“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is: Critical reflection.
Element 1.3.2: Critical reflection on children’s learning and development, both as individuals and in groups, drives program planning and implementation.
Does your service have a culture of continual reflective practice and ensure documentation of critical reflection is maintained?
Reflective practice is a form of ongoing learning that involves educators thinking about all aspects of the program, the principles that guide them, the practices they use and the learning outcomes for children. It drives educators’ program planning and implementation. Educational leaders support educators to become increasingly thoughtful about their work, to analyse their actions objectively and motivate them to reflect and explore new ideas and approaches as part of daily practice. Guide to the NQF Pg.136
When educators develop an ongoing culture of critical reflection they drive quality improvement in their professional practice, the quality of the educational program, routines, environment design and quality outcomes for children.
Ensure you maintain records as evidence of ongoing reflective practice and critical reflection that assess all aspects of events and experiences from different perspectives, with a focus on implications for equity, inclusion and diversity. Examples of documentation could include:
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- Staff meeting minutes- ensure you include discussions from meetings where educators reflect on practice to drive improvement.
- Educational Leader documentation demonstrating support for educators to engage in reflective practice through coaching or mentoring
- Educator diaries or journals
- Educator communication books
- Documented conversations between educators
- Digital records
- Voice memos- these can be recorded in the app on an iPad or other device.
- Voice recordings transcribed- these can be recorded as talk to text on an iPad or iPhone and saved in “notes.”
Educational leaders support educators to examine their practice and consider questions such as:
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- What do we do to critically reflect on and evaluate in the program, how is this documented and how are our evaluations used to make informed curriculum decisions to improve outcomes for children?
- How do we consistently use critical reflection when discussing programs with colleagues?
- How do we critically reflect on all aspects of pedagogical practice so that quality improvements occur?
- How do we currently examine our practices and decision-making, and identify improvements as well as successes?
- What strategies do we use to demonstrate that we value diversity and work to ensure all children have opportunities to fully participate in the program?
- Have we considered which children may be advantaged and whether any child is disadvantaged?
- How do we use the approved learning framework/s to help us reflect?
- How are we creating opportunities for conversations, debates, and collaborative inquiries as a team, ensuring that all voices are heard and responded to with respect?
- What questions do I have about my work? What am I challenged by? What am I curious about? What am I confronted by?
Resources:
Documenting and reflecting for children’s learning
Within System7 go to Quality Area 1/ Module 8 to submit self-assessment notes and if required, open a QIP issue if you identify any areas of improvement.
The Childcare Centre Desktop has a range of resources to assist services with critical reflection and assessment and planning. These include Educational Program Policy, Educational Program and Practice Procedure, Critical Reflection Template and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 1/ 1.3.2: Critical reflection
National Regulations – 73, 74, 155, 156, 254
System7 Module – QA 1/ Module 8
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