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ED299 Study Trips: Overview of Critical Self-Reflection: A. Description of The Critical Incident or Practice

1) The author visited St. Mary's preschool and expected to see children acting like miniature adults, articulating sophisticated ideas and reading on their own. However, the reality was messy play and chaos typical of young children. 2) When the author asked a girl named Arin if she liked school, Arin said no. This troubled the author, who did not fully understand that at this young age, school is more about play than academics. 3) Upon reflection, the author realized their assumptions about early education were incorrect. St. Mary's focus on play, sensory experiences and stability is developmentally appropriate and important for building children's brains and skills, according to experts in early childhood education.

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48 views

ED299 Study Trips: Overview of Critical Self-Reflection: A. Description of The Critical Incident or Practice

1) The author visited St. Mary's preschool and expected to see children acting like miniature adults, articulating sophisticated ideas and reading on their own. However, the reality was messy play and chaos typical of young children. 2) When the author asked a girl named Arin if she liked school, Arin said no. This troubled the author, who did not fully understand that at this young age, school is more about play than academics. 3) Upon reflection, the author realized their assumptions about early education were incorrect. St. Mary's focus on play, sensory experiences and stability is developmentally appropriate and important for building children's brains and skills, according to experts in early childhood education.

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St.

Mary’s

ED299 Study Trips: Overview of Critical Self-Reflection


A. Description of the Critical Incident or Practice
It was my second visit to St. Mary’s. I had played with slime, Play Doh, Orbeez and plastic dinosaurs. I
had been having as much fun as the kids the entire time. After telling a few kids that my name was Erin,
they introduced me to another Arin in the classroom. She was a seemingly happy little girl, but played
more by herself than with the other kids. I had been planning to ask the kids what they thought of
school (what their favorite thing to do at school was, what they liked and disliked about coming to St.
Mary’s, etc.), and when I sat down to paint with Arin, I thought I had found my chance. As I painted the
outline of a butterfly for her, I asked if she liked school. Immediately, Arin responded “no.”

B. Feelings
My initial response to Arin’s claim that she didn’t like school was sadness.

C. Thoughts
When Arin told me she didn’t like school, I didn’t know how to respond. I said nothing more on the
topic, worried that I would make her angry by asking so many questions, but my mind was reeling. This
girl seemed to enjoy painting her butterfly. She had friends who would chat with her throughout the
day. Her teachers paid attention to her and she was allowed to do pretty much whatever she wanted.
So why didn’t she like school? After coming home from St. Mary’s—overjoyed by the love the children
had shown me in just two days, but still troubled by Arin’s statement—I attempted to figure out why
Arin said she didn’t like school.

I began to realize that Arin and I probably had the same understanding of school. I didn’t really see St.
Mary’s as and educational institution, it seemed more like a daycare to me. When I asked Arin if she
liked school, she probably didn’t think of St. Mary’s as a school; there weren’t desks or teachers telling
her what to do. There weren’t textbooks or backpacks piled in a corner. Instead, there was color and
total freedom. I should have asked more questions to understand Arin better, but it is my assumption
that Arin simply assumed she wouldn’t like school in the future.

With this realization, I began to understand why St. Mary’s didn’t operate as a normal school. At such
an early age, it’s important that the kids simply enjoy life. It’s important that they figure out their
favorite color, that they are exposed to letters and numbers, that they begin to understand how to
interact with others. It’s not necessarily important at this stage that they learn how to read or how to
add numbers. They need to be filled with joy and the desire for personal exploration before they’re
ordered to begin writing paragraphs in schools. Nothing could be more important for Arin at this stage
in her life than realizing that school can be fun.
St. Mary’s

D. Deconstruction
D1) Underlying Assumptions
Coming into St. Mary’s, I assumed that Reggio practices in the classroom would mean that students
would be tiny geniuses. For reasons I don’t understand, I assumed that children would be able to
articulate their feelings, would have big ideas for how to change the world, and would be reading books
on their own. I imagined a calming environment, probably smelling of warm cookies or lavender, and
children diplomatically and sophisticatedly playing together. I don’t know why I expected anything
except the chaos, confusion, messiness, and excitement of children. Especially with my interaction with
Arin, I assumed that every child would tell me how much they loved school, learning, and their teachers.
I expected nothing but positivity.

D2) Multiple Perspectives


Any educator or theorist I would have shared my initial expectations with surely would have laughed at
my gross misunderstanding of childhood. Children play not to mindlessly have fun, but to learn how to
take turns, follow rules, and practice social norms.

Erik Erikson would have confusedly asked why I thought play somehow cancelled out a child’s ability to
develop their skills and abilities and the confidence in themselves to try new things. The ability of
students to take control of how they want to play helps them explore their skills, simply because they
are the one initiating activities. Erik Erikson deeply understood the importance of letting children make
choices independent of others. He would have encouraged me to see play not as a mindless or lazy
activity, but an opportunity to let children develop psychosocially.

John Medina (author of Brain Rules) would have reminded me that nothing could be more important
for a developing child’s brain than a stable, caring, and sensory-rich environment. The stability of an
environment decreases the amount of chronic stress children may feel—especially for the children at St.
Mary’s (who may be living in poverty and in less stable home environments). The simple fact that they
know the same teachers will greet them every day and that they will always have the option to paint or
read or play with Orbeez is crucial; children must be able to rely on stability in their lives so their brains
can focus on learning rather than managing stress. Similarly, a sensory-rich environment allows
children’s brains to think more complexly and plan better; more connections in the brain are created in
sensory-rich environments. It is not the primary job of early childhood educators to teach language and
math, but to provide a stable environment and to prep the brain for future complex connections.

Maria Montessori would have voiced how the children at St. Mary’s are only beginning to enter the
conscious learning stage through hands-on experiences. Children don’t begin to understand the world
around them, how things work and why, or factual information until around age 6. The children at St.
Mary’s couldn’t be expected to “do school normally” (as I expected them to) simply because they
weren’t developmentally ready for such learning. Maria Montessori understood that ages 0 through 6
are meant to develop the mind and their individual personalities through independent learning.
St. Mary’s

D3) Further Analysis


I barely remember my little sister’s childhood. We adopted her from China when she was thirteen
months old, and yet most of what I remember from Kayla’s childhood was shaped by her identity as an
adopted child. Additionally, I don’t remember much of my own preschool experiences, so I think I was
expecting to witness a slightly more laid-back version of my kindergarten classrooms. I’ve babysat
young children, but I never thought I was teaching the children I babysat—I’ve always loved the
traditional setup of school, so I think I assumed learning couldn’t occur in any environment except the
traditional school environment.

Theoretically, I thought I agreed with and understood all the educational philosophy we discussed in
class. I’ve since realized that understanding and putting these theories into practice are totally different
things. I’m only beginning to see the value of alternative forms of education for early childhood.

I think it’s good that my past assumptions have been so critical, simply because I want to ensure that
I’ve been intentional about the theories I accept and include in my educational portfolio. However, I
think my assumptions also kept me from truly appreciating the early childhood education that occurred
at St. Mary’s. Had I already understood the value of play in education, I might have been able to better
identify the true learning that children experienced, instead of being so focused on whether St. Mary’s
was providing intentional learning opportunities.

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