澳大利亞昆士蘭科技大學幼兒教育留學生essay：Teacher's Role in Early childhood

 

 

 

1.0 Introduction

Early childhood professionals mainly implement enlightenment education towards children to help them with gaining valuable learning experience to promote the all-round, harmonious development of children. Early childhood professionals have played an important role in young children's early development. Importance of early childhood professionals for early childhood education gets consistent affirmation. However, due to differences in educational concepts, parents' expectations, as well as cultures, it is controversial about the roles that teachers should play in early childhood, there are great differences in the roles that teachers play in early childhood education in different countries (Fox, 2010). To explore the causes and the effect of the differences have great practical significance in better playing the role of teachers in early childhood education. This essay takes Australian and Chinese early childhood education and early childhood professionals as the research objects, it is first through by comparing the educational concepts, parents' expectations and cultures of the two countries to compare and analyze the different roles that early childhood teachers play in early childhood education. Then, it further discuss different effects that differences in the roles of teachers in early childhood education bring to children's development, at the end of the essay, it draws a conclusion and attempts to put forward personal suggestions for the roles that teachers play in early childhood education in future.早教專家主要實現啟蒙教育對兒童的幫助他們獲得寶貴的學習經驗，以促進人的全面和諧發展，兒童。早教專家參加了少年兒童早期發展的一個重要的角色。重視幼兒教育幼兒教育得到一致肯定。然而，由于教育觀念的差異，父母的期望，以及文化，它是關于有爭議的角色，教師應在兒童早期發揮作用，有很大的差異在不同國家的兒童早期教育，發揮教師（?？怂?，2010）。探討原因和效果的差異在更好地發揮教師在幼兒教育中的作用具有重要的現實意義。本文以澳大利亞和中國兒童早期教育和幼兒教育作為研究對象，首先通過教育理念相比，父母的期望和兩國文化的比較和分析，在兒童早期教育發揮幼兒教師的不同的角色。然后，進一步討論不同的影響，在早期教育中的教師角色差異對兒童的發展，在文章的最后，得出結論并提出個人建議，在未來的早期教育，發揮教師的作用。

 

 

2.0 Body

2.1 Effect of Chinese and Australian celebrity on early childhood education

2.1.1 Australian celebrity

Piaget proposed that the purpose of education is to promote the development of children, the fundamental task of education is to develop intelligence to allow children to have logical reasoning skills and the ability to master complex abstractions (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969). Piaget pointed out that education is not to cultivate learned talents, but to cultivate wisdom explorers (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969). According to the basic point of view, he put forward the following educational principles and methods. Firstly, it should be based on the psychological characteristics of children of different age stages to carry out teaching. Secondly, it stresses that children are not passive recipients of knowledge, they should take the initiative to explore knowledge and be engaged in innovation. Thirdly, it emphasizes allowing children to identify the relationships between a subject and an object, as well as between objects by using their own hands and brains to gradually form, develop, enrich their own cognitive structure. Fourthly, interactive cooperation of children should play an important role in school education. Piaget attached great importance to the mutual teaching and influence between children, taking them as an important source of cognitive development (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969).

 

 

Froebel advocated a child-centered liberal education (Gordon & Browne, 2012). He thought that teaching and training of education must be passive, conform in the fundamental principle, they must focus on maintenance, rather than be directive, arbitrary and interfered (Gordon & Browne, 2012). Froebel looked at children from development point of view, he paid attention to children's intellectual, moral, aesthetic, physical and mental development and emphasized the independent activities of children themselves. He attached importance to cultivation of language of children and understanding of the nature, he used materials objects in teaching to develop children’s sensation and perception. He developed jobs, labor and educational content and methods of kindergarten, in particular pointing out that games are the main activity of young children (Gordon & Browne, 2012).

 

 

2.1.2 Chinese celebrity

Confucius is China's most well-known educator, he also brought forward some ideas about early education, one of the most important idea is self-restraint and restoration of rites. Confucius believed that early childhood education should pay attention to Confucianism, requiring that children must be humble, respectful in front of their elders; it should foster children’s integrity quality as well as virtues of comity. Confucianism encourages children to do good deeds and establish a correct ambition from an early age; it cultivates children’s civility and health habits (Fox, 2010). Wang is also one of the most well-known educator in ancient China, his views on early education is attaching great importance to teach young children necessary knowledge to lay a foundation for them to become useful talents in the future. The imparted knowledge includes count, literacy; he advocated teaching children in practice, it focuses on young children’s understanding the environment and the development of language (Kang, 2010).#p#分頁標題#e#

 

 

2.2 Comparison of different roles that teachers play in early childhood education in both Australia and China 

 

 

2.2.1 Roles of Australian teachers in early childhood education

Expectation of Australian parents for the teacher's role includes teacher, counselor or coordinator, relationship facilitator, etc., the parents want teachers enough understand the behavior of young children, teachers can adopt democratic leadership, understanding and respecting reasonable requirements of children; teachers should be familiar with the counseling skills to assist in a comprehensive physical and mental development of students.兒童早期教育的澳大利亞教師角色

澳大利亞的父母老師的角色包括教師期望，顧問或者協調員，關系的促進者，教師等，父母要足夠的了解幼兒的行為，教師可采取民主領導，理解和尊重孩子的合理要求；教師應熟悉的輔導技巧協助一個身心全面發展的學生。

 

 

In teaching practice, roles that teachers play in Australia have the following characteristics. Australian teachers are supporters of learning activities of children, the teachers' behavior meet a variety of healthy psychological and mental needs of children, they create conditions and environment which are necessary for supporting young children in the process of growing, such as material support, psychological support. When young children lack or need some learning resources, the teachers can offer in a timely manner (European Union-Australia Policy Dialogue, 2011). Psychological support first includes teachers’ care, respect and accepting attitude towards young children's, support, affirmation and encouragement for children’s spontaneous exploration activities, new idea and findings. Teachers are collaborators of children’s learning activities, preschool teachers participate in children's learning activities as partners. Teachers and children cooperate to accomplish task of teaching. The relationship between teachers and children is equal (European Union-Australia Policy Dialogue, 2011).

 

 

Teachers in Australia are guiders of early learning activities, teachers design, organize curriculum system in accordance with the law of development of children physically and mentally to complete their education goals. They guide children to take care of new object, discover new problems and find better solutions to the problems to generate new interest, targets and power for exploration.  The teachers use a variety of ways such as language, movement, posture, toys, environment to guide children to lively, actively participate in educational activities (Corter, Janmohammed, Zhang & Bertrand, 2006). The roles that Australian teachers play in early childhood education match with expectations of parents in Australia.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

 

2.2.2 Roles of Chinese teachers in early childhood education

China always has a tradition of respecting teachers, teachers have been labeled with many good reputation, such as gardeners, engineers of human souls (Wang, 2008). Most parents in China want teachers play the roles of educators, managers, authority, and so on in early childhood education. Majority of Chinese parents want early childhood teachers to impart children more knowledge, in order to lay the foundation for future education (Fox, 2010).

 

 

Teachers often play the role of authority in the practice of early education. What to learn, how to learn, the evaluation standard are determined by teachers, the teachers are seldom based on the characteristics and preferences of children to develop specific learning plans. Contents that the teachers teach are more complex than what children of that age can accept (Corter, Janmohammed, Zhang & Bertrand, 2006). Many early childhood educators adopt a cramming method of teaching, they launch teaching work in accordance with the requirements of syllabus. It is a teacher-centered teaching mode, usually this teaching method can help children to improve their examination performance in a short period of time (Fox, 2010). It can be said that the roles that Chinese teacher play in early childhood education are more in line with what Chinese parents expect.

2.3 Comparative analysis of teacher’s role in early childhood education in China and Australia 

 

 

It can be learned through the contrast that whether it is in China or Australia, parents have attached great importance to work of early childhood education practitioners, they all acknowledge that early childhood education has an important influence on the growth and development of children. However, because of cultural differences, different expectations of parents and different theories on early childhood education, Australia and Chinese teachers play different roles in early childhood education. This essay is mainly from teaching content and teaching methods to explore the differences in the roles that teachers play in early childhood education between China and Australia. First of all, judging from teaching content, early childhood education in Australia widely includes social, emotional, aesthetic, intellectual and linguistic, cultural, physical aspects, etc. Australian teachers play a guiding role more in early childhood education in guiding children to obtain development in language, cognitive, social, healthy, aesthetic, learning quality and other aspects, which has a positive significance for the lifetime of children, for children who are about to enter primary school, it is the foundation for their school readiness (Tayler, Cloney, Farrell & Muscat, 2008). In China, teachers and parents usually take children’s academic record very seriously, teachers play the role of imparting knowledge in teaching process, in the process of teaching, there is too much emphasis on imparting knowledge and skills and ignoring the pursuit of freedom, innocence, joy, health, personality, connotation and other goals of education.  Teachers and parents take early childhood education as school education which is carried out in advance, they understand early childhood education as literacy, reciting poems, reading, learning skills and other intellectual development activities, causing that children are unable to participate in various activities outside classroom which are very beneficial to the development of intelligence, resulting in the situation of the children’s narrow range of knowledge, as well as high scores and low abilities (Corter, Janmohammed, Zhang & Bertrand, 2006).#p#分頁標題#e#

 

 

Then, from the view of teaching method, the biggest feature of early childhood education in Australia is more emphasis on experience than on imparting knowledge. Teachers play the roles of cooperators and supporters in the process of education, the relation between teachers and children are more equal, teachers won't instill knowledge and skill which are not suitable for children of this age, but let them do more and experience more, allowing them to learn experience and exploring skills in all kinds of intelligent, team games and be more active to understand things around them, thus forming healthy values and study methods (Moss, 2010). The biggest benefit brought by this are, children will develop active learning, study habits to be seekers and innovators of knowledge, rather than accept knowledge imparted by teachers passively. While in China, it is believed that children should learn more knowledge, which is more conducive to laying the foundation for future education, teachers often play the role of authority of knowledge in early childhood education process. Teachers decide teaching content, as well as the ways that children use in learning. Chinese teacher involved in early childhood education more stress proficiency of knowledge, they often use transitional learning, training methods to help children with their study, the children's learning mode is more passive, mechanical and reflective, which is not conducive to fostering children's creativity (Corter, Janmohammed, Zhang & Bertrand, 2006).

 

 

3.0 Conclusion

A lot of research results on education, physiology and psychology have confirmed the importance of early childhood education, it lays a foundation for the future development of children. In the process of early childhood education, teachers play a very important role. Discussion on how teachers play the right roles in early childhood education has a very important significance fo research and practice of early childhood education. This essay points out that Australian teachers play the roles of supporters, cooperators and guiders in early childhood education, which is beneficial to cultivating children's independence, creativity, teamwork ability to promote children’s comprehensive development in social, emotional, aesthetic, intellectual, linguistic, cultural, physical quality and other aspects. While Chinese teachers play the roles of imparters and authority of knowledge more in the course of early childhood education, such roles may be beneficial to improving children's learning achievement, but it is not conducive to guiding children's comprehensive development, nor is it conducive to the cultivation of children's creativity, independence, team work ability. Through this research, the author believes that in early childhood education, teachers should be good at teaching according to children’s interest, such improvement skills are beneficial to cultivating the spirit of exploration and creativity of children, allowing children to have learning initiative. Teachers should not only let children learn book knowledge, they should let the children touch with nature and their living environment, by these improvement skills to promote all-round development of children in intellectual, social, emotional, aesthetic, sports and other aspects. In addition, teachers should support and encourage children to participate in a variety of games and activities, fostering children's cooperation and communication skills.

 

 

References

Bolstad, R. (2004). The role and potential of ICT in early childhood education: a review of New Zealand and international literature. New Zealand Council for Educational Research. 

Corter, C., Janmohammed, Z., Zhang, J. and Bertrand, J. (2006). Selected issues concerning early childhood care and education in China. Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007. 

European Union-Australia Policy Dialogue. (2011). Early childhood education and care in Australia. A Discussion Paper, 4(11-15). 

Fox, J. (2010). A comparison of Chinese and Australian early childhood mathematics. 2nd International STEM in Education Conference.

Gordon, A. M. & Browne, K. W. (2012). Beginning essentials in early childhood education. Wadsworth Publishing.

Kang, C. Y. (2010).Analysis of Wang Yangming's philosophy of education. Inheritance. 12(12), 105-114.

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books.

Moss, P. (2010). http://www.400190.com/default.html We cannot continue as we are: The educator in an education for survival. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 11(1). Retrieved 2 April 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2010.11.1.8.

OECD Country Note. (2004). Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in the Republic of Korea. Retrieved 2 April 2013, http://www.oecd.org/korea/33689774.pdf.

Tayler, C., Cloney, D., Farrell, A., & Muscat, T. (2008). The Queensland hubs study: Child care and family services in rural and regional communities. Brisbane: Centre for Learning Innovation, Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 1 April 2013, http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26940/2/26940.pdf.