Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for …



centercenterupdated 03/01/2012Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for AustraliaContext, Planning, Content and ReviewDRAFT (3/01/2012)100000100000updated 03/01/2012Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for AustraliaContext, Planning, Content and ReviewDRAFT (3/01/2012)INSIDE COVER Layout, contents and placement of illustrations will be finalised in the printing stageContents OverviewUnpacking’ the context of the National Quality Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework The National Quality Framework and the National Quality StandardThe national quality assessment and rating systemQuality Improvement PlansAssessment and rating cycleState and Territory Regulatory AuthoritiesThe Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality AuthorityExclusionsImplementing the Early Years Learning FrameworkFraming principles Ethical GuidelinesProgram design, ‘methodology and process’ for the Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for AustraliaWhat’s in the package?Establish a starting point. Now we are planningThe large worksheetsHow do I do this?Knowing the community and servicePersonal perceptions and filtering around this training program Risks and challengesReflection and reviewThe program. Day-by-day plan over the 5 daysAppendicesRationale paperReferences and resourcesThis booklet is intended to be used to support Remote Early Years Learning Framework Professional Development sessions. It is designed for facilitators who will deliver the 5 day Professional Development Program to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood educators in remote communities. It is not intended as a stand-alone manual or ‘training guide’. It will be used in workshops in conjunction with the Remote Early Years Learning Framework resources including presenter information, the PowerPoints and the DVDs.The work in this project has been made possible by the support and collaboration of many early childhood educators, families, children and allied professionals in remote communities in the NT, Qld, WA and SA.This project is funded by the Australian Government.Alison Elliott and Christine Tayler, November 2011 OverviewThe National Quality Agenda, National Quality Standard and the Early Years Learning Framework aim to ensure more consistent early childhood program quality across all services and improve learning outcomes for children, especially the most vulnerable learners. At the same time, the reforms to early childhood education and care recognise the need to build and sustain strong relationships with community and to interact positively and purposefully with families. While many remote early childhood services (for example, the Budget Based Services) are excluded from the National Law it is desirable that the aims of the National Quality Agenda are pursued in remote areas. The focus should be on using the Early Years Learning Framework to improve learning experiences for young children. There is no assessment component applicable to services excluded from the National Law or to Preschool services that are part of the school system in Western Australia. This booklet provides an overview of the 5 day DEEWR funded ‘Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia’. It introduces the Early Years Learning Framework to early childhood services that cater for predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in remote and very remote communities across Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The focus is on services that are staffed mainly by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators who have an intimate knowledge of the culture, languages, land and kinship structure of their communities. Remote communities are culturally and linguistically diverse. The early childhood services in these communities are also diverse. They differ dramatically between communities and within communities in response to the cultural contexts, needs of families and children, and access to resources, especially educators and support staff. A community may have both a crèche or child care centre and a preschool or kindergarten, programs that differ considerably in their resources, educational programs and staffing profiles. While the professional learning program to support introduction of the Early Years Learning Framework to these remote services aims for consistency in terms of its overall structure and outcomes, it must also be customised to cater for the unique contexts and needs of each service and community and particularly, for local knowledge and practice of culture and place. Communities may have other early childhood services such as child and family programs and mobile preschools (or similar) and while these may be core services and together with child care and preschool provide important developmental contexts for children’s growth, they are not within the scope of this professional learning program. Where possible, however, the skills of community Elders, educators/teachers, health workers and community workers aligned with other community services might also inform this program. Ideally community learning partnerships should enrich early learning programs and support sustainability over time. Most remote communities struggle to attract qualified early childhood educators and provide relevant on-site professional learning. This program contributes to the collective effort to build early childhood professionalism by providing professional development opportunities for early childhood educators around the Early Years Learning Framework. The program is ‘place-based’ meaning it is integrated with the day to day work of educators. A facilitator works alongside educators as they become familiar with Early Years Learning Framework’s goals and requirement in the context of their service. The main focus is on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators employed in remote early childhood services who are not normally able to engage in professional learning and who may be in varying transitions stages toward Standard Australian English. The program does not replace formal qualifications in early childhood education or on-going professional learning. ‘Unpacking’ the context of the National Quality Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework National Quality Framework and the National Quality StandardThe National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care (‘National Quality Framework’) came into effect on 1 January 2012. All governments in Australia have agreed to collaboratively implement the National Quality Framework to ensure more consistent quality standards across all early childhood services and to reduce regulatory burdens on service providers.This national quality system is underpinned by the National Law and National Regulations. Together they set a National Quality Standard and a regulatory framework for long day care, family day care, preschool (called kindergarten in some jurisdictions) and outside school hours care services in all States and Territories. The National Quality Framework is defined in the National Law- comprising the National Law (Education and Care Services National Law Act), the Regulations, the National Quality Standard and the prescribed rating system. The National Quality Standard operates to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children attending long day care, family day care, preschool and outside school hours care services, as well as improving their educational and developmental outcomes.The National Quality Standard is a key aspect of the National Quality Framework. It communicates a national view about the quality of early childhood education and care and school age care across diverse types of education and care settings. It supports better integration of education and care incorporating broader outcomes for children and a focus on on-going quality monitoring and improvement. The National Quality Standard brings together structural components of quality such as (contact) staff-to-child ratios, educator qualifications and health and safety matters with the pedagogic aspects of quality programs such as interactions with children, partnerships with families, stimulating environments and learning experiences and with service management and governance. This integrated approach means that services work within a single unified national systemFrom 1 January 2012 long day care, family day care, preschool/kindergarten and outside school hours care services in all States and Territories (other than Western Australia) must comply with the new National Law, which gives effect to the National Quality Framework. In Western Australia, services must comply with corresponding Western Australian legislation. The national quality assessment and rating systemThe national quality assessment and rating system provides public information about the quality of services to drive quality improvement. This acts to promotes greater transparency and accountability. It provides families and the community with information about the quality of education and care provided at each service. The assessment and rating process is designed to highlight a service’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to seven quality areas and to support continuous improvement across the areas. Most remote services will not participate in the assessment process.The ratings are as follows: Significant Improvement Required Working Towards National Quality Standard Meeting National Quality Standard Exceeding National Quality Standard Excellent (Regulations PART 3.2 (57)—prescribed rating levels) Eligible services will complete a self assessment against the National Quality Standard, based largely on information gathered from management, educators, families and others.The excellent rating may only be awarded after a separate application procedure. At the time of writing procedures around the Excellent rating are being developed and there is a consultation paper out for comment until March 2nd 2012.Note. Facilitators should ascertain which services will need to comply with the National Law. Budget based services are excluded as are preschools in WA. Quality Improvement PlansIn planning for assessment eligible services must develop a Quality Improvement Plan. It will:Reflect on and evaluate practicesIdentify strengths and areas for improvementDevelop strategies and timelines to achieve goalThe Quality Improvement Plan will be submitted prior to an assessment visit.Assessment and rating cycleA principle of ‘earned autonomy’ determines the cycle for assessment and rating‘Earned autonomy’ allows Regulatory Authorities to concentrate resources on those needing most assistance. Services which meet or exceed the NQS will have a longer time between assessments.Frequency of reassessment is determined by a service’s ratings across each of the seven quality areas, rather than an overall ratingServices closer to the National Quality Standard (e.g. rated ‘Meets National Quality Standard’ in five or six quality areas) are more likely to be reassessed every two yearsServices rated as ‘Meets National Quality Standard’ in only one or two quality areas will be assessed more frequently (e.g. closer to 12 months)The National Quality StandardThe National Quality Standard comprises guiding principles, quality areas, standards and elements. There are seven quality areas in the National Quality Standard which capture aspects critical to the provision of quality early childhood education and care and outside school hours care services. These include educational concept and practice, structural quality, interactions between educators and children and targeting services to meet the needs of families and local communities. The quality areas areEducational program and practiceChildren’s health and safetyPhysical environmentStaffing arrangements, including staff-to-child ratios and qualificationsRelationships with childrenCollaborative partnerships with families and communitiesLeadership and service managementThe Early Years Learning FrameworkThe National Law requires the approved provider to ensure that a program is delivered to all children being educated and cared for by the service that is: based on and delivered in a manner that accords with an approved learning framework based on the developmental needs, interests and experiences of each child designed to take into account the individual differences of each child. In most cases The Early Years Learning Framework is the ‘approved learning framework’. The accompanying Powerpoint explains links between the Early Years Learning Framework and the resources for remote services. LinksThe words in the pink box are the same as the words from the National document. The Green box has our summarised words.The words in the yellow box are the same as the words from the National document. The Blue box has our summarised words.The words in the pink box are the same as the words from the National document. The Green box has our summarised words.The words in the yellow box are the same as the words from the National document. The Blue box has our summarised words.The Regulations also require:an approved provider to display an outline of the education program at the service premises. A copy of the education program must be kept at the service and be available for inspection on request. that a service provides an assessment of each child’s developmental needs, interests and experiences, participation and progress in relation to an education program and document this appropriately. Information about a child’s progress in relation to the program must be made available to the parent/guardian of the child on request. Again, services excluded from the National Law are not required to do this, but all services should aim to have an education program, document children’s learning and share that information with families.State and Territory Regulatory Authorities State and Territory Regulatory Authorities have primary responsibility for approval, monitoring and quality assessment of services.The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality AuthorityThe Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) oversees the National Quality Framework and guides the consistent and effective implementation of the new system across Australia. There are many resources available to support implementation of the EYLF on the ACECQA web site .auExclusionsMany early childhood services in remote communities are expressly excluded from the requirements of the National Law, and hence excluded from mandated implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework. “all education and care provided by budget based funded services, other than education and care for which the service receives Child Care Benefit”. These centres will continue to operate under relevant State and Territory regulations.However, there are clear benefits in implementing programs for children that are consistent with its principles and outcomes. The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia is designed to for use with remote early childhood services with predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and staff- many of which are excluded from the national regulatory requirements. It is recognised that the most vulnerable children will benefit most from strong learning programs consistent with the principles of the Early Years Learning Framework.It is also recognised that remote services are following different paths to achieving high quality and the pacing and timing will be different for each. Services will work toward improving quality over varying time periods depending on the ‘starting point’ and resourcing. Frequent changes of staff in some remote services must be taken into account.Implementing the Early Years Learning FrameworkImplementing the Early Years Learning Framework successfully means knowing that quality experiences and outcomes in early childhood education and care result mainly from rich, purposeful interactions, warm trusting and relationships, and clear, high expectations about development and learning. The best learning can happen anywhere- in a dry creek bed in Central Australia or in a more formal ‘classroom’- if the setting is rich in language and ideas, has direction and intentional goals and is responsive to children’s needs. Productive learning does not need expensive resources and state of the art buildings. Relationships and interactions between people must be strong and purposeful and there must be shared goals and vision for development and learning that are culturally relevant and geared to individual children’s strengths. Clearly, a definition of ‘culturally relevant’ will vary from context to context. Most importantly, education providers must be in tune with families and community. They must listen respectfully and actively to families’ views and engage them in planning and development processes. The core group of educators in remote early childhood services in Indigenous communities are usually local residents who are intimately connected with their community, culture and land.Children in remote and very remote communities require the highest quality early childhood education and care and the best start to their education. Successful implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework should contribute to building the quality programs needed to improve developmental outcomes for children in remote communities. This program aims to help local educators become familiar with the Early Years Learning Framework and to continue a process of developing competence in planning, implementing and evaluating programs that are consistent with its goals and content.Framing principles for delivering the Remote Indigenous Professional Development ProjectThe Remote Indigenous Professional Development Workbook has the same structure purpose and focus on educational program quality as the Early Years Learning Framework and is built around several interwoven principles:Celebration of and response to diverse ways of understanding and doing that promote learning in locally relevant and authentic wayAcknowledging and accommodating family, kinship and skin group conventions, as relevantBuilding on knowledge confluences of culture, land and place, that is, asset-based learning that values and builds on educators’ domain specific prior knowledge about community, culture, children, families, child development, teaching and learning, and the interrelationships and interactions between the multiple factors that facilitate participation Infusing local cultural identities and knowledge with professionalism as an early childhood educatorSensitive responses to educators’ specific learning styles and needs: that is, preferred learning strategies, and attention to learners’ cognitive, metacognitive (eg. planning, monitoring, controlling) and affective dimensions of learning (eg. attitudes to learning, motivation, resilience) Knowledge that modelling and demonstration and cooperation, collaboration and team work are central to teaching and learningChildren’s developmental progress and assessments must highlight progress over time (or the “value-added” contributions) Provision of in-built professional and personal supports Active engagement of family, community and elders and wider ‘school’ community and/or linked-in services (health services, playgroups; Families as First teachers etc) Program design and delivery that capitalises on and is infused with the day-to-day work of educators in the early childhood service (Elliott & Keenan, 2009).Importantly, this in-community professional learning must be delivered by culturally responsive educators who are able to reflect critically on their existing knowledge and understanding about learning in early education contexts and actively seek information about culture, families and children, listen and talk to early childhood educators in centres, share information with each other, and hold high expectations for all participants in the program. Scaffolding educators’ learning must reflect and extend on both cultural awareness and contemporary early childhood education ideas and practices as reflected in the Early Years Learning Framework.Ethical GuidelinesDevelopment and implementation of the professional learning program must also take into account, where relevant, processes that are consistent with the:AES Guidelines for the Ethical Conduct of Evaluations (2006).AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Indigenous Studies NHMRC Keeping Research on Track: A Guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples about Health Research Ethics (2005)Early Childhood Australia Code of EthicsRelevant service / community or local jurisdictional requirementsProgram design, ‘methodology and process’ for the Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia’The Professional Development program is designed to provide a consistent, but context-adapted framework and set of learning activities to introduce the Early Years Learning Framework and ways it can be used to support learning in remote early childhood settings. While the broad approach to content and methodology is provided, it must be adapted to different centre and community contexts. The program must be customised by the deliverer (facilitator/trainer/educator) for each learning site and/or type of service/program to take into account the strengths, uniqueness and needs of the local context. For example, the context and learning needs of educators in a remote preschool and a crèche (early learning/child care service) setting may be very different, although both might be located in the same remote community and serve families and children from similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds and/or the same families. Similarly, the needs of groups of educators will differ considerably within and between communities depending on their circumstances, cultural obligations, resources, languages spoken and confidence with spoken and written Standard Australian English. The ‘Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia reflects characteristics of culturally appropriate approaches to professional learning that should create successful learning outcomes for educators. The focus is on very remote communities with predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait populations. The program highlights the links between the Early Years Learning Framework and holistic approaches to children's development and learning in remote Indigenous contexts. The resources and embedded teaching and learning approaches were developed in collaboration with Indigenous educators in several remote communities over a period of time and embrace ‘what works’ for them and ‘why’. It must be stressed that the program must be adapted and contextualised for each centre and community. It is unlikely that centres/services will be similar, as remote communities are across Northern and Central Australia are so diverse. The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia teaching approaches and resources reflect principles of cultural fidelity and responsiveness to learning style. They are designed mainly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait educators who: use English as a second or third language and are developing confidence with Standard Australian English in professional, especially text based contexts, and have no (or limited) formal professional educational qualifications in early childhood education and care (such as a Certificate III in Children’s Services or more advanced qualification) Place in Shaded Box : Many remote early childhood centres have educators and other staff from a range of cultural traditions other than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. English is often a new language for these educators and they are in various stages of transition to Standard Australian English. What’s in the package?The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia’ containsa workbook for educatorsconcept and planning cards a set of 10 postersa DVD illustrating examples of remote learning settingsa CD containing the book, the concept and planning cards, the posters, the Early Years Learning Framework, the Early Years Learning Framework Educator’s Guide and the EYLF Framework in Action in electronic form. The resources provide practical opportunities for demonstrating the principles and practices underpinning the Early Years Learning Framework, in context, and around the five specific learning outcomes:a strong sense of identitya connection with their worlda strong sense of well-beingconfidence and involvement in their learning effective communication skillsMuch of the terminology around concepts of "Belonging, Being and Becoming" in the Early Years Learning Framework is difficult to understand and conceptualise through language alone, and especially through written text - and particularly where educators have no formal qualification in early childhood education and/or are developing confidence as speakers of Standard Australian English. When these concepts are introduced in a relevant contextual framework, and with richly illustrated material, and practical place-based activities, they become clearer. Educators/facilitators presenting the 5 day sessions around the Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia will also need to draw on additional resources to illustrate use in remote communities and ways of working in remote communities - depending on the contexts of each centre/service and the pedagogic styles of the program deliverers and learners. Participants should be encouraged to contextualise the resources and augment them as necessary. The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia DVD is organised around the five Learning Outcomes. It contains a range of vignettes that demonstrate the Early Years Learning Framework’s outcomes as they might be applied in a remote early childhood setting with predominantly Indigenous children. The vignettes are aligned to the Workbook which has been adapted from the original Early Years Learning Framework document using clear text and illustrative material to explain and elaborate the principles, practices and learning outcomes in a context which is generally familiar to educators in remote centres. Box or highlight: Many early childhood centres in very remote communities also cater for children from a range of non Indigenous Australian cultural backgrounds, for example, Timorese, Indian, Indonesian, African, Anglo Australian etc. These children’s families are normally working in the community (providing community support services). It is also important to ensure early childhood programs in remote communities are culturally relevant for these children. The Workbook follows the same structure as the Early Years Learning Framework. The learning activities around the Workbook and DVD must be customised for each setting to ensure authenticity yet retain the national consistency envisaged in the Early Years Learning Framework. Each section of the Workbook demonstrates a specific learning outcome and examples for observation and discussion in a group or individual Professional Learning context/session. The combination of vignettes/film clip examples, and Workbook and activities is designed to engage learners at a variety of cognitive and sensory levels. Box this section Given the structure of early childhood services in remote communities, and especially the inability to employ relief staff, the likelihood of finding a common time for educators to meet will be slim. Activities in the five day Professional Development program will normally be infused and/or run alongside the normal activities of the preschool or early learning centre. There are many positive reasons to embed professional learning in daily practice. As well as building practical skills (culturally relevant learning activities, environments and inclusive practices in partnership with families), the resources are designed to engender discussion and reflection around, for example, the learning outcomes, intentional teaching and planning, and assessment in unique contexts. Establish a ‘starting point’ When you first arrive at the service you’ll have to make an ‘assessment’ of where to start your program. This is typically done through a ‘situational’ or ‘context’ analysis. A situational or context analysis is simply a systemic examination of the characteristics, features and ways of working in the service. A key part of this Professional Development program is working in contextually relevant ways with each service and participant. Determining a realistic ‘starting point’ for the five day training program is critical. BUT, it is very important not to arrive at the service looking as though you’re about to do a ‘formal assessment’. Although you will have a good idea about the setting from conversations with the Director (or similar) prior to arrival, or you may already know the community/service you must make an on-site assessment to gauge ‘starting points’ for whole group work and for individuals. The following list highlights some key features that you’ll need to make judgements about to determine starting points for your work with educators around the Early Years Learning Framework. Box or shade You may want to customise this list to suit the setting. We’ll discuss this in the Professional Development session. You may want to make your assessments against specific outcomes in the EYLF and/or the areas in the NQS.Educational program and practiceChildren’s health and safetyPhysical environment Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)Relationships with childrenCollaborative partnerships with families and communitiesLeadership and service managementSpread over two pages in printingActivity or taskObservedNot ObservedNotes and/or Assessment against the NQS areas or EYLF outcomes (to be determined)Sets up for the dayConducts morning safety check Children’s arrival and departure Staff greet children on arrival Say good bye on departure Talk with families about the day You may need to take a ride on the bus if there is one that collects children from their homesGroup timeTalk with children about their home times, families, activities and learningEncourage children to show respect for others. Listen to each other talkEncourage children to follow rules and be responsible and caring to each otherEncourage children to express feelingsComfort children who are upsetPlay Use children’s ideas while they playEncourage children to play cooperatively with each otherOffer children activity choices based on assessment of learning/progress/developmentEngage with children to encourage thinking and problem-solvingOutdoor PlayProvide activities for children to use their bodies/ large musclesEncourage children to look out for each otherEncourage children to play in cooperatively/harmoniously in groupsProvide time for play and practising skillsTechnologyUse technology to explore ideasRoutines. Do they contribute to children’s development?Manage breakfast, morning tea, lunchManage sleep timeChildren rest when they are tiredSupport toiletingNappy changing. Is this used as a time to interact?Supervise hand and face washing. Ensure correct proceduresPraise childrenBath/shower children. Is this used as a time to interact?Teeth cleaningProvide clean clothesTransitionsSing songs during transitionPLANNING AND PROGRAMMINGObserving Observe children’s learning. Record children’s progressObservation records availablePlanning Plans learning activities for each child each day. Evidence of intentional planning Daily plans available for each child or group. Where are plans kept? How are they shared with families?Uses/follows an articulated planning cycleEvidence of weekly planningDaily program. Is the program readily accessible?Assessing Assesses children’s learning activity and outcomes. Evidence? How is this done? Where are results of progress kept?Recording Documents each child’s progress on a daily basis. Keeps a portfolio (record of progress) for each childEvaluatingEvaluates the day’s plan and activities. Daily record/s availableLearning centre activitiesDifferent centres are available. Blocks/construction Rich library/ Book/reading area, including books in local language/s Home area/Pretend Play Math activities Art and Craft Outdoor area set up for active play Science/investigating areaComputer/technology activities(Link activities to children’s culture). Remember activities typically cross cognitive boundariesLearning activitiesReading activities/ Story tellingCounting activitiesA range of activities for different areas of developmentSPACE, MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENTSetting upDaily cleaning. Who does this?Daily laundry (eg sheets) Who does this?Kitchen duties*Organises materialsSufficient toys and materials to encourage sharingCheck toys/materials and building is safeEncourage children to care for their environment and materialsCOMMUNICATION AND PARTNERSHIP WITH FAMILIESWelcome poster indicating staff names and rolesDaily and weekly timetable (and menus) displayedPrepares and distributes a regular newsletter (or similar) for familiesTalks with parents/carer/family member on child’s arrival and/or departureConducts parents/carer/family meeting/sOther key featuresRelevant policy documents? Now we’re planningThe Professional Development Program is multifaceted, focussing on: ideas for planning, documenting, recording and assessing young Indigenous children’s learning and development; the development of individual learning programs; andearly childhood development and pedagogyThis section focuses mainly on planning, and it draws on other ‘need to know’ information around development of individual learning programs and general early childhood practice. Ideally, the program will highlight ways of drawing on the Early Years Learning Framework to plan intentional and holistic activities for children using their local environment and children’s strengths as a starting point. Many educators in remote services will not have engaged in any formal preparation to work in early childhood education settings and many ideas will be new to them. While they may have deep knowledge of culturally appropriate child rearing/development practices in their communities, many have no experience in planning for children’s learning, especially using observations as a starting point. They will not have any knowledge of formal planning and recording processes- or the broader concept of ‘programming’. The “Now we’re planning” cards provide a guide that enables educators to map the flow of observation, planning, implementing and documenting and linking to outcomes. They provide a guide to begin planning relevant learning experiences, including child-specific learning activities around the learning outcomes. This helps develop familiarity with the five learning outcomes and, at the same time, a collection of additional ideas to prompt future planning. The large worksheets The large worksheets support educators to identify activities relevant for particular children, for particular outcomes and for evaluating particular activities. We will discuss ways of making and recording observations, and making plans and daily timetables.It is important to ensure that the service agrees to (and creates) a ‘daybook’ style model (or similar) for ongoing observations, planning, reflecting and evaluating and for documenting learning outcomes at the service and individual child level, preferably by the conclusion of the training program.The educators should develop and practice using the observation, planning and recording cycle over the five days and agree to a planning process that can be used in the service. Whatever format is decided, it needs to be something that is easily manageable by the educators and can become self-sustaining. How do I do this?A key focus in the Professional Learning pedagogy for remote educators is likely to be demonstration, modelling, practice and storytelling. The combination of resources (Workbook, DVD and support/activity materials) are designed so the facilitator can demonstrate and model key concepts where relevant using the contextually rich illustrations and vignettes provided, together with examples and activities from the context in which the professional learning is being offered. Box Highlight this Drawing on educators’ experiences and practices is very important. We will elaborate why these strategies are effective. During the five-day training sessions educator/s will then practice the skill in their teaching context with your scaffolding and support.At the conclusion of the activity or series of activities the facilitator might ask educators to develop and tell a ‘story’ around each concept or idea, thus demonstrating their understandings. The story can be ‘told’ in words or pictures or a combination. It can involve a combination of pictorial images, simple text and small vignettes such as the examples found on the DVD. Educators can use digital media to create their own stories (in video) around the ideas in practice. How do I do this?There are as many ways to deliver the five day Professional Development sessions as there are centres and communities- but the following suggested format has worked successfully in very remote communities with Indigenous educators- and others. This is the style of pedagogy that has been used in developing and reviewing the materials and that we’ll work through in the sessions. Essentially, following the sequence in the Workbook, and aligning content and activities with the DVD works well. Ideally, you will be able to work with the whole group of educators for some sessions and individuals for others. Box Highlight this Working alongside individuals is important- scaffolding, supporting, and coaching in a low key, collaborative way. Getting startedWho am I? Where do I come from? Where’s my country?Begin by telling the educators a bit about yourself. Making connections and linking to family and community is important. Who are you? Where do you come from? Who makes up your family? What is your connection to land and country? Why are you here? Consider having some photos of your family. Put them in the Powerpoint to be used in your introduction. Include a few photos of where you come from. This is a nice way of sharing information. It is also an excellent way to demonstrate Belonging, Being and Becoming in the context of you and referring to the Early Years Learning Framework. View DVD examples- talking about culture and familyWhen you have told the educators about yourself, ask them about themselves and their families. We all love to talk about our families. Ask why they work with children and at the centre or service and what is important about working in their community. Don’t ask too many questions. You are here to support introduction of the Early Years Learning Framework and set the context for its introduction. At the same time you need to understand something of the service and community and the individual educators. You will be surprised how much you learn if you take time to sit and yarn in a relaxed, informal way- sit in the sandpit or at a table while having a cup of tea. If you live in the community you’ll already have good understandings about culture and settingsBuilding trust and rapport takes time. In relation to the Early Years Learning Framework you will want to know what educators do during the day- how are centre routines organised? Who does what? Who does observations? Who does the planning? Who sets up activities? How are children supported? What is the nature of educators’ interactions with children? Find out about routines and who is responsible for what. Use the Getting Started (situational analysis) ideas as a guide, but don’t walk around with a clip board and do a formal check.You’re not a stranger anymoreAfter a day or so in a centre and talking with educators and children, you’re not a stranger anymore. First meetings are always the hardest, but usually once the first introduction is completed and you understand the educators a bit and the rhythm and flow of the service you can plan the rest of the program to fit around the educators and their routines and work patterns. It is important to work along-side the educators – ‘guide on the side’ style- NOT ‘sage on the stage’. The approach must be ‘low key’ and collaborative. Working in very remote communities is very different from working in mainstream services. Firstly, this is educators’ home, their land, their country, their families. The first priority is family. If there is a family or community issue happening you may not see educators affected by the issue for the remainder of your program. You may find the educators come and go from the centre or sessions to deal with their family issues as well as other issues in the centre. They may not say anything; often they just leave the session. Routines are very important- tea breaks etc. You must be mindful of the existing routines, needs and wants of the group. You must work around normal daily practices. There are generally no relief staff in remote communities. Sample session 1Introducing the Early Years Learning Framework (the Workbook) and working through the activitiesYou will have copies of the Workbook, DVD, posters/fact sheets, Powerpoint and Now We’re Planning sheets and cards.Introduce the Workbook and set the scene for the sessions. Play the introduction montage first. It is always a sure way to get the least interested person engaged. DVD View the Mutitjulu mob watching the video clip.As you work your way through the Workbook and the linked activities you will need to constantly model, demonstrate, remind, reflect and prompt the educators to think about ideas, new concepts and how they fit with the children and learning programs in their centre- in other words scaffold their learning. It is important to break down the overall program into smaller sections as there is a lot to cover. Ideally, you’ll use the sequences in the Early Years Learning Framework (the Workbook) as a guide. It acts as the organising framework for the Professional Development program. BUT pacing must follow the rhythms and work flow in the centre and educators’ ‘starting points’. You will have already discussed an indicative plan of action with the Director. You need to organise around service routines and lots of breaks. Although you have five days the time must be broken into small bits/sections- no long blocks of talking and learning as might occur in a mainstream workshop- and fit around the routines of the centre and children. Sessions could be up to one hour or so in length. But be guided by the participants and context and the existing routines and activity flows.It may not be possible for educators to have ‘child free’ times during the workday and they may not be able to participate in sessions before or after the main roster/work day. Brainstorming an idea, providing/locating concrete examples (such as from the DVD or in the centre), modelling an example and then having educators do a similar activity drawing on the can work well. But you need to find a pattern that works effectively for the group. The main thing to remember is to focus on active learning- not lots of talk. We will work through sample activitiesSample session 2 What is a Learning Outcome?The idea of Learning Outcomes will be new to most educators and developing understanding around the concept of Learning Outcomes is central to the Early Years Learning Framework.What is a Learning Outcome? You need to break this down. Brainstorm practical examples of ‘learning outcomes’ in the real world or local community. What are real world examples? Provide an everyday example from personal experience.Discuss with the educators what learning means? What do they need to learn around the community or home? What did they learn at school and with Elders? What are the children are learning while they are in the early education setting? Why do we do what we do? Where do we start? What are children’s strengths and interests? What resources do we have? etcOne strategy is to walk around the centre with the educators and take photos of the children’s activities and experiences first. Or ask the educators to take the photos and bring the photos back for discussion and establish what they understand about learning activities and experiences. Remember, most educators will not have the formal language around pedagogy to draw on. The educators’ photos of experiences and their interpretations of ‘learning’ will be varied. When you pose the question ‘What do you think children are learning from this activity or experience?’ you may need to prompt and encourage conversation to start a discussion about what educators believe children View DVD example of Nuguiu educators taking photos of children playingNow that you have completed this task you should have established some ideas about educators’ range of understandings around learning and its goals and purposes. Focus on Learning Outcomes. There are 5 Learning Outcome areas. Use the Posters and Fact Sheets here. They provide useful outlines and overviews of the 5 Learning Outcome.Use the photos the educators have taken of children’s learning to start discussion around learning and outcomes. Start with Learning Outcome 1. View DVD example from Maningrida. “Welcome”Demonstrate and practice greetings, then film educators practising ‘greetings’ or have them film each other. We will work through suggested ideas for the other learning outcomes using the DVDs.Sample session 3. Planning for LearningWe will work through this process in the session- using the Workbook), DVD and activitiesMake up sets of cards like the one for the principles and practices (how and why). The context and professional experiences of the educator will guide how each session is structured and these cards will be used. These resources can be used with most educators to ensure they are developing an understanding of the learning content. The actual structure and timeframe will depend on the learners. First, you will have already asked the Director about and observed how observation and planning happens in the service. Now ask each educator how s/he plans or how planning occurs. How/where is it recorded? Talk about the idea of planning, in a broader sense. Why is it important etc? How/why does it draw on ideas of child development?In framing this and other sessions be mindful that educators in remote communities typically have limited or no formal learning or qualifications in early childhood education and care, so the language, terminology, concepts and jargon of early childhood education and the Early Years Learning Framework are generally unfamiliar. Draw on examples, routines and activities that are familiar in the centre and communityView DVD example of using the Principles and Practices from Milikarpiti We have captured an example of the range of learning contexts in the DVD from Milikarpiti. One example shows using the principles and practices with an educator; the other shows using cards to explore the topic Belonging. Sample session 4. The concept of BelongingIt is important to introduce the topic of Belonging by asking the question . What makes you feel you belong? First help educators articulate their ideas of belonging. What does this mean in my life, family, community?The DVD and Powerpoint have some good examples of ‘belonging’ for this topic. Remote educators usually have clear understandings of the concept of Belonging. Explore this idea with the educators first before looking at the Early Years Learning Framework DVD and Powerpoint/s. This will give you a good indication of ‘starting points’ and time needed on this topic. You may find your time will be better spent focusing on the more challenging topics later in the learning sequence. The important ideas to build here relate to having children (and families) feel strong, secure, and connected and how we can promote this is the service everyday. View DVD Watch the interview of what makes you feel you belong. Luciano from Jirnani Childcare talks about land and country.View DVD topic Belonging After discussing the idea of ‘belonging’ ask educators to take photos in and around the childcare/preschool centre. These are then loaded on to your laptop to focus discussion around what it means for children to ‘belong’ in the service, to identify levels of awareness and understanding around the topic, to intentionally promote children’s development around ‘belonging’ and then to consider how this concept can be infused across all centre practices. The educators’ professional and personal experiences and context of the service will guide exactly how you organise this session and how much time you might need to spend on principles and practices around Belonging, Being and Becoming. After this activity, view the Powerpoint again and discuss with the group what you already know from the activity just completed and what things need to be included in their programming and practices to ensure quality experiences for children around the outcomes. Consider how educators will document children’s learning in this area.Sample session 5 ‘Now we’re planning’. Planning and recording in action. Planning is at the core of implementing the Early Years Learning FrameworkQuality Area 1: Educational program and practiceThe Early Years Learning Framework (or other approved learning framework) informs the development of a program for each child that enhances their learning and development.The program for each child takes into account their strengths, capabilities, culture, interests and experiences.1.2.1Each child’s current knowledge, ideas, culture and interests provide the foundation for the program*.1.2.2Every child is supported to participate in the program. 1.2.3Each child’s learning and development is assessed as part of an ongoing cycle of planning, documenting and evaluating children’s learning.Critical reflection and evaluation of children’s learning and development, both as individuals and in groups, is used as a primary source of information for planning and to improve the effectiveness of the program and teaching strategies.The first step in focusing on planning is looking at the Planning Cycle using the PowerPoint.What does this mean for the child and or family? What does this mean to the educator? View DVD Planning example This will give the educators time to think about what they need to be looking for when it’s their turn to give an example.Educators are often quick to think of ideas for planning. However, you will probably need to spend considerable time ‘unpacking’ the ‘Why are you doing the activity?’ and ‘What do you want the children to learn when you plan the activity or experience’? Reaching understanding around the ‘why’ is often tricky as it can require a complete mindset change. Educators are often aware of ‘standard’ activities (blocks, stories, outdoor play, painting, puzzles etc) and will set up activities for the children, but there is little sense of intentionality around the activity based on an individual child’s strengths or on interactivity with children to extend their thinking. Typically, there is no use of an observation, planning and evaluation cycle for each child or for small groups. There is little or no planning for individuals or recording aspects on individual’s development and learning.Often educators are actually doing the activity and the children are watching. Sometimes children are doing the activity alongside the educator - and sometimes this is good ‘modelling’ or scaffolding; often though, it is more like parallel play. Typically, there is little scaffolding of learning, little focused conversation about ideas and processes (or anything else). Rather the educator is providing ‘supervision’.View planning example from DVD hereYou will need to spend a lot of time on the observation, planning and implementation cycle/sequence. You may need to create some examples yourself to use as models. Make sure they are context specific. Then work with the educators to think of and complete some planning sequences for individual children and for small groups. You won’t know until you have worked through two or three examples if an understanding of the planning cycle- observing, planning, implementing and evaluating around specific learning outcomes is developing. Reflect on your pedagogy to think how to build on this to ensure focus on a learning outcome- for example, an aspect of literacy or numeracy.View Mutitjulu example of developing an understanding of a learning outcome based on prior knowledge.025400When you are working in some very remote communities you will need to explore meaningful local options and ideas for engaging educators in the planning cycle Documenting a learning journey-635179705This is an example of poster documenting a learning journey that we made after looking for honey flowers. The educators arranged photos to document the learning sequence toward the intended outcome. They might need support to write about the learning journey 1479550-25400Looking for mud musselsView DVD video clip. This example demonstrates a planning sequence around looking for mud mussels.View Learning Outcome 5 on the Remote EYLF DVDView the example of looking for mud mussels. Discuss this and ways the photos taken on the excursion have been used to illustrate how to create literacy learning experiences back in the centre. Make story books in language and in Standard English, for example.. Putting it all togetherWork through the planning process using the cards. View DVD of Tess planning and ‘putting it all together’There are a lot of cards for each of the 5 Learning Outcomes, which is a good start for the planning. Sit with the educators and look at each of the cards. Allow them time to choose a card, pick it up and tell you what it says. Often they are prompted by the images above the text on the cards. Here you will be able to discuss the range of activities and resources in the centre and confirm if they do any of the activities already- and why? Next, given the observation data on each child or small group, work through some sample plans. We have a picture of the educator (who is doing it), a child (who is it for), what outcome is it for? What will they be learning? Use the planning sheet to put it all together. Finally, work/observe alongside the educator as a plan is implemented.Film this if possibleThen evaluate together using the planning sheet. View Tess reading story.Don’t leave anything to chanceNo matter where we are teaching we need to be specific in our instructions. Share examples of times when things went wrong because instructions were not clear.In this context, where so much is new, you must be very specific and clear with directions. For example, when you tell educators they will be taking photos of the children, activities or colleagues you need to be very specific about what to look for. For example, you might need to show them how to use the camera and then talk about what image/s you want in the photo- and why. For example, do you want a close up of faces or full body view? This amount of detail is important to ensure you get the outcome you want and that is likely to work well for the centre.Taking photos of people is usually tricky. You will often find the educators are not happy with the photos to begin with so they need to experiment until they get suitable ones, especially if the photos are to be used in the Meet our staff Poster and in planning.-87630127635Taking photos of the children is important as these are used in the planning process as well as in the Our Children posterMake sure you have all the resources and time to print the photos and create the “Meet the staff poster” and “Our Children” poster. 0931545Using the DVDThe video clips on the DVD are central to the pedagogy and the teaching resources. They provide a range of contextually rich experiences to illustrate each of the Learning Outcomes in practical ways. Generally, educators like to revisit these clips over and over. This helps to support their thinking around the new concepts and how the Early Years Learning Framework is relevant to their children and teaching and learning situation. Making videos of their own teaching around the Outcomes is very helpful in reflecting on learning. We then sit and view these clips and discuss what the children are doing and what they might be learning. It is a good idea if you can burn these clips to DVD for each educator. In this way the images and their experiences ‘belong’ to them; it is a sense of ‘being’ and it assists with ‘becoming’ a better educator and supporting children in their learning journeys.Your pedagogy will evolveEach person presenting the five days of Professional Learning sessions will have his or her own pedagogical approaches. You will find that each time you run a session your teaching will change to build on the strengths of the learners and the uniqueness of the context. Your ways of working around the Early Years Learning Framework will evolve as you practice and build confidence and experience working with the remote educators and consider the unique contexts of each community and service. Generally, you will have all the foundation tools needed but you might also want to make additional resources to support your pedagogy - such as the principles and practices cards. Your organisation will probably have some resources that will complement these. You might want to support the educators to make some additional resources in English and local languages.Across the sessions your role will be guiding, supporting, reminding, referring, assisting, praising and recommending. In working through these activities you need to be very clear, deliberate and sequenced in your teaching. No matter who, where or what you are teaching you can never assume everyone understands what is required- whether it be a new concept, an assessment task, or completing an activity. You need to be very clear as to what is required and gauge each learner’s ‘starting points’. The idea of the ‘zone of proximal’ development is useful for understanding ‘starting points’ and planning learning. Importantly, remember that English is probably a second, third or even fourth language for many educators in very remote communities. You must give very clear examples of the ideas, concepts or learning outcomes you have in mind.Affirmation is important but you should also sit together and discuss ideas to extend thinking. For example, you might want to sit in the sand pit with an educator and co-observe and talk about what you are seeing. You need to support educators to record these observations so that they can be used for planning and for documenting an individual child’s learning. Set the scene by asking what can be seen and telling a story about this. This is less confronting and you may find that this is all it takes for the ‘light bulb’ moment to occur. Professional Learning in a Preschool setting Running the Professional Development sessions in a preschool setting will generally be quite different from sessions in a remote crèche or child care centre as you will be working with at least one qualified teacher - but not necessarily an early childhood qualified teacher or an experienced teacher. There will also be at least one “teaching assistant” (or similar nomenclature) who may or may not be qualified. Teaching Assistants will have varying professional knowledge and experiences depending on a range of factors - but will generally have an intimate knowledge of the community, children and families and of Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. In many cases, the Early Years Learning Framework and the whole idea of the National Quality Framework will be a new concept. This newness alone will be a key focus for educators. The focus in a preschool context is likely to be two fold. First, the “Teacher Assistants” will benefit from the structure and engagement around the concept of outcomes and the sequence and activities of the planning process - in a similar way to educators in the preschool. Second, working through the activities will provide teachers with guidance to support the “Assistant Teacher” in using the Early Years Learning Framework. View DVD of the preschool at NguiuAs indicated throughout this booklet, making judgements about the context of the setting and the strengths and needs of learners is critical. As in all teaching settings the richness and diversity of the context must guide planning and implementation. Early childhood settings in remote communities are dynamic and diverse in nature and the importance of domain specificity cannot be over emphasised. Teaching and learning must be customised for each setting. Your content and pedagogy must recognise that each educator has unique social, cultural, linguistic and cognitive characteristics that impact motivation and learning. There is as much diversity amongst the centres and educators in remote communities as there is amongst other educators and early childhood services. But there are some distinctive characteristics related to Indigeneity that are fore-grounded in shaping the pedagogy of this approach. Broadly, learning styles must be sensitive to Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being and specifically collaboration, language, family connectedness, sense of personal and cultural identity, and multi lingual skills. Assessment of the contexts and of educators’ learning styles will occur primarily on a one to one or small group basis through individual discussion and observations of educators’ interactions with each other and with you, their ways of tackling learning tasks, and their work with children. Customisation will occur at each step of the Professional Development program and is implicit in preparing, teaching, and evaluating. Considerations in customising and personalising content and pedagogy include attention to educators’ confidence using Standard Australian English in a professional contexts, persistence, task focus, work pace and planning, monitoring and evaluation skills, as well as responses to visual and other (auditory, kinaesthetic) cues, and their preferences for collaboration and team work. Ensuring the Professional Development program is culturally engaging and supports educators’ unique learning needs and learning styles is an important progress step to boost quality in remote early childhood services and workforce capacity. Knowing the community and service Working in contextChallenging aspects of delivering the professional learning around Early Years Learning Framework for very remote communities result from the diversity of educators’ educational and professional backgrounds and skills- complicated by varying cultural orientations and literacy and comprehension skills in Standard Australian English. At the same time, educators bring a range of unique cultural and pedagogic skills that are consistent with those valued and used in their families and local communities and essential to creating successful learning experiences for children that are aligned with the Outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework.The diverse educational and socio-cultural backgrounds of remote educators generally requires a customised, often individualised approach to planning and implementation of Professional Development. Pedagogy must respond to, and anticipate individual learning needs. Some educators will need close support and mentoring to develop an understanding of the Early Years Learning Framework and then begin to implement practices consistent with its principles. Others will be more autonomous learners.Over the 5 day Professional Development sessions you will run it is critical to develop a positive, supportive and respectful relationship with educators, understand the key cultural features, rhythms and dynamics of the group, and draw on relevant local Indigenous knowledges where possible. Ideally, you might establish or foreshadow (in conjunction with the centre’s management and key community members) community learning partnerships and a sense of ownership of the centre’s program. Our teaching must respond to uniqueness of the context, the group and the setting. Hopefully, it will form the basis of sustainable practices.Prior to the 5 day Professional Development program it is essential to have a good knowledge of the centre or service, how things operate at present, relevant cultural issues and current ways of planning for learning. This will be refined once you arrive through the Situational Analysis.Building trust and confidence and understanding the context is a critical step in planning the sequence of learning activities to introduce the Early Years Learning Framework and empower educators to embrace culturally relevant ways of ‘Belonging, Being and Becoming’. The program will only be successful if it draws on locally relevant and culturally responsive knowledge and experience together with ideas about contemporary early childhood education pedagogies and child development knowledge. Programs must develop both ‘early ways’ of knowing and doing, while building a knowledge and practice base informed by local content and context. A key aim of the Early Years Learning Framework is to build strong foundations for literacy learning. Critically, the training must be responsive to local needs and recognise that Indigenous early childhood educators provide the cognitive and social bridges between the service and community. They know and ‘live’ their culture and they know the families and children who use the local early childhood facility Preparation and planning for the 5 day Professional Learning sessionsCareful planning and preparation is necessary as each community is different and contexts vary considerably from those encountered, in even provincial communities. Initial planning (four to five weeks out) Identify the relevant authority/ies, services and contacts in the communityDevelop some familiarity with the community (eg. languages and cultural specifics) and knowledge of early childhood services and existing supports/stakeholder; who are the stakeholders?Contact the director/manager/principal to negotiate a suitable time for the Professional Learning program and discuss the purpose of the sessions etc Explain the purpose of the visit/s and training. Refer to DEEWR materials etcClarify and record the Director’s the expectations of the trainingEnsure all staff and families are informed about what will be happening over the week. Make sure the Director does this.If there is more than one service can you plan some joint activities? Can two programs run at the same time? What benefits might accrue from working together- eg mutual support and facilitate collaboration? At the least some joint social activities (eg BBQ)Find out about the centre/service- Service staff? How many? Which staff are qualified and at what level? When/where did they do their training? What opportunities do they have for Professional LearningCentre resources? Size? Is it purpose-built? etcWill there be a ‘training room?’ Equipment (always bring your own- all of it). Organise to take DEEWR resources etc. Prepare/organise materials to make customised resources. Check for weight restrictions on local flights.Check centre operation times- child attendance; staff rosters etcIdentify the best time to meet the whole group; best times to work along-side individualsLiaise and link with other services (eg. clinic, school) as necessary. Talk to the director about advising and preparing staff for the Professional Learning. Discuss with the director whether s/he needs to think about obtaining ‘relief’ staff or making roster changes during the period of the training? Ensure police checks (or working with children checks) relevant to the jurisdiction are completed for all site visitors and provided to the relevant centre/authority, as requiredDiscuss with the Director about the best way to approach the training. Obtain support from the Director to promote the training in a positive way to staff, otherwise educators may feel that they are doing ‘extra’ workDiscuss and organise as necessary any ‘permissions’ to film children (eg to display on a Who am I? poster in the centrePurchase a 3G phone or Satellite phone if travelling in remote areas by vehicleComplete a 4WD and manual vehicle course (as necessary) for travel to/within communities. Plan for two people to travel together for longer trips or more remote locations, if driving. Check access if driving (eg. road conditions in the Wet Season)Plan a ‘certificate of completion’ / participation for educators and the centre/serviceConsider whether you need to complete a cultural orientation course for the community. Contact relevant providerOrganise any permissions needed to enter the community from the relevant authorities where appropriate. Establish if a ‘dry’ community (if relevant/necessary)Organise flights/travel and in-community accommodation and vehicle; if relevant, ensure trainers are comfortable travelling in small planes. Consider access/mobility issues of presenters/trainers; consider wet season transport variations. Consider whether you need to send materials in first (due to restrictions on the plane or book ahead as freight)A week to two or three days outPhone to check all arrangements are still OK. Check the name/status of the Director and manager and contact details.Make contact with the manager/director to establish who will oversee your visit and any details about organisation of the schedule. Confirm that someone will meet you and availability of transport within the community. Check if there is any community or family business (eg. ceremonies to attend and the need for the service to close) imminent that could impact on the programGet the latest advice on educators’ names, routines and age groupings/rooms to fine tune planning and allow for minimal interruption of the day-to-day routines/schedule and to work within it and alongside educators. Think about how to maximise the allocated time. Confirm that staff are expecting the trainingConfirm accommodation booking/availability and car hire. This will have been booked two or three weeks ago Confirm flights/travel (eg. Road conditions) Check allowable luggage on small planes. Plan personal food/supplies. Confirm food availability in the community. Presenters may need to bring personal food supply especially if there are dietary requirements (eg, soy milk; decaffeinated tea etc). Check alcohol policy NOTESRisks and challengesPlanning and delivering a successful professional learning program around the Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia involves consideration of the diverse and dynamic environment of each service, centre and community. This is likely to necessitate ongoing review and consequent revisions to plans, expected outcomes, delivery schedules and pedagogies, while at the same time ensuring consistency of outcomes as presented in the overall training program. Risks and challenges in delivering professional learning programs to remote communities can be categorised across four main and interacting dimensionsStructural challenges related to the early childhood service types/programs in operation and the logistics involved in organising a 5 day professional development program for each setting that suits the service and the program deliverer; and accounts for educators’ availability and participation. Anticipate and plan for changes in participating educators over the period, due to family and cultural commitments, and/or environmental matters (eg. weather)Conceptual challenges related to existing cultural, education and practical approaches to early childhood service management, education and programmingPedagogic challenges related to motivation of participants, existing domain knowledge and required teaching strategies. Ensure adequate time for daily reflection on program and planning together for teaching the next day. This may be limited because of the demands of day to day routines and programs for children. Plan for on-going customisation of program delivery protocols to ensure they reflect changing contexts, lessons learnt and changing priorities during the implementation processResource challenges related to availability of educators able to deliver a quality professional development program, materials, transport and accommodation, and service infrastructure. Reflection and reviewReflection means stepping back from the immediate hands-on work experience and thinking about the outcomes and meaning of the experience What do we know about the experience?? About the participants’ learning? About our practice? About our teaching approach? About ourselves? About the content of the program? Organisation? Through reflection, we examine our practices, thoughts and feelings about experiences and identify strategies that best meet our goals and need for effective practice, improvement and development. Reflection has two major dimensions:Reflection-in-action- our ability to ‘think on our feet’, to respond to immediate situations in the light of our knowledge as well as our beliefs, emotions and feelings. Reflection-on-action - the analysis of our actions and reactions in a situation and the reasons around and outcomes of the situation. In encouraging practitioners to reflect on their learning and teaching the principles of the Early Years Learning Framework should be in mind. They include:having secure, respectful and reciprocal relationshipsdeveloping partnerships with familieshaving high expectations and wanting children to succeed and being equitable to all childrenrespecting diversityEarly childhood professionals engaging in ongoing learning and reflective practice (EYLF, p.12)In the broader sense practitioners need to consider the extent to which they:Employed holistic approachesWere responsiveness to childrenPlanned and implemented learning through playEmployed intentional teachingCreated physical and social learning environments that have a positive impact on children’s learningValued the cultural and social contexts of children and their familiesProvided for continuity in experiences and enabling children to have successful transitionsAssessed and monitored children’s learning to inform provision and to support children in achieving learning outcomes (EYLF, p.14)Reflection and review for each day of the training(for both educators and facilitators)Focus questions What did I expect?What happened?So what?What next? With national quality reforms in early childhood education and care, intent, assessment and accountability have become more important than ever. Educators must ‘reflect on action’ in a formal sense for accountability purposes as well as intrinsic, pedagogic purposes. They must document their practices and children’s learning and developmental progress. As well as being ‘progress maps’, these reflections will become accountability tools- records of centre performance. In completing this assessment and documentation process educators must reflect upon the outcomes of their teaching and children’s learning and wider practices. Evidence of learning may range from work samples, to child portfolios, to teaching portfolios, videotapes, creative projects, and conferences, to exams and papers. Documenting these growth trajectories will be a critical developmental process for centres within the scope of the National Quality Standard and regulations (and in a sense ‘formal’, legal documents). They will be proxy assessment tools for recording ways in which the Early Years Learning Framework outcomes are met and a formal part of determining the extent to which centres (within scope) meet National Quality Standard across the quality areas.1.Educational program and practiceChildren’s health and safetyPhysical environment Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)Relationships with childrenCollaborative partnerships with families and communitiesLeadership and service managementPersonal perceptions and filtering around this training program Personal perceptions influence how we deal with any situation. This reflective exercise focuses thinking on our readiness to work in very remote communities.How do I feel about the opportunity to deliver this training program in this community? What do I know about the community?My SituationPast experiencesBeliefs and valuesAssumptions and expectationsFeelings and mood Personal goals and aspirations Suggested Five Day Program Details. What you might do day-by-day Day One Arrive about 9amMeetings with groups and individuals might happen in say 3 x 1 hour blocks at times negotiated with the service and individual educators depending on their work routines. This will vary from site to site and is likely to be integrated with every day practice with trainer working alongside educators. Planning for the 5 days must be negotiated with the Director and educators.Morning tea. Provide morning tea. Check first what staff like best.Connecting with the centre (on-going)Organisation and communication is the key to a successful PD program. Meet and greet. Get to know staff. Familiarisation. Who’s who? Who does what? And why? Start unobtrusive ‘situational analysis’. Link to pre-visit informationAim to get a good ‘feel’ about centre practices- what is going on?Talk with staff individually. What is your role here?What do you love about your job? What are your challenges?How does programming happen now?LunchContinue unobtrusive situational analysis to confirm and affirm previously gathered informationConfirm plan with the director for the training; access staff etcRoutines: Breakfast; Morning tea/lunchTiming- Staff and child arrival and departures.How does the daily program work? Who plans it? On what basis?How do educators plan/program for children’s learning?What do they like about this approach? Why do they do it this way?Record keeping? Tracking children’s progress. How does this happen? Where is it recorded? Who is it shared with?Afternoon (whole/small group). Maybe at sleep timeWhat is the NQF? Where does the EYLF fit in the new Quality Framework? Using the EYLF- even if out of NQF scopeWhat do we want for our families, children and culture? Why is early learning so important? Setting the foundations etcNOTES and ACTIONSDay 2Setting the scene. How we do things. Timing to be negotiated with the Director (and staff) Continue context analysis from Day 1. Aim to get a good ‘feel’ about centre practices- what is going onWhat is the EYLF? (may start in Day 1)Rationale for developmentRationale for useWhy is this important?What does this mean?Overview of resources The importance of local context and gearing for the community and individualsWhat is an outcome? What does this mean for our planning?Expectations for childrenESL speakersKey features of the EYLFAssessmentLinking language and cultureOur staff (poster). Might do this on Day 1Our children and program. What do we do now?Take photos of the resources (puzzles, books etc) in the centre. Use these as the basis of a customised planning template that requires minimal written textWhat are you doing? Why? What does it say?What do you want the children to get out of this activity?Consider an informal staff-created “SWOT” analysis – on a large poster (focusing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) or similarBuilding on strengthsWorking/collaborating with families- when? How? (Might also be on Day 3)Special considerations for remote communitiesHow do children learn? Review some key aspects of child developmentNotes and ActionsDay 3Having a goLearning through PlayAbout play. What is play? Why is it important? How does it support development?Why do we observe children? Doing observations. Making a ‘template’ that will work with limited need for written text. Practising observations in contextUsing digital media to document learningThe Planning Cycle (modified from the Educator’s Guide)Documenting learning. Building child portfolios. How to do this for this centre and these families (continues Day 4 and 5)Where to buy context specific (Indigenous relevant) resources. Making your own. Creating awareness of the need for context specific resources.Further photos of centre resources (eg. puzzles, books etc) Use these as the basis of a customised planning template that requires minimal written textThe local environment as a learning space and source. Linking outcomes and contexts. Using local ideas. Drawing on family and child interestsYou will need to focus on ‘areas of development’ for educators who don’t have formal EC qualificationsReview and reflectionNOTES AND ACTIONS Day 4Now it’s your turnStep-by-step work through planning an activity. using the Let’s Plan sheetsTell me what you will do and whyThen model this>>> I’ll write (draw) this You write this Be clear about the nature of the activity and what outcome it is intended to achievePractising the planning cycleImplement the planned activityHow do we evaluate children’s learning and our teaching?Review and reflectionKeeping a reflective journalSeeking feedbackViewing experiences objectively, andTaking time at the end of each day/session to reflect-on-actions.NOTES and ACTIONSDay 5Let’s Plan The EYLF in action. Putting it altogetherPractise the planning cycle in context. Work alongside educatorsUse the customised planning sheetsDocument learning. Build child portfolios. Practical ways to do this for this centre and these children and familiesWhat will I do next week?Let’s do an observation ready to plan for on MondayHow will I do this planning on a longer term basis?Prepare a workable planning format for educators’ use and for the centre’s overall program Review and reflectionThe final day may be shorter as you need to prepare to leave the centre and community. Some centres will close early on a Friday afternoon. Some centres may have staff-only time that can be utilised for the EYLF trainingMake a ‘certificate’ to record participation in the 5 day program. Presentation and ‘thank you’/ appreciationNOTES and ACTIONAppendix ADRAFT 3 (29/11/2011)Developing professional learning around the Early Years Learning Framework in remote communitiesAlison Elliott and Christine TaylerA major challenge for Australian governments, education systems, educators and communities is to deliver quality early education and care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in remote and very remote communities (1). This paper details a rationale for a professional learning approach to introduce the National Quality Agenda and the Early Years Learning Framework to early childhood services (mainly crèches, child care centres and preschools) that cater for predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in remote communities across Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It also highlights some of the issues facing remote early childhood services that impact on the design and delivery of professional learning in the context of a changing quality environment for early childhood education and care and the cultural richness and complexities of remote communities. Remote Northern and Central Australia are amongst the most culturally and linguistically diverse parts of the nation. More than a hundred different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are spoken in remote communities. Additionally, remote communities have attracted a range of people from other parts of the world whose first language might be Timorese, Indonesian, or Filipino or English. In some communities, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from different clans, cultural groups or nations have come together, several Indigenous languages are spoken. In the Northern Territory alone, there are some 641 discrete Aboriginal communities, most with very small populations. The majority of Indigenous Territorians (72%) live on Aboriginal land outside major towns and off the Stuart Highway. In Queensland and Western Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote communities are similarly diverse and widely dispersed. References to geographical locations are consistent with the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) as described at has to be stressed that remote communities across Australia are not homogenous; they are home to peoples with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and with differing access to housing, employment, services and education. However, a distinctive and unifying characteristic is that communities are rich in culture and heritage and have youthful populations. Unfortunately, many communities also have poor access to mainstream infrastructure and services, including quality early childhood services. The disadvantages resulting from lack of infrastructure access contribute to health and education outcomes that are poorer than those experienced by Australians in urban communities. In education, there are significant gaps in between Indigenous and non Indigenous children in early childhood and school participation and in national assessments of educational achievement. Achievement gaps are widest for children in remote and very remote communities (COAG, 2011; Australian Government, 2011). The combination of lower educational achievement at school, lower educational aspirations and lower school participation and completion rates contributes to ‘distinctive challenges’ in accessing further education and to low completion rates in tertiary education, both higher and vocational education (Centre for the Study of Higher Education University of Melbourne, 2008). According to Centre for the Study of Higher Education (2008), these ‘imbalances’ have their roots in the ‘endemic educational disadvantage’ that begins in the earliest years of education.In recognising the need to overcome ‘Indigenous disadvantage’, especially in education and health the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) (2008) has ambitious targets to close the life expectancy gap (between Indigenous and non Indigenous people) within a generation halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade, and ensure that all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities have access to an early childhood education program by 2013.A key plank in the quest to provide all Australian children with a stronger start is provision of improved early learning opportunities through the National Quality Framework, including the Early Years Learning Framework and a raft of associated changes to the regulatory requirements for early childhood services in the birth to 5 years sector. The Australian government highlights the importance of participation in quality childcare, playgroups and preschool as a means of helping “very young children and parents establish important learning and attendance habits that set them on the path to achieve at school” (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011).Characteristics of remote communities Most very remote and remote communities are the homelands and nations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Typically, they have the most youthful population in Australia with the largest proportion of children under 15 years of age. An especially high proportion of children under six years of age makes early childhood services particularly relevant. Quality early childhood services are widely recognised as a means of improving health and well-being and strengthening community connectedness, as well as facilitating transition to school and strong foundations for later learning. The vulnerability of many children living in remote communities has been well documented. About twice as many Indigenous babies suffer low to extremely low birth-weight compared to non-Indigenous babies. Indigenous children are twice as likely to be hospitalised for infectious diseases (SCRGSP, 2005). Underlying causes of chronic diseases are linked to poverty and disadvantage, poor living conditions, poor nutrition, and low birth weight. Some 70%+ of children in remote communities suffer chronic middle ear disease, often causing permanent hearing loss and inhibiting language and literacy development (DET WA, 2006). Poverty and poor health are linked. In turn, nutrition and health are closely connected to educational achievement, school attendance and literacy skills (DEST, 2003; ABS, 2005). Improving health and strengthening early childhood program and school achievement are major goals for remote communities. A complicating factor for very remote communities that both affects children’s early educational achievement and later, people’s participation in higher and vocational education including in professional courses such as teaching, is English literacy proficiency. Indigenous languages are essentially oral languages and even where schools have strong bilingual programs (in the local language/s and English) development of English language skills seems to suffer. The gap in English literacy levels between children in remote very remote communities and in provincial and urban communities has been well documented at a national level through the NAPLAN and PISA assessment programs (NAPLAN, 2010; Thomson & De Bortoli, 2008). The educational and social challenges encountered in supporting children to become literate in both their home language/s and English mean that many young adults lack of confidence in reading and writing in Standard Australian English. Some of these same adults are those employed in early childhood services in remote communities. They are the ‘backbone’ of early childhood services, speakof their community language/s, and have essential and important skills relating to early childhood development and learning. While Indigenous knowledges and languages are recognised as exceptionally important in supporting appropriate learning programs for young children (Breier, 2005) many Indigenous educators in remote communities lack confidence with the type of written English needed to access higher education and the specialised texts and genres of professional education This means few become qualified early childhood educators at either the professional or para professional level.These English language challenges, together with limited qualifications in early childhood care and education can act as a barrier to fully understanding the implications of the National Quality Framework, National Quality Standards and the Early Years Learning Framework for early childhood services, and more importantly, how the Early Years Learning Framework might be harnessed to provide a framework for culturally responsive early childhood education programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in remote preschools, child care centres and crèches.Early childhood service diversity and staffingCrucial in developing professional learning programs around implementing the Early Years Learning Framework is recognition that early childhood services in remote communities are diverse. They differ dramatically between communities and within communities in response to local cultural and linguistic contexts, needs of families and access to resources. A community may have both a crèche (or child care centre) and a preschool, for example that differ considerably in their resources, educational programs and staffing. Bigger communities may have a comprehensive range of services. Some very small communities have access only to a Mobile service that visits on a weekly basis (Elliott, Fasoli & Nutton, 2009). Creches and child care centres Sourcing and retaining a complement of early childhood educators is one of the greatest challenges faced by early childhood services in remote communities. Typically, early childhood services are staffed by a mix of qualified and unqualified staff. Creches and child care centres in very remote communities tend to be staffed mainly by local Indigenous educators who speak local community languages and are closely connected with their communities. Most centres also have at least one other staff member, often the designated ‘director’ who tends to be employed from outside the community and has a diploma or degree in early childhood education. The skills and strengths of local educators and strong connections with community are essential to providing rich, learning programs that are culturally appropriate and to the successful operation of the service. Preschools Preschools that are part of the school system are typically staffed by a qualified teacher who has a teaching degree, often in early childhood education, and is registered with the relevant State or Territory teacher registration authority. Teachers in preschools that are an integral part of the school, tend to have considerable professional support from the wider school and/or system-wide professional learning provisions. Typically, each preschool classroom also employs at least one Assistant Teacher (or similar nomenclature) who speaks a local language (where relevant) and is key member of the local community and/or a leader in one of the family or clan groups. Typically, it is local educators who have the long term tenure in the centre or school and the deep connections with families and community. Again, it cannot be stressed too strongly that remote communities and the early childhood centres within them differ considerably from place to place. A community in the Torres Strait is vastly different from one in the central desert region. ‘Unpacking’ the national quality agenda and the Early Years Learning FrameworkA major goal of the National Quality Agenda, National Quality Standard and the Early Years Learning Framework is to ensure more consistent early childhood program quality across all services and to improve learning experiences and outcomes for children, especially the most vulnerable learners. Importantly, it recognises the need to build and sustain strong relationships with community and to interact positively and purposefully with families. In implementing the Early Years Learning Framework it is important to acknowledge that quality experiences in early childhood education are mainly about intent and relationships. They are not necessarily linked to resources and money. The best learning can happen anywhere- in a dry creek bed in Central Australia or in a classroom in the Torres Strait if the setting is rich in language and ideas and responsive to children’s needs. Critically, the quality of the relationships and interactions between people must be strong and purposeful and there must be shared goals and vision for culturally relevant development and learning. Most importantly, education providers must be in tune with community and listen respectfully and actively as part of any planning and development process. Most remote communities struggle to attract qualified early childhood educators and provide relevant on-site professional learning, due mainly to their isolated locations. Ensuring qualified educators and quality programs for all children in the most remote parts of the country is an on-going challenge. Shortages of qualified early childhood educators are evident nation-wide and critical in some communities, including remote communities (Productivity Commission, 2010). Relatedly, it is difficult to source and provide just-in-time professional support for early childhood educators in remote locations. For a start, it is difficult, if not impossible to source relief staff in remote locations and costs of flying educators in and out of community are high. At the same time, it is children in remote communities who are most educationally vulnerable as so clearly evident from national assessments of literacy and numeracy achievement, school completion rates and participation in employment and higher education. Children in remote and very remote communities require the highest quality early childhood education and care and the best start to their education to underpin strong educational progress. Successful implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework should contribute to building quality programs that will improve developmental outcomes for all children in remote communities. In building the professional learning program to introduce the Early Years Learning Framework to educators in remote early childhood services we have adopted the following interwoven framing principles first articulated in design of the place-based teacher education program in remote Northern Territory communities- Growing our Own (Elliott & Keenan, 2009; Elliott, 2010; Elliott & Keenan, 2011). These are:Celebration of and response to diverse ways of understanding and doing that promote learning in locally relevant and authentic waySensitive responses to educators’ specific learning styles and needs: that is, motivation, need for collaboration, modelling; strategy knowledge and preferred learning strategies; procedures or ways of performing learning actions, reaching learning goals and mastering skills that together form learning style; attention to cognitive, metacognitive (planning, monitoring, controlling) and affective dimensions of learning (including attitudes to learning, volition, motivation, resilience) Acknowledging and accommodating family, kinship and skin group conventions, as relevantBuilding on knowledge confluences of culture, land and place. Asset based learning that values and builds on educators’ domain specific prior knowledge about community, culture, children, families, child development, teaching and learning, and the interrelationships and interactions between the multiple factors that facilitate participation Infusing local cultural identities and knowledge with professionalism as an educatorKnowledge that modelling and demonstration and cooperation, collaboration and team work are central to teaching and learningChildren’s developmental progress and assessments must highlight progress over time (or the “value-added” contributions) as well as end-of program status, as required Provision of in-built professional and personal supports Active engagement of family, community and elders and wider ‘school’ community and/or linked-in services (eg. health services, playgroups; Families as First teachers etc) Program design and delivery that capitalises on and is infused with the day-to-day work of educators in the early childhood service.Importantly, place-based professional learning must be delivered by culturally responsive educators who can reflect critically on their existing knowledge and understanding about learning in early education contexts and actively seek information about culture, families and children, listen and talk to early childhood educators, share information, and hold high, but realistic expectations for all participants in the program. It must scaffold educators’ learning as they reflect on and extend both local cultural knowledges and practices and contemporary early childhood education ideas and practices, such as those promoted in the Early Years Learning Framework.Development and implementation of the professional learning program also takes into account, where relevant, processes that are consistent with the:AES Guidelines for the Ethical Conduct of Evaluations (2006).AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Indigenous Studies NHMRC Keeping Research on Track: A Guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples about Health Research Ethics (2005)Early Childhood Australia Code of EthicsProfessional Learning program designThe Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia is designed to provide a consistent, but context-adapted framework and set of learning activities to introduce the National Quality Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework that must be customised by the deliverer (facilitator/educator) for each learning site and/or type of service/program. For example, the needs of educators in a remote preschool and a crèche setting may be very different, although both may be located in the same remote community and serve families and children from similar cultural backgrounds and/or the same families. Similarly, the needs of groups of educators will differ considerably within and between communities depending on their circumstances, resources, languages spoken and confidence with spoken and written Standard Australian English. The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia is a set of materials including DVD, and supporting materials and activities to demonstrate the principles, practice and learning outcomes from The Early Years Learning Framework. Its concept and inspiration came from previous work around delivering the Children’s Services Certificate III (Tayler & Guenther, 2008; Tayler, 2008, 2010a) in remote Northern Territory communities. It provides a structure and approach to professional learning for remote Indigenous educators that is evidence based and demonstrably successful. The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia was designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood educators working in very remote communities in Australia. They reflect the need for culturally appropriate approaches to professional learning that ensure successful learning outcomes. Further, the resources highlight the links between the Early Years Learning Framework and holistic approaches to children's development and learning in Indigenous contexts reflecting the input of primary stakeholders, for example educators and critical friends across a range of remote communities. The resources and embedded teaching and learning approaches were developed in collaboration with Indigenous educators and embrace ‘what works’ for them and ‘why’. Tayler’s (2009) work has demonstrated a need to develop specific teaching tools to support a combination of visual learning modes and practice based activities. She found that Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) students studying the Certificate III in Children’s Services who were in various transition stages toward Standard Australian English appreciated and achieved well when using learning activities structured around visual learning, games and activities with richly illustrated texts and lots of opportunities to practice each skill in context. Typically, students completing the Certificate III in Children’s Services using these learning activities had a high success rate in meeting assessment requirements and sustained their enrolment in the course (Tayler, 2009). In utilising a teaching approach with a strong visual and practice base in context, including extensive use of video to model and document learning, students who once struggled to sustain enrolment due to a variety of issues including poor literacy were now more likely to complete assessment work. They completed their study modules more quickly and with greater accuracy. This was particularly important for Indigenous students in remote locations of the Northern Territory who typically attend one or two teaching and learning sessions and then, for mostly cultural reasons, missed sessions and resumed later (Tayler, 2010; 2011). The remote Early Years Learning Framework resource The Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia was developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait early childhood educators working in very remote communities and reflects the principles of cultural fidelity and responsiveness to learning style described in the framing principles above. Its resources are designed for educators who may speak Standard Australian English as a second or third language with varying degrees of confidence or for other reasons lack confidence in using English in a professional and written context. They are also designed for the large proportion of early childhood educators in remote services who have no formal training in early childhood education and care.Resources are a DVD and a Workbook and a series of cards and related activities that can be used for to introduce the main concepts in the Early Years Learning Framework and for planning and programming activities. The DVD contains a series of vignettes that demonstrate each of the Early Years Learning Framework’s outcomes as might apply in a remote early learning setting. The vignettes are aligned to the Workbook which has been adapted from the original Early Years Learning Framework document using text and rich illustrations to illustrate the principles, practices and learning outcomes. The Workbook follows the same structure as the Early Years Learning Framework. The resources and activities are designed to be used in situ as part of a place-based teaching approach that is customised for each setting. The program was designed, trialled and filmed in a range of remote communities in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The concept of ‘place-based’ means it is designed to be integrated with the day to day work of educators. Ideally, a facilitator will work alongside educators as they become familiar with Early Years Learning Framework’s goals and requirements in the context of their service. The main focus is on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators employed in early childhood services who are not normally able to engage in professional learning and who are in varying transition stages toward Standard Australian English. The program supports educators to become familiar with the Early Years Learning Framework and to continue a process of developing competence in planning, implementing and evaluating programs that are consistent with its goals and content. The program does not replace formal qualifications in early childhood education or on-going professional learning. The resources are designed to assist Indigenous educators lay foundations to engender discussion and reflection around, for example, the learning outcomes, intentional teaching and planning in their unique contexts. They are also designed to develop culturally relevant learning activities, environments and inclusive practices in partnership with families. The resources enable opportunities for demonstrating the principles and practices underpinning the Early Years Learning Framework, in context, and around the five specific learning outcomes:a strong sense of identitya connection with their worlda strong sense of well-beingconfidence and involvement in their learning effective communication skillsSpecifically, the resources demonstrate within authentic early childhood cultural contexts the principles and practices underpinning the Early Years Learning Framework in partnership with families. The DVD illustrates each learning outcome with examples from remote early childhood contexts. These are aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework document. The DVD is organised into six sections. Each section demonstrates a specific learning outcome with examples for observation and discussion in a group or individual Professional Learning context/session. In these sessions, early childhood educators are guided through the activities in the workbook and the accompanying demonstrations of the five learning outcomes. The combination of filmed examples and activities are designed to assist educators develop the skills and knowledge to enhance children's development within their own early childhood context. The program is designed to be further customised for specific remote communities and ways of working in remote communities- depending on the contexts of each centre/service and the pedagogic styles of learners. Resources and activities should be contextualised and augmented as necessary by participants. A set of learning cards “Now we’re planning” was customised for the project to enable educators to practise mapping the flow of observation, planning, implementing and documentation learning and in the context of the outcomes framework. This resource has a set of large worksheets using ideas and examples directly from the Workbook. This set of cards is unique in that it provides a format to link information from the Early Years Learning Framework to the planning process, The blank cards are used to customise planning. They are designed to encourage educators to begin developing personalised sets of specific learning activities for each child around the learning outcomes. This helps familiarise educators with the five learning outcomes and, at the same time, think about aspects of child development and ideas which will prompt future planning. As well, the large worksheets support educators to identify activities relevant for particular children, for particular outcomes and for evaluating particular activities. Evidence from place-based use of the resources and teaching approach indicates their effectiveness as described elsewhere (Tayler, 2010).In developing and trialling the remote resources and teaching approaches it was clear that much of the language around concepts of "Belonging, Being and Becoming" caused confusion for educators at times. Principles are difficult to conceptualise through language alone but when used in a richly illustrated, authentic context they become clearer. Educators repeatedly said ‘breaking-down’ the concepts in the Early Years Learning Framework using clear language and illustrations made it easier to understand application in specific contexts. The core teaching strategies to introduce the Early Years Learning Framework are demonstration, modelling and storytelling. The combination of resources are designed so the facilitator demonstrates and models key concepts using the illustrations and vignettes provided together with examples drawn from the context in which the professional learning is being provided. The facilitator then asks the educators to develop and tell a ‘story’ around each concept or idea, thus consolidating their knowledge and demonstrating understanding in context. The story can be ‘told’ in words and/or pictures. Evidence from Tayler’s (2008; 2009; 2010) work demonstrates that Indigenous educators for whom English is an additional language and those who struggle with Standard Australian English texts for other reasons, readily respond to and engage with the ideas and concepts using a combination of multimedia such as pictorial images, video and text. They can use the media to create their own stories (in video) around the ideas in practice. The most challenging aspects around introducing the Early Years Learning Framework in remote communities is providing professional learning which is accessible to educators of varying professional and cultural backgrounds. As in other early childhood educational contexts, educators in remote communities bring diverse strengths to the centre or service. These diversities necessitate the development of educational approaches and tools which accommodate individual learning needs. A particular challenge in working with early childhood educators who lack English literacy confidence is providing close support and mentoring to develop clear understandings of professional content, in this case the Early Years Learning Framework. Facilitators must then ensure there is a robust model for developing a sustainable process for ongoing observations, planning, implementing, reflecting and evaluating and for documenting learning outcomes at the level of the service and individual child. Probably most important in implementing professional learning around the Early Years Learning Framework for remote contexts, is developing a positive, supportive and respectful relationship with educators, understanding the key cultural features and dynamics of the group, and drawing on local Indigenous knowledges. In the initial meetings with educators extensive discussion about the centre or service, how things operate at present, important cultural issues and ways of doing and knowing, and current ways of planning for learning is essential. A trusting relationship with educators, honouring the diversity of their families, communities and cultural contexts is central to planning activities around the Early Years Learning Framework and empowering educators to articulate culturally relevant ways of ‘Belonging, Being and Becoming’. Providing professional developmentEvidence on ‘what works’ in the wider teacher professional learning arena points to the effectiveness of context-infused and context-rich learning (Elliott, 2009; Price & Jackson-Barrett, 2009). In the absence of published research on effective professional learning models for remote Indigenous communities, experience with remote educators in the Strong Foundations and Growing our Own programs in the Northern Territory (Elliott, 2010; Elliott & Keenan, 2009), in teaching Children’s Services courses (Tayler & Guenther, 2008) and in trialling the Early Years Learning Framework resources for remote communities indicates that when programs are carefully targeted and thoughtfully designed to suit a local context and are implemented in situ they are well received and effective. Similarly, evidence from First Nations communities in North America highlights the value of context-rich, place-based professional learning (Beckett, 1998). Importantly, we believe that effective professional learning in culturally and linguistically diverse communities where cultural traditions around learning are different from those in the ‘mainstream’ and where educators may not have conventional formal educational qualifications, must:Recognise the interrelationships and interactions between the multiple factors that encourage and enable participation, Recognise the professional, personal and academic preparedness of prospective participants,Be responsive to alternative learning approaches and pathways of participants, and Contain in-built professional and personal supports. Our view is that programs are only successful if they draw on the learning needs and styles of Indigenous educators and locally relevant and culturally responsive knowledge and experience together with contemporary pedagogies (Tayler, 2010a, 2010b, 2011; Elliott, 2010)). Further, programs must develop both ‘school ways’ of knowing and doing while building a knowledge and practice base informed by local content and context (Elliott & Keenan, 2009; 2011). Educators/facilitators delivering programs must be responsive to local needs and recognise that Indigenous early childhood educators provide the cognitive and social bridges between the service and community. They know and ‘live’ their culture and they know the families and children who use the local early childhood services (Elliott, 2009; Tayler, 2010a).Underpinning the present approach to professional learning around the Early Years Learning Framework are the following premises (Elliott, 2009; Elliott & Keenan, 2009; 2011;Tayler, 2010a). Professional learning must:Be assets-based, that is build on community and educators’ strengths and use educators’ extensive early childhood experience and expertise as a basis for developing/extending relevant knowledge around the Early Years Learning Framework in practical ways Infuse local cultural identities and knowledge with contemporary understandings of professionalism as an early childhood educatorConnect personal Indigenous knowledges with contemporary (Western focused) early childhood teaching and learning theory and practiceCelebrate and respond to diverse ways of understanding and doing; promote learning in local relevant and authentic waysActively engage family, community and elders and wider ‘school’ community and/or linked-in services (health, playgroups; Families as First teachers etc where practical)Draw on prior knowledge of children and development and teaching and learning together with perceived and articulated learning needs and styles to shape and enrich pedagogy Recognise that educators within the one service will learn in different ways and have distinct learning needs as a cohort as well as individually Recognise that learning styles and motivations will differ within and between educators depending on personal and contextual factors including home language(s) spoken and English literacyEnsure program design and delivery capitalises on and is infused with the day to day work of educators in the early childhood serviceCustomise the overall program to respond to available learning spaces and resources Target learning to meet educators’ specific learning needs (motivation, collaboration, modelling etc) that together combine to form ‘learning style’ and preferred learning strategies (procedures or ways of performing learning actions, reaching learning goals and mastering skills)Preparation, risks and challengesWhile the pedagogy and content of the professional learning program is clearly important, there are specific preparations that must be considered in delivering professional learning to remote communities that are not normally encountered elsewhere. Most critical is adequate preparation and planning as each community is different and contexts vary considerably from those normally encountered, even in provincial or rural communities. Preparation and context-specific accommodations It is essential that those delivering the professional learning at each site understand the structural and operational features of the service including the existing staff profile, current understandings of child development, approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, and routines and resources. Concomitantly, they must ensure services (and families) are well informed about the goals and structure of the proposed professional development experience and its value in building quality education and care experiences for children.Risks and challengesThere are always risks and challenges in delivering professional learning programs, whatever the context. In remote communities, these risks and challenges are heightened by the complexity of the communities and isolation. Risks and challenges can be categorised across four main and interacting dimensionsStructural challenges related to the early childhood service types/programs in operation and logistics involved in organising a 5 day professional development program for each setting that suits the service and the program deliverer and educators’ availability around existing responsibilities and routines Conceptual challenges related to existing cultural, education and practical approaches to early childhood service management, education and programmingPedagogic challenges related to motivation of participants, commitment, existing domain knowledge and required teaching strategiesResource challenges related to delivering a quality professional learning program with available materials, transport and accommodation, and centre infrastructure. As in other areas of professional learning, and teaching more broadly, success is heavily dependent on the quality of the teaching team or individual teacher (Hattie, 2006; Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford & Taggart (2010). The availability, responsiveness and quality of educators delivering the professional learning are critical. In addition to the core requirement of quality teaching, specific challenges might include:Varying attendance and/or changes in participating educators over the course of the 5 day professional learning period due a number of factors but predominantly family and cultural commitmentsCreating adequate time for daily reflection on program and planning together for teaching the next day is limited because of the demands of day to day routines and programs for childrenEnsuring appropriate resources on site and planning for variations, changes and variabilityLack of community accommodation; inability to find suitable learning spaces and accommodation the duration of the professional learning programImportant in planning and delivering the professional learning program is consideration of the changing environment of each service, centre and/or community in response to local cultural issues. This is likely to necessitate ongoing review and consequent revisions to plans, expected outcomes, delivery schedules and pedagogies, while at the same time ensuring consistency of outcomes as presented in the overall professional learning program. Facilitators must undertake on-going customisation of program delivery protocols to ensure they reflect changing contexts, lessons learnt and changing priorities during the implementation process.References, readings and resourcesABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2008). Childhood education and care, Catalogue? 4402.0, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.Australian Council for Educational Research (2002). Rural and urban differences in Australian education. Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, Briefing Paper 5. Melbourne.Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2011). Child protection Australia 2009–10, Child welfare series no.51. Cat. no. CWS 39, AIHW, Canberra. Barnett, W.S. (2003). Low wages = low quality: Solving the real preschool teacher crisis, New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research.Bennett, J. (2003). Starting Strong: The persistent division between care and education. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 1(1), 21-48. Bennett, J. (2008). Early childhood education and care systems in the OECD countries: The issue of tradition and governance. In R. Tremblay, R. Peters, R.Barr, & M. Boivin (Eds.), Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development. Becket, D. R. (1998). Increasing the number of Latino and Nvajo teachers in hard to staff schools, Journal of Teacher Education, 49(3), 196-206.Breier, M. (2005). A disciplinary-specific approach to the recognition of prior informal experience in adult pedagogy: 'rpl' as opposed to 'RPL'. Studies in Continuing Education, 27(1), pp.51-65. Centre for the Study of Higher Education University of Melbourne (2008) Participation and equity. A review of the participation in higher education of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous people, Prepared for Universities Australia by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education University of Melbourne, March 2008COAG (Council of Australian Governments). (2009). Investing in the early years. A national early childhood development strategy, Canberra: COAG.COAG (Council of Australian Governments). (2010). Early Childhood Workforce, Childhood/Policy_Agenda/EarlyChildhoodWorkforce/ Pages/home.aspx (accessed 1?May 2011).Commonwealth of Australia (2011). Stronger futures discussion paper. Canberra: Commonwealth of AustraliaCharles Darwin University (2007). Certificate III in Children’s Services. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (2009). Early Years Learning Framework. Belonging, Being & Becoming. Canberra: Australian Government.COAG (2011), National Indigenous Reform Agreement: Performance Report for 2009–10, COAG Reform Council, Sydney. (Community and Disability Services Ministers’ Advisory Council) (2009). A strategic assessment of the children’s services industry, Adelaide: CSDMAC. Craven, R.G., Tucker, A., Munns, G., Hinkley, J., Marsh, H.W. & Simpson, K. (2005). Indigenous students’ aspirations: Dreams, perceptions and realities. Department of Education, Science and Training. Canberra; Commonwealth of Australia: Copple, C. & Bredecamp, S. Eds. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs. Washington DEC. The National Association for the Education of Young ChildrenDEEWR (2009). Investing in the early years. A national Early Childhood Development Strategy, Canberra: DEEWR. .au/earlychildhood/policy_ agenda/Pages/home.aspxDEEWR (2010). The Early Years Learning Framework in Action. Canberra: DEEWR. .au/earlychildhood/policy_agenda/Pages/home.aspxDowling, A. & O’Malley, K. (2009). Preschool Education in Australia. Policy Briefs. Camberwell, Vic: Australian Council for Educational Research. , D.M., Maxwell, K.L., Burchinal, M., Alva, S., Bender, R.H. & Bryant, D. (2007). Teachers’ education, classroom quality, and young children’s academic skills: Results from seven studies of preschool programs. Child Development, 78, 558-580.Ebbeck, M. & Waniganayake, M. (2011). Play in early childhood education. Learning in diverse contexts. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Elliott, A. (2006). Early childhood education. Pathways to quality and equity, Australian Education Review, No 50. Whole issue. , A. (2010). Moving forward with the National Quality Framework, Every Child, 16(4), p. 2. Elliott, A. (2009). Learning styles and curriculum customisation for higher education delivery in remote Australian communities. In Charlesworth, Z., Evans, C. & Cools (Eds). Learning in higher education: How style matters. pp. 221-231, Gorkeho, Czech Republic: Tribuen EU. Elliott, A. (2007). Improving early childhood quality through standards, accreditation and regulations (pp. 199-219), In E. Hill, B. Pocock, & A Elliott, Kids count. Better early childhood education and care for Australia. Sydney: University of Sydney Press.Elliott, A. & Keenan, B. (2009). Teacher education for remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Paper presented at the ISFIRE National Conference. Armidale UNE, Feb 11-13.Elliott, A. & Keenan, B. (2010). Strong Foundations. Paper presented at the Early Childhood Australia Conference. Adelaide, Oct, 2010.Elliott, A . & Keenan, B. (2011). Expanding educational opportunities through place-based initial teacher education in very remote communities. Paper presented at the 24th World Conference on Distance and Open Learning. Denpasar, Oct 2nd to 5th, 2011.Elliott, A., Fasoli, L. & Nutton, G. (2009). NT Early childhood audit. Darwin, NT: Department of Education.Grunewald, R. & Rolnick, A. (2007). A productive investment in early childhood development. In M.Young (Ed.), Early childhood development: From measurement to action (pp. 17-42). Washington: World BankHattie, J.A. (2005). What is the nature of evidence that makes a difference to learning? Research Conference 2005 Proceedings (pp. 11-21). Camberwell, VIC: Australian Council for Educational Research. acer.edu.au. Jolley, R. (ed) (2011). Thinking ahead. Why we need to improve children’s mental health and wellbeing, London: Faculty of Public Health, St Andrews Place.Northern Territory Government (2010). Growing them Strong, Together: Promoting the safety and wellbeing of the Northern Territory’s children, Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Government, Darwin. Phillips, R. (2005). Professional learning needs assessment. Report prepared for the Institute for Inclusive Learning Communities Board: Tasmania.Price, A. & Jackson-Barrett, E. (2009). Developing an early childhood teacher workforce development strategy for rural and remote communities, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 34 (6), pp. 41-51.Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. & Taggart, B. (eds) (2010). Early childhood matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project. London: Routledge.Stanwick, J. (2006). Outcomes from higher-level vocational education and training qualifications. NCVER. Retrieved June 20, 2011 , C. & Guenther, J. (2008). Indigenous Training and Development Project: Using technology innovatively for low literacy learners. Presented at the No Frill Conference, Tasmania, 2008.Tayler, C. (2008). WIPCE Indigenous training and development project: Using technology innovatively for low literacy learners. World Indigenous People’s Congress, Rod Laver Centre, Melbourne, Victoria.Tayler, C. (2010a). Adapting the Early Years Learning Framework for Remote Indigenous Educators. Paper presented at the Early Childhood Australia Conference, Adelaide.Tayler, C. (2010b). Adapting the Early Years Learning Framework for early childhood settings in remote Indigenous communities. OMEP 2010, SwedenTayler, C. (2011). The Early Years Learning Framework in remote Indigenous Early Childhood settings. Paper presented at the World Indigenous People’s Congress, Peru August 2011, Thomson, S. & De Bortoli, L. (2008). Exploring scientific literacy: How Australia measures up. The PISA 2006 survey of students’ scientific, reading and mathematical literacy skills. Australian Council for Educational Research: Melbourne.Key references and resources for the Remote Indigenous Professional Development Package for the Early Years Learning Framework for AustraliaCOAG (Council of Australian Governments). (2009). Investing in the early years. A national early childhood development strategy, Canberra: COAG.COAG (Council of Australian Governments). (2010). Early Childhood Workforce, Childhood/Policy_Agenda/EarlyChildhoodWorkforce/ Pages/home.aspx (accessed 1?May 2011).Commonwealth of Australia (2011). Stronger futures discussion paper. Canberra: Commonwealth of AustraliaCharles Darwin University (2007). Certificate III in Children’s Services. Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia.Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (2009). Early Years Learning Framework. Belonging, Being & Becoming. Canberra: Australian Government.COAG (2011), National Indigenous Reform Agreement: Performance Report for 2009–10, COAG Reform Council, Sydney. (Community and Disability Services Ministers’ Advisory Council) (2009). A strategic assessment of the children’s services industry, Adelaide: CSDMAC. DEEWR (2009b). Investing in the early years. A national Early Childhood Development Strategy, Canberra: DEEWR. .au/earlychildhood/policy_ agenda/Pages/home.aspxDEEWR (2010). The Early Years Learning Framework in Action. Canberra: DEEWR. .au/earlychildhood/policy_agenda/Pages/home.aspxEbbeck, M. & Waniganayake, M. (2011). Play in early childhood education. Learning in diverse contexts. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Elliott, A. (2006). Early childhood education. Pathways to quality and equity, Australian Education Review, No 50. Whole issue. , A. (2010). Moving forward with the National Quality Framework, Every Child, 16(4), p. 2. Elliott, A. (2009). Learning styles and curriculum customisation for higher education delivery in remote Australian communities. In Charlesworth, Z., Evans, C. & Cools (Eds). Learning in higher education: How style matters. pp. 221-231, Gorkeho, Czech Republic: Tribuen EU. Elliott, A. (2007). Improving early childhood quality through standards, accreditation and regulations (pp. 199-219), In E. Hill, B.Pocock, & A.Elliott, Kids count. Better early childhood education and care for Australia. Sydney: University of Sydney Press.Elliott, A. & Keenan, B. (2009). Teacher education for remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Paper presented at the ISFIRE National Conference. Armidale UNE, Feb 11-13.Elliott, A. & Keenan, B. (2010). Strong Foundations. Paper presented at the Early Childhood Australia Conference. Adelaide, Oct, 2010.Tayler, C. & Guenther, J. (2008). Indigenous Training and Development Project: Using technology innovatively for low literacy learners. Presented at No Frill Conference, Tasmania, 2008.Tayler, C. (2008). WIPCE Indigenous training and development project: Using technology innovatively for low literacy learners. World Indigenous People’s Congress, , Rod Laver Centre, Melbourne, Victoria.Tayler, C. (2010a). Adapting the Early Years Learning Framework for Remote Indigenous Educators. Paper presented at the Early Childhood Australia Conference, Adelaide.Tayler, C. (2010b). Adapting the Early Years Learning Framework for early childhood settings in remote Indigenous communities. OMEP 2010, SwedenTayler, C. (2011). The Early Years Learning Framework in remote Indigenous Early Childhood settings. Paper presented at the World Indigenous People’s Congress, Peru August 2011, ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download