, H, 2007. Playing Outdoors: Spaces and Places, Risks and Challenge (Debating Play). 1. Open University Press

What I know about early childhood

When I think of early childhood I think of babies, toddlers, education, culture, social norms. Those are the few key words that I would use to describe early childhood. I would also describe it as being the foundation that everything a child learns is placed upon.

Loris Malaguzzi was someone who stood out to me, his work with children and the Reggio approach inspired me. it took teaching and put children at the fore front of it and explored the different ways a child could contribute to their own learning, and it looked at how we as practitioners can work with the children to get them to engage with the work.  Loris Malaguzzi took his experience from working with children and applied theory to better his work which contributed to his work on Reggio approach.

Both Malaguzzi and many other are talked about and are used in the studies of early childhood, and I know that I will be drawing on many other theorists like Malaguzzi within my work.

In addition, Tina Bruce believed that play is an active process rather than something that reaches a goal or produces a product. That providing toy is not necessary because children have a way of coming up with their own props using simple materials such as sticks and pebbles.

Furthermore, my experience as a play worker and the additional work placement within nursery and day cares. I have seen different structures and the benefit of how non-structured and free flowing play affect the child well-being and learning for: example I work as a play worker at the south London gallery on one of the projects that have been going on for a few years it is local and caters to the estates that are around the gallery.

The work is based around how play and art work close together so we get many artists who come and do play activities that produce art. However, that doesn’t mean we use paint and brushes, we encourage children to use the thing that they find around them for play, like old wheels and chair and turning it into whatever they imagine, with only wood, nails, and hammers.

We give them free choice on what they choose to do with the material provided. Also, play worker we also try and encourage the children to use saws and drill safely, we do this so that if the child ever came across any of these tools they would be able to use them properly and safely so they may avoid injury.

After hearing and working with children in different types of environment I realized that this course would be the best for me.  As I know that I will gain a lot from this course which will allow me to link theories to my experience within my work place, and allow me to think outside of the box and practice approaches such as the Reggio approach.