Tag: Educator Professional Learning
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...
A call for action: Improving the mental health outcomes of our educators
A call for action: Improving the mental health outcomes of our educators Being an early childhood educator comes with a responsibility to inspire, cherish, provoke and entice deep learning processes in the children we care for and educate. This sees us working as a member of a team, an influential unit coming with individual perspectives and beliefs on how children...
Storypark as a teaching and learning tool
Storypark as a teaching and learning tool in a curriculum and pedagogy unit in the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University. Dr Rebecca Andrews and Ms Paula Haalebos. The staff and second year early childhood students in the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University were provided access, free of charge, to Storypark. We found Storypark, as an example of an electronic documentation...
Insights into the updated National Quality Framework 2018
Research shows quality education and care early in life leads to better health, education and employment outcomes later in life. The early years are critical for establishing self-esteem, resilience, healthy growth and capacity to learn. Quality education and care shapes every child’s future and lays the foundation for development and learning. The National Quality Framework (NQF) introduced a new quality...
The new Te Whāriki in a nutshell part 2
There were five practices the Ministry of Education wants to develop further through the revamp of Te Whāriki. A rich curriculum for every child, a focus on learning that matters here, affirming of identity, language, and culture, parents, and whānau engaged in their children’s learning, and, personalised pathways to school and kura. Let’s have a deeper look at these five...
The New Te Whāriki in a nutshell.
Te Whāriki has been out for a while now, and the revised version since May 2017. So it’s time that we take a look back on the initial conversation at the launch and re-familiarise ourselves with the intent of the update. Initially, there were lots of conversations about what was left out and what the point of updating was. It...
RIE – Respectful care with infants
“The application of Emmi Pikler’s respectful and affectionate image of the baby has helped babies to develop well, and adults to change their internal representations of the baby’s capacities and their role as care providers.” (Introducing the Piklerian Developmental Approach: History and Principles, The Signal World Association for Infant Mental Health Newsletter 2010). When working with the youngest of...