Socio-behaviourist (behaviourist)

ECA Code of Ethics

Every child is special and unique as they are endowed with special capabilities which enables them to contribute to the society in their own unique way. The task of a teacher or of a supervisor is thus to nurture those subjective capabilities of the children and inspire in them the willingness to better themselves in those areas which interest them. Comparing a child’s achievement to that of another one does not promote co-operative behaviour among them. It leads to an unhealthy competition and can affect the morale of a child in a negative way.

Taking active part in games is not just a source of refreshment for children but also a healthy way of intimating them to team spirit. This also develops the faculty of cooperating with each other, accepting each other’s shortcomings and helping them out to overcome that in order to be successful. These are the two chosen principles from the ECA Code of Ethics which has the potential to foster co-operative spirit among children.

UN Rights of the Child

Article 26 states that every child who is financially weak is entitled to help from the government. It is the duty of the government to ensure that there is parity amongst the children so as to foster the spirit of equality in its truest sense. Simply having the principles of equality, equity and justice is not enough. It is necessary that they are adequately implemented into the societal fabric. The children must be able to benefit out of such principles, and if they have the knowledge that the government takes such steps, then they themselves shall imbibe the spirit of co-operation.

Article 30 ensures that each child is entitled to practice and propagate the faith and culture to which he or she belongs. That is necessary in order to foster the spirit of acceptance of differences and encouraging mutuality of respect for each other. Without respecting each other, there cannot be cooperation.

These are the two chosen principles from the UN Rights of the Child which has the potential to foster co-operative spirit among children.
Early Childhood Education and Care service philosophy documents in relation to sustainable practice

The guidelines or the list of principles enlisted in the Service Philosophy is quite relateable to the core principles of ECA. It is also related to the commitments it enshrines in itself with relation to the children and also with relationship to the community, specifically. With regard to its relation to the National Quality Standards, the sets of principles under the headships of-

Developmental

– QA1, concerning itself with the Education Program and Practice of a child.
– QA3, concerning itself with the Physical Environment in which a child is supposed to live and develop as citizens.
– QA4, concerning itself with the staffing arrangements to enhance the learning capabilities of children.

The philosophical principles can be seen on a daily basis in implementation of Early Childhood by paying attention to the educational as well as the developmental requirements of a child. It can also be done by means of ensuring that adequate measures are taken for enriching the community of the particular child in all possible ways, by means of collaborating with developmental agencies as well as by means of research to assess the development and mark the areas that need development.
Relation of climate change issues like ozone layer effects, greenhouse effect, earth resources or biodiversity to the practices in and Early Childhood Education and Care setting With regard to the relation of Early Childhood Education and Care setting with issues of climatic changes like the depletion of the ozone layer and its negative effects, the devastating causes of the increase in greenhouse gases, and the general depletion of the mineral resources and biodiversity, the provisions for countering them are present in the National Quality Standard. The provisions can be found immanent in the principles of, QA2-Children’s Health and Safety; and in QA3-Physical Environment.

Under the headship of the principle QA2-Children’s Health and Safety, there is no such explicit mention of environmental factors in affecting the care and education of children. However it talks of ways and methods that talks of promotion of health and the protection of children. This naturally hints at the necessity of including the environmental factors, indirectly. It is not possible to provide for the health of a child without ensuring that the environment is healthy enough.
The QA3 principle explicitly mentions of providing for inculcating the practices for sustainable environmental habits which shall ensure that resources do not get depleted and there are adequate resources left for the future generations. To this the environmental hazards can be related to. The children can be taught about them, and they shall take steps to ensure that the environment is safe and sound.

This section shall be devoted to the discussion of the measures which shall promote holistic development and wellbeing of child right from the outset against the backdrop of some theoretical propositions.

Socio-cultural

The Socio-behaviourist view of B.F. Skinner holds the notion that there are two kinds of observable behaviours which affects the learning capabilities of a child and that learning capabilities of a student is affected by environmental factors predominantly. They are known as, the classic method of conditioning and the operant or behavioural method of conditioning. The classic method of conditioning has to do with the expression of outward behaviour or actions which are a result of the promptings generated by the situations. It also shows that the actions based on a stimulus are but a reflection of the deeper exigencies of a child developed by means of the kind of socialization he or she has received. The operant or the behavioural method of conditioning concerns itself with the sense of value judgement that is ingrained into the child which is the prime driving force behind the child developing the sense that a particular action is rewarding and some other is penalizing (Garvis & Manning, 2017). With regard to its influence on pedagogical practice against the backdrop of the national quality standards, it can be said that the principles of QA6 which calls for entering into collaborations with the families and communities for holistic development of the child should be taken resort to. It is important as development cannot be worthwhile until and unless the thought process of a child is nurtured accordingly and for that all the agencies of socialization, the family, community and the institution of education must come together.

The Developmental perspective of early child development and education holds the view that formative years of a child is extremely crucial. At that age, the child is characterised by drastic physical changes. The child also undergoes drastic psychological changes during that period, however that goes unnoticed since it is not visible. Hence the view suggests that the child must be provided with adequate amount of care so that both the physical and the psychological changes of the child can be properly balanced and facilitated (Yawkey & Pellegrini, 2018). With regard to its influence on pedagogical practice against the backdrop of the national quality standards, it can be said that the principle QA2 which concerns itself with the physical health of the child and the principle QA5 must be given due consideration. The guidelines espoused under those respective headships are very important in shaping pedagogical practices as per the developmental perspective.

Critical

The Socio-cultural perspective of Vygotsky propounds the view that learning and absorbing from the surroundings is very crucial to the growth and development of a child right. Vygotsky says that society and culture plays a major role in shaping the value perceptions and the intellectual growth of a child. Human intelligence, he opines is an evolutionary process with social interactions occupying a centrality in the development of human intellectual faculty (Thornberg 2017). With regard to its influence on pedagogical practice against the backdrop of the national quality standards, it can be said that principle QA3 which concerns itself with the physical environment in which a child grows up must be given due importance. The principle provides for enhancing the natural environment in which the entire humankind lives; the overall physical environment of the educational institution in which the child studies; and the processes of socialization which enables a child to have a healthy and conducive attitude towards life. Pedagogical practices must include them in order to ensure that the child absorbs positive attitude.

The Critical perspective holds the view that the faculty of being able to question without blindly accepting any perception or idea is something which is extremely necessary for the development of profound intellectual growth of a child. Certain societal value perceptions are indeed quite harmful and those should be countered. Hence it is necessary that a child develops the intuitive outlook (Street, 2014). With regard to its influence on pedagogical practice against the backdrop of the national quality standards, it can be said the principle QA1 which concerns itself with the educational programmes and practices. The principle not just deals with those aspects of education which are related to the academic curriculum but also with those aspects which enables a student to inculcate the capability of being intuitive and think beyond the set limits. The task of a teacher is thus to facilitate the experimental and the innovative bent of mind of a child, instead of suppressing it. This necessitates that the use of logical reasoning be given due importance in dealing with children by the teacher.

The Post-structuralist view, similar to the critical view of early child education calls for a critical attitude. The only difference being that the post-structuralist view calls for imbibing the critical outlook for both the teacher and the children in order to challenge the hierarchical structurization of the institution of education. The post-structuralists also hold the view that if the degree of superordinance and subordination gets liquidated then the proccess of imparting and receiving education becomes quite smooth and profound (James & Prout, 2015). With regard to its influence on pedagogical practice against the backdrop of the national quality standards, it can be said the principle QA5 which deals with the aspect of relationship building between the teacher and the student must be given due consideration. The guidelines in the principle suggest that there must a degree of affability between the teacher and the student eliminating all scopes for the distinction between subordinate and the superior. The pedagogical practices which the teacher is expected to resort to has to be essentially very friendly and must be having a facilitative undertone to it. The teacher should help the students to be future leaders and not act like he or she wants to maintain the status quo of being the superior amongst the students. 

References

Arthur-Kelly, M., Sutherland, D., Lyons, G., Macfarlane, S. and Foreman, P., 2013. Reflections on enhancing pre-service teacher education programmes to support

inclusion: perspectives from New Zealand and Australia. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 28(2), pp.217-233.

Australia, E.C., 2006. ECA code of ethics.

Cohen, C.P., 1989. United nations: convention on the rights of the child. International Legal Materials, 28(6), pp.1448-1476.

Garvis, S., & Manning, M. (2017). Education perspectives in Australia. In An Interdisciplinary Approach to Early Childhood Education and Care (pp. 46-69). Routledge.
James, A., & Prout, A. (2015). A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood?: Provenance, promise and problems. In Constructing and reconstructing childhood (pp. 6-28). Routledge.

Mac Naughton, G., 2003. Shaping early childhood: Learners, curriculum and contexts. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Street, B. V. (2014). Social literacies: Critical approaches to literacy in development, ethnography and education. Routledge.

Thornberg, R. (2017). Strengthening socio-cultural ways of learning moral reasoning and behavior in teacher education. The SAGE Handbook of Research on Teacher Education, 403.

Yawkey, T. D., & Pellegrini, A. D. (2018). Child’s play: Developmental and applied. Routledge.