ECE teacher's Reflection on practice - Essay Example

Theorize: The episodes with Ryan reflected the Te Whaariki principle of Relationships. Ryan was indeed responsive and reciprocated my attempts at establishing rapport with him. I also met the goals of the strands of well-being, belonging, communication and exploration. For well being, goal 2 of nurturing his emotional well-being was met as he felt safe with me, enough to go about the routines of the day. This likewise meets goals 2 and 3 of the strand of belonging. For the strand of communication, my interactions with Ryan met the goals of developing verbal communication skills as I urged him to talk about his trip and his volcano as well as the goal of discovering and developing different ways to be creative and expressive as I allowed him to express his own ideas in his sand play.

Finally, in the activities, goals 1 and 4 were met. Ryan’s creative play with the sand and the tunnel he was making with the volcano was acknowledged and appreciated that he was encouraged enough to think of expanding his ideas as he developed working theories for making sense of the natural world. In this case, it was his interest in volcanoes. Muellar Tokunaga (2006) shared that allowing children to indulge in their own imaginative play makes them more engaged in learning. Ryan’s sand play with volcanoes was accompanied by his active imaginative thinking as he came up with other ways to make his play more interesting (creating a tunnel with it).

Act: I will be more attentive to Ryan and listen to his ideas. I will refrain from pushing my own ideas unless he asks for my own opinion. That way, I will encourage him to come up with his own original ideas. I will do the same with the other children and be more responsive to their needs. Brewer, J. (2001) Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Allyn & Bacon. Ministry of Education (1996) Te Whariki He Whariki Matauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa. NZ: Crown. Muellar Tokunaga, N. (2006).

Learning from very young children. The First Years: Nga Tau Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education, 8(2), 44-46. REFLECTION 2 Analyse: Everyone was excited about the water play activity since it was sure to relieve the children of the heat. I know how much they loved to play with water and got excited myself of the fun they will have. However, in my zeal to let them enjoy the activity, I mistakenly suggested an activity to Jay that could be possibly dangerous not only for him but for the other children.

Telling him to ride the bike with his wet body would be risky because he may slip and fall badly on the ground. Worse, he will also endanger children playing in the water in case he loses control. It was a good thing another teacher had the good sense to stop him from following my suggestion. I felt so guilty for not having thought of his and the other children’s safety even if all I wanted was for them to enjoy. Theorise: Edgington (1999) posits that children learn best in an environment that makes them feel secure and confident enough to develop their own ideas with open-ended experiences.

They actively engage in learning by partaking of fun, play-based hands-on experiences while adults around them challenge and extend their thinking. In this case, children were allowed to explore water play. This is applying Te Whaariki’s strand of Exploration, specifically goal 4, as the play helps them “develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical and