Making teaching visible

We talk a lot about how documentation makes children’s learning visible and the importance of this, but have you ever stopped to consider what else is made visible? It makes teaching visible too!

As teachers, it seems to be a common feeling that parts of the work we do with children are not recognized. That is not to say that parents don’t appreciate and value us, they know we have strong relationships with their children, that we meet their critical needs, and care deeply for their wellbeing. They know their children are happy and enjoy their days with us. However, it is often the case that play is not considered a valuable form of learning.

Prior to using Storypark (and pre-Covid), we would document children’s learning just as we do now. Learning stories, however, would be carefully filed in children’s folders, put on a shelf and were left waiting for parents to pick them up and read. We wanted families to read about the wonderful learning experiences their children were engaged in while involved in playful pursuits.

We would spend our time creating wonderful displays, filled with snapshots of the incredible investigations and explorations that children were engaged in. Some parents would look, but the majority of parents did not have time to stop and deeply engage with the documentation on the wall. Perhaps in part, this is due to them being too busy to stop and read, or that they wanted to spend the short amount of time they had in the centre settling their child, or hearing about their exciting day.

Whatever the reason, I found that many families simply did not realize the deep learning their children were engaged in during play.

Then along came Storypark. We had hoped it would make a difference to how many parents were engaging with and giving feedback about their children’s learning. What we weren’t expecting was just how dramatic the increase in engagement would be! We went from having 3% of learning stories in hardcopy folders being commented on (in a written form in the book) to a whopping 65% of learning stories on Storypark receiving engagement from not only parents, but grandparents, aunts and uncles, and close family friends. This was incredible!

The comments ranged from “cute” and “wow, so cool” which were indeed valuable recognition for the amazing learning experiences children were involved in, to fantastic insight into how the learning that was happening in our learning service was also linked to experiences and activities that were happening at home. Often, the comments on learning stories were as rich and deep as the learning stories themselves!

The documentation did not stop once you hit the publish button, in fact, that was just the beginning! The dialogue in the comments section unfolded, with teachers and parents asking each other questions and finding out new “pieces of the puzzle” that built a richer picture about each child. Aunts, uncles and grandparents would also contribute valuable “golden nuggets” that helped us to build a comprehensive understanding of what was happening for each child, and we could then build upon this information by planning meaningful learning experiences and teaching strategies that would deepen each child’s learning.

I think one of the things that struck me was “our teaching is now visible”. Families would often remark on the fact that they were amazed at just how much learning was happening for children in those small moments, those playful moments, and those “regular everyday” moments.

One grandparent told me that her thoughts about pre-k had changed so much. When her children were at pre-k, she thought that they “just played”. It wasn’t until her grandchild had a Storypark account that she realised that play is a child’s work, and learning can be playful.

This was a lightbulb moment for me! If parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and others are now realizing the incredible learning that is happening for young children at their learning service, they are certainly now realizing the incredible teaching that is happening.

Storypark is a vessel for altering the public perception of the role early childhood educators play in a child’s educational journey. It is a place where you can offer others a chance to see and hear about the skills and knowledge you use every day, as a professional educator. It is a place to celebrate and share your professionalism. It is a platform where your pedagogical practice is visible to the wider community.

Simply put, Storypark has the ability to increase your visibility as professional educators, and gain recognition and respect for the valuable work you do educating our youngest of children.

Want to learn more about how Canada’s preferred parent communication app can make the important work you do more visible to families?