Reference no: EM133679252

Write 3-4 sentences on what you think children's thinking involves. That is, what thinking skills do children show in their daily activities in a learning environment that you have observed? (75-100 words)

Reflection 1.2: Imagine that you are presenting your own research project in children's learning and thinking. Which elements of your lived experience do you feel would (explicitly or implicitly) influence your research? Draft your own positionality statement in 1-2 paragraphs. (100-150 words)

Writing a positionality statement helps you to intentionally reflect on your identity, life history, experiences, values and the things/issues that are important to you. This reflection can help you determine what aspext of your identity is of broader sociological interest, which can be sueful in narrowing your research interests. Even if you already know what topic you want to research, a positionality statement can help you focus your research on issues that are important to who you are or to your political/world views.

Here are some things to include in your positionality statement:

Identity characterisitics (e.g., age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, social class, disability status, citizenship, immigration status, religion, maritual status, etc.)
Life expseriences (previous or current job, volunteering activities, membership in advocacy groups etc.)
Political, philisophical and theoretical beliefs (lens though which you view and interpret the world)
Relationship to phenomena of interest (insider and/or outside status)

Reflection 2.1: Can you remember a time when you thought that a theory just didn't make sense to you based on your own lived experience? Write a paragraph about how you think culture may or may not have played a role when you were trying to relate to a theory that didn't resonate with your experience or world view. (75-100 words)

Theory can be defined as a set of ideas that seeks to describe and explain something in the world. In this case, theories that we are concerned with are attempting to explain cognitive development or children's thinking. We must begin with ideas - there is no way to avoid that. Even if we think we have an original idea, it is likely based on something bigger, or that has come before. Therefore, when I think of theory, I think of many perspectives on children's thinking over the years that have deep and often historical meaning and that build upon one another over time.

Reflection 2.3: Take a moment to write down 3 values that you have in early childhood learning that you would like to emphasize in your own teaching. (75-100 words)