The Essay Highlights The Importance Of Viewing Children With A Strength-based Perspective." (70 Characters)

Issues with the Perception of Children

Our viewpoint on children is important in terms of the child because it allows youngsters to grasp diverse perspectives and convey that they were appreciated and that their experiences were important, which fosters a feeling of belonging and security. Issues arise from the perception of children as easily influenced or innocent and vulnerable, which reinforces a deficit-based view of childhood. People have kept an image of children and their behaviour, according to Irving and Carter (2018), which influences how they engage with kids. Many of these views are influenced by the media and preconceptions that have developed in society, resulting in a negative attitude toward children. It is critical for early childhood educators to comprehend the many representations of children since, in today's world, children are portrayed in a variety of ways. It is vital for early education teachers to understand the various images of children because in the first three years of a child’s life, they begin to learn communication, problem-solving and relationship building (Sims, 2013). Educators are assigned a crucial role in providing support and learning development because their experiences will shape their adulthood. However, with continuous attention and support, children may become capable of comprehending various skills and become entitled rights-holders (Aries, 1962). Thus, supporting a strength-based view of childhood. Children will always be different due to factors such as ability, culture, race, cognitive development, and skills. Adolescents who are not wealthy enough to acquire an education are compared to privileged children who had a poor childhood foundation, highlighting the importance of factors such as money, gender, and race in determining the level of education received by a child.

When an educator interacts with a kid, it is critical to examine their learning aptitude since it signals human growth and provides some insight into what they will be capable of comprehending when they reach maturity. Lansdown (2001) claims that there has been evidence that extremely young infants are intelligent enough to fully comprehend and can express intelligent ideas (Lansdown 2001). This gives light on the cognitive learning and also development process of children by investigating how children evaluate their talents and, particularly particular, the importance they place on schooling (Biggeri, 2007). Acknowledging that children have their own perspectives demonstrates to an educator that perhaps the kid is able to incorporate the facts which they've been given and implement it in their own life.  thus, the teacher can motivate and encourage activities and learning that can guide the student to a pah and develop themselves in that order. the educator can introduce, materials of learning that will enable the student to make judgments by themselves and encourage critical and analytical skills, as well as help, enable autonomist learning. holding debates, classroom discussions, and delegating tasks can be a way of giving greater authority over their education and enabling their capacities. Thus, establishing the image of understanding and capable children that educators observe from their learning and play (Moore et al., 2014)

Acknowledging rights-based perceptions of the children, the primary goal of the UNCRC is critical for educators as they investigate ways to build children ’s learning and development or the consequences for respective teaching ideas, techniques, and practices. It is an obligation imposed on instructors to provide young kids with several chances to assert their rights in learning environments. The UNCRC encourages basic principles for children 's rights, the first one being the right to life and development. This context is closely linked to the advancement of a child's personality, skillsets, physiological and psychological abilities to their highest capacity, and children are to be presented with accessibility to information and knowledge and resources designed to endorse their sociocultural, spiritual, as well as ethical well-being (Page & Taylor, 2016). Second, the right to non-discrimination requires that educators must provide all children a chance to assert their rights, without regard to any demarcation including ethnic background, color, gender, dialect, faith, or political or social standing, and also that the pupil has every chance to do so. In doing this, the educator must design effective inclusive practices that support all pupils, being mindful of their responsibilities to all children Teachers should consider their own inherent beliefs and principles, as well as provide equitable learning chances for students (Küçükturan & Kocaman, 2017). The right to be heard entails that every youngster who is capable of building their own viewpoints be allowed the freedom to voice himself or herself openly in all subjects, this action of giving them human rights relates to the right to enforce their legal claims but also to reconsider the power structures amongst children, grownups, and the institution (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990). Their specific needs are to always be the main factor, not just the sole concern and must not be overlooked, discounted, or marginalized by the educators in any form.

The Importance of Understanding Different Representations of Children

Whenever adults and instructors use these approaches, they could have a deeper comprehensive knowledge of the effects of judgments on individual learners engaging within daily programs and, as a result, emerge better positioned to help the educational outcomes of early childhood. Understanding these key strengths, we move on to the deficits.

ECE is a prospective foundation for assisting young children who might be regarded as vulnerable driven by developing up in a poor home or being a racial or cultural minority. Kids who are vulnerable are increasingly enrolling in ECE alongside their generally functioning classmates. Those unfavorable images in the press and on televisions have so far inhibited proper education, prompting us to consider how teachers value assisting them. Considering those youngsters that enrol in kindergarten with inadequate abilities remain largely at relatively low standards of academic success across times, the potential of ECE programs to encourage academic preparation for vulnerable individuals deserves significant consideration (Omotoso et al., 2020). The emphasis on subjective opinions above professional competence is detrimental, particularly when considering studies on attitudes connected to instructing diverse individuals. Teachers who feel that children and young people are intrinsically flawed are hesitant to accept accountability for their pupils' poor performance and inability. Developing programmes that foster cultural competencies in schools necessitates the incorporation of indigenous competencies and understanding into all curricula and activities; teachers must also be cognizant of both the cultural variety and linguistic variances from which vulnerable students originate.  Existing systems necessitate multicultural education practices, multilingual language training, and preparatory programmes as well as initiation programs that help aid in getting along with the peers and build a strong- teacher0learner relationship. This process of teaching has to constitute the responsibility of everyone participating in professional development activities (Nelson & Guerra, 2014).  Every educator and administrator must step back and scrutinise their existing attitudes regarding diversity, intercultural communication, and adherence to equality, and then acquire the tools and knowledge needed to enable this transformational process.

The pure perception of the kid may support the belief that adolescence must be some type of utopia that has been tainted by getting older in a certain culture. The emotive connection of grownups to infancy contributes to the construction of this picture of a pupil. Such a notion may materialize in practice when instructors think it is necessary to shield or safeguard the kids from difficult and hard concepts and issues, instead of viewing these as training and development opportunities and creative engagement that could open new areas of learning for the child. Whenever adults adopt this blinkered view of children, they chance to pull the wool over or to neglect the underlying issues that interest, fascinate, and provoke youngsters (Ergin, ?ahin & Eri?en, 2013).. It also might push them to believe that because a child is easily influenced certain behaviours of theirs to be excused as they would be attained from observing and thus risk neglecting an issue. Many teachers would provide materials and learning that they might think is appropriate according to the nature and the image of the teacher’s perception of the students (McCartney & Harris, 2014). When instructors dismiss a kid's participation to education settings instinctively, then might well be adopting the picture of a kid as a vacant container to just be supplied with information that is planned and established by the educator. Taking kid's inquiries, activities, and reactions carefully as appropriate grounds of starting for subsequent educational experiences is a rebuttal towards this picture of the kid as well as a recognition of the kid as a qualified and skilled student. When instructors question this deficient picture of a kid, they can adopt a new one: that child as the developer of cultures and have their unique educational trajectories.

Conclusion

Therefore, as per the quote by Irwin & carter (2018). It is critical to contemplate on the perception of children in order to assist their knowledge acquisition. This should assist us in identifying our views and presumptions about youngsters. Such ideas and preconceptions influence the countless acts we take for adolescents as well as our relationships with them. An implication of observing children as innocent is an emphasis on protection and management of behavior with rules, which can encourage them to embrace their actions and become accountable for them  Evaluating different views of the child would aid in analysing both the constraints and potential capabilities that each vision provides, and then it would enable me as an educator to decide which picture of the child I wish to cultivate via respective pedagogical approaches and ideologies. These would be the attributes of a qualified teacher that I would utilize in my future professional practice as an instructor: dialogue, attention, teamwork, adaptation, compassion, and perseverance. Another feature of good education is an appealing environment and placing value on real-world learning.

References:

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Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1990). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved 8 April 2022, from https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/crc.pdf

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Nelson, S. W., & Guerra, P. L. (2014). Educator beliefs and cultural knowledge: Implications for school improvement efforts. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(1), 67-95.

Omotoso, K. O., Adesina, J. O., & Gbadegesin, T. F. (2020). Children on the edge: estimating children’s vulnerability to multidimensional poverty in post-apartheid South Africa. Child Indicators Research, 13(4), 1155-1174.

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