Reflective Practice includes ethics, vision, and the reflection of how we represent ourselves in the lives of children. It is our personal advocacy for the professional self.

Some well-known schools of practice in early childhood education include The Municipal Schools of Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Waldorf, and Lifeways. These schools have a standard of practice, a belief system about early childhood education that informs their work with children.

Some schools have more linear structures in the curriculum than others, but they all have a few core principles in common. The children are creators of knowledge. The teacher is available to guide and support their learning journey. Each educational philosophy grows through the teacher's ability to reflect on and scaffold the children's experiences.

In learner-centered education, guiding lights of practice stand out as lighthouses for all people who work with children. These philosophical lighthouses are thoughtful ways of practice that teachers and children naturally gravitate to. These guiding lights inform how we enact our professional approach and enhance our abilities to see what is possible.

What are the Guiding Lights of Learner-Centered Education?

We are all natural explorers. Children seek to explore their world, and all investigations contain learning opportunities. The knowledge discovered in each inquiry is a gateway for children and teachers to form new questions and build relationships in the learning community.

Educators are curious and want to share their love of learning with others. Educators want the freedom to explore their questions and the children's wonderings without the weight of standardized outcomes and expectations from outside sources. We must preserve the freedom and joy of learning that attracts a person to become a teacher, so the love of learning passes to young children.

Children enjoy choosing their work. All children have multiple intelligences and develop these bits of intelligence when they are ready. The freedom for children to choose work helps strengthen their strengths and develop their weaknesses. As an educator, we have the opportunity to encourage this freedom, come along for the journey, and explore children's questions instead of giving answers.

Parents are partners in the learning community. We all have families, and our family provides comfort, wisdom, assistance, and guidance when we most need it. The parents are part of the early childhood education family and must be invited and encouraged to participate in the learning community. Creating a sense of belonging fosters opportunities to grow together and learn from each other.

Outside play is essential, and movement is something children seek to participate in often. A rich play life is vital for all aspects of our well-being. I am not talking about physical education. Exercise is the adult way of taking a desire we have to be connected to free play in the natural world and turning it into a job. Children see through this charade and have a natural play spirit that can be stripped away by the demands of structure and rigor in the modern educational landscape. It's okay to play! Give children the freedom to explore, expand, and test their social and physical gifts without the demands of a clock or something more "educational" to do.

Our classroom environment is our calling card. It not only tells visitors what we believe about children, but it also informs children what we believe about their capabilities. Creating a rich, inviting environment will open up the possibilities for children to explore, expand, and create new pathways to answer their questions about their interests. A variety of simple, organized materials and spaces will open and calm the mind, offering children the opportunity to be intentional and create the work of their imagination.

These are a few examples of lighthouses that we believe separate a children lead approach through reflective practice.  There are many more pathways of light out there, and many more are being created daily by dedicated people who work to see children grow up happy and thrive in their schools and community. Keep searching for the guiding lights in the practices you learn about, read about, employ, and bring new possibilities into your program. Look to embrace ideas and values that place children first. When doing this, we truly understand how our reflections guide our shared learning in our programs.