“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is: Reflective practice
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.
Is reflective practice embedded in all facets of professional collaboration across all aspects of Service delivery? How does your Service document this?
Educators who continually engage in critical reflection to analyse and unpack all aspects of Service delivery and understand the impact of their professional practice create a culture of reflective practice. It’s no secret that when this in embedded in Service practice it drives continuous improvement. To achieve this, educators must be prepared to collaborate openly and transparently and make plans for improvement, working towards common goals.
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. To break it down into specific steps, 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.
Reflection can be focused on any aspect of educators professional practice and Service Delivery. The Guide to the NQF provides a range of questions to guide reflection within each standard across all quality areas. Consider allocating some time at each staff meeting to review these questions, focusing on one quality area at a time. Be sure to detail these reflections in meeting minutes. This method will provide opportunity to easily add quality practices into your self-assessment and any identified areas of improvement to your Quality Improvement Plan.
Reflection topics may include:
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- supporting the inclusion of children and families from diverse backgrounds
- supporting each child’s participation in the program and to reach their potential
- the relevance and effectiveness of specific routines and practices, ensuring they’re child-centred
- assessing the layout of the physical environment and how it supports the inclusion of all children and families, and experience a sense of belonging
- unpacking your service philosophy and identifying how it’s reflected in everyday practice and service delivery
- the role and application of professional ethics and standards across the service
- identifying and implementing opportunities to strengthen ethical practice
- the theories that underpin quality practice
- identifying and addressing any gaps in educator’s professional knowledge
- understanding data from Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)
- unpacking the Early Childhood Australia’s Code of Ethics
- unpacking the relevance of the service’s Code of Conduct
- assessing the effectiveness of the service’s methods for obtaining family input, feedback and involvement
Resources:
Using reflective practice to drive improvement in your service
Reflective Practice: Making a commitment to ongoing learning
Unpacking critical reflection: Dilly bag of tools for team leaders
Uncovering the layers of reflective practice: Introduction
Part 1: Self-reflection – The key to growth
Part 2: Reflection on teaching and learning
Part 3: Reflection to inform continuous improvement
Within System7 go to Quality Area 1/Module 8 and Quality Area 4/ Modules 4, 5 & 6 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 professional collaboration. These include Critical Reflection Template, Staff Meeting Minutes Template, Ambitions and Reflections Form 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 and QA 4/4.2.1- Professional collaboration
National Regulations – 168, 169
System7 Module – QA 1/ Module 8 and QA 4/ Modules 4, 5 & 6
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