Topic: Philosophy Statement connected to professional standards

I believe that education for young children requires subtlety and ingenuity in creating a
pedagogical environment to promote and support children's development. Through accurate
pedagogy, we can support the development process for children and create the most suitable
environment.

The period of children from 0 to 8 years old is a period of cognitive and worldview development
of children, moreover, this is also a period of forming personality and personal interests, which
are important foundations for the development of each individual later. This is the time when
children tend to imitate the behavior of those around them, have curiosity and passion to explore
the world. In terms of intellectual characteristics, young children have not developed critical and
comprehensive thinking, tending to accept the surrounding environment with inherent
characteristics. Besides, children also tend to active more, using all their senses to experience
and learn (Subur, 2017). In terms of social ability, children tend to be self-centered but easily
influenced by those around them such as family and friends. However, it should be noted that
each child has unique characteristics, some children would still prefer to play alone rather than
explore the outside world and therefore need other alternatives that are more applicable. (Early &
Burchinal, 2001)

With such specific characteristics, it is extremely crucial to have age-appropriate pedagogy for
children. Applying the approach to older age groups will both become ill-considered and
ineffective, as most of the later stages share relatively similar learning characteristics, but early
childhood has not developed the self-learning capacity and has a high dependence on the
nurturing environment (Early & Burchinal, 2001). Therefore, for early childhood education, we
need to pay special attention to the pedagogical environment. Today's famous methods such as
the American Highscope method, Japan's Shichida method, or Glenn Domman's early parenting
method, all have a common feature that emphasizes the comprehensive development of the
intellectual, physical, and mental state, thereby making the most of the first 6-7 years of life
developing the left side of the brain, and successfully shaping the later years ((Review of
Legislative Framework, Policies and Good Practices in the area of Early childhood Education
and Care 2014)). However, we should not overlook the element of the pedagogical environment,
where teachers' encouragement and ingenuity are essential so that children can comfortably and
confidently explore the world around them. Montessori with her famous environmental
education method focuses on educating children under 10 years old, in which it is not only
necessary to design a physical environment (classrooms, playgrounds) that is organized, in
logical orders, but also requires people who interact with children with tact (Maria, 2010).
Montesorri's classes prioritize children's decisions, respect their own space, encourage discovery
and self-learning, and promote independence by limiting helping children in the process of
interacting with the lesson or with other individuals in the same environment. From such
surroundings, children will be enhanced to nurture traits that are beneficial to the later process
such as decision-making, independence, critical thinking ability, and curiosity, while maintaining
the advancement of children's mental and physical health. There are now more similar
methodologies share same traits in advancing children’s environment, for example the Bank
Street method or Reggio Emilia Method. (Verma, 2019)

With such philosophy and pedagogy, I believe that the role of the teacher is exceptionally vital.
Not only in orienting and building a firm knowledge background for children, the enhancement
and maintaining a positive pedagogical environment for children to have a safe space to explore
and nurture their intellect, but personality also requires diligence and care. Teachers need to pay
attention to the needs of children, to each child's unique personality to be able to provide a
suitable environment, along with the subtlety and ingenuity to grasp when children need help
when to avoid intervention to better stimulate the baby's independence. The above requirements
also need to be harmoniously coordinated with ensuring professional standards for teachers:
"know students and how they learn; know the content and how to teach it; plan for and
implement effective teaching and learning; create and maintain supportive and safe learning
environments; assess, provide feedback and report on student learning; engage in professional
learning and engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community"
(Australian Professional Standards for Teachers 2017). These standards must be further
enhanced for children under the age of 10 when the role of the teacher is especially important in
shaping a child's character for later-life development.
 Bibliography

Early, D. M., & Burchinal, M. R. (2001). Early childhood care: relations with family
characteristics and preferred care characteristics. Early Childhood Research Quarterly,
16(4), 475–497. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0885-2006(01)00120-x

Maria, M. (2010). Spontaneous activity in education: the advanced Montesorri method (Volume
I). Journal of School Psychology, 3(3), 81.

Review of Legislative Framework, Policies and Good Practices in the area of Early childhood
Education and Care. (2014). Research Methods for Early Childhood Education, 16–21.
http://nmd.bg/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Handbook_Good-Practices.pdf.

Subur, S. (2017). Early Childhood, Characteristic and Creative-Social Development. Ijtimā'iyya:

Journal of Muslim Society Research, 2(1), 129–152.
https://doi.org/10.24090/ijtimaiyya.v2i1.1104

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers. Teacher Standards. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards.

Verma, N. (2019, August 27). Different Preschool Teaching Methods & Techniques Used
Worldwide. Bachpan...a play school. https://www.bachpanglobal.com/blog/different-
preschool-teaching-methods-techniques-used-worldwide/.