Notes On An Unhurried Journey

While getting lost in the internet, as I often do - sometimes only to surface several hours later for a coffee and a time to ponder on the journey, I found these wonderful words by Professor T. Ripaldi at:  https://en.wordpress.com/tag/professor-t-ripaldi/

Notes On An Unhurried Journey

When we adults think of children, there is a simple truth which we ignore; childhood is not preparation for life; childhood is life. A child isn’t getting ready to live; a child is living. The child is constantly confronted with the nagging question: “What are you going to be?” Courageous would be the youngster who, looking the adult squarely in the face, would say, “I’m not going to be anything; I already am.”

We adults would be shocked by such an insolent remark, for we have forgotten, if indeed we ever knew, that a child is an active participating and contributing member of society from the time he is born. Childhood isn’t a time when he is moulded into a human who will then live life; he is a human who is living life. No child will miss the zest and joy of living unless these are denied him by adults who have convinced themselves that childhood is a period of preparation.

How much heartache we would save ourselves if we would recognize the child as a partner with adults in the process of living, rather than always viewing him as an apprentice. How much we would teach each other… adults with the experience and children with the freshness. How full both our lives could be. 

A little child may not lead us, but at least we ought to discuss the trip with him; for, after all, life is his and her journey too.

In the book He Pou Tātaki - How ERO Reviews Early Childhood Service it is very clear about the expectation for collaboration of everyone involved in the ECE service.  One of the contributing elements to Pou Arahi is:
"Establishing and developing the organisation culture of the service " under this element an indicator of good practice is:

"Collaborative ways of working are fostered with everyone involved in the service. "

This is a very broad view of collaboration that includes everyone in aspects such as:

self review,

strategic planning,

annual plans,

assessment & planning,

staff appraisals, 

policy & philosophy review.

 Everyone includes teachers, children, whānau, managers and board members in varying degrees depending on what you are looking at.  If we are truly seeking the best for our tamariki having a broad base perspective will assist us as we refining and reflect on our practices because it will not be about one person's perspective any more but rather they ideas of the collective.   As we gather everyone's ideas and thoughts then filter these with current research we will have self review, planning, assessment etc that is rich with   knowledge, culture and passions. 

Outdoors

Tim Gill is one of the UK’s leading thinkers on childhood, and an effective advocate for positive change in children’s everyday lives. This video and the below graphic are from Tim Gill's Twitter page: https://twitter.com/timrgill  Gill is talking about older children having the freedom to be part of the wider community.  As he said the issues around this are complex and I wonder if one of the issues is risk aversion.  Are we cotton wooling children to the degree that they would not be able to cope at the age of 6 or 7 to explore their community? Have they been given the opportunity to make decisions about their play, learn from mistakes, set their own challenges and goals and move into a backyard that is exciting and supportive of them as learners?

Children need to have access to outdoor spaces.  This is an important issue for childcare.  All to often children are unable to freely move between inside and outside spaces due to the ratios within our centres or gates that need a teacher to open them - as the photos show for the St Peters Centre in the last post.  Teachers need to be reflective about their practice and they need to be the advocates for children to ensure that they get the care and education they deserve 100% of the time, not just on the good days when our ratios are better or for that hour that is between morning tea and lunch when we can manage to have the doors open.   Gill talks about the children's shrinking horizons - are we adding to this in ECE by actually reducing children's opportunities to have the freedom to explore even in our  backyard.

Outdoor play and the importance of risk and challenge for children would make a wonderful basis for an action research question for centres who are thinking about providing the best opportunities for children to become thinkers and learners within an environment that supports their innate curiosity. 

Interesting spaces

In our previous post we asked for photos of interesting spaces since New Zealand now has the reputation of, "having overtaken Sweden and Norway as the most innovative designer of children’s spaces in the world. " http://www.icrichild.org/blog/2015/4/9/discovery-in-new-zealand

If you have photos that you would like to share of indoor or outdoor spaces please let us know - you can email us with your photos and blurbs at admin@elp.co.nz

               St Peters Childcare's interesting space

This was the beginning of the journey to transform an outdoor area into a back yard.

Here are a series of photos that show how children add life to a centre.  This centre initially had many gated off areas separating the up to 2's and the over 2's.  Over time the gates were removed creating an open space allowing all children to move freely between the indoors and the backyard.

The willow archway was created with smooth wooden pavers leading to the sandpit.  But alongside that a trickier path of boulders helps to keep stretching children's learning as they attempt to move over the uneven surface.

The plants - mostly edible - have softened the landscape and created a homely backyard rather than an outdoor space.

A crab apple tree forms shade, food and a place to hang a swinging chair.

ECE Innovation

http://www.icrichild.org/blog/2015/4/9/discovery-in-new-zealand

This is a quote from the article above:

"One of the reasons that the New Zealand conference venue was chosen was the fact that the country of New Zealand is now considered by many to house the best designed early childhood programs in the world. New Zealand constantly integrates spectacular, innovative, building designs with natural surroundings indoors and outdoors. New Zealand appears to now have overtaken Sweden and Norway as the most innovative designer of children’s spaces in the world. We believe that all of us have so much to learn from the New Zealand experience of uniting children with beauty, functionality, and nature every day. "

If you have wonderful outdoor or indoor spaces that you want to share with the ECE community please contact us and we would love to put them on the ELP blog.

Reflection

Below are several quotes from author Robert John Meehan who said "Be a reflective teacher. Honestly look at what you do from time to time.  Evaluate the purpose of your role as a teacher."

Being a reflective teacher means  researching, reflecting and evaluating on aspects of our practice.  To keep doing the same thing over and over could be called complacency. Kotter, PJ wrote, "Leaders (teachers) will never state that they have decided to strategically become complacent – however inaction is still a decision, albeit often an emotional rather than logical one. The failure to grasp opportunities to ‘think different’ and take action with a sense of urgency means they have decided to accept the status quo simply because it’s easier for them."

Any one of the below statements from Robert John Meehan could be used as the inspiration to reflect on teaching and learning within our centres.

"Our teaching should always be artfully crafted. It should impart something that is in itself sacred to the senses of our students." 

"The best teachers are those who pass on their zeal and enthusiasm as a legacy to their students." 


 "Learning becomes relevant when we connect it with reality." - Robert John Meehan 

 "Be diligent in trusting that what we do in the classroom could possibly echo for a lifetime in the heart of a student."- Robert John Meehan   

These quotes have come from:


https://prezi.com/_lwbkctu3mcr/a-teachers-journey-chapter-6/

Why Playful Learning is the Key to Prosperity

Below is a link to an interesting post on the Forbes site, happy reading.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2014/04/10/why-playful-learning-is-the-key-to-prosperity/