NIC Children's Center
Educational Philosophy
As educators of young children, one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is ...
"What is our image of the child?" The Children's Center resoundingly answers that question from a competency based viewpoint.
"The child is capable, curious, competent, constantly constructing theories, and is a powerful researcher." Therefore, as a facilitator of learning, the role of the adult is to:
- Assist in organizing theories, provide resources, and guide the child further in their thinking.
- Help provide focus and moving from uncertainty to risk.
As educators we must also ask ourselves, "How do young children learn best?" Children learn best by:
- Constructing theories about the world, people, and they need time to hypothesize, explore, test, revisit and revise those theories.
- Exposure in a social context whereby children interact with peers, disagree, work towards a common goal and share perspectives and experiences.
- Experiencing materials that are rich with the possibilities of transformation.
- Being given opportunities to express their knowledge through a variety of languages: the spoken word, paint, clay, wire, music, dance, and many more.
"What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught. Rather, it is in large part due to the children's own doing as a consequence of their activities and our resources."
- Loris Malaguzzi, The Hundred Languages of Children