UCHS Child Development Program

Philosophy Assignment Part I & II

Purpose: This assignment will be a beginning of the development of your teaching/learning philosophy regarding:
1. How you see yourself as a professional.
2. What you believe about early care & education; and how children learn
3. How you would create quality, developmentally appropriate, child-centered and equitable
environments for learning.

• A Teaching/Learning Philosophy: Look at a philosophy statement as the foundation – the general principles of the field of
early childhood education (in this case). It states the experiences of teaching and learning and the choices educators make to
support these experiences.

• A good, concise philosophy statement is the foundation for:

• Specific Program Goals and Objectives: Program goals and objectives should be
consistent with your philosophy. This is the foundation of your curriculum.

Directions: The Philosophy Assignment is divided in two parts. Each part has umbrella categories. Each focus topic has
questions that are to be answered thoroughly, using the knowledge gained from the text, class discussions, other course material,
observations at the Lab School and your own research. Your philosophy statement must be typed.
Part I: How will I lay the foundation for quality learning environments for young children?
And, What are my multiple roles as a professional ECE educator?

Question 1:How does your ECE philosophy support the Rights of the Child?
Question 2: Authorities view children as needing to be “readied” and “fixed”. This is a recurring issue in the ECE
field. What does needing to be “readied” and “fixed” mean? It is a multi-faceted dilemma. And, is this good for
children?
Question #3: Explore what needs to be done to not fall into the trap of “fixing” children.. Discuss what should be
the focus for good, quality ECE programs.
Question #4: ECE teachers have multiple roles. Describe the key elements (skills required) of effective
communication that you must model with children, parents/guardians, colleagues and the larger community. (This
includes an anti-bias perspective)
Question #5: Describe the key elements of effective guidance strategies and how those strategies support your
philosophy.
Question #6: How would you create partnerships with parents/guardians? Be specific and detailed. Think outside
the box. Why is creating partnerships with families important in supporting your philosophy?

Part II: How will I create quality, equitable learning environments for young children?
The following questions provide an opportunity to explore all the areas necessary to create equitable environments for all
children.

Question #1: What philosopher, educational pioneer or theorist most aligns with your philosophy. Each person has
many things they contributed to what we know about a child’s development (do not simply restate their theory or
philosophy). Make the connections regarding how it supports your developing philosophy. Be specific. Describe
why.
Question #2: Why do you feel it is important when discussing children’s education today that both early care and
education are part of that discussion?
Question #3: Discuss in-depth your understanding of how children learn. Be specific. Remember to view them from
a holistic perspective.
Question #4: Discuss the role of the teacher in facilitating children’s play and work that reflects a child-centered,
constructivist philosophy. How does this support your philosophy?
Question #5: Discuss in-depth how play is a way of learning.
 UCHS Child Development Program
Ms. Salemi
Philosophy Assignment Part I
Name: ____Stephanie Rosales ____________
Part I: How will I lay the foundation for quality learning environments for young
children? And, What are my multiple roles as a professional ECE educator?
Question #1How does your ECE philosophy support the Rights of the Child?
My ECE philosophy is that I believe in cultural diversity. I will support the rights of the child by
celebrating each child individually and will try to guide them to understand our differences.
Question #2:Authorities view children as needing to be “readied” and “fixed”. This is a recurring issue in the ECE
field. What does needing to be “readied” and “fixed” mean? It is a multi-faceted dilemma. And, is this good for
children?
I think being “readied” means by the time you're at a certain age you need to be at a certain reading level,
if you are not at that reading level you must be “fixed” inorder to be at the same level as other children in
that age level. This isn’t good for the children.
Question #3: Explore what needs to be done to not fall into the trap of “fixing” children.. Discuss what should be
the focus for good, quality ECE programs.
The things that need to be done is if there are programs that will help the child. If they need help with
their shapes they can always do worksheets that help with their fine motor skills. An example of a
program would be handwriting without tears. I use this program with three children at my internship and I
can see the imporvmence in their shapes.
Question #4: ECE teachers have multiple roles. Describe the key elements (skills required) of effective
communication that you must model with children, parents/guardians, colleagues and the larger community. (This
includes an anti-bias perspective)
Some skills required are patience, flexibility, organization, and communication skills.
Question #5: Describe the key elements of effective guidance strategies and how those strategies support your
philosophy.
Some guidance strategies that support my philosophy is having a safe/peaceful environment, how to deal
with eachothers feelings, point out positive behavior.
Question #6: How would you create partnerships with parents/guardians? Be specific and detailed. Think outside
the box. Why is creating partnerships with families important in supporting your philosophy?
Communicate with families often, have a dedicated day during each month or during the week day to talk
to parents/ if parents have questions. Maybe have a day where parents come in and observe their child or a
day to do workshops with the parents.
UCHS Child Development Program
Ms. Salemi
Philosophy Assignment Part II
Names: ___Stephanie Rosales____

Part II: How will I create quality, equitable learning environments for young children?
Question #1:Why do you feel it is important when discussing children’s education today that both early care and
education are part of that discussion?
Early care and education are important because early care introduces children to education. It also has big
benefits for the children such as learning social and emotional skills.
Question #2:Discuss in-depth your understanding of how children learn. Be specific. Remember to view them from
a holistic perspective.
Children learn by exploring, listening, observing, asking questions, and experimenting with their
surroundings. Children use all of these to help them learn things such as math, writing, reading. Also by
being intrested and motivated into learning/subject.
Question #3:Discuss in-depth how play is a way of learning.
Play is a way of learning because the children get to express themselves by doing this they improve ther
confidence in a social setting. They also get to act out scense with each other, they get to act out their
feelings, work with others, ect…
Question #4: What philosopher, educational pioneer or theorist most aligns with your philosophy. Each person has
many things they contributed to what we know about a child’s development (do not simply restate their theory or
philosophy). Make the connections regarding how it supports your developing philosophy. Be specific. Describe
why.
I think the philosopher that most aligns with my philosophy is John Dewy. Dewey thought that curriculum
should be relevant to student’s lives, and I strongly agree that having cultural diversity is something
relevant in a child’s life.