How do you write a philosophy for Early Childhood? And what will you include in it?

Question

It has to be in narrative for and not in bullet points.

Answer 1

I had to write a statement of philosophy for my Early Childhood degree.  It was tough to include everything I believed into a short space.  I broke it down into 3 main segments (with 1-2 paragraphs for each topic):

1.  The curriculum and classroom environment I provide for children.  

2.  How I believe children best learn (in this part I included how I assess them).  This is where you can mention particular theories and philosophers you agree with.

3.  My own professional development.

Hope this helps.  It only gets harder to write these as you learn more because your philosophy constantly is changing as you gain more experience working with kids!

Answer 2

I don't know if this will help.  I wrote this one a couple of years ago

Eager young eyes watch me attentively.  Sticky hands grab the air at the end of every question.  Teaching can be overwhelming and is a difficult task to undertake.  A teacher must not only contain content knowledge but also possess patience and be able to cater to each student’s individual needs.  While teaching, a teacher also needs to keep students on track and not allow discipline problems to prevent lessons from moving smoothly throughout the day.  Teachers must also be flexible and make split second decisions.  

            Education is vital in a child’s life.  Teachers have the responsibility of influencing a child’s view of education for the rest of his or her life.  With this heavy responsibility on their shoulders, teachers need to carefully watch how they approach each student and situation.  It is mandatory that a teacher knows the content and has no difficulty recalling all the information of the lesson.  At the same time, teachers should not become so familiar with the information that they forget how it feels to be sitting in the student’s desk learning the information for the first time.

On top of teaching the subject to students, teachers have to keep order in the class.  Controlling bad behavior happens by preventing it before it starts.  There are several techniques such as student seating and lesson planning that teachers can use to manage their classrooms.  Good lesson planning can also help with transitions from lesson to lesson.  Plan to have reading in the morning while the students are more attentive and then give students a break, such as P.E. or lunch, before starting the next subject.  Plus teachers need to take time to make parent phone calls.  Parent involvement prevents bad behavior even if it is just informing the parent of possible situations.  Students that are distracted often may not misbehave if they know the teacher has talked to their parent before.  If a student just will not behave, the teacher should not try to remove the student from his or her classroom but decide what the underlying problem is.  The student might be having problems at home or just needs more attention from the teacher.  Teachers should teach love through their actions in the classroom, showing that the teacher cares about the students as people.  The teacher may be the only person in the world the child feels he or she can trust.  

Sometimes things do not always go as plan.  This is especially true with teaching.  Teachers must be flexible which may involve having backup lesson plans.  Teachers work with other teachers, their school, parents and children.  All of these are unpredictable.  Students may ask questions that teachers are not prepared for.  Lesson may be interrupted by an unexpected outside interference such as a fire alarm, announcement on the intercom, a visitor at the door or many other interruptions.  To keep the students on track and lesson moving, teachers have to be able to think on their feet and be prepared for any situation.  

            Teachers can have a positive influence on the student’s view of education and ultimately on his or her life.  To teach a lesson, teachers must know the content and know how to relay the information to the students.  While doing this, teachers must provide a controlled and welcoming environment.  Teaching is a very demanding career but can be a rewarding one.

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Answer 3

The first obvious things is that it needs to be and sound professional.  If you're writing this for school/college, like a portfolio you will probably have a length requirement.  My professors suggested mine not be more than 2 pages long, because people will not read it all.  If it is too long they could miss some important parts.  Think about when you teach, how you feel.  What is it that you want to do?  Ask yourself that.  As a teacher, what is your ultimate goal with the classroom?  What do you want or will you want for your students?  What things do you think are most important?  Narrow that down to just a few.  I talked about learning through play/exploration, as well as being developmentally appropriate, and active learning.

Also-drawing upon other philosophers and peoples beliefs will help to explain your theories as well.  In mine I drew upon Piaget and what he believed as well as the NAEYC.  You just need to think deep down how you will teach, what you want to teach, and what you want your students to learn and get from you.  Good Luck!

Answer 4

A philosophy is also called a mission statement and should consist of your true vision and what you want to convey to others. First do some research. Do an online search for EC Handbooks or philosophy statement. Many EC sites have their mission statement posted on their websites as well. This will give you an idea of what is common to include.

Then start a list of your own statements or visions and go from there. Good luck

Answer 5

Here is one that I wrote for my class.  You can use it as an example.

                           Philosophy of Education

What is a Philosophy of Education?  It can be determined from many different viewpoints, whether it is one’s actual experiences, hopes and goals for ones future, or the sheer love of knowledge that he or she wants to distribute to the future race.  I believe that all children deserve the chance to be the best that they can possibly be.  I believe that with the right guidance and opportunities a child can develop a sense of belonging.  According to Maslow there are five levels that a person must complete to achieve self-fulfillment.  As a teacher I believe it is my responsibility to provide a safe and loving atmosphere to help a child as they strive to achieve their own self-fulfillment.  Every child deserves the right to learn, to play, to feel safe, and the right to achieve his or her goals.

Teachers are responsible for many aspects of our future.  The actions that are seen may have a positive or negative impact on a person’s life.  Our lives are molded by experiences and it is my responsibility as an educator to make these experiences meaningful and worthwhile.  The purpose of a positive education is to teach children how to learn and appreciate the things in life that they achieve.  Today, students are presented with many tasks and the knowledge of how important it is to set goals for themselves.  However, there are few who are given the confidence that they need to achieve these goals.  My hope is that my students could achieve their greatest potential, so that they could learn how wonderful it makes you feel when you strive for something, and then get it.

Robert Frost wrote a poem titled “The Road Not Taken.”  It deals with a person not taking the easy way out of life and challenging oneself.  I believe that every child needs to be challenged.  If a child is given the easy way in life they will never work to achieve his or her goals or dreams.  They will expect everything to be handed to them.  This cycle needs to be broken.  What kind of life would a person have without dreams and aspirations?

I also believe in treating children the way that I would want others to treat my children, equally, and with kindness and understanding.  As a child I always heard my elders say to treat others how you would want them to treat you.  Now that I am a parent I try to emphasize this to my children.

I believe that children are our future and that they can be anything that their hearts desire.  That is why I believe it is our responsibility to make their futures as bright as the sun and as colorful as the rainbows in the sky.