by Leeanne Noble
I began my fascination with education on my first day of kindergarten in 1974. With my heart racing and my mind yearning for adventure, I confidently walked into the classroom. Immediately, I was faced with a scene that had me very concerned! You see, my new classmate, Robert, walked in right behind me and proceeded to express his terror at our budding new social scene. He screamed, flailed, and went boneless. I really worried about Robert and wondered what was going to happen to him. I watched and waited. His parents and the teacher casually visited while leaving Robert to panic attack on his own. Unsupported, he continued to shout words of protest and cry very loudly. I was baffled as to why no one was helping him, especially when it was so obvious that he needed it more than anything else. Little five-year old me could see that! This memory ends with me clearly thinking, “Are they seriously going to leave him here?? I don’t think they should. I don’t think that’s a good idea….no, that’s not a good idea.” I continued on through my public education watching and taking notes on what worked and what didn’t. What was pleasing and comfortable for me in the process. And what was unpleasant and painful.
Having a place like Gold Mountain Community School became a dream for me when I first entered the early childhood field in 1986, as a sixteen year old, afterschool preschool assistant. I quickly found I had a natural ability to connect with young children and a passion for providing them with rich and meaningful learning experiences. When I entered the University of Idaho in Elementary Education, I used my part-time teaching position as a lab to continue to explore my classroom lessons — fascinated with what I was learning. Over time, I grew to view children as competent, avid learners and myself less of a teacher and authority, and more as a learner researcher alongside the children. During my life, I’ve continually wondered why people don’t see children in the same way that I do (i.e., competent and worthy of respect and a place at the table). Why are children considered “less than” or inferior people who need to be quiet, compliant, and not have opposing points of view? Why do we section them off from the rest of society until they are 18 and expect them to successfully navigate a world they have had little involvement in and no influence over? Is this disconnect really serving our society? How did we grow so far apart and how do we come together again?
I have come to believe that children are our world’s greatest untapped resource. Naturally compassionate, they are full of ability and potential. All they truly need is the space, time, and proper support to unfold into the people they already are.
Over the years, I have worked in many different educational programs and experienced the gamut of teaching styles. My pressing question has always been: who are young children and how can we best support their development into kind, compassionate, and responsible community members? Along the way, that question has been answered by top leaders and organizations in the field of early childhood education, including Magda Gerber, NAEYC, Bev Bos, and the Reggio Emilia approach (among many others). Together with their support, and combined with over 30 plus years of experience on the job, my dream of Gold Mountain Community School was born.
Gold Mountain first opened its doors in 2012. It is the culmination of all my experiences and research into learning thus far. It provides the kinds of spaces, routines, and activities that truly support children’s deep need for safety, belonging, and understanding. It is where children have the freedom to be themselves, to explore their passions while growing and learning together in a safe, nurturing community. Gold Mountain is where everyone belongs.
Those Who Have Inspired My Journey
Magda Gerber (1910-2007) was a world-renowned infant specialist who developed a revolutionary philosophy of infant care based on treating infants with respect and trust in their abilities to develop naturally at their own pace. While attending a two-week intensive training, Magda really moved me when she said it was foolish to think that we, as adults, know what exact material children need to learn. She had seen so much change in her 90+ years that it became impossible to predict what the future needs. “What we really need is people who can think creatively to come up with new solutions for our age-old problems.” She also observed that, “Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write, and count. It is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace that is right for each individual child. Earlier is not better.” Today, Magda’s methods have become accepted and commonly practiced by professionals and parents, and have influenced the guidelines set forth by the National Association for Young Children (NAEYC), the credentialing agency that promotes high standards for quality early childhood education.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children birth through age eight. NAEYC defines “developmentally appropriate practice” as methods that promote each child’s optimal development and learning through a strengths-based, play-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the multiple assets all young children bring to the early learning program as unique individuals and as members of families and communities. Building on each child’s strengths—and taking care to not harm any aspect of each child’s physical, cognitive, social, or emotional well-being—educators design and implement learning environments to help all children achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas. Developmentally appropriate practices recognize and support each individual as a valued member of the learning community with practices that are culturally, linguistically, and ability appropriate for each child. Along my personal learning journey, I had the privilege of working in a NAEYC accredited childcare – learning first-hand about the values and policies that ensure a safe and healthy learning environment and promote healthy relationships between all members of the school community.
John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. Dewey believed that school should be representative of a social environment and that students learn best in natural social settings. As the father of the American school of thought known as pragmatism, Dewey argued that curriculum should be relevant to student’s lives. He saw learning by doing and development of practical life skills as crucial to children’s education. According to Dewey, the purpose of education is not the communication of knowledge, but the sharing of social experience so that children become integrated into the democratic community. To Dewey, the central ethical imperative in education was democracy. Every school, as he wrote in The School and Society must become “an embryonic community life, active with types of occupations that reflect the life of the larger society and permeated throughout with the spirit of art, history, and science. When the school introduces and trains each child of society into membership within such a little community, saturating him with the spirit of service, providing him with the instruments of effective self-direction, we shall have the deepest and best guarantee of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious.”
Bev Bos (1934-2016) was a teacher, author, and fierce advocate for play-based learning. She directed the Roseville Community Preschool for nearly 50 years and her books have been used by colleges and universities in both the United States and Canada. Today, she remains an internationally-renowned expert on Early Childhood Education and continues to be considered a model educator in the realm of preschool learning and teaching. I had the pleasure to attend several of her workshops and spend time with her socially. The most important thing that I have learned from Bev Bos is the connection between risk-taking and literacy development. For example, one must be willing and able to take risks in order to learn to write. No one begins writing letters perfectly, Bos argued, and “children who can’t take risks rarely become readers.” She also showed me how much children can learn when we get out of their way. As Bos noted, “Our flexibility and willingness to follow a child’s lead will allow remarkable things to happen, if we let them.”
Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. (1934-2015), was a psychologist, mediator, worldwide peacemaker, and the founder-director of educational services for The Center for Nonviolent Communication. He developed a communication model for supporting partnership and resolving conflict within people, relationships, and society. He believed that all human behavior is driven by basic human needs and that undesirable and challenging behavior is a result of unmet needs. I use this model to empower children to be aware of and speak up for their needs and the needs of others.
The Reggio Emelia Approach is an educational philosophy and pedagogy focused on preschool and primary education. This approach is student-centered and uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments. It originated in Northern Italy (around the city of Reggio Emelia) in 1945 as a result of the massive destruction of WWII and was based on a desire to build a school where children could learn how to create a world where war was not the answer to conflict. The Reggio Emelia approach (which is described in more detail elsewhere on our website): 1) views the child as competent, capable, and powerful; 2) believes that knowledge is constructed through shared experiences and discussions; 3) focuses education on relationships and collaboration; 4) views the child as stewards of their own learning; 5) develops curriculum off of their passions; 6) creates a welcoming environment for learning; and 7) views families and parents as partners in learning.
Interestingly, although I had come across Reggio Emelia at conferences in the past, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that I had independently arrived, through my own teaching experiences and education, at the point of incorporating all of these same elements into my own teaching philosophy! After finding this highly-regarded teaching approach that mirrored my own style, it seemed a natural fit to more formally acknowledge this connection with Reggio Emelia and offer this program to the community. Through my long personal journey, from my childhood and young adulthood to my professional training in early childhood education, the Gold Mountain approach reflects all of these important influences on my thinking. From Magda Gerber and Marshall Rosenberg, to Bev Boss and NAEYC. From my experiences through thirty years of teaching to Reggio Emelia. The model I’ve developed represents a true combination of all of these influential scholars and approaches. And it is a journey that has led me to where I am now, and to the program for children that I am proud to offer you in my school.
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