Category: Educator Professional Development
Articles and resources to support educators professional growth and development
You do not fit the child into the theory
The word theory has its roots in ancient Greek, basically meaning a view, a notion or contemplation. In the domain of early childhood education, theories are the overarching ideas that influence our pedagogical practices, and each theory or theorist has a perspective that has generally evolved over long periods of time. Iterative in nature, theories are often contributed to and...
Does digital documentation replace face-to-face conversations between parents and educators?
Does digital documentation replace face-to-face conversations between parents and educators? The answer may surprise you! New research completed out of the University of Toronto on the use of a digital documentation technology (called Storypark) has dispelled the common misconception that the use of this technology will result in less face-to-face interactions between educators and parents. Dr. M.E. Picher, the author...
Technology is a gamechanger at Central Michigan learning lab
Mount Pleasant in Central Michigan is home to one of the state’s largest universities. Central Michigan University, with 20,000 students, almost double the population of the city and is known as a “college town”. From its beginnings as a teacher’s college, the university now offers programs ranging from health and science, engineering, business and communications, and technology. The student and...
What does it mean to be a Reggio Emilia inspired early learning service?
What does it mean to be a Reggio Emilia inspired early learning service? You do not need to look hard to find early learning services aligning their programs and practices with the Reggio Emilia educational project. Early learning services often describe themselves as ‘Reggio inspired’ while others may recruit for educators that demonstrate an understanding of the ‘Reggio approach.’ It...
Ministories – A way of making visible context, strategy and assessment
The rapid expansion of technology in everyday life has meant that the tools available to early childhood educators to use in pedagogical documentation are many. The early childhood sector has responded enthusiastically to their arrival and a lot of documentation in children’s programs reflects some use of technology. This makes sense. Photographs and visual artefacts can be gathered over a...
Educators Are Worthy Of Care
Educators are worthy of care As a consultant, I am fortunate enough to be invited into the lives of early childhood professionals. More recently, many individuals seem to be exploring what educator wellbeing means for them both personally and professionally. The element that comes up most frequently can be found within the investigation of identity nurturing, specifically the concept of...
The digital space as a Piazza of participation
What is in your head? What is in my head? What is the gap in between? Digital software for use in early learning environments has transformed the way that information about children and programs is generated, documented and distributed. Advantages that are proffered with these types of technologies are that they provide to educators and families increased flexibility, greater...
Translating pedagogy into practice
Indulge for a minute on your image of the child. As you are capturing the delight in their smile through a photograph; watching them as they stand back and look at the amazing play dough creation that they have just constructed. For a moment there are mixed feelings arising because you (the educator) are the person who gets to witness...
Distributed leadership for professional learning
We all know that we need to be lifelong learners in early childhood education (ECE), and for most of us, this is part of the joy of teaching. As a leader in ECE, one of the traits I look for in great teachers is enthusiasm for professional learning. So what kind of leadership environment helps nurture teachers as learners? I...
Discussions with Dr Edward Melhuish
We are extremely fortunate at Storypark to have the support and guidance of some of the worlds leading experts on child development and early childhood education. One of our advisors is Dr Edward Melhuish. Professor of Human Development at the University of Oxford, Dr Melhuish has been involved in studies that have contributed to the formulation of social policy in the...