was working on one of my assessment on Personal Pedagogy today and we are tasked to write our philosophy:

My Philosophy of learning and teaching


The children are competent and confident and I embark with them on their journey of learning with respect.

I value and respect the bicultural heritage and the multicultural make up of Aotearoa. I respect and will honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the founding document of Aotearoa/New Zealand and its significance in early childhood education. It is my responsibility to work within Te Whāriki and I seek to incorporate Te Reo Māori and tikanga Māori into the learning experiences of the children and valuing the involvement of whānau as they model and share Māori learning theories, values and beliefs.

I value and respect the contribution of parents/whanau as I believe that ‘We are all in this together’ in the children’s journey of learning. A whakatauki that best describe the relationship between children, families/whanau and teachers is: “Whakatepea te ko, kia kotahi”. I believe that a strong relationship between the children, families and teacher forms a strong foundation in fostering children’s learning and development.

I respect and acknowledge the rich and diversified strengths, interests, needs and behaviour that each child brings and the importance of basing learning experiences on the child’s personal and relevant interests. The source of learning experiences stems from the child/ren’s interests and strengths. I will collaborate with the child/ren, discovering and co-constructing knowledge as learning experiences are extended througout the journey of learning.
I am inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy and believe in creating spaces for the children to explore and form understanding of knowledge, their identity and the world through their creativity and curiousity. I believe that the child/ren is a co-constructor, competent and confident leaner and through these learning experiences, the child/ren will be empowered and take on responsibility for their own learning.

As the children explore and engage in learning experiences, I hope to encompass a holistic approach to learning and development, nurturing the children’s spiritual, physical, social, cognitive and emotional well being.

Through this journey of learning with the children, I bring with me in my kete professional knowledge, skills, values and beliefs and I believe in critical reflective practice as I continue to identify my strengths and weakness and seek to overcome the weaknesses and building on my strengths. I believe that through reflective practice and acting on it, I am actively participating and collaborating with the children as we embark the journey of learning and providing support to their learning experiences.