Discussion Forum
Communication between teachers and professional early childhood teachers has always been one of the main criteria for establishing education and health for children. However, what does effective communication mean in a parent-teacher context and how can it be achieved? The communication of these two constants is determined by mutual understanding and the desire to honor the common goal of raising children. At the moment when trust is established between parents and teachers, it is transferred to children who exchange spiritual and emotional values. Parents and teachers share experience and knowledge with each other, which helps to teach children better.
Preschool Teacher Values
Preschool education is one of the most important stages in the formation of children. At the same time, an early childhood teacher plays a key role in their upbringing and schooling. To successfully communicate with children, the teacher must have values that will help establish a learning system and a friendly environment within the team. In my opinion, the most important qualities are caring and compassion, empathy and patience.
The most important thing for any preschool teacher is to understand the values and beliefs about education in general. For me, instilling in a child a desire to explore the world is a defining value for every tutor. At a young age, children are extremely mobile and restless; they can rarely sit still and really listen to the words (Cheung & Mok, 2018). Therefore, here the patience of the teacher as a guide in education emerges as a vital quality. Thanks to inner peace, it is possible to convey the values of education to each person and pave the potential of children as individuals from different angles (Strawhacker et al., 2018). Children do not always study well and often this is due to the fact that they are not interested in the topic. Calmness helps with another belief, which is that every child is talented. However, this talent can be revealed in different areas and requires careful attention.
My image of a child consists of the fact that children are very trusting and vulnerable. Thus, empathy allows one to give due attention to each and let them know that their favorite experiences are important. As a rule, children react extremely sharply to all sorts of problems and ambiguous situations. The main task of the teacher is to calm them down and be a person whom children can trust in any circumstance.
Moreover, the teacher must constantly support the children, as this is decisive in the development of their psychological comfort. In this case, the main quality of the teacher is the care and compassion that he shows to the students (Redondo et al., 2020). Children must not feel segregated by race or any other principle in order to develop successfully (Bers, 2019). Making sure that every student feels part of society is a great value for a teacher.
In conclusion, it should be said that I strongly believe that the key qualities of an early childhood teacher are empathy, patience and care and compassion. These three components help each person to establish trusting relationships with children in their limited society. With the right communication, each child feels comfortable and calm in an atmosphere of learning information. This is the main belief for me when children trust the teacher and each other.
Principles and Standards
When teaching preschool children, tutors should be guided by special standards and principles. Their observance is aimed at establishing a friendly environment among students in which they can effectively and safely acquire new knowledge. In New Zealand, there are Te Whāriki guidelines and the standards of Our Code, Our Standards. They help to understand exactly in which direction the development and formation of preschool students should go. For me, one of the main provisions of Te Whāriki is holistic development, while in Our Code, Our Standards, the most defining for me is the learning-focused culture.
The principle of holistic development is the basis on which the further education of each child is built. Human development is conditioned by the inclusion of many aspects. Children receive information through cognitive, physical, emotional, spiritual, social and cultural aspects (Te Whāriki, 2017). However, one must understand that for complete education, these areas must be considered as a whole and interconnected (Campbell, 2020). Thus, holistic development entails having a curriculum that saturates children with knowledge and satisfies their curiosity about the world around them. It is important to note that if the teacher pays more attention to one aspect, they must understand how it relates to other learning sides.
With regard to Our Code, Our Standards, the manual suggests considering the standard of a culture focused on learning. For me, such a culture reflects respect and empathy for each student in a small society in the classroom. Children not only receive new knowledge but learn cooperation and security in relation to each other (Our Code, Our Standards, 2017). Due to this, they form a society in which every element feels like a part of something larger and necessary. Moreover, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning and assignments (Wolf et al., 2022). It seems to me that the ability to navigate in a group and take part of the responsibilities is a necessary skill for each person. Thus, children understand their place in society and how important it is what message they carry in a particular community (Ogegbo & Aina, 2020). Moreover, the standard allows the teacher to create an environment for children where they can be confident in the manifestation of their cultural and linguistic qualities.
Thus, standards of holistic development and a culture focused on learning play an important role in the process of assimilation of new information by children. They allow students to receive balanced information corresponding to all areas of perception. Moreover, children feel safe and always open to something new. Holistic development determines how the child will learn objects and new concepts, while learning-focused culture gives them the opportunity to take responsibility in society.
Reflection
The reflection model provides a holistic understanding of the emotions experienced by the child. Recently, on the playground, I observed a situation related to the safety and health of the child. One child asked another to share a ball with him, and the second threw the ball, which hit the first boy in the face. He was very upset and swung at his offender, who immediately apologized to him. From my point of view, the second boy did it unintentionally and his actions did not show a violent nature. Thus, it can be determined that this is a random coincidence.
However, the first boy was very angry and frustrated and it was my job as a caregiver to come up with a practical, safety-oriented solution. First of all, one needs to stop a possible fight and calm both children (O’Connor & Diggins, 2002). Further, the model advises to think about what is happening, so it is important to be interested in the emotions and actions of children (Ginner Hau et al., 2022). From the first boy’s point of view, he could have done it without thinking at all that someone might not catch the ball. Therefore, there was no threat or cruelty in his actions and his emotional state was stable. His actions can be justified by the desire to quickly serve the ball. From the perspective of some beliefs that if a person asks for something, he should come up and take it, he can be understood (Hamidovna, 2020). People don’t always want to spend their time fulfilling someone’s requests (O’Connor & Diggins, 2002). Thus, the one who asks must understand that he is wasting someone else’s time. Moreover, on the part of the giver, one must be sure that the person will be able to fulfill the request of aggression or discontent.
In the context of the changes, it certainly could have been done differently. One could come up and serve the ball or call the boy to pick it up himself. Ultimately, it was possible to refuse at all, since the refusal should not be perceived by people as something offensive or discrediting their dignity. (Fowler-White, 2020). However, what has been done can be defended and justified. No one has to force themselves to share with a person (Cherrington, 2018). Giving the ball to another boy is an act of goodwill from within. The boy could not catch him and was upset that they did not make the giver a bad person. Thus, one cannot blame a person for something that did not turn out the way someone else wanted. In matters of requests, people should always rely on their abilities and be ready for refusal.
References
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