“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.
Have you and your team recently reflected on how you’re actively nurturing a continually evolving culture of professional practice and inquiry within your service? Through open collaboration, critical reflection, collaborative learning, and challenging each other to grow and innovate in ways that strengthen outcomes for children and families?
Professional inquiry is often evident in both formal and informal ways, whether through informal discussions, program planning, peer mentoring, professional development, critical reflection, team building or team meetings. Services should ensure they maintain thorough documentation to show a culture of reflective practice which includes details of quality practices being implemented that support continuous improvement of quality outcomes for children and families. Specifically, educators document their critical reflections, whether they’re done individually or collaboratively. Their reflections include the who, how and why analysis of what’s being reflected on and outline the planned steps for implementation to improve the practice. Educators continue to critically reflect on and evaluate their practices to ensure continual improvement across all aspects of service delivery.
Consider some of following reflective questions to support quality improvement for professional collaboration:
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- How do we acknowledge the personal strengths, professional experiences and diversity that our colleagues bring to our work?
- How do we ensure that all team members feel valued, respected, and safe to share ideas, ask questions, and challenge practices without fear of judgment?
- How do we support staff to recognise, respect and protect the inherent rights, cultures and traditions of all children, their families, and staff?
- How do we support staff to take responsibility for creating culturally safe spaces for Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander staff, children and families?
- How do we provide opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators to provide feedback and reflections on best practice?
- How do we ensure that the service’s statement of philosophy reflects the different views, beliefs and values of the team?
- How do we demonstrate willingness to change, new ideas, and different strategies to achieve common goals? Are we curious and willing to learn from each other, including from less experienced or newer team members?
- How do we share current research, recognised approaches, and emerging knowledge about early childhood education across the team, and how does this lead to improvements in our daily practice?
- How regularly do we review Early Childhood Australia’s Code of Ethics (2016) and our own service’s code of conduct and service philosophy to ensure that our practices and policies align with current recognised approaches and the approved learning framework/s?
- What strategies do we use to find out how staff members feel about/within our team?
- What makes our service a positive place to work?
- What evidence can we see (in meeting minutes, reflective documentation, or observed practice) that our collaborative efforts and professional inquiry are resulting in improved outcomes for children, families, and the team?
Resources:
Belonging, Being and Becoming for Educators
Guide to the NQF: Element 4.2.1: Professional collaboration
We Hear You: Developing a Professional Learning Community, Collaboration and Commitment: Building a Culture of Professional Learning
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, Code of Conduct 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!
