Glen Education Serrell Street

The view of a child.

By Esma Cinar, Early Childhood Teacher

At Glen Serrell Street Kindergarten, we recognise young children as citizens of the present, not just of the future. We see each child who was competent and intelligent and an active not passive, participant in their early childhood setting. Therefore, we have the possibility to develop an image of the child who is a thinker, who has views and opinions about the world around them, who has a right to intelligent and curious educators and who is encountered with dignity, respect and awe as a learner.

‘Children need the FREEDOM to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours.’  

Loris Malaguzzi 

As we believe children are active citizens of our community, we listen to, respect, and take children’s views seriously. Children are considered active and capable participants in their learning, and our role as teachers and educators is to understand what children want to learn. We value children as active contributors to their learning and capable of constructing their knowledge on their previous experiences. With these perspectives and values in mind, we develop our program beginning with noticing what children are engaged in, followed by recognising what learning is occurring and responding to children’s learning by providing further resources and learning experiences.

The pedagogy of listening

Listening requires more than giving attention to another that involves more than hearing of sound. To listen requires being present in here and at that moment. We listen how children use the space, how they interact with one another and with the teachers and educators in the classroom. 

When we wanted to change the classroom setting, during one of our Yarning Circles, we asked children what they would like to have at the home corner next. After having some conversation, they decided to have a fire station. From there, children worked on their project to construct a fire engine, a house on fire, water houses and some other materials that are needed at a fire station. One day, they asked to take dolls out from the store room and have them in the home corner. They pretended that they were saving the dolls from a fire. 

Children extended their learning utilising their funds of knowledge (existing knowledge) to reconstruct and co-construct new learnings and concepts with other children and teachers.

‘The context of multiple listening, involving the teachers but also the group of children and each child, all of whom can listen to others and listen to themselves, overturns the teaching—learning relationship. This overturning shifts the focus to learning; that is, to children’s self-learning and the learning achieved by the group of children and adults together.’ Carlina Rinaldi 

The dialogue took place while mind mapping with the children. 

MM/JB - DO WE WANT TO INCLUDE BELOW PIECE?

Today, we will make a mind map of space together. I will write Space in the middle of the paper. 

Esma: Who wants to share what’s in the space?

Thomas: Planets, there’s a big Earth, red and white. (He meant Jupiter.)

Yanni: I know there’s Earth and Mars.

Emmy: Blue one, there is a blue one. 

Archie: I think it is Pluto.

Ben: No, it is Neptune, and it is cold. 

Esma: Let's think about what else is in the space. Can you think of some other things?

Archie: There’s a black hole. 

Charlie: It destroys everything.

Louie: And it sucks everything 

Archie: Anything gets close to it.

Tom: Aliens in there. 

Ianni: Aliens are not real. 

Tom: No, they are. 

Esma: We can search for some information on this. 

Esma: What about the Sun?

Ben: The Sun is a star.

Louie: The Sun is hot. 

Esma: How do you know the Sun is hot?

Ianni: When the Sun rises, it warms up.