“Who am I as a Teacher”

Personal Narrative:

Throughout my life I have always been surrounded by loving and supportive people. Being the youngest within my small, close family, I was continually nurtured and cared for by my 2 older sisters, parents and other family members. This led to me having many positive role models within my life who taught me decent morals and values. These morals and values shaped who I am today and my overall outlook on life. My family have always encouraged me to ‘treat people the way I would like to be treated’, this value I have continued throughout my life and will always try to treat everyone as equals and not use judgement. This value I have also taken on throughout my teaching, as I believe it is important to treat all colleagues, children and families with the same respect. Through having these positive role models within my life, I was able to have the opportunity to turn to someone if needed, for support and care. This is one connection I have to teaching as I hope to possess this quality and be an approachable and supportive role model to my students. Throughout my childhood, I was always surrounded and influenced by music. My mother in particular had a strong skill and passion for anything musical and it became a part of my existence. I remember regularly being educated in music through attending concerts, musicals and listening to all types of genres and era’s. Music is now a big interest of mine and will be a part of my developing curriculum through playing guitar and allowing children to express themselves in other musical ways. I believe music is an excellent learning opportunity that can be explored and used within early childhood education.

During my primary schooling, I found myself struggle academically as I found socialising more enjoyable than learning, I also found it took longer for me to grasp a concept then other students which slowed down my learning. This was especially the case with mathematics, my feelings and attitudes towards mathematics were always negative as I had great difficulty understanding and enjoying it. This attitude continued on until grade 5 where I had a particular teacher named Miss. Bampfield. This teacher had a great ability to guide her students and make learning enjoyable which I believe is a key aspect in teaching which allows students to flourish. One particular memory I have of Miss Bampfield involved my dreaded subject of maths. Every few weeks we would be tested on our times tables, this was something I had no confidence in and continually got upset when I couldn’t remember them. Two weeks before the test, Miss Bampfield ensured I would pass with her help. I was given multiplication games to play with my family, extra homework to extend my practice and time after class with her. This not only increased my confidence with my mathematics but also allowed me to gain trust and a positive rapport with her. After passing the test, I had greater confidence in my academic ability and it made me realise that with persistence and determination, things are possible. This particular story has always stuck with me and has inspired me to become a similar teacher that will constantly support and encourage my students. Through experiencing such a positive person within my schooling, it has made me realise that teaching could inspire young minds to grow and change much like my attitude towards mathematics and school in general.

Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed being around children. One event that has influenced my passion for teaching was coaching netball to a group of children aged 6-7 years. This coaching job required patience, organisation, effective communication, creativity, positivity, encouragement, leadership and commitment which are all required within teaching. I believe this event confirmed my love for children and teaching as I was able to see the gradual progress of skills the children developed through my help, support and coaching. I also felt a great sense of pride when the team won the grand final as I guided them to reach their goal. Another event that has confirmed my interest in children is the continual babysitting/Nanning that I have conducted throughout my older years. I have always enjoyed it and connected well with all the children I have come in contact with. Even before beginning my bachelor in Early Childhood/Primary Education, I have always taken any opportunity available to extend children’s learning when babysitting through creating activities such as reading, writing, learning and imaginative opportunities, asking questions and creating meaningful conversations. This experience has contributed to my understanding of curriculum as I was able to create meaningful learning situations in a different environment.

Teaching Identity

My image of the child is a construction of my own personal experiences, my whole understanding of children and the various theories that support my personal philosophy and practice. I see a child as a collector, their own personal experiences and relationships within their environment make up the content of their collection. With appropriate adult support and scaffolding, a child is capable of becoming an expert of their own world and their ability within it. Through taking the opportunity to understand the child, it is important to observe, create conversation, ask questions, listen and establish a positive relationship with the child and their family. This will allow the teacher to understand each child’s story to establish a program that best suits the child and family’s needs and interests. Through my previous experience with coaching netball, it was important to properly understand the children within the team to create the correct drills and activities that best suited their needs and interests. This was done through communicating with the children and families and establishing a positive rapport with them. The image of the child was thought to have developed from scientific theories in the 19th century that created a ‘dichotomous’ position from which to view children (Baker 2001). These dichotomies created frameworks that catered for the children’s needs and interests, and specific programs were designed for children. These programs included particular games and toys that were specified for the children’s interests and needs which allowed children to be no longer viewed as ‘mini adults’ (Canella 1997). My image of the child and educational philosophy also stems from the idea that children create their own curriculum constructed by their interests, values and perspectives. I believe it is important for early childhood educators to allow children’s ideas to emerge through co-constructing knowledge and then creating meaning from that knowledge. This produces an emergent curriculum and allows for constant evolving of the program due to children’s changing needs and interests, parental and community interests and educator’s priorities. These key elements shape the direction for future learning. Through my previous experiences of babysitting, I believe I have used aspects of an emergent curriculum through creating particular activities based on the child’s interests, strengths and needs, one example of this was creating a large racing track with a particular child who had an interest in cars. The process of emergent curriculum can be argued against other forms of set curriculum that seem to create magical results, Jones and Nimmo (2004) stated that “there is no magic except the magic we create for ourselves”. It is children who “are the wizards, inviting us to join them in their magic making” (Jones, E. & Nimmo, J. 1994, p. 3). Through my educational philosophy, I believe the teacher’s role is to guide and provide access to information rather than acting as the primary source of information. The children's search for knowledge is met as they learn to find answers to their questions, for children to construct knowledge, they need the opportunity to discover individually and practice skills in genuine situations. Providing student’s access to hands-on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the lesson being studied, creates an opportunity for individual discovery and construction of knowledge to occur.

Theories of Early Childhood

There are many theories and theorists that support and inform my overall teaching identity. Through gradual learning and discovery of my philosophy I have admired the work of Loris Malaguzzi who was the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach. The Reggio Emilia approach lies with the belief that children are capable, competent, curious and creative (Rinaldi 1993). They are full of emerging ideas and creativity; they are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge, but rather self-motivated learners seeking to comprehend the world in which they live in (Staley 1998). This belief I will continue throughout my teaching as I believe that children actively pursue their personal learning if provided with the correct materials and supportive, engaging resources. This belief is supported by Loris Malaguzzi who also views the child as an active learner who is capable of building knowledge through social interaction. Malaguzzi (1993) states, “What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught. Rather, it is large part due to the children’s own doing as a consequence of their activities and our resources” (p. 59). The ability of the child to lead activities and inquiry is at the basis of Reggio Emilia’s implementation of emergent curriculum. As discussed previously, I have a strong belief in emergent curriculum which is supported by the Reggio Emilia approach and will continue to use it within my teaching pedagogy and practice.

The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon a set of principles that involve allowing children to have some control over the direction of their learning, allowing children to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing, ensuring children have a relationship with other children and material items in their world that they are allowed to explore and ensuring children have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves. Both my own and the Reggio Emilia philosophy is also highlighted by theorist Maria Montessori who respected children as capable and competent learners in need of an environment that is carefully prepared to stimulate curiosity, exploration, inquiry and self-learning (Montessori 1965). My teaching identity is also supported through Reggio Emilia’s philosophy that the natural environment holds great importance for learning, it is considered to be the third teacher. In a Reggio classroom every area is used to inform, engage and arouse the curiosity and imagination of a child as well as provoking social interactions and communication (Churchill 2011). This belief will be continued throughout my teaching as I believe having an inviting physical space encourages student’s communication, learning and relationships. The other theorist who has influenced my teaching practice is Howard Gardner and his theory on multiple intelligences. Gardner’s early work in psychology and later in human cognition and human potential led to the development of the initial six intelligences (Gardner 1993). Gardner originally identified seven intelligences and has recently added an eighth which include musical, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, bodily intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist (Gardner 1993). These intelligences relate to a person’s unique capability and the particular ways they might prefer to demonstrate intellectual abilities. Gardner strongly rejects the belief held by many that intelligence is something that you have from the beginning and it is a set amount and quality that can be judged or measured by means of standardized tests (Gardner 1993). This theory has supported my teaching identity as it relates strongly to my past experiences with schooling. Just because I had a weakness with my logical-mathematical intelligence, does not mean I was not strong in other areas. I believe that students are gifted in different ways and it is my responsibility as a teacher to find the students particular intelligence and create meaning from it. This belief is a part of my educational philosophy and supports my certainty that the teachers role is to guide the students whilst providing them with the correct information and resources to support their learning.

Implications for Teaching Practice

Throughout my practical placements, I have been able to put my emerging educational philosophy that includes various theories, beliefs, values and aspects of my past life experiences into practice. I believe these particular aspects along with the information I have gained from university has influenced my teaching identity immensely and has furthered my development as a teacher. One process that I believe is particularly beneficial and important within teaching is reflecting on my own practice, this is a way to make myself aware of how I teach and a method for self-assessment. Through reflecting on my practice, I am able to assess various aspects of my teaching identity such as how I interact, engage and communicate with children, how particular lessons and experiences went and if the children enjoyed it. As theorist John Dewey said, “We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” (Dewey 1933). Throughout placement I continued with daily journal reflections that allowed me to reflect on my teaching practice, my interactions with children, parents and staff and on my overall experiences. This reflecting also assisted me in planning for various learning experiences during placement. I believe it is important to create experiences that stem from children’s interests, values and perspectives; I have always endeavoured to allow the children’s interests, needs and ideas to guide my experiences. One example of this was creating a large zoo corner during my early childhood place out of natural materials and toy animals, to extend on a previous experience that involved a book about a zoo. After this book had been read, the children continued with their learning through using different objects and imagining being zoo animals. I took this as an opportunity to extend their learning, emerge my experience based on the children’s interests and support my educational philosophy and teaching identity. This was supported through using natural materials as I believe it is important to use the environment as the ‘third teacher’, create an experience that appealed to many different multiple intelligences and provided the children with a hands on activity that created an opportunity for individual discovery and knowledge to occur. I believe writing observations can also assist in reflecting and planning more learning experiences as it is important to look back on exactly what happened and gain knowledge from that particular observation. I believe I have developed my teaching identity through pedagogical strategies such as creating an emerging curriculum design based on the children’s current interests, needs and beliefs with support of reflections, my beliefs, my philosophy and taking observations.