Artifacts Supporting Goal # 1:
Each of the five artifacts chosen to support this goal explore ways in which self-regulation and social and emotional competencies can be fostered through everyday activities within trusting relationships and environments in which the child feels a sense of safety and belonging.
Artifact 1A 'Play as a Self-Regulatory Practice', influenced by Vygotsky's theory of play, focuses on the broad spectrum of playful pastimes that can serve to strengthen the adult-child relationship, all while fostering skill building in every domain of development. I illustrate throughout this paper examples of shared joyful, playful activities that can be generalized to any early childhood environment. The literature reviewed, validates my learning goal, describing the optimal learning environment as one that is shared with and scaffolded by a trusted adult, who can provide a supportive, co-regulating presence; insuring the child feels a sense of safety and belonging.
Artifact 1B the literary review of 'Playing Their Way into Literacies', heightens our understanding of one’s need to feel a sense of belonging in order to learn, grow and become one’s best self. The author shares with us a model of an early literacy apprenticeship, stemming from a classroom culture of ‘caring and kindness’ within an ‘imagined school family’. The priorities demonstrated and competencies cultivated in this classroom serve as an example of a learning environment in which social and emotional learning is nurtured through caring, responsive relationships.
Adding to my understanding of the importance of a sense of belonging and safety in order to learn and grow is Artifact 1C the paper, "Relationships, Regulation and Resilience: Fostering Social and Emotional Wellbeing." Delahooke (2017) urges us to consider Dr. Steven Porges work on neuroception, a concept understood as one's ability to subconsciously assess one's environment and to determine whether it provides a sense of safety or elicits the fear of threat. From this perspective, I am reminded that in support of every child's development and well-being one must always begin with a safe responsive relationship. There is overwhelming consensus from the literature reviewed that relational stressors and/or relational strengths will have the most powerful influence and impact on a child's ability to learn, grow and thrive.
The opportunity to delve further into the importance of growth and learning taking place within the context of safe, responsive relationships presented in the assignment from ECED 530B, Early Childhood Development, Intervention and Inclusion in Early Childhood programs,in which we were tasked to create an activity or a toy that would promote development in various domains. I viewed this assignment from a holistic perspective and set out to create an activity that would bring adult and child together while illustrating the interconnectedness of development in all domains. In the paper, Artifact 1D I share my understanding of the ways in which this holistic development can be fostered through time spent within a safe, caring relationship.With the vision of the 'whole child'in mind, the story book "Look at Me!-I See You!" was created. Artifact 1E is a video clip of this story being read.The main focus of this relational activity is to demonstrate how through 'serve and return' interactions the child experiences attunement with their caregiver and the secure, trusting relationship is strengthened.
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'To share with parents, family members, caregivers and educators, the understanding that safe, caring relationships and environments are essential for social and emotional learning (SEL) to take place.'
In the context of this goal, SEL is understood as developing the competencies to identify and regulate ones' emotions, thinking and behaviors, to solve problems and to get along with and care about others.'