Beginnings
– How I view my practice at the start of my current training –
This practitioner has not chosen to share this information at this time.
I love the sense of ‘anything could happen’! Each day is different and the children have so many wonderful contributions to make. I love to watch and listen to their ideas develop and be able to support them when they need some help to move forward in their learning.
My role is to provide a safe, nurturing and enabling environment, to be a facilitator, not a dictator, by observing and listening, allowing children to be creative in their play whilst looking for opportunities to extend their learning.
When I am down on the floor watching and listening to where the children’s play is taking them, when I take time to decide how best to support them with taking ideas forward e.g. by asking questions to challenge their thinking, or providing additional ideas or resources, or sometimes just by not ‘butting in’ at all.
Our environment was set up by staff in readiness for ‘day one’ and over the weeks we have observed what the children are doing/saying and have amended layouts, resources etc. to support interests, meet development needs and create more opportunities for children to lead their own learning.
Staff observations of children along with information from their families and What Matters to Me documents have allowed a certain level of participation in shaping the above. We have also had some specific events which involved taking on board the children’s ideas e.g. our ongoing garden development. However, there is definitely much more we could do to improve the level of participation in terms of developing the environment and taking the children’s interests forwards. In my own role, I do feel I let the children take the lead in whichever area I am working in, and try to be responsive to their immediate interests and needs, however I can see that there is still more I could do to support their participation.
I always remember the story of ‘the boy and the log’ from my previous Froebel course and always try to ‘stop and think before I interfere with a child’s play, waiting and letting the children have a go at solving their own problems. I work with colleagues to create an enabling environment, providing experiences and resources which allow the children to investigate, experiment and be creative. I try to role model ‘freedom with guidance’ to highlight to colleagues the benefits of allowing the children to lead the play more.
I will be honest and say I probably don’t have a very good awareness or understanding of how social justice impacts on my practice. I know the background of the families I am working with but I maybe don’t consider it enough when I am playing with the children. This is an area I need to gain a better understanding of, maybe I do know but just think of it under a different guise
I hope to strengthen my knowledge of Froebelian principles and how they work in practice, especially around the role of the adult. I want to build enough confidence in my own practice to enable me to positively influence the practice of my colleagues
I value a team spirit where everyone contributes and are willing to try new ideas, whilst being comfortable to challenge if they feel something is not ‘a fit’