“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is: Professional Collaboration
Element: 4.2.1: Management, educators and staff work with mutual respect and collaboratively, and challenge and learn from each other, recognising each other’s strengths and skills.
Do you and your team maintain a range of documented evidence of professional collaboration that promotes the continual improvement of the service program and practice?
Ensure you include all implemented practices in achieving this element in your self-assessment to determine if there is room for improvement and set new QIP goals.
Professional inquiry is often evident in both formal and informal ways, whether through informal discussions, program planning, professional development, critical reflection, team building or team meetings. Ensure that a record is maintained that documents professional discussions that foster improving quality outcomes for children and families.
Staff meetings:
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- To maximise the opportunity for meaningful professional collaboration at staff meetings, ensure the meetings are structured with a pre-developed and pre-distributed agenda with set times allocated to each agenda item
- Ensure the meeting chairperson monitors the time to keep the meeting discussion topics on track
- When sharing information with the team about knowledge gained from professional development, ensure the team reflects on the new knowledge to plan for improvement of quality outcomes. Ensure this is documented in the meeting minutes
- Meetings must be well documented with accurate, relevant and detailed information
- Ensure meeting minutes are distributed to all staff and have staff acknowledge that they’ve reviewed and understood the meeting minutes
- Allocate a team member to review the minutes with any team members that weren’t present at the meeting
- Ensure all staff have the opportunity to share their knowledge and provide input during meetings
Resources:
Belonging, Being and Becoming for Educators
Standard 4.2:Professionalism- Case study
We Hear You- Developing a professional learning community
Creating Positive Workplace Relations
Within System7 go to Quality Area 4/ Modules 4, 5, 6 & 7 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 documenting professional collaboration. These include Staff Meeting Guide, templates for meeting agenda, meeting minutes and critical reflection, Professional Development Policy and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 4/ 4.2.1- Professional collaboration
National Regulations – 168, 169
System7 Module – QA 4/ Modules 4, 5, 6 & 7
If you have any questions send us a note via the Contact page here!
