Port Folio Objective 3.2

Objective 3.2

Shows competence in observing & planning for literacy & numeracy experiences & environs, adapting to specific learner needs, interests & contexts.

Resource

The following URL is a direct link to the resource I am using for this objective http://himh.clients.squiz.net/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2758/2-Equity-in-Early-Childhood-Education.pdf

The title of this article is equity in early childhood education and is written by Kylie Thomas who shares her concerns for fairness and rights in the classroom for children of all ages. The article is based around two fundamental rights that all children should have access to. The first is the opportunity to actually attend the early learning environment and the second is having the ability to participate within that location fairly and without judgement.

All children should have the right to attend school and learn the curriculum for use in everyday life; however attendance alone does not teach children the fundamentals of numeracy and literacy. Subject lessons are necessary for specific instruction in each topic, with emergent curriculum a successful way to learn through play and interest.

Modern society has large diversity of races and cultural backgrounds, with children of many different nationalities attending childcare together. Due to different beliefs children may find it difficult to feel included and participate in group activities. It is crucial to help these children feel confident and maximise their learning from the activities, however this can prove to be difficult as social groups share differently within their community and environments.

When programming the curriculum, it is important to have broad topics that are flexible and can be scaffolded around any opportunity and curiosity. The set-up of the room can also play a part in offering areas of interest and imagination where children can share their personal experiences and knowledge of the world. In order to increase the variety of subjects in the room, the activities can be moved around or changed completely within the week to encourage children to use their imaginations in a different way.

Such flexibility may include literacy subjects using different countries as a focus and therefore including the nationalities present in the class. Art and imaginative play can incorporate many different role playing experiences and creative moments into literacy subjects. Overall it is important to include a variety of cultural and social experiences for all children to partake in.

Participation not only includes joining in with learning activities but the decisions made around the child that directly involve how they are to be affected. Educators have a responsibility to included children in all matters and to provide a variety of activities in order to include all cultural differences. To have the best possible experiences with the new programs educators need to listen to the opinions and ideas of the children as well as observe the interactions between student and environment. The interpretations can be significantly different to the original outcome desired where children can take the activity and change it. In this situation sometimes it can be better to just continue with the new idea so as to keep the child’s interest and expand new horizons with emergent learning. Rather it would be wise to include conversation that inspires thoughts about equal opportunities and the similarities that connect with the differences in cultures and social groups.

The classroom needs to be a coherent and functioning area for children to learn at their best, where working together and learning about their peers individual characteristics enhances the most learning. The rights of the child are paramount and educational progress depends on the inclusion and belonging of the student and their family to the centre.