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When I was teaching at Yarralea Children's Centre, Alphington, Victoria I initiated the development of an early education philosophy and program: Story - A Springboard for Learning, Literacy and Life.

About twenty-five years ago I began to develop a philosophy, goals and teaching strategies that tapped into children’s own knowledge, skills and natural inclination to express their ideas through stories. The program / curriculum that evolved drew on the ideas and thinking of children, their families, and the colleagues I worked with. “Story” was at the core of the program.

Over many years I have closely watched, listened to, and shared ideas with children. When they are born children slip into the stories of their families and communities. Adults and children share stories everyday – stories about people, about places, and about events. These stories become strong and complex foundations for life-long learning.

Stories are created in many different forms. They are acted out through play. They are depicted through art: clay, painting and drawing, making. They are told and written. Stories are to share through being, playing, looking, listening, acting, commenting, explaining, questioning.

Placing story at the centre of a learning / teaching curriculum creates communities where children, families and teachers develop a deeper understanding and empathy for each other, in environments in which everyone feels a sense of belonging.

My philosophy has evolved as much through my own intuitive approach to learning and teaching, as through my study of early childhood theory.

My own philosophy and educational curriculum has taken shape over many years. Itis underpinned by the following principles.

• Play is children’s natural way of expressing, sharing, extending and modifying   accumulated knowledge, skills and attitudes.

• Learning is a social activity, and that we all learn best when we can share our   ideas. Children share ideas with each other - peer learning, and with adults through   teaching, guidance and collaboration.

• Children instinctively act out, depict and tell stories when they play, using art,   language, drama, music and movement as a way of understanding the world they live   in – the events, the places, other people and themselves.

• Children use story-making and story-telling to creatively integrate what they   know with what they can imagine (what is forms a basis for what could be).

• Children interact within and between different social and cultural worlds,   including family and cultural communities with distinct traditions and customs; and   the world of popular culture as portrayed through television, film advertising.

• We all come from different family and cultural backgrounds, with our own   temperaments, personalities, skills and abilities, and approaches to learning and life.

• Early education, in the years prior to school entry provides a bridge between   home learning and school-based learning, and is an integral part of the     education system in Victoria.

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