As I looked
back to the programs that I have been working, visiting or volunteering I found
that most of them stood out and are well known for their philosophy and
mission. As a least experienced assistance teacher, I would always wonder how
the contributors or directors of the childcare program or preschool create
their philosophy and mission. Did they create it based on what topical
childcare program should have? Did they just create it based on their personal
experience? Did they just create it by the beliefs and understanding of
majority of people in their society? Did they just create it by what they have
experienced and learned from the Early Childhood Education classes.
As we all see in the examples in this chapter there
are so many ways to create a program that incooperate family as the other
important aspect of children’s development. By including family as part of the
day, making them feel warm and welcome just as we would with their children
will create a huge different atmosphere for children and families because
families will feel more sense of belonging in the classroom. This will
establish their comfort zones and a sense of trust to families when they leave
their children in our hands and able to share deeper thoughts and problems
between teacher and families.
What is the best quality to implement in our
program vision? Which vision will promote our program?
I like your idea of the family feel. As a parent I would like to feel "a sense of belonging." I too am realtively new to the early childhood field and I choose the place where I work at because of their philosophy. The place that I work at I choose for my own child to attend when she was on preschool and when I was their as a parent I meet these wonderful teachers who just loved their job and their program. This is what made me choose to apply. At work I try to make a connection with the parents. Children can feel what you feel. They will feel more comfortable if the parents are comfortable in the classroom. Children need to know that they are safe and they can trust their teachers.
ReplyDeleteYhardsom,
ReplyDeleteI thought your questions were interesting. How do programs create their philosophy and mission? If i were to guess, i would think programs created their philosophy and mission through educational studies and through trial and error. I would guess that their educational background would set the foundation for their teachings. As educators implemented these strategies and methods they were able to see what was effective and what wasn't. Overtime they perfected their strategies and were able to create their mission through the needs of the children. Good post and thank you for allowing me to comment on your blog.
Hi Yhardsom,
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding the history of a center can certainly impact current work. How might the current staff of a center engage with the history of a center? How can understanding the history of a site offer current staff ownership to a site? Are there policies and practices at early childhood centers that are followed because it is something that has always been done? Could an understanding of the history of these policies and practices empower staff to create policies and practices that are more appropriate to the mission and vision of a site?
Jeanne
Hi Yhardsom,
ReplyDeleteHow do we determine quality? High quality programs support their classrooms and school environment. They also support staff, and characterize all inclusive early childhood settings to ensure desirable outcomes for all children. We all should ask ourselves: Do our administrators and staff have an inclusive and respectful attitude toward children, families and each other? Do we have a consistent and ongoing setup for family involvement? How do we include children and families in conversations? Are we accepting of differences and uniqueness? Are we commenting on strengths of individual child as well as expectations? It is easy to forget what we are really doing and why are we doing this job.
Hey Yhardsom,
ReplyDeleteEver since I started working in my program, I have also wondered the same thing: How does the program create their mission/philosophy? When I started going to school and taking early childhood education classes it became clear on how programs create their mission/philosophy. The program needs to support the children, families, staff, and community. But each school is different and has their own creativity when building their own mission/philosophy. This makes each school unique. When parents and teachers look at different programs they look at their mission/philosophy and the school itself. It's kind of like personalities. When the personalities fit, the program is right, but when the personalities don't fit, then the program is not right.
Hi Som,
ReplyDeleteHow important or unimportant is it for a program to a have a vision of how they will operate? Who gets to take part in this vision? Is this vision based strictly on what is developmentally appropriate or do we take other factors into consideration? If so, what other factors do we consider when creating a vision of a program where families and communities are involved? What role does a program’s culture play in encouraging or dissuading community involvement?