Teaching Philosophy
Our Centre’s educational philosophy is based on three pillars of education.
Te Whāriki
Te Whāriki is the name of the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, it provides guidelines for education and care of children from birth to six years of age. Te Whāriki is based on socio-cultural perspectives. Our curriculum responds to the social and cultural values and beliefs of our community of children, families and teachers.
Aspirations
Te Whāriki is based on the aspirations that children grow up:
- as competent and confident learners and communicators
- healthy in mind, body and spirit
- secure in their sense of belonging
- secure in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society.
The Principles
Four broad principles are at the Centre of Te Whāriki
- Empowerment: Children will be empowered to learn and grow
- Holistic development: Children learn and grow in a holistic way. Children’s intellectual, social, cultural, physical, emotional and spiritual learning is interwoven across all experiences
- Family and Community: A child’s family and community are recognised as part of the learning experience.
- Relationships: Children learn through positive relationships with people, places and things.
Five Strands of Learning
The principles of Te Whāriki are interwoven with the following area of learning:
- Mana Atua – Well being
- Mana Tangata – Contribution
- Mana Whenua – Belonging
- Mana Reo – Communication
- Mana Aoturoa – Exploration
R.I.E /Magda Gerber Philosophy
Here at Reach for the Stars Early Learning Centre we take aspects of the R.I.E/Magda Gerber Philosophy and use in our everyday practice with our infants and toddlers.
The foundation of the R.I.E. Philosophy and its principals is RESPECT. We honour each child’s unique capabilities and encourage them to reach developmental milestone as they are ready.
10 Principles of Caregiving
- Involve infants and toddlers in things that concern them.
- Invest in quality time.
- Learn each child’s unique ways of communicating and teach them yours.
- Invest in time and energy to build a total person.
- Respect infants and toddlers as worthy people.
- Be honest about your feelings.
- Model the behaviour that you want to teach.
- Recognise problems as learning opportunities, and let infants and toddlers try to solve their own.
- Build security by teaching trust.
- Be concerned about the quality of development in each stage.
We know how crucial the first three years of life are in developing basic lifelong patterns of coping, living, and learning. Your child’s primary caregiver will get to know your child best and the relationship they build will develop a relationship that will give your child a sense of trust and security.
Principle of Reggio Emilia Approach
Our teaching and learning is also greatly inspired by Reggio Emilia philosophy which focuses on these key principles:
- The image of the child – a child is seen as strong, capable, resilient, rich with wonder and knowledge and full of potential in constructing his/her own knowledge through decision making and interactions with others.
- The role of the environment – through conscious use of the space, colours, lights, resources and displays of children’s work, environment serves as a third teacher.
- The role of the teacher – teachers and children are seen as partners in learning.
- Role of Documentation – Teacher’s role becomes more of an observer, facilitator and a co-learner. Carefully displaying and documenting children’s thoughts and progression of thinking make children’s thoughts visible.
- Group/Project work – There is a strong focus on social collaboration, working in groups, where each child is an equal participant, having their thoughts and questions valued.
- A Hundred Languages – Probably the most well-known aspect of the Reggio Emilia Approach. The belief that children use many different ways to show their understanding and express their thoughts and creativity. A hundred different ways of thinking, of discovering, of learning. Through drawing and sculpting, through dance and movement, through painting and pretend play, through modelling and music, and that each one of these Hundred Languages must be valued and nurtured.
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