I believe that every child is unique, and educators must nurture children’s love for learning in a stimulating environment to develop them holistically. I strive to engage children in meaningful children-oriented and hands-on experiences while taking the role of a facilitator to equip them with lifelong skills and knowledge (Rowe, 2006).
Self-discovery
In terms of self-awareness, I tend to get anxious at the mention of having to do presentations. Having realised this, it made me reflect how this could potentially affect future interactions with parents and thus, the need to work on presenting a more professional and confident self. Relating to Johari’s window, I have tried reducing my hidden area by disclosing this information to my group members which enhanced their understanding about me (Luft & Ingham, 1961). They supported me and gave encouragements which helped me greatly.
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Before the start of the course, I was at the unconscious incompetence stage where I was unaware of my lack of knowledge about child development. Subsequently, I was introduced to some child development theories and became increasingly aware of other theories which motivated me to seek knowledge. This increased motivation for learning is enhanced especially during practicum attachment as I was better able relate to children when they displayed behaviours such as snatching toys. I could effectively associate their behaviours with knowledge about egocentrism at the preoperational stage. This made me realise the importance of an educator’s understanding about child, so that in the future I can relate to their needs and build on their development.
Developmental Plan
According to Vander Ven’s stage of professional development, I have identified myself to be at the novice stage, in which I am new in the field and currently taking the role of a preservice teacher in a practicum centre (Spodek & Saracho, 2003). As such, I am aware of my skill gap as I am lacking interactions with children.
As such, my short-term goal (3 - 6 month) after graduation would be to enhance my ability in interacting with children and managing a class through formal training by attending the course titled “Teacher-Child Interaction and Classroom Management” (ECDA, 2020). In this case, attending courses would help novice teachers to learn as trainers are expert sources of knowledge (Sheridan et al., 2009). Concurrently, I would like to reinforce my learning through observing teachers and seek guidance from experienced teachers. Relating to my philosophy, stimulating environment also includes positive teacher-children interactions. Hence, attending this course would help to enhance my understanding on how to promote positive teacher-child interactions such that children feel respected and cared for. This is especially important in developing a strong sense of confidence and security, which will motivate children to explore and take pride in their learning.
Description
This artifact is a lesson implementation conducted to teach Nursery 1 children fine motor skills through jam sandwich making. I feel that this artifact belongs under InTASC standard 1 as it serves as an evidence of how I was able to integrate not just my knowledge on the subject but also meet the requirement of the curriculum goal focusing on inquiry-based learning, which is in accordance to NEL framework (MOE, 2013).
Inquiry-based learning is emphasised during the lesson as guiding questions were asked in the beginning and throughout to stimulate their thinking. During teaching, I played the role of a coach in which I explained to the children on how to hold the butter spreader and spread the jam filling in an up-down motion. While the children were engaged in self-exploration, I also took on the role of a facilitator as I observed children’s non-verbal cues to determine if they need scaffolding such as reteaching the correct technique.
Analysis
I have gained an understanding that children demonstrate a greater sense of independence and interest, given the opportunity to participate in hands-on activity as they were highly focused. Through the experience, I noticed my developing ability to identify learning needs through reading children’s non-verbal cues such as facial expressions (e.g. frown) or body language (e.g. looking around), which allowed me to effectively attend to them and reinforce their learning. I learnt that I am growing as a caring and non-judgemental person who believes that every child deserves to be developed to their fullest potential.
I also realised that I was concerned about passing on the skill that I took great effort and time to assist children in perfecting the skill. This then struck me that I could createa misconception that attaining mastery is the key in learning even though that was not the intention and it could potentially eliminate the joy of learning. Furthermore, time was limited due to reteaching based on each child’s needs. This made me aware of the significance of emphasising on progress, albeit a slow one in comparison to our expectations. As such, it is important for educators to take note so that future teaching could be more meaningful for both parties.
Planning
For future practice, I want to continue incorporating hands-on activities for other subjects (e.g. buoyancy) that will promote children’s participation and allow me to assess which specific areas to reinforce children’s learning. I should also set a limit for how much time to spend on each child so that I would not overrun my lesson implementation or lose focus of other children.
In addition, I seek to establish a more appropriate expectation not only for myself but also the children as well, so that the takeaway children can get would be much more meaningful. An appropriate expectation could focus on the process of learning (whether children had fun) and children’s participation (their perseverance in completing the activity). In the future, I want to emphasise on how to help children move up to the next level of competency to develop their abilities. In this way, children will recognise that the important thing about learning is not solely about mastering the topic that is being taught to them but also acquiring the skills that would help them to learn as well (e.g. proactive in questioning).
References
- Early Childhood Development Agency (2020). CPD Prospectus List of Courses (2020) Retrieved 30 May 2020 from https://www.ecda.gov.sg/Documents/Educators/List%20of%20Courses%202020%20
- Luft, J., & Ingham, H. (1961). The johari window. Human relations training news, 5(1), 6-7.
- Ministry of Education. (2013). Nurturing Early Learners A Curriculum for Kindergartens in Singapore Volume 1.
- Rowe, K. (2006). Effective teaching practices for students with and without learning difficulties: Constructivism as a legitimate theory of learning AND of teaching?. Student Learning Processes, 10.
- Sheridan, S. M., Edwards, C. P., Marvin, C. A., & Knoche, L. L. (2009). Professional development in early childhood programs: Process issues and research needs. Early education and development, 20(3), 377-401.
- Spodek, B., & Saracho, O. (Eds.). (2003). Studying teachers in early childhood settings. IAP.
- https://www.ecda.gov.sg/Documents/Educators/List%20of%20Courses%202020%20(May).xls
- https://www.ecda.gov.sg/Documents/Educators/List%20of%20Courses%202020%20(May).xls
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