DUE Jun 18th 10 PM EDU 625 WEEK 3 , APA format 2-4 Pages Refer to Attachment for Previous Assignment
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Week2Assignment_ECE625.docxRunning head: PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT & RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1
Running head: PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT & RESEARCH QUESTIONS 2
Philosophy Statement & Research Questions
Jane Doe
ECE625: Family & Community Engagement (MSD1822A)
Dr. John Doe
June 11, 2018
Introduction and Profile
Family and community engagement is a fundamental aspect in the growth and wellbeing of any child and youth in the society. The phrase it takes are community to raise a child is right on point. Family and community engagement is a system that usually comprises of parents, family, relatives, the community system and services providers at large including educators, health workers, youth service providers, even neighbors. These components play a big role in childhood development, particularly in early childhood stages. How every one of these participants behaves and nurtures children have direct impacts on the type of people these children will be (Crosson-Tower, 2017). There are several family and community programs out there that try to streamline the generally advised interactions between the children and family/community. Everyone plays a role to ensure these children grow to become the best version of themselves. There are several theories that try to explain family and community engagement programs in relations to the growth and development of children particularly in their early childhood stages. As an educator, I have always been interested on how my role can impact a child’s development (Crosson-Tower, 2017).
I have been an educator for almost half my life. It has always been a passion of mine to impart knowledge, ideologies and ethics/morals to all my students. As an educator, I have with time incorporated several teaching styles that I have discovered can suit different types of students. The teaching approach I have been applying as an educator is a hybrid style where I incorporate an authoritative style when am needed to, where I give directives that I strictly expect my students or the people am interacting with to abide by. The other style I use is where I become a facilitator, that is, I help my students to participate in self learning and discovery to evoke an affinity of research in them (Crosson-Tower, 2017). The other final style is the coaching style where I actively participate, actualize and demonstrate that which I teach to them.
Over the years, I have been adapting my teaching style to fit a large proportion of my students, and I found out a hybrid style is the best. Children and youth can easy relate to an educator that can be all figures when needed to. For instance, children understand authority, a chain of command, being the bacon of leadership will help students listen and look up to you, but note that this alone can cause resistance among students, and that is why incorporating other styles like a coach where you not only impart educative aspects of the curriculum, but also impart life skills, morals and overall ethics that will help children and youth prepare for life after school. This is vitally important. The other aspect is becoming a facilitator where you drive the aspect of inquisitiveness among students, where students ask questions and try to find answers to these questions. I found out this to be quite helpful to help the general development of students (Scully, Barbour & Roberts-King, 2015).
Philosophy and Approach to Family and Community Engagement
As stated earlier, I think family and community engagement is a fundamental approach that can dictate the growth and development of children. It is well known that each family is diverse, from the number of members, their attitude, race, religion, gender, taste and preferences, personalities among many other indicators (Santora, 2012). Each family grows and develops children in a different way and that is why people develop different views and personalities over time, because of family systems that have been through. Family systems theory explains that in order to understand an individual well, place him or her in a family setup. According to the theory, it is impossible to understand various aspects of an individual if you do not involve them as a part of a family (Christian, 2006). Families are an emotional and behavioral unit which dictates how each member of the family grows and develops. I believe family, particularly parents engagement is one of the major drive of childhood development. Understanding family systems and diversity in families is a crucial aspect especially as an educator. It is important to be aware of family background and diversity in order to educate and understand each perspective (Scully, Barbour &
Roberts-King, 2015). And this is where my philosophy and approach on early childhood programs is based upon. One of the most fundamental childhood program is the education or learning programs that help impart knowledge and skills to children at a young stage of their development and growth (Christian, 2006).
For an educator just like me, it is important to create a learning environment that is inclusive and mold or creates a perspective of diversity and inclusivity among children and youth from a very early stage. In early childhood programs, such as teaching and learning, it is important for educators to create a suitable environment. Children tend to learn from their environment. They generate views and understanding from that which is in their environment and that which is also absent (Grant & Ray, 2018). As an educator, my philosophy is to create all rounded inclusive children/students who understand and appreciate diversity in race, belief, religion, gender roles, individual diversity, family diversity, in culture and in several other aspects. My approach is to ensure children in their early stage have formed opinions and views of what is around them that is morally and ethically correct (Grant & Ray, 2018). My approach to early childhood programs mainly involves participation of family engagement, particularly parent’s engagement, having a well-established relationship between parents, children and their educators is vital. Remaining in sync with what the child is exposed to is important in imparting all the necessary values and knowledge that both the educator and parents thinks fit for the children’s growth and development. To ensure we are all on the same page it is important to generate a good relationship with common goals and objectives (Grant & Ray, 2018).
As stated earlier, I firmly believe that parents have a big if not the biggest role to play in early childhood development. All early childhood development should actively involve the participation of families and parents in particular. My approach is centered on these two pillars; parents (family) and educators (community). Every aspect, word, thought, video, picture, environment, books or any other material exposed to children at their early stages will dictate what perspective they will generate and that is why it is important that the exposure of these materials to children by parents or educators are unilaterally similar.
Interview Questions
I plan to visit a local early childhood center as part of my research. I plan to interview the staff and management who will give me relevant information on how they run their early childhood programs, how they incorporate family and community engagement in their programs. The most relevant question I would like to find out about is if at all the program incorporates family and community engagement, if they do, how do they do it? Second question I would be keen on finding the answer to will be what the parent’s roles are in the entire program they run? And finally, the last question would be: What are some of the cons and pros that are involved in incorporating family and community engagement in their early childhood program? These questions will give me answers that will try and support my thesis statement and approach on family and community engagement.
References
Christian, L.G. (2006, January). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeycdev.org/files/yc/file/200601/ChristianBTJ.pdf
Crosson-Tower, C. (2017). Exploring child welfare: A practice perspective. Pearson.
Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. A. (Eds.). (2018). Home, school, and community collaboration: Culturally responsive family engagement. Sage Publications.
Santora, L. (2012). How can you create a learning environment that respects diversity? Anti-defamation League. Retrieved from http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/How-Can-You-Create-a-Learning-Environment-That-Respects-Diversity.pdf
