1. Plan, organise and facilitate learning in the workplace
Workplace learning Session 2
Assess own practice against identified agency objectives, NQS and EYLF Presented by Liudmila Ohrimenko
Liudmila Ohrimenko

2. Outcomes of the session:
Introduction
Welcome
Purpose of this session is to give our centre educators more confidence in articulating and critically reflecting own practices during accreditation process
Outcomes of the session:
Educators will be able to critically reflect own pedagogical practices and assess own performance against National Quality Standards, approved frameworks and developmental theories.
Educators will be able to verbalise their curriculum decisions and meet accreditation process with confidence.
to make sure they are in a physically and emotionally safe learning environment. Emergency Exit, adequate lighting , temperature appropriate please adjust, enough space for all the learners , small chairs

3. Reflection is central to reflective practice:
Standard 1.2 (cont/d)
Element Critical reflection on children’s learning and development, both as individuals and in groups, is regularly used to implement the program.
Reflection is central to reflective practice:
“… looking back on experiences in a way that informs practice in the midst of practice, and/ or making informed decisions about what to do, when to do it, and why it should be done.” (Jay in Perry 2004, Teaching practice for early childhood)
How does your service continuously monitor and review their practice to guide planning?
How is critical reflection, assessment and evaluation incorporated as an ongoing process in your service?
Are there opportunities made available for educators to reflect on the program’s successes and areas that can be extended or changed?
Liudmila Ohrimenko TAEDEL402A

4. 3.3.1 Sustainable practices are embedded in service operations
Quality Area 3
3.3.1 Sustainable practices are embedded in service operations
How are sustainability practices - such as recycling, use of recycled resources, energy efficiency and water conservation - embedded in daily routines and practices?
Is the service’s environmental strategy being consistently implemented?
How is the service promoting sustainability?
3.3.2 Children are supported to become environmentally responsible and show respect for the environment
How are children supported to explore relationships with other living and non-living things and observe, notice and respond to change?
How are children encouraged to increase their knowledge of and respect for natural and constructed environments?
How do children develop an awareness of the impact of human activity on environments and the interdependence of living things?
Liudmila Ohrimenko TAEDEL402A

5. Standard 5.2
Element – Each child is supported to manage their own behaviour, respond appropriately to the behaviour of others and communicate effectively to resolve conflict.
Are children listened to when they express needs?
How do we enable children to form and maintain positive relationships with others?
Does the service use appropriate behaviour guidance to support children to regulate their own behaviour so they do not always rely on adults to guide their behaviour?
Is inclusive, fair, empathetic and co-operative behaviour modelled by staff and educators in the service?
Do educators encourage positive behaviours by showing appreciation for appropriate behaviour, building on children’s strengths and achievements?
The National Law specifically outlines that no child being educated and cared for by the approved service is subjected to any form of corporal punishment or any discipline that is unreasonable in the circumstances (section 166).
Liudmila Ohrimenko TAEDEL402A

6. Critical reflection and EYLF
Critical reflection involves closely examining all aspects of events and experiences from different perspectives Questions to guide reflection include: • What are my understandings of each child? • What theories, philosophies and understandings shape and assist my work? • Who is advantaged when I work in this way? Who is disadvantaged? • What questions do I have about my work? What am I challenged by? What am I curious about? What am I confronted by? • What aspects of my work are not helped by the theories and guidance that I usually draw on to make sense of what I do? • Are there other theories or knowledge that could help me to understand better what I have observed or experienced? What are they? How might those theories and that knowledge affect my practice?

7. Reflective process or how we plan our curriculum (8 Reflective Practice Practical Guide, October 2011, p.2)

8. Educator’s Critical Reflection
Activity 4: Please choose one question from the list and critically reflect your practice
Examples of questions you can ask yourself:
What I have learned?
My strengths and achievements, challenges and difficulties
What I am proud of
What feedback I have
Where I struggle? The most difficult time for me…
How have my discoveries about this child supported them as a learner?
How have my plans and responses to conversations with families supported each child and their family’s sense of belonging?
How have I used the principles and practices from the EYLF to support this child’s learning?
How do the reflections on our environment support continued engagement from children?
How my practices correspond with EYLF guiding principles and practices?
Reflective practice requires us to think deeply about what happened.
We reflect and think about what we and others do, how we do it and why we do it, and
Thinking critically about our own practice and identifying our own strengths and challenges to build on it.
Reflective practice requires us to think deeply about what happened. We use all our knowledge about learning, teaching, development, relationships and cooperative processes involved in the event.
We identify the aspects of our own practice and analyse why it worked with the people involved and think about what did not work and how we can do it differently in the future (O’Connor & Diggins, 2002).
Which stories will you write down?
By writing stories of your practice down, you will be able to reflect on a deeper level and engage in a more in depth investigation. When documenting, write down:
The context – who was there, what happened, when it happened, why it happened, how it happened.
Your feelings – how did you feel before, during and after.
Consider your knowledge about this.
Investigate your values.
Recognise your assumptions. What are your hot spots?
How is this challenging your beliefs? (O’Connor & Diggins, 2002)

9. CURRICULUM DECISION CURRICULUM DECISION
Underpinned by theory & Research Evidence
Supported by professional ethics and philosophy
Informed by the Law and regulations
Aligned with and inspired by the ideas in the EYLF and NQS
Contributes to learning and development outcomes for children

10. Example of a reflective story
28 March 2009 I noticed some of the children are not included in the play. Today Sadie and Phoebe were playing together and when Sarah wanted to join they were not keen. Jenny (adult) intervened and said “We’re all friends and we can all play together.” I disagree with the idea that we’re all friends. While some children’s idea of friends might include everyone, others have more complex ideas of what it means to be a friend and saying ‘we’re all friends’ is not true, and to be honest slightly patronising. As an adult I choose my friends, should children also be allowed to choose their friends?
2 May 2009
I went to a Course 4 workshop
and we discussed the dilemma of
children excluding others. One of
the students suggested we get the book Our house by Michael Rosen to help children understand that it
is not okay to exclude others. We
also discussed ‘deconstruction’ as
a teaching technique. I think I will
give it a go.
Some Tips: Looking into the mirror and being honest with yourself is crucial as you determine the consistency of your beliefs and actions. 1 - Ask yourself if your actions truly represent your beliefs and opinions. 2 - Accept the fact that what once worked perfectly, might not be the best approach for now Include others as you begin the self-reflection process. People are very willing to help when you ask for their advice and assistance You are like a "living document," and as such you should be in a constant state of change Remember that self-reflection is an essential piece to growing and developing as an educator...

11. What questions might I be asked by an assessor or what might I need to discuss? (Taken directly from the guide to the NQS)  
Quality Area 1: Educational Program and Practice
How do you communicate learning outcomes for children with their families?
Discuss your current understanding of individual children’s knowledge, ideas, culture and interests and how have you used this information in your curriculum decision making to build on this knowledge when planning the program.
How do you organise your program and routines to maximise children’s learning?
How do you make information on each child’s program and progress available to families, how can they access it and how is it meaningful to them?
How do you support children to explore different identities and points of view through play and everyday experiences?
How do you provide opportunities for children to influence what happens to them and to exercise choice?
Discuss the effectiveness of the processes you use to capture and record information about children’s strengths, interests, relationships and learning over a period of time.
Discuss how you analyse the information you gather to make judgements about children’s progress towards specific learning outcomes.
How do you recognise and value children’s learning?
How do you provide learning environments that are flexible and open ended?
How do you plan learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge, where children are encouraged to explore, to experiment and to take risks?
Discuss how critical reflection, assessment and evaluation are ongoing processes in your service?
What opportunities are available for educators to reflect on the programs successes and what can be extended or changed?

12. Examples
Validator could ask: Why you encourage the children to have Morning Tea together sitting at the table?
Articulated Answer;
In our service, we have made a curriculum decision eating together. We based it:
on socio-cultural theories by Vygotsky and others that states that children learn in cultural context by participating in every day events as members of different social groups and being and developing relationships.
our Centre Philosophy : we believe that children when they eat together form friendship and participate in community and become connected with community.
on Law and Regulations: regulation 77 Health, hygiene and safe food practices (Healthy eating is discussed and promoted)
on EYLF –Belonging to the group of children
Connected with a world
Communication: conversations happening during Morning tea
Examples
Validator could ask: Why you do Relaxation Time?
Answer:
Theory- Behavioral theories, holistic approaches-children need to have rest.
Law & Regulations: children have a right to have rest; staff ratio, safe environment
EYLF: Self Identity, recognising feeling of tidiness
Learning Outcome: Wellbeing

13. Advice from services which successfully went through  assessment process would    to  other  services   to  prepare  for  assessment?
You would want  to  show  more,  tell  more,  and  share  more  of  the   curriculum  with the  assessor. You  should  strive  for  your  practice  to  be  the  best  it  can  be  every  day  for   children
Some  examples  of  the  questions  they  asked  were:
• How  do  we  get  families  input?    How  do  we  disseminate  information  to  them?
•Questions  on  how  the  educators  reflect  and  document.    The  assessors  gave  really   positive  feedback  on  how  impressed  with  how  embedded  the  EYLF  was in  the  educators   Stories of assessment :: Page 9 • How  does  the  educator  manage  an  injured  child  and  the  reporting  process? • Enrolment  process  – how  do  educators  receive  children  into  their  care? • How  does  the  educator  handle  a  complaint? • How  to  they  manage  to  maintain  adequate  supervision? • How  do  the  educators  encourage  healthy  eating? • Questions  around  practice  such  as  managing  safe  storage  of  medication; • How  often  does  the  educator  receive  a visit  from  management? • How  is  the  service  philosophy  reflected  in  the  educators  practice? • How  is  sustainability  practiced  within  each  service?

14. Summary of Training Session
We discussed on how to incorporate critical reflection, assessment and evaluation as an ongoing process in our service.
We explore how to assess own performance against approved frameworks and developmental theories.
We practiced on how to articulate and advocate our practices and curriculum decisions.

15. References and resources
The EYLF PLP, Thinking about practice: Working with the Early Years Learning Framework.
The EYLF PLP e-Newsletter No.16, 2011, Reviewing practice.
The EYLF PLP e-Newsletter No.17, 2011, Conversations.
The NQS PLP e-Newsletter No. 27, 2012, Getting ready for the NQS.
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2010), Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework
National Quality Standards for Early Childhood Education and Care (2011)
BELONGING, BEING & BECOMING The Early Years Learning Framework
The Guide: Educators Belonging, Being & Becoming: Educators' guide to the Early years learning