Post 1: "The Big Question"

Theories that inform my inquiry

Overall theoretical statement: Competent children’s awareness of thoughts, wants and feelings is inferred from what they say and do in naturalistic and experimental situations. Natural settings show the child’s competent abilities to interact with others in the real world.

The Reggio Image of the Competent Child

• The child is competent, rich, and agentic

• The child is the author of his or her own learning from birth

• Children are seen as citizens with rights

"The child is a producer of culture, values, rights, competent in living and learning" (Rinaldi, 1998, p. 117).

A competent child is motivated to communicate and engage in society therefore they should engage with using authentic materials and experiences for them to work with. Fraser says that “children’s active interaction with real materials is essential for the growth of intelligence” (2011, p. 58).

The child actively constructs knowledge (social constructivist view)

The child has preparedness, potential, curiosity, and interest in engaging in social interaction, establishing relationships, constructing their learning, and negotiating with everything the environment brings to them (Gandini, 1997).

•Parents play active role in day-to-day activities of schools

Socialization and Competence

•Children are socialized to become a competent member of their community/culture

•Taught skills and understandings valued by that community

•Learning is structured according to socialization goals

(Kağıtcıbaşı, 2007)

Philosophy of teaching/learning

I can identify with John Locke’s theory in which teachers and parents imprint information onto students because they are a blank slate (Massing, 2016). To me, this says children are socialized based on norms, values, ideas, and beliefs of the society and culture. Jean-James Rousseau said that children are innately good and must be protected from a corrupt society, and that the child is dependent on adults and in need of protection (Massing, 2016). I think Rousseau’s image of the child is used as a base or resource for my own, and many other people’s, image of the child. I agree with the idea of Malaguzzi (1994) in that “the child is already tightly connected and linked to a certain reality of the world,” because of the relationships and experiences that that child has endured (p. 1). The child cannot be separated from this reality and brings their experiences, feelings, and relationships to school. Each child brings something different to the school and needs to feel valued.

All students, no matter what age, have different lived experiences which I see as being very influencing on a child and will be evident among most academic, social, and emotional aspects in school.

When considering the competent child, some of the important things to view from the child are that they are powerful, knowledgeable, and can make their own informed decisions based on what they have learned from their life experiences. A competent child is motivated to communicate and engage in society therefore they should engage with using authentic materials and experiences for them to work with. Fraser says that “children’s active interaction with real materials is essential for the growth of intelligence” (2011, p. 58). Since the competent child actively co-constructs knowledge with peers and adults I would engage with them in a holistic approach recognizing that they follow body language cues, changes in tone and pitch of voice, and would use probing and confirming questions to promote their learning and deeper understanding.

Competent children are interested in and capable of exploring complex and abstract ideas when given a meaningful provocation. As any teacher in a Reggio Emilia model would support students, it is important to not give them answers, but to get the students to think deeper by questioning them further, supplying them with authentic natural materials, and giving them a provocation that is relevant and meaningful to them.

A competent child is a curious being that enjoys seeking out knowledge and constructing it actively. Through many different mediums, children learn how to understand the world around them. One of the most important mediums that they learn from is through their many diverse experiences of the world itself and the authentic materials that it is filled with, in other words, their environment. Rinaldi (1998) said that “the child is a producer of culture, values, rights, competent in living and learning (p. 117). To me, the above quote means that students are not only engaging with parents, teachers and classmates but are also engaging with themselves and actively contributing to their own learning.

Purpose

Overall statement of purpose: To find effective teaching strategies that will help EAL children grow their oral English language kills.

I chose this question because I do not know much about teaching EAL students, especially in preschool. With Canada's current status on the increasing amount of refugees coming into the country and residing in Saskatchewan, I think this is a very important topic to find more information on. Preschool aged children are coming from countries where some have had to leave family and friends behind and have experienced traumatic events. These children are vulnerable, but I also believe that they are competent learners. Students will feel more and more comfortable in Canada once they can understand aspects of the English language and have that communication. I am really interested in how to help students learn English.

References

Fraser, Susan. (2011). Authentic childhood: Experiencing Reggio Emilia in the classroom. Toronto, ON: Nelson Thomson Learning.

Gandini, L. (1997). Foundations of the Reggio Emilia approach. In J. Hendrick (Ed.), First steps toward teaching the Reggio way (pp. 14–25). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall

Kagitçibasi, Ç. (2007). Family, self, and human development across cultures: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Massing, C. (2016). Reggio image of the child and main principles [PowerPoint slides].

Malaguzzi, L. (1994). Your image of the child: Where teaching begins. In Child Care Information Exchange, 3, 1-5.

Rinaldi, C. (1998). Projected curriculum and documentation. In The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia approach - Advanced reflections (C. Edwards., pp. 113–125). Norwich, CT: Ablex Publishing.