Celebrating The Child’s Identity

Why is a child’s identity important?

This article discusses why it is so crucial to help a child build their own identity as well as the key role that early education plays in celebrating that identity.

How does a child construct their own identity?

A child’s identity is shaped by their experiences of people, places and things. It’s influenced by the actions and responses of others and how those make the child feel.

Positive experiences within the safe and supporting scaffolding of loving relationships are really crucial and the early learning environment has a deeply significant impact on building a child’s identity.

Reggio Emilia and a child’s identity

Our Treasured Tots childcare centres are centred around the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy which is all about honouring every child’s individuality. Relationships are at the very heart of this popular approach to education and children’s relationships with their families, teachers, peers, community and the classroom environment all play a role in shaping their identities.

Children need to feel a sense of belonging

Daily life at our childcare centres supports each and every child’s construction of their own identity and potential. When a child feels a sense of belonging, of acceptance and of trust, they grow in confidence and feel empowered to explore, experiment, discover and learn.

Whether they’re squishing play-dough, constructing with blocks, role-playing with friends in the playground, deconstructing a flower, examining what happens when water is added to flour or collecting eggs from our resident chickens, they’re learning about themselves and the world around them.

When they feel safe and secure in whatever activity they’re doing, the child will start building a healthy sense of self. Our job as educators is to provide a nurturing and supportive environment which encourages a sense of belonging and which celebrates each child’s unique identity.

Belonging builds identity

As adults, we know that when we do something well, we feel a life-affirming sense of satisfaction. Success breeds success. Children feel the same way.

In an early learning environment like ours where the children feel safe, supported and valued, the sense of achievement they get from doing something well fuels their appetite for learning.

But their success isn’t measured by outcomes-based activities or achieving goals set by the educators. What matters is each child’s own creative process and their individual inquiry-led paths to investigation and discovery.

Why child-directed learning helps build identity

We believe it’s vital to recognise that every child has an innate ability to direct their own path of learning. Our role as educators is to facilitate the pursuit of things that interest them rather than trying to funnel every child down the same road towards adult-led, cookie-cutter outcomes.

When children learn things by themselves, when they follow their own interests, they learn because they want to. And this empowers them to be their own person.

Each child is unique and when their individuality is celebrated and they’re given the freedom to develop and grow at their own pace by following paths of inquiry that pique their interest, that’s when they really start to believe in themselves.

Showing children that we believe in them helps to foster their own self-belief.

Celebrating the child’s identity

Because there’s no structured curriculum and no outcomes that have to be met, there’s no room for comparison or failure. Children feel free to be themselves without being judged. Their self-esteem is strengthened and they feel comfortable in their own skins – aware of their significance in the world.

Cultural identity is vital too

The multicultural diversity of our communities is celebrated at Treasured Tots and our diverse activities and resources are designed to bring out the best in each individual child. A child who feels safe, supported and respected is able to build a strong sense of self and be confident of their identity and ability.

A last word on celebrating the child’s identity

As discussed earlier, identity isn’t static. It’s dynamic and ever-evolving but it can also be fragile, which is a key reason why the environment at a child care or early education centre is so important in enabling the child to develop a healthy sense of self.

If you are investigating early learning centres in Perth, we welcome you to get in touch with Treasured Tots. We have seven childcare centres in Mandurah, Bibra Lake, Fremantle, Piara Waters, Hamersley, Bennett Springs and Bicton which provide high-quality childcare and kindergarten programmes for children between the ages of 0 and 5 and we’d love to show you around one of our ‘homes away from home’. Book a tour of any of our wonderful centres to ensure that our management team is available to show you around and answer any questions.