Article 31 from the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) states the right to play is for children to engage in activities freely that are age appropriate. All individuals should endorse equal opportunities for leisure, artistic, cultural and recreational activities. The right of play is important element for education as it is instrumental for achieving health and peak development. (Lester, S., Russell, W. 2010 p. ix) states that rest, leisure and play are combined into a child’s life to be controlled by each individual child not to be coordinated by an adult. Play is children being in control of their own doings; play is allowing children to create, explore, imagine problem solve and experiment in a way in which …show more content…
Although the rights of the child is evident in many procedures, after reading in extensive detail about the UNCRC and reflecting on our centres policies and procedures I have come to the conclusion that we need to add Article 31 of the UNCRC. (UNCRC, 1989, Article 31). In doing so it will ensure all educators are fully aware of the rights of the child, the right of play and the importance of it. It also ensure that at all times children’s rights are being understood, respected and adhered to by all educators that enter our service. Families can also be reassured that all educators are fully aware of the UNCRC rights of the child as well as that their child’s rights are at the forefront of all educators practices consistently as it is a policy that all educators are familiar with and have to follow. Having it as a policy ensure all children have a voice and it is being listened to and responded on appropriately allowing their choices to be respected by all educators. Not only adding a policy that is formed from the children’s right to play will benefit the children but also reviewing the wording of our current policies to ensure that the children right to play is at the forefront of our early childhood education and care program. Reflecting on our policies and procedures I strongly believe we have the foundations to ensure best practice of the children’s rights is being adhered too but we need to review and reflect on these practices to ensure that the language being used in the policy and procedure manual is clearly evident to support the children’s right of
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
Play is instrumental in the healthy development of children. The development of play throughout an individual life is essential in providing the necessary methods to foster growth and development in critical developmental areas. According to Davies (2011), play is instrumental in providing a bridge for the child to transition from a toddler with a limited capacity to understand the world into a child in the middle years who can think logically. Play is also important in fostering cognitive development, social development, language and communication, moral development, self-regulation, and sense identity.
Under the UNCRC article 31 which is Leisure, play and culture; the Children have the right to relax and play. They also have the right to join in a range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities. Children who do not have the access to play at home
The environment has to be safe and secure and equal attention according to the needs of the child is necessary. The Act puts emphasis on the welfare and rights of the child, teachers and support staff must effectively communicate with children and young people respecting their views, wishes and feelings. Again, procedures for reporting concerns and information sharing have to be followed. Professionals such as social workers under the Act are permitted to make investigations and where significant harm is apparent; the police are permitted to take the child.
All children and young people should have support regardless of who they are and the environments they come from. Children and young people should be supported to be healthy, enjoy life, have a good standard of living and be successful in everything they do. These are the five key principles to help get children and young people the best start in life. Children and young people have the right to voice their opinions and share any issues that are of importance to them. In the past this was often disregarded. Protection of the children’s act 1999 is so that any people who are considered unsuitable to work with children and young people are put on a list also known as (POCA). This list is to prevent the unsuitable people from gaining access to children. Unsuitable persons will not be allowed to work with any children weather its paid work or voluntary work. All childcare organisations must refer to this list through the criminal records bureau to check off names against the list and any persons found to be on it must not under any circumstances be employed. The UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the rights of a child) The UNCRC is an international agreement that
Explain the legal status and principles of the relevant early years frameworks and how national and local guidance materials are used in settings
An Article by Dr. Leong and Dr. Bodrova (2016) stated that play is beneficial to children’s learning especially when it reaches a certain degree of complexity. When they engage in play activities most of their early years, they learn to delay gratification and to prioritize their goals and actions. They also learn to consider the perspectives and needs of other people and to represent things significantly to regulate their behavior and actions in a cautious, intentional way.
All children play and it is something that most children do because they are having fun, but without realising children are developing and learning skills when they are engaged in play. Play helps stimulate the mind as it is practical and gives children the chance to explore and experience new situations. It can also ensure that children get to think by themselves and be spontaneous as they control their own play. Children get the chance to be creative and imaginative which develops independence for children. Play is vital for child development and helps children develop five main areas of development:
...ctive. Play is an essential learning tool and one that must not be ignored within the classroom. It is a catalyst to help children develop socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively. It is not only an important part of a child’s development as a pupil but also a child’s development as an individual.
Page 1) and in response to her review into child protection, it was evident that local authorities and practitioners had a commitment to learn and a will to improve their practice with children. It is fundamental to this process of change that the voice of the child is heard throughout, and that they are provided with the opportunity to share their views and experiences. This will in turn assist to shape a future system that is more child-centred. Children and young people are best protected when professionals have a clear understanding of what is expected of them by both policy and procedure and the core legislation. In addition, when procedural safeguards are in place to support and protect the decisions and actions of the practitioners.
Working in the field of early childhood can be both complex and challenging. Today, early childhood educators must take on a good number of roles including manager, advocate, policy maker, and classroom practitioner (Allvin, 2016). It is vital that early childhood educators understand that children’s early learning and development are multidimensional, complex, and influenced by many factors and so are able to implement developmentally appropriate practices in their childcare settings (“School Readiness,” 1995). Part of developing proficiency in working with young children is learning about and following accepted professional standards of conduct. As an early childhood educator and administrator, many daily decisions will have moral and ethical
Right to plays work started in Ghana in 2001. They supported vaccination campaigns led by the countries ministry of health. They quickly expanded providing play days and special events to support kids living in refugee camps. By 2006, the organisations programs were featured in many Ghanian schools. Before, There uses to be a drop rate of 63% of children over the age of 10. Now, right to play has made programs that make children engaged and eager to learn. Right to play also encourages healthy behaviours in participating children in events. Example: Hand washing and using mosquito nets to prevent malaria. Through the power of play, Right to play helps over 1 million, know their potentials and realise their dreams. Their programs focus on impacting three most critical areas of a child's development: The quality of their education, the ability to stay healthy and their poten...
The book, Exploring Your role in Early Childhood Education, defines play as, “any activity that is freely chosen, meaningful, active, enjoyable, and open-ended.”(pg. 140) Play has many positive characteristics such as freedom to explore and create. Suppose when a child enters his/her classroom and has various self-selection activities available, the child can become engaged in something of interest specifically to that individual child. The book also states, “Play is active and is natural process of mentally and actively doing something.”(pg. 140) When children can act out or explore experiences they are having hands on experience and learning by actually doing. Without knowing it, children are practicing body movements as well as mental processing though acting imaginary games out.
Early childhood professionals have to focus on all legal and statutory requirements, which are highly regulated, and it is essential to have a reasonable understanding of the legal obligations (Kearns, 2010). UNICEF (1998) states that there are number of local, state/territory and national government requirements such as child protection legislation, occupational health and safety, anti-discrimination requirements, public health regulations , commission for children and young People, and human rights and equal opportunity requirements (Kearns, 2010). Early childhood professionals have to understand their duty of care, which is a legal responsibility to take care and work on achieving appropriate standards (ACECQA, 2011). In Australia, the National Quality Framework [NQF] is created to provide consistent approaches to regulate and ensure the quality assessment in Australian early childhood education and care services (Kearns,
I will be discussing how every child is unique and how they learn and progress. I will explain the benefits of meeting individual needs and how a practitioner can promote children’s physical and emotional wellbeing within an early years setting. I will then describe how principles of anti-discriminatory practice can be applied and why it is important to plan activities to meet individual needs.