It was early December 2023, and I was talking with a colleague, a Tertiary Supervisor visiting student pre-service teachers on their first ECEC placement. The student she had visited that day was experiencing a challenge. As with most practicums, the student was required to observe and document play and learning and then develop and evaluate […]
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is held on 4 August each year. The 2019 theme was We Play, We Learn, We Belong. In this piece, we share the importance of Indigenous culture and language in the early years through case studies and the series Little J & Big Cuz. This animation follows the everyday lives of […]
‘ … for the EYLF to be implemented properly, all early childhood educators need to know what play is, why it is important, how to implement and assess a play-based program and their role in it.’ Questioning practice The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is built on the understanding that the principles of early childhood […]
Educators reflect on their actions every day. Reflection is the thinking educators do as they are working with a child, while also observing the environment and planning what they will do next. Donald Schon, internationally recognised author of The Reflective Practitioner , believes we engage in two types of reflection – reflection in action and […]
Where do ‘children’s needs’ fit into current thinking about planning and assessment for young children? In a conversation with a colleague recently, the discussion focused on children’s needs and how they fit into the current perspective of early childhood education, viewing children as capable and having rights. For my colleague, the concern was that ‘children’s […]
This blog was originally posted in 2015 and updated in October 2020. Begin with the end in mind Creating a great early learning community requires developing an idea of what your service will be like. This creative, collaborative process works best when it includes everyone in your community―children, educators, families and the wider community. To […]
Over-attention to documentation continues, often seemingly with more emphasis on quantity than on quality. It would be heartening to hear of a service where practices were rated as outstanding in every respect and at every level, but the National Quality Standards rating was diminished because there wasn’t enough documentation! Many documented observations of children appear […]
Many educators record assessments of children’s learning using the headings Identity, Contribution and connection, Wellbeing, Communication and Confidence as a learner. While it definitely makes sense to use the Early Years Learning Framework and Frameworks for School Aged Care Learning Outcomes as a focus, I’m not convinced that simply repeating what’s in the Frameworks is […]
It’s hard to believe that Christmas has almost rolled around once again. All around the country early childhood services will be madly scrambling to finish portfolios and be dusting off the boxes of Christmas decorations that were unceremoniously shoved in the back of the shed in mid-January. It’s also the time of the year when […]
