Entry Two

Social Sciences can be anything from history, geography and sociology (Ministry of Education, 2007). I attend a Reggio-inspired centre where the philosophy revolves around three values. The first core value is the relationship children have with their parents. The second value is the relationship children have with the environment and the last core value is their relationship with teachers (Malaguzzi, 1993).

The first value of relationships between children and parents is encouraged using an atlas to show the child different parts of the world. A child asked me whether we could find out where Brisbane was and what it looks like because she told me her mum was from there before she moved to New Zealand and her grandparents still reside there and she will visit them soon.  I showed her where Brisbane was and then we discussed popular social ideas about Brisbane; ie Brisbane is the sunny state. I also illustrated to her where I lived before immigrating to New Zealand. By researching with the child about where their family/whanau originates from, we help the child grasp a deeper understanding about the world they reside in to which helps them understand their parents better.

I provide learning experiences where the child can understand there is more than one way to source valuable information.  By offering these types of experiences, children establish a better relationship with knowledge about their world and their understanding of where their teachers and peers have immigrated from.  As stated in Ministry of Education (1996), when children work in collaboration with people, they begin to appreciate differences. Also by understanding where they come from it will help them understand themselves and their culture better. The girl I did this learning experience with, ended it off with “now, I can tell my mum what place she comes from and how hot it is in Brisbane”. That statement indicated to me that she learned something very valuable about her mother. I felt that this student learned something about society and communities and how they function through discussing her family with me (Ministry of Education, 2007. p.p30).

The second core value that is shaped by the Reggio philosophy is the relationship with the environment. The study of social sciences includes the knowledge of the world that surrounds us and it operates (Ministry of Education, 2007). We are currently studying the solar system in our centre because a child’s parents found a picture in a newspaper that shows all the planets.  This child’s interest encouraged staff in the centre to start collating information on each planet. The way I added my contribution to this learning experience was by making a book translated the planets into Te Reo Maori to strengthen my own and children’s te reo  so that we are learning alongside each other and gain the feeling of being equal. The book that I made also helps the children identify and separate what colour each planet is and the sequence from the closest to the furthest from the Sun. I learnt that by getting involved with the environment, I could enrich the children’s and my own knowledge on the physical world around us.

Finally, when the last core value of relationships between children and staff is encouraged and staff work alongside children scaffolding their learning of social sciences, the children feel supported enough to advocate for their own beliefs and feel entitled and respected enough to have an opinion. The girls in my centre usually argue over the princess dresses because of the Frozen craze so when they are debating over who had the dress first I try to only step in when they either asked me to be mediator or I ensure both sides are heard. From there we discussed together options on ways to move forward first. This I believe helps “children develop respect for one another's feelings and opinions whilst learning to share" (Ministry of Education, 2007).

References:

Malaguzzi, L. (1993). History, ideas, and basic philosophy. In C. Edwards, L. Gandini, & G. Forman (Eds.), The hundred languages of children (1st ed.), (pp. 41-90).            Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

 

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. 

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.  

NCSS. (n.d) A Vision of Powerful Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies: Building Social Understanding and Civic Efficacy. Retrieved from: http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerful