ECE Innovation

http://www.icrichild.org/blog/2015/4/9/discovery-in-new-zealand

This is a quote from the article above:

"One of the reasons that the New Zealand conference venue was chosen was the fact that the country of New Zealand is now considered by many to house the best designed early childhood programs in the world. New Zealand constantly integrates spectacular, innovative, building designs with natural surroundings indoors and outdoors. New Zealand appears to now have overtaken Sweden and Norway as the most innovative designer of children’s spaces in the world. We believe that all of us have so much to learn from the New Zealand experience of uniting children with beauty, functionality, and nature every day. "

If you have wonderful outdoor or indoor spaces that you want to share with the ECE community please contact us and we would love to put them on the ELP blog.

Reflection

Below are several quotes from author Robert John Meehan who said "Be a reflective teacher. Honestly look at what you do from time to time.  Evaluate the purpose of your role as a teacher."

Being a reflective teacher means  researching, reflecting and evaluating on aspects of our practice.  To keep doing the same thing over and over could be called complacency. Kotter, PJ wrote, "Leaders (teachers) will never state that they have decided to strategically become complacent – however inaction is still a decision, albeit often an emotional rather than logical one. The failure to grasp opportunities to ‘think different’ and take action with a sense of urgency means they have decided to accept the status quo simply because it’s easier for them."

Any one of the below statements from Robert John Meehan could be used as the inspiration to reflect on teaching and learning within our centres.

"Our teaching should always be artfully crafted. It should impart something that is in itself sacred to the senses of our students." 

"The best teachers are those who pass on their zeal and enthusiasm as a legacy to their students." 


 "Learning becomes relevant when we connect it with reality." - Robert John Meehan 

 "Be diligent in trusting that what we do in the classroom could possibly echo for a lifetime in the heart of a student."- Robert John Meehan   

These quotes have come from:


https://prezi.com/_lwbkctu3mcr/a-teachers-journey-chapter-6/

Why Playful Learning is the Key to Prosperity

Below is a link to an interesting post on the Forbes site, happy reading.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2014/04/10/why-playful-learning-is-the-key-to-prosperity/

Exciting learning

I saw this photo on the below Facebook page and thought about the wonderful learning that must have taken place for these children.  Photos like these make me realise that the spirit of invention, creativity, freedom, problem solving, camaraderie and curiosity are alive and well in early childhood.  Isn't this an amazing photo?

https://www.facebook.com/letchildrenplay/photos/pcb.799642223405305/799642086738652/?type=1&theater

Wonderment and Awe

Tinkering with ideas, sticks, mud, string......

http://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_action?language=en

This link will take you to a TED Talk by Gever Tulley.  I love the introduction to the talk  as he describes the exact moment he starts growing his ideas about Tinkering School.  The catalyst were some words of a parents who asks....."Is that a stick? You know the rules about sticks....." In one of the posts below titled 'The Journey' my mokopuna delighted in playing with sticks.
"When children are encouraged to solve problems on their own, they learn a great deal through the questions and hands-on experiments that lead to a solution.  Even preverbal children pose questions and identify problems - think of a baby who works hard to grasp an out-of-reach toy.....The process of being curious about something, asking questions, and exploring various solutions are all part of the fun of learning." (Rachelle Doorley,2014)

I wonder what the rules about sticks are in early childhood centres?  I remember reading a list of the 10 best toys ever - toys such as string, boxes, mud and the number one toy was THE STICK!!!

Single Story

While reading Wendy's post I remembered the powerful TED talk I had watched some time ago by Chimamanda Adichie titled The Danger of The Single Story.  I think this has been posted, in the past, onto the ELP Facebook page but I thought that it would be worth a revisit here on the blog.  So just click on the link below to see this powerful message.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg