Early Childhood Education Report: Listening to Children's Voices

This report delves into the use of creative tools and approaches for listening to young children in early childhood education. It examines methods such as role-playing, interviewing, photography, and drawing, highlighting their effectiveness in understanding children's perspectives and fostering their self-expression. The report also explores the role of practitioners in scaffolding children's learning, emphasizing the importance of responsive communication and allowing children to follow their own interests. Scaffolding is presented as a supportive framework where practitioners guide children's learning without imposing their own ideas, using strategies like shaping, sharing, supporting, and stretching. The report concludes by emphasizing the benefits of these practices, including increased child confidence and improved practitioner-child relationships, while acknowledging the challenges of time commitment and the need for consistent creativity.

ASSESSMENT

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Q2. Use of creative tools and approaches in order to listen to young children...........................3
Q3. Role of Practitioner in Scaffolding learning of children and allowing them to follow their
own interests................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

MAIN BODY
Q2. Use of creative tools and approaches in order to listen to young children
The process of learning in the children is a very evolved and intrinsic process where there
are many activities that are involved and therefore the process of learning needs to be illustrative
where the children are engaged in different activities that leave a vivid impact on their mind, and
they can learn easily along with development of their imagination as well (Responding to the
child building learning relationships, 2015). Role play/ Interviewing: Under this, the tutors or teachers try to ascertain what the
children are thinking. The children are asked questions in an interactive way and by
rephrasing the similar statement again and again, teachers try to develop an insight into
the mind and working of the child. Interview can be in groups or on an individual basis
but while dealing with children, interviews in groups as a fun activity is preferred. Role
play on the other hand helps the child in learning how different life scenarios can occur
and how one is expected to deal with them (Responding to the child building learning
relationships, 2015). Role play helps the children in problem solving and understanding
complex issues in a simpler way. The trainers are able to identify or see the world from
children's point of view where they are allowed to express themselves fully. Photography: The photography is a very interactive means to understand what according
to children is fascinating and what or whom they consider to be a beautiful and important
part of their life. Friends were found to be an integral part of the lives of the children
where they took close- ups of their friends while they were spending time with them.
Outdoors and scenic beauty was also found to be a point of interest for the children while
photographing random moments of their day and consecutively, toys were another
majorly photographed thing by the children. Therefore, the photography can also be used
as a major activity where the trainers can identify what is the thing of importance for the
children. Drawing: Drawing is a non- verbal way of expressing oneself and children can use it to
detail; or display how are they feeling. The drawing helps the children who are shy to
express themselves openly and cannot trust the use of verbal expression as the correct
medium of expressing their desire (Responding to the child building learning
relationships, 2015). Additionally, while a child is drawing, it is essential to hear

whatever they are singing or speaking along with it so that the tutor is able to develop an
insight into a child's thinking procedure. The narratives of the children when coupled
with the emotions that they express in their art are a key to deciphering the mind of a
child.
 Combined Approaches: The listening approaches that were discussed can be integrated
with each other. For instance, activities like role-play and photography or interview and
role-play or drawing and photography can be integrated so that these collectively help in
more effective listening and interpreting of the mind of the child. These can even be
coupled with natural activities like taking walks or organizing sports etc. so that shared
learning and development can take place.
There are various benefits and challenges that are associated with the listening activity
that the trainers and the children engage in.
When children are being heard, they feel important and acknowledge the fact that
whatever they intend to say is valued and respected. They also become more confident where
they try to communicate their daily experiences more clearly. The parents or the family that is
associated with the child is also ensured that their child is being heard, and that he or she is
learning to present their views more clearly (Responding to the child building learning
relationships, 2015). Lastly, another major benefit is that the trainers also become more
familiarized and confident with the way they deal with the children. They recognize what were
the misconceptions that they had regarding communication with children and these are
effectively rectified when they engage in such activities.
However, there are certain disadvantages as well that are inherent to the learning
activities that they engage in such as trainers might tend to take the children lightly and this can
affect the children and their learning procedure. Also, dealing with children is an extremely time-
consuming and patience testing task where the trainer needs to be patient with the children so
that they can understand clearly how the mind of a child works. Therefore, the practitioners need
to maintain constant energy and creativity levels at all times so that through every single
moment, children are able to learn in a creative manner.

Q3. Role of Practitioner in Scaffolding learning of children and allowing them to follow their
own interests
Scaffolding theory highlights the need of the practitioners to be more responsive and
creative while attending to the children and requires them to listen to what they are expressing
and to make them learn what the trainer or practitioner intends to impart to the children.
Scaffolding, as Bruner has described helps in developing a supporting scaffold or base on which
their entire house i.e. learning in this context is based (Responding to the child building learning
relationships, 2015). The scaffolding helps the children in building up in their own way of doing
it. However, the practitioner here does not intervene in the process, but they try to push them in
correct direction and when the child has built up their understanding strongly and correctly, the
scaffolding can be evidently withdrawn. The key to effective and correct scaffolding is the
communication i.e. practitioners need to be adept at understanding what the children are trying to
communicate and this is then interpreted and understood accordingly. Different gestures and
sounds that they make, the acts that they are performing or whatever they are doing or saying
while engaging in the act of scaffolding is essential in understanding the key to what exactly is
the knowledge that they are gaining. The actions of the child are very closely a presentation of
the things that they normally see i.e. what is happening around them is exactly what they do or
depict in their actions.
During scaffolding, the adults need to regularly segregate their actions and importance
that they are giving to the children under them. The adults can use different strategies while
engaging in the process of scaffolding with the children so that they can clearly identify the
direction in which the child is going. Children often try to communicate in singular words where
they speak the main word only. For instance, if a child is asked that whether he is ready to get his
nappy changed, then the child might just say nappy. The practitioner has to shape the singular
words of the children into more meaningful and complete context (Responding to the child
building learning relationships, 2015). Another strategy can be adopted where the process during
which the children share information and communicate the information, they must be heard very
closely and the practitioner should try to decipher their every action correctly so that it can be
manifested that their progress is in which direction. For instance, if a child is trying to point out
the way in which they are thinking by speaking some critical words then the practitioner should
immediately try to grasp what is it that they are trying to say, and they should complete their

thought. Another key strategy is that the practitioner must not impose their way or thinking on
the child. They must recognize what is it that the child is trying to say and if he is going in the
wrong direction, then the practitioner must correct him with reason. Here, for example, if the
child who has correctly grasped the gist of the activity is getting confused and tangled in the
words that are being put into their mind, then the teacher must correct them gently by making
them understand that they grasped the concept correctly and making them modify their thinking
accordingly.
Therefore, the process of scaffolding can be said to be the critical process involving key
communication strategies which are shaping, sharing, supporting and stretching where the role of
the teacher or practitioner is limited to just putting the child in the correct direction and not
leading them with the thoughts of other child or the teacher's own thoughts. For instance, during
the process of making the child learn how to develop a number sentence, the child is asked to
count how many teeth of the crocodiles have fallen if each crocodile looses two teeth. Here the
child may get confused between the term total which implied addition but simultaneously the use
of term looses which implies deduction (Responding to the child building learning relationships,
2015). Therefore, here the teacher should identify the confusion that the child is facing, and then
they should be made to learn that what they are required to do is addition rather than subtraction.
This is what scaffolding is about where the practitioner contributes a hand in the development of
the child and therefore a child is allowed to let himself grow along with the assistance of the
practitioner.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Responding to the child building learning relationships. 2015. Children's Participation: Learning
and Responding. Chapter 9. Pp 9.29.
Responding to the child building learning relationships. 2015. Exploring the adult's role in
children's learning. Chapter 10. Pp 35.45
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