Philosophy of Education

Rebecca Asher

Sinclair Community College

 The Role of the Child

The role of the child in the early childhood education classroom is complex and never

stops changing. When a child first enters the classroom, they are like little sponges that soak up

all the information in their surroundings to help them understand what is happening around them.

This is much like the cognitive theory of Jean Piaget, which says that in each stage of life

humans learn by interacting with the world around them and we learn through experiences

(Mcleod, 2018). By being able to have a variety of experiences in the early childhood

environment, children learn skills like self-control and expand their language development.

When children are interacting with their environment, it means they are not bored, and they are

stimulated by their environment, so they are having fun. I believe children should have fun while

learning so that the experience is memorable, and they learn more this way. As children grow in

the early childhood classroom, we can see that they are learning/growing by the conversations

we have with them and as we watch them interact with other children.

The Role of the Early Childhood Educator

As an early childhood educator, one of the biggest roles we have is to create relationships

with the children and their families. By creating these relationships, the environment can be

happy and positive. When these relationships are strong, communication flows smoothly

between the educator and the child, as well as between the educator and the family. Educators

should always make every family feel welcome in the classroom, so that the experience for the

child and the family is the best that it could possibly be. Sometimes being an educator is not all

about the actual content being learned. It is about creating memorable moments for the children

so that they will be excited to go home and talk about the experience. Some days the main focus

needs to about be making sure all of the children’s needs are met and, if a child is struggling,
then the focus shifts to about how we can best help the child. Creating a developmentally

appropriate environment helps the child maintain stimulation and helps make sure the children

are not bored. When a teacher is successful, they will know it because the children will talk to

you and will be excited as soon as they walk through the door to the classroom.

The Role of the Family

Open communication with the family of each child is a key component in the world of

early childhood education. Some days educators see the child more hours of the day than their

families do. It is also important that families communicate to the teacher what they are seeing at

home and needs they may have so that everyone is on the same page. It is important that the

teacher and the family of the child are cohesive and feel comfortable communicating with each

other so that all needs of the child are met. The needs of families are important and should be

supported by the school. At school, another family is created so the actual family of the child can

be supported more easily. The needs of the child and the needs of the family go hand in hand

with one another and affect each other very much.

Culture

The culture of my family and my surroundings lacks a plethora of diversity. I live in a

suburban town in Ohio where everyone is middle income, and the population is mostly white.

This will impact my classroom because there may be cultures with different practices and

lifestyles that I am not aware of, so I will need to do some research. Every family in my

classroom should feel appreciated and acknowledged throughout their time in my class. I

personally celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Halloween, which some cultures

do not celebrate. There will also be holidays of other cultures that I will need to research so if
there is a child in the class with that culture, I can make sure we celebrate or acknowledge the

holiday. When interacting with children and families from different cultures, it is important to

keep an open mind and not go into the interaction with a bias.

The Learning Environment

The classroom or learning environment is the first impression a child receives of learning

and sets their whole mood. If a learning environment is loud, unorganized, and chaotic, the

children will respond to that by acting out and reflecting the chaos. But if a classroom is

organized and clean with calming colors, then the children will reflect the peace of the room. As

a teacher, I can control the layout and colors that are in the room. These two attributes of the

room can completely change the way the class responds to learning and the teacher.

Society

Society has a major impact on young children. Even if they may not understand events

occurring in society, they can pick up on the emotions and stress level of the adults around them.

Our society views itself in a spectrum of ways. People either view our society as if nothing is

wrong or as if there are tons of problems in our society with a grey area of opinions between the

two. My goal as an educator is to prepare children for society by encouraging them to think for

themselves and by helping them understand that they have a voice that can make change. I want

to help give them the confidence to feel as though they can accomplish whatever they feel

passionate about. Families are so important to society because they are the heart of society and

what drives society to keep going to stay morally good. Without families, we have no love or

compassion, but family does not always mean blood; family is whoever you feel a close

connection with.
 How Children Learn

As stated earlier in this paper, I believe children are like little sponges soaking up

information in the world around them as they have different experiences. I have come to this

philosophy by having hands on experience myself with children in the classroom. The children

love activities that are hands on in which they can manipulate. I have also read about this in

textbooks, which really supports my philosophy. I think learning is amazing. We all learn

something everyday and sometimes people just learn in different ways then others. Seeing the

moment when a child has learned something and mastered it, is one of the best feelings as an

educator. I cannot wait to see more moments like that in the future as I further my career in

education.
 Work Cited

Mcleod, S. (2018). Jean Piaget's Theory and Stages of Cognitive Development. Retrieved
November 18, 2020, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html