Words of Inspiration and Motivation (Ms. jay)

I can relate to Jean Marc Itard’s motivation when he stated from his article “Begin with the nature of the child and his interests.”(Lieberman, L (1982) working with children the focus has always been the child. Part of my philosophy is to find out what interest the child and work on ways the child can learn based on what the child enjoys. Even in my own work environment I try to find out the interests of the children in our program and work with them. Many times I find activities run smoother when the environment is child-centered and children respond well when they are involved in learning that is fun for them. I also try to find out interest of children even with special needs. However, it is not an easy task. A relationship must be built between caregiver and child. I saw the passion of Jean Marc Itard within the statement at the end of the article “Education must be in harmony with the dynamic nature of life.” Lieberman, L. (1982) I agree, even as adults if I am participating in something that is fun I feel at peace and less stressed.

            With Deborah J. Leong she expresses her passion for children and learning through play.   An article “Speak out: Why Children Need Play” (Bodrova, E. and Leong, D.) implies educators that value children learning through play need to show passionately the effectiveness of play towards others and the links of play towards children’s learning and development. She continues to stand firm on how play is important to the lives of young children. She stated, “Early childhood classrooms provide a unique setting to foster the kind of dramatic play that will lead to cognitive and social maturity.”  (Bodrova, E. and Leong, D.) When I think about this statement it just makes sense. I picture myself as a child and thought my social interactions then ties into many social interactions that happen today. I not only learned it through play but also the adult influences in my life. My parents for example teaching the social and cultural norms of the family and still to this day what sticks to me is “use your manners!” and “Be polite” These are social interactions that we learn as children. Even today when I observe children they mimic their parents when they are involved in dramatic play. Pretending to feed a baby doll, setting up chairs and pretend driving to a pretend store. I even observed an older child showing a younger child how to play a game of tag.

The professionals in the video (Multimedia “The Passion for Early Childhood) inspired me and drove my motivation toward this field: each individual shared their passion and motivation, each individual expressed care for the next generation, and each individual had similar goals towards caring for children and their families and wanting to make a difference in their communities.  The speakers not only affirmed my passion but I gained motivation just from listening to each experience. When Mrs. Louise Derman Sparks stated, “Children help teachers figure out who they are…” (Multimedia “The Passion for Early Childhood) I thought about my job and I am thinking that they are directly learning from me but I am actually learning from them without realizing it. Children have the ability to motivate me sometimes with their honesty and character. Children continue to provide that drive in this field because every child is different. They make working exciting; other times not so much, especially when an unexpected situation happens to a child. I gained a bit of wisdom from is Ms. Renatla M. Cooper when she explained her experience of a child she had in her program whose father had lymphoma and passed away. She learned about supporting “what’s best for the child and what was not best for her.” (“The Passion for Early Childhood”) Often times some educators teach without care or for money matters. Mr. Cooper made it clear that if we care about young children we should take ourselves out of the equation and look at what is next for the child.

 I found quotes from each educator that I researched and listened to informational and inspiring towards different areas in my personal and professional life. Children’s interest learning development and the importance of play in my professional life, then opportunities to learn about myself from children and how they matter a little more in my personal life.

 Leong, D (2011) Why Children Need Play .Early Childhood Today http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=10595 Retrieved (27, September 2011)

Lieberman, L. M. (1982). Itard: The Great Problem Solver. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15(9), Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

(2011, September 12) Multimedia: “The Passion for Early Childhood” Message posted to    EDUC-6005-1 Retrieved from Walden University Learning resources Week 2.