When you imagine storytelling, it is most likely that you will reminisce in your story from your childhood, as do I. This essay will explore my role as an early year’s practitioner and reflect on my practice, values and beliefs. It is my story.
I am a 19-year-old British Kosovan female student living in London. I have grown up with my parents and one sibling, a younger sister. She has been my motivation as to why I wish to pursue a career in early years. This is because since she was young, I would tutor her in different subjects such as English and Maths as well as taking part in creative activities such as drawing as this is a great interest of mine. This taught me how important it is to be a good role model for younger children as they grow up modelling our actions. This is demonstrated in Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1961). My interest in art helped my sister acknowledge her skills and talents in this area too. She insinuated the idea of me being an Early year’s teacher and saw how much passion I have for teaching and caring for children. My parents were also another major influence in my career path as when I too, was young, they would read to me different children’s books with such enthusiasm that my face remained shocked and full of emotion throughout the stories. Story telling is something that everyone does, not just through reading books but through telling their experiences. By doing this, we are reflecting on our practice. Every day, my parents would come home from work and explain their day through a story. They would also take me outside to experience the world with them through different activities such as pretending our back garden was a forest. These outdoor experiences during childhood creates an ethos of determination and adventure. Forest school is a great way of encouraging this outdoor learning and ‘building better relationships with the natural world’ (Cree, 2015, p.20). The forest school approach supports children’s development holistically and what they learn outdoors can be internalized and enhanced in the classroom (Weistein, 2015).
I currently work in a newly renovated private nursery in London. The nursery contains four different learning rooms situated for all age group settings which include; babies, pre-toddlers, toddlers and pre-school, all ranging from 3 to 5-year-old children. Each learning room has a different age range and the nursery caters for all. The nursery has also modeled areas for children to play outdoors and indoors. Each room is designed to meet the age and stage requirements of the children as well as their interests through space accommodations and learning programs which include activities supporting the children’s holistic development. The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) defines their practice (Department for Education, 2017). My workplace has also introduced ‘Nursery Cam’ which is a way of parents getting a hands-on experience of what their child is doing and learning at nursery. They can access the nurseries cameras which allows them to see their child interacting with others and completing the activities provided by the nursery (Nursery Webcam and Web Design, 2018). I particularly like this idea as the parents can feel more secure with their child’s stay at nursery.
I am a newly qualified, Level 3 nursery nurse. During my academic study, I have learnt to observe, plan and assess children’s holistic performance according to the EYFS curriculum. I have also further understood the roles and responsibilities of an early year’s practitioner such as implementing the policies and procedures of a setting, children to adult ratios and encouraging an enabling environment (‘Best Practice in Childcare and the EYFS’, Nursery World, 2018).
I also place importance on behavioral management in setting boundaries according to the appropriate morals and behavioral expectations. Having these principles can impact a child’s performance greatly and positively. My favorite subject in early years is expressive arts and design. As practitioners, we support and encourage children to explore the world through their senses and to use their imagination to show unique creativeness. The EYFS underlines the significance of creativity in a children’s development as it is part of the prime and specific areas of children’s learning (Department for Education, 2017).
I have also gained qualifications in various GCSE’s subjects and A-levels. These social science subjects contribute to my work as an Early year’s practitioner. Politics has taught me the importance of policies, procedures and legislation and how they impact our lives. Philosophy and ethics have also influenced my work as we are constantly using ethics in our lives; in problem solving, decision making and most importantly, when we reflect on our practice (Hargreaves & Page, 2013). It has also made culturally and socially aware of the philosophical ethics around early childhood education. I have also learnt that the EYFS curriculum is very holistic as opposed to other curriculums (Elkind, 2018). Furthermore, my study in sociology explained the socio-cultural influences that children experience which led me to believe that childhood can be constructed, and cognition develops from society, culture and social interactions (James et al., 1998; James and Prout, 1997; Qvortrup, 1994; Brady, Lowe & Lauritzen, 2018).
The values that motivate me to work and learn are the fundamental British values. My home life is set up according to these values as they also coincide with my cultural and religious beliefs. I am Muslim and hold very traditional beliefs such as respecting young children and older adults. This links to the British value of tolerance and respect. I am also a very cultural person in that I enjoy listening to traditional music and showing cultural appropriation through clothing. This complements the British value of diversity and equality as I show tolerance and enthusiasm for diversity and mixing of different cultures (Burns, 2014). I also believe in children having the right to free public education which demonstrates the British value of freedom of choice and inclusion in my day-to-day life. I am also a very committed and open-minded individual. As a practitioner, I believe individuals differences should be treated with respect and honor as encouraging equal opportunities and treatment of others despite their differences is paramount. These values and beliefs are central to who I am.
Having identified my role, values and beliefs in relation to my practice, I have further acknowledged the importance of reflection on work and on the future. I wish to continue my studies through completing the foundation degree in early years care and education and in time, graduate with a full degree of the BHA honors top-up Level 6. I then aspire to gain a qualified teaching status which will enable me to teach in the future, preferably in a public primary nursery school setting.