Pedagogic Creed

After some years of observing some teachers’ beliefs about educating young children, I have developed my own pedagogic creeds. One of my creeds is that all children should be stimulated and motivated by the curriculum. They understand the lesson better when they are having fun. Also, the curriculum should be appropriate and challenging. Less behavior problems occur when they are engaged in an appropriate activity. Another creed of mine is children should be viewed as unique individuals. Each child learns different. With my creeds, children will reach their maximum potential.

I could not have developed my own pedagogic creeds without concepts from early childhood educators. One inspiring concept is tabula rasa by John Locke. Children are blank slates when they are babies. Unfortunately, I have not observed this concept in early child education yet. Another concept I like is John Amos Comenius’s learning by doing. Rather than telling the steps to an activity, the teacher allows the children to participate. I notice this in every early childhood education I have seen. Also, Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel had a good concept of children’s playtime when he proposed that kindergarten should be like a child’s garden. Children need to enjoy the beauty of playing which is just to have simple fun. I noticed this concept being used when I watched the young kids play outside at the Northwest Shoals Child Development Center. They played with various toys such as bikes, climbing bars, playhouse, and etc. In addition, Maria Montessori’s sequential learning was a good concept. I noticed this at Northwest Shoals Child Development Center also. For two weeks, the children would learn how to put the name in a slot for a particular center. Then, the children would work at that center. Another great concept is Rousseau’s free play. I used this concept when I worked at Ridgecrest Baptist Child Development Center in Dothan, Alabama. On Fridays, I would allow the children to choose to play with any toys for the afternoon. In conclusion, these concepts have improved child care education.