preview

Philosophy of Education Essays

Best Essays

My beliefs and values about early childhood education is based upon understanding that all children are unique individuals who need a caring, nurturing, and secure environment in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Children under the age of three are in critical stages of development, it is my belief that a quality child care environment will have a positive impact on a child’s development and make a significant difference in the life of a child and his or her family. My philosophy of early childhood education and the elements I believe are necessary in developing a developmentally appropriate child care environment is rooted in my views and beliefs about experimentalism, progressivism, …show more content…

Progressivism was part of a social and political movement in the United States between 1880 and 1920 (Gutek, 2009).
Progressive education coincides with my belief that young children need to interact with their environment to nurture their natural curiosity and creativity. Progressive education allows the teacher to focus on the development of the whole child, which is critical since all developmental domains are interrelated. Children do not learn nor do they develop in isolation; therefore, the learning environment should support learning across all domains. For instance, when a child moves from crawling to walking new experiences open up for the child, their physical ability affects their cognitive ability as they venture out to explore areas of their environment that were limited to crawling. Both experimentalism and progressivism coincide with my belief that young children are active learners. These philosophies support my belief that children are critical thinkers and problem solvers as they actively attempt to make sense of the world through exploration. Furthermore, these types of ideologies correspond to my belief that the social and cultural context is relevant to learning.
As children attempt to make sense of their world through their individual experience, they begin to notice how aspects of their world are similar as well as different. We live in a very diverse country that continues to grow in diversity every year;

Get Access