Jonathon Ruhle
Mr Jon
Early Childhood Teacher
Qualifications:
- Bachelor of Education
- First Aid and CPR
- First Aid Management of Asthma and Anaphylaxis
My Inspiration:
Board games, music, crafts.
Who is your favourite comic book character and why?
A person from the X-Men called Colossus. While he is big and strong, he is also caring and kind-hearted. He will try to do what is right even if it is hard.
Statement of Philosophy
The way I see children is that they are just adults with less experience. This shows up as showing similar respect to children as everyone else and trying not to “dumb down” the message or information I am trying to relay. I see children as confident, capable learners that are to be guided rather than forced. I understand that forcing children will dissuade children from learning. I encourage children to explore their world through their own view, in their own way, in their own time. I would prefer to extend on these views rather than substituting them.
One lot of tranining I have done is in the growth mindset. I focus on the level of effort it takes to reach a result, rather than just focusing on the result. The process of learning, their problem solving, resilience to challenges, them challenging themselves or generating activities is just as important as the finished product. Focusing on the effort will encourage the children to repeat the effort. Focusing on results will encourage children to repeat the results which conflicts with our overall desire for children to improve.
I follow the strength mindset, focusing on what the children can do, rather than what they cannot do. Skills are not on/off switches. It is a gradual procession towards mastering a skill. Just because a child cannot do a skill yet, does not mean they are not developing, and I prefer to focus on what stage they are up to rather than where I want them to be.
I have done some training in Montessori. What I learnt from this tranining is encourage independence, including with everyday activities like washing up and cleaning. I have also trained in Reggio Emilia. They focus on large projects and planning. I like discussing instructions and how to use them effectively and challenging how many steps the children need to remember without Educator input. With this, I have also done Bush Kindy training. They focus on risk management rather than removing “dangerous” activities. For example, using hammers and screwdrivers interests me (and the children).