Explain the role of the early years practitioner in supporting childrens moral and spiritual development.

At a  early years setting  practitioners must persuade children to tell the truth  and also telling them what will happen if they where to be lying  to one of the practitioners.  For the practitioners to be able to encourage children to tell the truth practitioners they should have activities like role play for the children to take part in as by this activity the practitioner can show the children that it is bad to lie.  Practitioners should also encourage discipline to children,  such as if a child is doing the wrong thing such as ripping a book the practitioners that see it must talk to the child immediately and let them know that the thing it is doing is wrong explaining in detail for the child to understand.  This way children learn from their mistakes what they did was wrong,   by punishing the child for instance putting the child on out time will persuade them not to do it again.  

Practitioners make sure that the children visit religious places such as Church or Mosque as this will also make the children aware of religions and where the followers go to practice their beliefs. At placement there are also many visits to religious places In my work placement there has been no visit to Churches and mosques as the practitioners believe that the children will have a better knowledge of the particular religion if the have a visit to or any other religious places and would be better if they do as children would be more developed with knowledge.

For the practitioners to support children’s moral and spiritual development it is essential for the early year’s practitioner to praise and encourage the children’s healthy behaviour.  You should encourage children to tell the truth, keep promises, respect others, care for the less fortunate, and to accept responsibility for their own actions. Behaviour such as selfishness, lying, bullying.

The role of the early year’s practitioner when supporting children’s moral and spiritual development is being aware of what they say and how they say it. Spiritual and moral development for a child is about the mental attitude of the child over moral matters. This helps children deal with challenging experiences, such as the death of a loved one such as family members. As it teaches the children from right to wrong, this helps them learn how to respect others.  In an early years setting, Religious Studies would teach children about spirituality and morality. Religious Studies gives a child a better understanding of who they are, giving the child a sense of security and confidence. For instance, what clothes they want to wear or what they look for in a friend. Teaching religious Studies is important in supporting a child’s moral and spiritual development as it reduces stereotypes and labelling by teaching them about other cultures and religions, challenging discrimination. It also helps them understand their feelings and helps them to recognise the feelings and achievements of others.

Spiritual and moral development encourages good relationships, co-operation, empathy and self-awareness. It helps children develop self-discipline and helps them understand the consequences of their actions. As well as helping the children develop their own views and thoughts. Early years practitioner must make sure they are behave morally correct for the children to follow your example as children imitate and learn behaviour from others who are significant to them.