Objective One: Children have a strong sense of identity

Three learning objectives have been identified for this curriculum. They include;

1. Children have a strong sense of identity- draw different colors on a strip of paper
2. Children are connected with and contribute to their world- present pictures of activities

• Children are effective communicators-role play.

Various activities will be undertaken to fulfill each objective

Objective one: Children have a strong sense of identity

Developing a sense of self identity is critical among children because of the multicultural learning environment they are part of in Modern Australia. The reality of society is that people question their identity based on race, ethnicity and religion. In this regard, it is critical for teachers to introduce a teaching model that ensures that children are comfortable with their identity. The opposite will mean that children grow up in a confused environment and are doubtful about their place in society.

My experience in Brightstar academy highlighted the reason why learners need to be exposed to multicultural learning. I got into contact with the school because it is where my niece went to school. The teacher use a pedagogy that was defective as the teachers kept explaining to the children aspects of difference in race and culture without ensuring that they participated.

Children learn best when they participate in the process. Children process the information they receive through participation and recreate them to enable them stick in their minds. Play should be included in the learning process because it is something that children naturally do. There was need, therefore for Brightstar School to enhance its pedagogy for the effective learning of the children.

In order to develop a learning model that achieves the objectives outline, several resources have been identified to meet this objective. They include the following;

• Video shows
• Different colored eggs

The video shows can be used to teach children about their identities through role plays and the inclusion of music. In this connection, the narrators should be children with different races and cultural identities who demonstrate harmony and coexistence. Video shows are captivating and is an excellent tool of engaging children in an enduring learning experience.

The eggs will be of different colors and sizes and will be handled by the teacher because they are fragile. Eggs are common and the children will easily relate to them through the lesson on diversity

Songs have the capacity to linger in the mind of a child for a longer time. The learning process should involve singing as it is an activity that learners can continue doing at any time. Teachers must ensure that they teach the learners songs that convey meaning to the identity of the children (Sumsion,  Barnes, Cheeseman, Harrison, Kennedy and Stonehouse, 2009). As the children continue singing, the messages communicated can be retained for a longer time.

Objective Two: Children are connected with and contribute to the real world

Topic: Building a sense of self identity

Purpose: To build a sense of identity among children learners.

Sample questions

What makes me important in society?

What does my different color and ethnicity say about me?

Activity

• The teacher will show children eggs of different colors
• He will ask the children to identify what is different about the eggs.
• The teacher will then break the eggs to reveal that all of them are the same despite different colors.
• The teacher will explain to the children that despite our differences, we are all the same inside.

How this activity addresses the outcomes/elements of the EYLF in regard to diversity and difference	How this activity addresses the outcomes/elements of the NQS in regard to diversity and difference
Outcome one: Children have a strong sense of identity (Pp. 22)	5.2: a culture of fairness has been established

Objective 2: Children are connected with and Contribute to the Real World

Rationale

Education should prepare children for the challenges in the real world and the education strategy must include steps on how this ideal will be achieved. Education is part of the socialization process for children and as such, there should be deliberate effort by the teachers to incorporate outdoor activities for children to appreciate their world (Wang, Lekhal, Aarø and Schjølberg, 2014). Teachers must learn with the children and engage in activities that spark creativity.

The leaning experience at Twinkles school showed a deliberate effort by the school management and teachers to ensure that the children are sensitized about the existence of the real world. I was invited to the school to participate in the open day where members of the community were to outdoor experiences where they were asked to clean their classrooms and collects dirt around the flowerbeds near their classrooms.

Several other outdoor activities like gardening and community clean-up instill the desirable values in children. The instructor must be careful to allocate only the tasks that children can handle. In addition, they must incorporate fun activities so that children can learn in a relaxed manner.

The resources needed for this exercise include

• A pair of socks
• Children volunteers

The classroom is mostly used for ordinary school activities but in this case, they will be used in role playing. The children can engage in drama under the guidance of the teacher to re-enact the roles played by selected profession in society. The classroom is a homely environment for the children for collaborative learning (Cahill and Theilheimer, 1999). Such roles may include police, doctor and attorney among others. The imagination of the children is stirred up through these activities and they are able to learn critical lessons about how society functions (Leggett and Ford, 2016). The classroom is also an ideal place for rehearsal under the guidance of the teacher (Staton, Irvine, Pattinson, Smith and Thorpe, 2015). Apart from providing general instructions, the teacher must allow the children to exercise their creativity in drama.

Children appreciate the value of learning through volunteer activities. In this connection, they can participate in role playing to enable them to adequately learn from the activities

Objective Three: Children develop communication skills

Learning experience

Topic: connection with the real world

Purpose: to enable children to connect with the real world

Sample questions:

What is the importance of work in society?

What are the major occupations in society?

Activity

• The children will be shown different colors of socks
• Children will be asked to say the differences between the socks
• The teacher will appoint two children who will volunteer to wear the socks to show that they all play the same purpose

How this activity addresses the outcomes/elements of the EYLF in regard to diversity and difference	How this activity addresses the outcomes/elements of the NQS in regard to diversity and difference
Outcome 2: children are connected with and contribute to their world	Outcome 1: children maintain a positive relationship with the environment
Outcome 1: children appreciate the value of work	Outcome 2: children contribute to environmental safety

Rationale

Building effective communication among children is central to their overall development. Language is the key channel through which communication signals are passed. The school is therefore required to develop the language skills as part of communication development. Language enhances the learning capabilities in lifelong education (Robinson and Diaz, 2005). The teachers must also ensure that the children understand the concepts they teach them in the class room. However, communication must also involve the ability to understand and provide feedback to the recipients (Cook, Klein and Chen, 2015). Children can also develop these skills through group activity where they learn to listen and pass instructions.

Bright star academy forms the case for communication. Children are trained speech therapy and pronunciations by trained instructors. As part of the teaching strategies, every class is expected to participate in activities where the children receive instructions from each other. Through such mechanisms, they are able to learn how to listen and pass their points across to the rest (Phillips, 2016). Consequently, children have developed confidence to communicate especially in the English language. This has enhanced the performance of children in academic work as well as excellence in sports activities.

The following resources are needed to boost the communication skills among learners

• Role playing arena
• Different kinds of fruits

Role playing through drama has the capacity not only to stir up the gifts among the children but also enhances their confidence to communicate in public. Children also find role playing a fun activity and enable then to provide feedback to each other (Socha and Sadler, 2018). The arena could be the classroom is the group is small or the teacher could use the school hall. The arena must be properly arranged to suit the activities of the learners.

Posters should be placed neatly in the classroom and should be designed in a simple manner to enhance visibility. Posters should contain pictures of things that the children learn about and their names. Pictures are a great way of learning because images remain in the subconscious mind for a longer time (Christiansen, Hannan, Anderson, Coxon and Fargher, 2018). In addition, when children look at the pictures for a long time, they do not easily forget the lessons.

Topic: development of Communication skills

Purpose: to ensure that children learn how to pass information and receive instructions

Sample Questions

• What is the importance of communication in learning?
• How can we know that others understand what we are saying?

Activity

• The teacher will present different kinds of fruits to the students
• He will explain to the children that the fruits are different but they are all fruits
• The teacher will give the fruits to the children to taste
• The teacher will tell the students the importance of communicating well with each other despite the differences

How this activity addresses the outcomes/elements of the EYLF in regard to diversity and difference	How this activity addresses the outcomes/elements of the NQS in regard to diversity and difference
Outcome 1: children are effective communicators	Outcome 1: Positive models of respectful relationships have been established with children
Outcome 2: Educators train children on communication skills	Outcome 2: learners appreciate the importance of feedback

The three learning outcomes significantly contribute to learning among young learners. When children have a strong sense of identity, the develop confidence in society. In later life, the children are able to take up greater responsibilities (Jackson, 2015). Teachers are therefore expected to guide them feel secure both at school and in the society. Through participating in various societal activities, children appreciate their role in society and find meaning (Warin and Adriany, 2017). Through communication, children not only understand the concepts taught in class but develop healthy relationship (Bope and Barblett, 2016). Stakeholders in the education sector must ensure that the right pedagogy is adopted in early childhood learning. The strategy by Brightstar Academy to engage the children in speech therapy is critical in enabling children build their self confidence. Children with good diction boost their communication capacities and enhance their access performance in life. Twinkles school showed a deliberate action to engage the students with the outside classroom activities. Outside exposure is among the critical learning exercises that can significantly help the children appreciate how things function in society (Freire, 2005). An ideal learning exercise must encourage learners to engage in critical thinking. The teaching pedagogy must incorporate activities that enable children to exercise their creativity tom provoke critical thought. Learning in early childhood must consider the cultural diversities of learners. In the current case, the children are drawn from a variety of racial and cultural diversities that characterize Australia. Teachers must engage children in exercises that encourage self retrospection in relation to the existing cultural diversities (Scarlet, 2016). The conventional practice in teaching fails to acknowledge diversities and presumes that all children learn at the same rate. A culturally sensitive learning pedagogy must appreciate the different learning capacities among children and engage them in a variety of learning activities for an optimum learning experience.

References

Bope, R., & Barblett, L. (2016). The NQS goes to school. Every Child, 22(1), 36.

Cahill, B. J., & Theilheimer, R.(1999). Stonewall in the housekeeping area: Gay and lesbian issues in the early childhood classroom. Queering elementary education: Advancing the dialogue about sexualities and schooling, 39-48.

Christiansen, A., Hannan, S., Anderson, K., Coxon, L., & Fargher, D. (2018). Place-based nature kindergarten in Victoria, Australia: No tools, no toys, no art supplies. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 21(1), 61-75.

Cook, R. E., Klein, M. D., & Chen, D. (2015). Adapting early childhood curricula for children with special needs. Pearson.

Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach with New commentary by Peter Mclaren, Joe L. Kincheloe. Westview Press.

Jackson, J. (2015). Constructs of quality in early childhood education and care: a close examination of the NQS Assessment and Rating Instrument. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(3), 46.

Leggett, N., & Ford, M. (2016). Group time experiences: Belonging, being and becoming through active participation within early childhood communities. Early Childhood Education Journal, 44(3), 191-200.

Phillips, L. (2016). Human rights for children and young people in Australian curricula. Curriculum Perspectives, 36(2), 1-14.

Robinson, K., & Jones Diaz, C. (2005). Diversity And Difference In Early Childhood Education: Issues For Theory And Practice: n/a. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Scarlet, R. R. (2016). The anti-bias approach in early childhood. MultiVerse Publishing.

Socha, T. J., & Sadler, R. (2018). A Look at Bullying Communication in Early Childhood: Towards a Lifespan Developmental Model. In The Routledge Handbook of Communication and Bullying (pp. 202-211). Routledge.

Staton, S., Irvine, S., Pattinson, C., Smith, S., & Thorpe, K. (2015). The sleeping elephant in the room: Practices and policies regarding sleep/rest time in early childhood education and care. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(4), 77.

Sumsion, J., Barnes, S., Cheeseman, S., Harrison, L., Kennedy, A., & Stonehouse, A. (2009). Insider perspectives on developing belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(4), 4-14.

Surtees, N., & Gunn, A. C. (2010). (Re) marking heteronormativity: Resisting practices in early childhood education contexts. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 35(1), 42.

Wang, M. V., Lekhal, R., Aarø, L. E., & Schjølberg, S. (2014). Co?occurring development of early childhood communication and motor skills: results from a population?based longitudinal study. Child: care, health and development, 40(1), 77-84.

Warin, J., & Adriany, V. (2017). Gender flexible pedagogy in early childhood education. Journal of Gender Studies, 26(4), 375-386.