Cassidy Wulf

Kay Cutler

ECE 361

15 February 2017

Image of the Child

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2004) defines child as an unborn or recently born

person, a young person between the periods of infancy and youth, or a male or female

offspring (p. 125). A child is so much more than that, however. For the purposes of a dictionary,

these definitions may seem appropriate. I beg to differ. Yes, a child is a young human, but is a

young human with dreams, ambitions, emotions, extraordinary abilities and much more. Maybe a

more appropriate definition of a child would be someone who loves to feel loved, someone who

is ecstatic about success, someone who you can count on to tell you how you look today,

someone who will press your buttons, but also someone who will warm your heart. We need to

remember that just like no one size fits all, no one definition fits all children. Everyone has

different ideas about children, but throughout the next paragraphs, I want to describe my

personal view of children, societys view of children, beliefs about how children learn, and how

my view of children will affect my teaching.

When I was younger I never really had a desire to teach or even work with children for

that matter. After we lived in Mexico for a while, my perspective changed. We work with an

orphanage there and I now have heard of many things children go through. Those new

experiences opened up my eyes and I got a glimpse into the lives of children. I feel as if my

involvement with the children at the orphanage exposed me more towards the negative aspects of

childhood as most, if not all, of the children at the orphanage come from hard backgrounds,
which in turn, affect their development and behavior. I saw or heard of undesirable behavior.

However, I also experienced breakthroughs and observed children thrive. I believe that through

all of this is from where I gained my view of a child. As evidenced in my artifact, I believe

children can both have a positive side to them and something they struggle with. One child may

struggle with a lot of things and misbehave often, but I believe it is possible to find something

beautiful in each child even if we have to dig for it. A child may struggle with a disability or

have a hard home life but exceed in another area. I demonstrated this in one of my scenarios in

my artifact regarding the child with autism that had the amazing talent of working with

mechanics. Societys view of children is another aspect which gives insight into this topic.

Just as overgeneralizations take place in other situations, overgeneralizations about

children can also take place. One source states,

[some can] succumb to viewing the world from purely an adult perspective, which is

not only insulting to our youth, but also represents a position of superiority based solely

upon the dynamics of knowledge, maturity or size. Given this position of adult

superiority, we often treat children as inferiors. (Tate & Copas, 2003, p. 41)

This quote discusses the concept of adultism and shows that some in society view children as

less than adults. Viewing children as less than adults could create a negative outlook towards

children. In addition to Tate and Copas statement, Gong and Wright (2007) reinforce, youth

are considered incompetent, and adults assume they must always be competent and in charge

(pp. 329-330). Children would probably sense the negative attitude and have fear to try new

things or the lack of ambition to thrive. Bell (1995) further explains the concept that children are

looked at as inferior;
 If you think about it, you will realize that except for prisoners and a few other

institutionalized groups, young people are more controlled than any other group in

society. Most young people are told what to eat, what to wear, when to go to bed, when

they can talk, that they will go to school, which friends are okay, and when they are to be

in the house. The opinions of most young people are not valued; they are punished at the

will or whim of adults; their emotions are considered immature. (p. 1)

While young children lack the same ability as adults in some things and may not be as successful

in some areas as adults, they still deserve our respect. Also, not only do we need to respect a

certain group of children, but all children. Years ago, an act came into existence to ensure that

schools would include and respect all children, even those with disabilities (Jorgenson &

Hoffman, 2003). Society may view children in a negative way, but as teachers, we can begin to

inform families and others about the reality that children are unique and capable. After we

recognize children as much more than a definition in a dictionary, we also need to recognize that

all children learn differently too.

No two childrens brains function in the exact same way. Because of this, no two children

learn in the exact same way. I believe children will learn best if their teachers incorporate their

interests into the curriculum. For example, a child who enjoys art might get much more out of a

math lesson if art is involved in some way. Art is a way of expressing oneself as demonstrated in

one of my short stories of the artifact. Also, I believe if one cares about what they learn, they will

put more of an effort into their responsibilities. One of the scenarios in my artifact described a

little girl who loved a little calf and always made sure she cared for him. Maybe if a teacher

incorporated something a child cared so much about into a lesson, it would motivate the child to

do his or her work. When figuring out what to teach a child, a teacher should consider different
things such as the childs interests, the family and school goals for the child, where the child

tends to struggle, and more. Teachers need to understand how a childrens brains work so they

can create lessons that are appropriate for children and for the specified age.

Just as a childs physical body isnt as fully developed as an adults body, the same is true

for their brains and ways of thinking. Lets consider two things that adults think as wrong, lying

and stealing. Adults know this to be wrong, however children think about it in a little different

light.

For a child, being egocentric (seeing things from your own viewpoint) may mean that

something is true because you want it to be true, and that something is yours because you

want itAn adult who understands how children think can help a child learn from these

situations. (Fields, Meritt, & Fields, 2014, p. 52)

This is just one example of the many different ways children think differently from adults. Also,

Piaget (1965) has a theory about a childs way of thinking and includes the state of

preoperational thought which describes that children have one-track thinking in which they may

only think of themselves. In order to effectively understand, guide, and teach a child, we need to

make ourselves aware of the aspects that make a childs thinking unique. Another aspect to

understand in order to make the most out of a teaching experience is DAP, or developmentally

appropriate practice. This ties into our view of children as it helps us recognize the most

appropriate aspects and ways to teach children at different stages. DAP involves teachers

meeting young children where they are (by stage of development), both as individuals and as part

of a group; and helping each child meet challenging and achievable learning goals

(Developmentally Appropriate, para. 2). This practice sees children as capable because
through it, teachers are willing to put the recognition of the childs abilities first. How I view a

child may influence the way I interact with them and teach them.

Personally, when I look at a child, I tend to wonder where they come from and what their

background is like. Also, if children misbehave I tend to think about why that happens. Maybe

there is some underlying cause. Hopefully I am not too pessimistic when I teach because of this.

I also know children have strengths and I love when one does well or experiences a break-

through. These past few things I considered throughout this paper, I believe, strengthened my

view in the way that they demonstrated that children are capable and teachers can help the

children thrive by acknowledging them as able. I believe children do have struggles, but I also

believe they are more than able to do extraordinary things if given the opportunity. We, as

teachers, need to provide them with opportunities to thrive. Teachers can always provide a

welcoming learning environment and can always seek to build relationships with their children.

Hill, Stremmel, and Fu (2005) declare, A classroom is such a community for children and their

teacher (p. 14). Those in a community work together. Lets work alongside our children instead

of lecture at them. My personal view of children and how that would affect my teaching along

with other beliefs about children leads me to conclude that I need to see children as capable and

give them the opportunities they deserve.

 References

Bell, J. (1995, March). Understanding adultism. YouthBuilds.

Child. (2004). In the Merriam Webster dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). (n.d.). NAEYC. Retrieved from

https://www.naeyc.org/DAP.

Fields, M.V., Meritt, P. A., & Fields, D. M. (2014). Constructive guidance and discipline: Birth

to age eight. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Gong, J., & Wright, D. (2007). The context of power: Young people as evaluators. American

Journal of Evaluation, 28(3), 327-333.

Hill, L. T., Stremmel, A. J., & Fu, V. R. (2005). Teaching as inquiry: Rethinking curriculum in

early childhood education. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Pearson Education. (2003). History of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

(NCLB). San Antonio, TX: Jorgenson, M. A. & Hoffman, J.

Piaget, J. (1965). The moral judgment of the child. New York: Free Press.

Tate, T. F. & Copas, R. L. (2003). Insist or enlist? Adultism versus climates of excellence.

Reclaiming Children and Youth, 12(1), 40-45.