Brooke Frazer

Midterm

Part 1: 1. How has your philosophy of education been (or is being) influenced by
the ideas and contributions of these great educators-reference at least two theorists.
My philosophies and views have been majorly influenced by the ideas of
Pestalozzi. His principles focus on how to teach basic skills while also showing children
love and care. Pestalozzi traveled around the world educating and spreading his
philosophies about education. He created the castle of Burgdorf into a school however in
1803, the Swiss army took control over the castle and in exchange gave Pestalozzi the
convent of Munchen-Buchsee (Bowers). He stressed that education should just not be
about the head and hand but the heart as well. I feel this is very important especially as a
teacher. Children do not need someone to bark orders and them and dominate over them.
Children need someone to show them unconditional love and support during all times,
even when the child is not making a good choice. I love the way Pestalozzi put emphasis
on caring in education because in my opinion, I feel that is what young children
sometimes need the most. He also encouraged the use of groups. I have begun using this
technique in my classroom. Using young children in groups is a bit of a challenge at first
but they eventually begin to understand. When the children are learning in groups they
learn from one another and begin to work together as a team. Every teacher, if they
realize it or not, has been influenced by Pestalozzis ideas. First, his idea of integrated
curriculum is used in almost every school across the nation and even the world. Second,
it was him who paved the road for the teacher licensure movement. This led eventually to
the modern systems of teacher certification or credentials, which are now accepted as part
of the education scene (Bowers). Education, teachers, and children have all been effected
by Pestalozzis philosophies and ideas.
Another great educator that I have been greatly influenced by is Abigail Eliot.
Eliot was a part of the leadership that formed the National Association for the Education
of Young Children as well as the National Association for Nursery Education. She
created a nursery school that gave children an education and provided teacher training
which is very important when working with young children. I admire her because she
saw something she did not like and changed it in a positive way for others to benefit. She
visited nursery schools that were dull with no light colors and watched as the children
just sat there in boredom. Eliot changed nursery school forever. There is great importance
in the use of bright colors and textures in a childs environment, which allows that child
to feel comforted and safe. She created an environment for children to feel comforted and
safe as their parents were away. She founded Ruggles Street Nursery School and made
sure that the teachers were well equipped to handle young children. Later, that nursery
school was incorporated into Tufts University Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study.
Eliot allowed for many teachers to become well trained to teach children. I also admire
her because she was the first woman to receive a doctoral degree from Harvard
Universitys Graduate School of Education. She not only made a stand for better
childcare, but women as well.

Bowers, F. B., & Gehring, T. (2004). Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi: 18th Century Swiss
Educator and Correctional Reformer. Journal Of Correctional Education, 55(4), 306-
319.

Robbins, Paula. (2012, October). Abigail Adams Eliot. Retrieved from
http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/abigailadamseliot.html

2. How do the ideals of these educators strengthen early childhood
professionals and programs?
Abigail Eliot has greatly influenced early childhood in several ways. She was
not only the credited for the nursery school movement, but she changed the preschool
environment forever. Eliot created warm, bright environments that stimulate a young
childs mind. She emphasized teacher training and improved the quality of education for
young children drastically. She also positively affected teacher quality. Because of
Abigail, many teachers have been educated in early childhood at Tufts University. Her
ideas impacted early childhood and are continuing to be used today.
The ideas of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi have also had a major impact on
early childhood education. He taught principles all around the world that was based not
only on educating young children, but caring for them as well. Many teachers have been
affected tremendously by his ideas and theories. Integrated curriculum is the most
common used idea in early childhood education. Using a coordination of various areas of
study is a very common idea that teachers use not only in early childhood education, but
in elementary education as well. Integrated curriculum is meant to make school and
learning continuous and harmonious.
John Locke proposed the idea of tabula rasa, which is the belief that a child
is born with a clean slate, neither good nor bad. Locke also believed that an education
should make man a reasoning creature. The Bible and a counting ability sufficient to
conduct business are the fundamentals. His idea is majorly impacted by the time era but
is still being used today. Lockes theories lead to the idea that parents can educate
children a certain way. This idea has created home schooling and private schools, which
directly affects early childhood education (Tuckeness). Locke also suggested that
teaching and learning should be pleasant with playful activities and drills. Many activities
planned in early childhood education are playful and hands-on. These types of activities
engage a young learner. This idea is also still impacting early childhood education today.
Friedrich Froebel strengthened early childhood education in several ways.
First, Froebel is known as the Father of Kindergarten. It was while observing students
in his first kindergarten program he realized that young children learn best through play.
He wrote a book called Education of Man which included his idea that play is the
highest phase of child development. This is important to know when educating young
children. One needs to allow time for play this directly leads to time for learning.
Worksheets, fine motor activities, and recitation are important as well, but play is the best
way for young children to learn. Second, he designed educational toys that demonstrated
various attributes and would assist the childs development. Toys like this are being sold
all over the world to help the development of young children. Even though there are
many more, these two ideas from Froebel are still strengthening early childhood
classrooms today.

Tuckness, A. (2010). Locke on education and the rights of parents. Oxford Review Of
Education, 36(5), 627-638.

3. Which two educators challenged your ideas about early childhood
education? What areas of teaching would you change in their philosophy and why?
John Lockes theory challenged my views on early childhood education for
two reasons. First, I personally, do not believe children are born with a clean slate.
Children are equally as selfish, if not more, than adults. Young children are very
egocentric and simply cannot see past themselves. However, I do agree that children at
this young age have yet to be influence by education, society, and the world. So
according to Locke, they do have a clean slate. Secondly, Lockes idea that the purpose
of education is to make man a reasoning creature, a working knowledge of the Bible, and
the ability sufficient to conduct business is fundamental. Today, this idea can cause
parents wanting to educate their children in a certain way. This challenged me because I
may have a student who has parents that may want to educate their child in a different
way than my own. A parent would like to home school their child but cannot because
they have to work and cannot pay for a Christian private school. This is a factor I never
really considered before reading Lockes theory.
Pestalozzi has greatly challenged my view and perspective in early
childhood education. Many of the teachers I work with can get the mean voice quite
too often and as a pre-k teacher, sometimes I want my class to act like they are in third
grade. Pestalozzis idea of educating and caring really intrigued me and reminded me
they are young children and that they need unconditional love and care. I feel as teachers,
we can be very prideful. When a child is disrespectful and rude to us we get heated and
intolerant. We want them to pay for what they did. In cases like this that Ive seen, care
and love have always solved the problem. When a child is upset and they know that you
truly care and understand them, they can move forward so much faster and most times,
children who misbehave need the most care and attention. Pestalozzis theory was a great
challenge for me at first but this theory has greatly impacted my classroom in a positive
way.

Part two: After reading the information on the web sites, describe some of the
efforts to encourage Native American children to retain their Navajo culture.
Record your strategies with enough details.
If I had a Navajo Indian student in my classroom I would have two goals to
encourage he or she to retain their Navajo. First, I would learn the background, behaviors,
and history of the Navajo tribe. Second, I would make sure I built a positive relationship
with him or her. I would make sure the child knew that they could trust me.
Before the student arrived in my classroom I attempt to understand the
background of the new student. I would visit some Navajo Indians that were willing to
share their thoughts with me or maybe I would research the background and history of
the Navajo. What they accomplished and have overcome and the culture of a Navajo. I
would make sure I understood the behaviors of a Navajo Indian. I would research the
wait time and social behaviors the new student would have. All of this would allow me
to have conversations with the student that encouraged their culture.
I would then build a relationship with the student. I would let them know that I
trust them and that they are important to me. I would make sure they understood that the
class and myself respect the Navajo heritage. I would use this trustworthy relationship to
eventually open up the child to work in groups. Eventually I would let the student teach
or explain to the class about his or her culture. This would be interesting to the other
students and would encourage the Navajo to retain their culture.

4. Create a scenario of how you would deal with a five-year old refused to play
with a classmate who wore diapers because of his spinabifida.
I would take the five-year-old aside and privately explain to them the situation.
I attempt to explain in detail the problem but also considering the other students privacy.
I would explain to the five-year-old every person has something that makes us sick.
Sometimes foods can make us sick or sometimes we get a virus or tummy bug. I would
explain that this classmate has a tummy bug all of the time. I would then ask the child
of a time they felt sad someone did not want to play with them or they got their feelings
hurt. I would ask, Did that make you happy or sad? Hopefully, the child will say sad
and I would explain that this hurts other peoples feelings. I would give them a 3 minute
time-out and then ask them to apologize and continue to play.

5. What programs in your community would enhance a childs understanding of
the larger society in which they live?
The public library has times during the week where people of different
cultures read stories. This allows students to understand that there are people in the world
that are very different from them and live in different ways. They look different, talk
different, and even speak a different language. This allows children to see the world
through a cultural aware lens.
The Frist Center Art museum is not too abstract for children at a young age.
Looking at different paintings, drawings, and photographs can allow the children to use
their imagination. This activity will definitely need some monitoring but with the proper
help, a child can express their creativity while understanding a view of a different society.
There are also hands-on activities with help from workers for children to create, invent,
and play.
The Discovering Center in Murfreesboro is a great place to allow children to
understand the larger society. The exhibits differ at the top level sometimes displaying
different cultures and societies. There is a nature walk where an adult can use this
opportunity to talk about societies that live outside in nature. The adult can explain what
they ate, how they obtained food and clothing, and where they slept. With proper adult
guidance any opportunity can be used to help a child understand a different society.



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