Reflection-in-Action Journal

Reflection-in-Action Journal

Part 1: Course/Program Reflection

This part of the journal discusses my role as a teacher in helping families and communities understand play’s influence on a child’s learning, development, and growth. Accordingly, self-evaluation and reflection revealed several focus areas. As such, the first aspect I will work on is to make my classes more welcoming and safe for students. When parents or the community visit such welcoming and safe classes, they feel confident in the teacher and warmly welcome any aspect the teacher suggests. Secondly, I will ensure that my class is play-based, consisting of several learning centers where learners engage in free play and learning. This will allow me to remind parents that play is essential to children because they can learn through play. Play is also enjoyable and natural for children to stay happy, fit, and active (Van Hoorn et al., 2014). Most essentially, freely chosen play assists children in maintaining healthy development. Children grow and develop cognitively, physically, mentally, and emotionally when they play. Hire our assignment writing services if your assignment is devastating you.

In addition, I will ensure children learn different techniques and routines that incorporate play into my lesson plans and curriculum. I will do this to show them that play does not just mean picking up toys and walking or running up and down. However, play helps children develop varied skills and attributes such as language, confidence, independence, and social skills. I will also have time to challenge the community and families to ensure they are playful, as this will help children develop several vital skills they will use in their future lives. After all, play encourages a child to learn, use their imagination, figure out and explore how to play, relate, and use toys in diverse ways that will teach them to think and design more than one way to play with a toy. Also, Danniels & Pyle (2018) also assert that parents and families should know that children require different unstructured play activities and opportunities from birth to adolescence to develop good mental and physical health and acquire important life skills.

Part 2: Career/Personal Reflection

This part discusses how the video “Pursuing Your Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education Leadership after Your BA” inspires me to further my teaching career. Notably, the video is educative and inspirational. The keywords and aspects that stuck in my thoughts were becoming an advocate for children and educating early learners. Since I was young, I have longed to become a proficient teacher to young learners, which is what I am currently studying for. I, therefore, look forward to furthering my education by doing a master’s and then a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education Leadership after my degree. Studying will broaden my opportunities, knowledge, and understanding of leading educators and young learners since teachers are often viewed as role models and the main backbone of society regarding children’s education. As a teacher, I want to improve my skills and knowledge to become an effective professional in early childhood education. This will give me a chance to mold and teach learners to become better persons in society. In addition, the video has taught me that I can advocate for young learners and their teachers when I further my studies and become a leader in this field.

Further, Simpelo (2018) confirms that advocating for young learners and teachers is more than teaching in classrooms. Therefore, I plan to take up a leadership role after continuing my education. This way, I will have a voice and advocate for young learners and early childhood educators. My advocacy and leadership role will help me mentor and influence young educators and guide them through becoming effective and professional early childhood educators. In addition, it will help to advocate for changes in early childhood education by incorporating important ideas and views in the early childhood curriculum to benefit the teachers and the students (Bautista, Bull & Lee, 2021). In short, the leadership role will place me in a position to help and advocate for families, children, and fellow educators to help resolve some issues facing early childhood education programs.

References

Bautista, A., Bull, R., Ng, E. L., & Lee, K. (2021). “That’s just impossible in my kindergarten.” Advocating for ‘glocal’ early childhood curriculum frameworks. Policy Futures in Education, 19(2), 155-174.

Danniels, E., & Pyle, A. (2018). Defining play-based learning. Encyclopedia on early childhood development, 1-5.

Simpelo, V. (2018). Pursuing your master of arts in early childhood education leadership after your BA. https://ashford.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Pursuing+your+Master+of+Arts+in+Early+Childhood+Education+Leadership+after+your+BA/0_msehygft.

Van Hoorn, J. L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B., & Alward, K. R. (2014). Play is at the center of the curriculum. Boston: Pearson.

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Week 4 – Journal
Due Apr 17 by 11:59 pm. Points 4 Submitting an external tool
Reflection-in-Action Journal
[WLO: 3] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
This image represents the four key themes or elements of being a leader, visionary, advocate, and thinker. It contains the following quote by Campoy, “A reflective practitioner is one who considers the complexity of learner problems and then carefully develops a solution to address that problem.”

Reflection-in-Action Journal

This image represents the four key themes or elements of being a leader, visionary, advocate, and thinker. It contains the following quote by Campoy, “A reflective practitioner is one who considers the complexity of learner problems and then carefully develops a solution to address that problem”.

Woven into your program are several themes and topics meant to enhance your learning experience and support your development as a professional who is capable of acting as a leader, thinker, visionary, and advocate. In each course, there will be one reflection-in-action journal assignment that is designed to provide opportunities for you to reflect upon and assess your professional knowledge and skills.

The journal prompts have two parts. Reflect upon and discuss each of the reflective questions in Part 1 and Part 2 outlined below.

Part 1: Course/Program Reflection

Explain your role in helping families and the community to understand the influence of play on a child’s growth, learning, and development.
Part 2: Career/Personal Reflection

Review the video Pursuing Your Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education Leadership After Your BALinks to an external site..
Describe how the video inspires you to continue your education, whether with an advanced degree or through professional development once you graduate.
Journal Options:

Written reflection journal
Create a VokiLinks to an external site..
If you need help creating your Voki, use the Voki Getting Started GuideLinks to an external site..
The integrative and critical thinking expectations (demonstrated within the content of the journal):

Connections to Experience: Meaningfully synthesizes connections among experiences both within and outside of coursework to deepen understanding of fields of study and to broaden own points of view.
Reflection and Self-Assessment: Envisions a future self (and possibly makes plans that build on past experiences) that have occurred across multiple and diverse contexts.
Research and Resource Expectations:

Sources are not required for your journal assignments. However, if you need to cite information, you must cite your sources according to APA guidelines (see In-Text Citation GuideLinks to an external site.) and include an APA References ListLinks to an external site..
Writing and Formatting Expectations:

Professional Reflective Voice: Journals may be written in a less formal but still professional voice (i.e., avoiding casual language). Refer to the First Vs. Third PersonLinks to an external site. Guide created by the Writing Center.
Organization: Demonstrates logical progression of ideas.
Syntax and Mechanics: Writing displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
APA Formatting: Papers are formatted properly, and all sources (if used) are cited and referenced in APA style as outlined in the Writing CenterLinks to an external site..
Next Steps: Review and Submit the Assignment

Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to ensure you have achieved the distinguished levels of performance for each criterion and submit in Waypoint for evaluation no later than Day 7.
https://ashford.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Pursuing+your+Master+of+Arts+in+Early+Childhood+Education+Leadership+after+your+BA/0_msehygft