Early Childhood Education: Reflecting on Course and Future Goals

This essay provides a personal reflection on a completed early childhood education course. The author, an experienced early childhood educator, details their motivations for enrolling in the course, highlighting a desire to enhance their skills and knowledge to better support children's overall development. The essay discusses key learning experiences, including ethical considerations, the integration of digital media, and strategies for fostering cognitive development. It also addresses the author's challenges, particularly in adapting to technological advancements, and outlines how the course has influenced their career goals. The author emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and professional development in the field of early childhood education, incorporating references to relevant literature and regulations within the Australian context, and ultimately aims to improve their teaching practices and better serve the needs of children.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
The bachelor in education in early childcare is the study of the educating and taking care
of the children. I have enrolled in the course after a break of five years and wish to pursue my
career as a child care specialist. I am already an early childhood educator in a long daycare, and I
think I can increase my efficiency as an educator by perusing the field of study in the area I am
passionate about working in. I am a mother of six year old which also helps me in understanding
the needs of the children better and asses their development. I need to develop myself with time
since it is not only the duty of an educator to teach but over see their overall development.
I have enrolled in the course after a break of five years and in the due time the different
approaches regarding the different aspects of the childcare education in due time. The early
childcare has developed from being educational to developmental. The approaches towards the
student and the processes of informing and inculcating ideas in them have also changed.
Moreover in this course I have learned about the different ethical considerations that I have to
keep in mind while being a childcare instructor. I have also learnt about the inclusion of the
various practices and the activities to involve the children in to help in their cognitive
development. In this course I have also learnt how to use the virtual and the digital media to
engage the children and help in their development. The cognitive and the psychological
development is my prime concern as a childcare specialist and the course helps me increase my
knowledge and develop my approach. The different ethical and the moral duties of the childcare
specialist are also informed to me during this course helping in the devising proper conduct and a
better approach for educating the children (Earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au., 2018).
I have not always been adept in using social media and the internet. After the
commencement of this course I have learnt the usage of the internet for increasing my
knowledge of the different methods to be used for better childcare and education. Moreover the

2EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
usage of modern digital methods makes the process more interactive for children helping in their
learning process. I can use the virtual tools to improve my knowledge and provide better support
to the children and aid their development. The technology can also help me engage the children
better and keep a better eye on their activity and behavior pattern (Australian Children’s
Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), 2013). During this course I also learnt that I
can use technology to updater myself with the modern childcare techniques used around the
world which will help in the providing a better learning experience to the children. With the
proper knowledge of technology usage I can also improve the learning process among the
children by getting them more involved in classroom practices.
During this course I learnt that I should make sure that the information that I collect
should be authentic, for which I should know the sources and the resources to search form on the
virtual forum. I am an adept student and quick learner which helped me grasp the new
knowledge and the procedures that I was being informed about during this study. Myexperience
as a childcare specialist also helped me understand the different information and the practices
that I was told about during the course. Despite my knowledge and experience my limited
knowledge of the technological advancements hindered my learning process. I am still not
acquainted with the different technologies that are used in the modern education like the reading
of the online journals and citation of the online resources using the different websites (The
Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, 2011). This
greatly hindered my progress as I could not present the knowledge I had coherently, though I
knew the topic.
My course goals are basically to improve my overall approach of childcare education and
use my education and experience to help the children in a better way. The knowledge and the

3EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
information that I have got during the course have helped me update myself about a number of
factors that a childcare specialist should pay heed to. I learnt the code of conduct of the childcare
in Australia along with the rules and the norms that the government has given regarding the
rights of the child and their implementation in development of the child (ACECQA, 2013).
During the course I have also learned a number of theories that have been implemented for the
better cognitive development of the child and how the theories should be implemented in the
class room. Through this course I am coming closer to the achievement of my personal goal of
becoming a better and well informed childcare specialist.
There are a number of factors that assisted me during this course while there is other
which hindered my approach towards my course goals. My real time experience and my ability
to correlate my practical work with the theoretical knowledge that was given helped me
understand about the modern approach of the childcare. Along with that, my curiosity and
inquisitiveness about the subject helped me to make the best of this opportunity and achieve my
course goals. One of the major hindrances I faced during this course was the lack of my
knowledge of in the technological development in the education sector. Moreover, a gap of five
years had also made me a slow learner in certain areas. I was also not updated about the newer
ways of teaching and learning which hindered my coursework. The different problems that have
risen in the understanding and the updating of the new laws and ethics related to my job also
hindered the course work (Sims &Waniganayake, 2015).
The lessons learnt during the course will definitely affect my future prospects as a
childcare expert. The information that I have gained through the course helps me improve my
strategies and implement better processes to educate and care for the children. I am also more
informed now about the different strategies and processes I can adopt to make the learning

4EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
process a better experience for the children. The information and the upgraded information that I
have learnt about during this course helps in improving the teaching process in the classrooms.
The course also makes me more informed about my duties as an educator and the processes that I
can adopt for its proper fulfillment. It also taught me to use the modern technology to reach out
the children better as the children today are more attentive and responsive to technology (Yoong
et al., 2015). The usage of the modern techniques of education will help me understand the
problems of certain children well and use the newer technique to catalogue them. These new
processes of cataloging the problems of children help in their easy mitigation.
Therefore, in this essay I can say that this course greatly helped my progress towards my
goals and career motives. This course gave me a deep insight in to the better childcare facilities
using the modern and developed approach. I have also learnt to use technology for understanding
in depth about the different aspects of the study in my field. This course also made me
acquainted to the more modern and relatively better approach towards providing better
educations and aiding the development of the children. Thus, I can say the knowledge I gained
from the course along with my experience will help me achieve my career goals of being a good
childcare specialist.

5EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
References
ACECQA (2013). Guide to the National Quality Standard. Retrieved from
http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/NQF-
Resource-03-Guide-to-NQS.pdf
Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). (2013). Guide to the
Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services
National Regulations 2011. Retrieved from http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-
Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/NQF-Resource-02-Guide-to-ECS-Law-Regs.pdf
Earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au. (2018). Code of Ethics. [online] Available at:
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ECA-COE-
Brochure-2016.pdf [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Sims, M., &Waniganayake, M. (2015). The role of staff in quality improvement in early
childhood. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(5), 187-194.
The Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs.
(2011). Education and Care Services National Regulations. Retrieved from
http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-regulations OR
http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2011/653
Yoong, S. L., Williams, C. M., Finch, M., Wyse, R., Jones, J., Freund, M., ... & Wolfenden, L.
(2015). Childcare service centers’ preferences and intentions to use a web-based program
to implement healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices: A cross-
sectional study. Journal of medical Internet research, 17(5).