A Night at the Opera

Last night I had the pleasure of going to the Opera with my youngest son Tommy. He had made it known earlier in the year that he would like to go to an Opera and as it was not something I had ever contemplated doing, I said I would look into it.
Macbeth was the chosen Opera (a marvelous production from the New Zealand Operatic Society), listening and watching this got me thinking about how good stories stand the test of time.
I have read Macbeth at school, seen it as a play at the Silo Theatre in Auckland, watched it on T.V as a part of the fabulous ‘Shakespeare Retold’ series and now I have had the pleasure of seeing it as an Opera.
Good stories stand the test of time!
What is it that sets these stories apart from other stories and what does this mean for the stories we write for the children in our early childhood centres? Will the stories you write today be as enduring for these children as Shakespeare?
I had an email a couple of weeks ago from a child I used to have at kindergarten (he is now ten) and he started by saying, ‘Hello Jo, I was looking through my portfolio last night.’ We know children will keep revisiting their portfolios long after they have left early childhood, so the stories we write will have to be robust enough to stand the test of time.
Some things in life are never ending, revisiting good stories is one of them.
Ka Kite
Jo

Message from Berlin

As many of you know, the ELP team spent some time in the UK and Germany this year to deliver workshops and lectures about the NZ approach to early childhood education. In Berlin we stayed with our friend Sibylle who not only organised 2 conferences in Berlin and Teltow, but who also took us on a fabulous sightseeing programme and even challenged us to go on a bike ride around Potsdam. 

Sibylle wrote the following post for our blog:


The wonderful ELP Team has been in Berlin and Brandenburg in Germany! Many teachers had the chance to take part in the ELP conference 'Do you let me fly? Stories about learning from Aotearoa New Zealand'. It was amazing for me and a great gift to see and to feel the enthusiasm which inspired so many people. I would like to send some of the participant's statements round the globe. 
Thank you! Sibylle Haas in Berlin, Germany.

"Now we trust the power of writing assessments in the narrative way, we are confident that we are able to write learning stories…" 
"'Personal attitude' is the magic word..."
"One day - that is too short [for this kind of event]." 
"The guests from New Zealand brought the spirit of learning stories to Berlin, they confirmed that we're on the right track and we learned a lot more."
"It was awesome, inspiring, funny and very hot! Passion makes everything possible. The conference was very helpful and empowering." 
"The examplars and films were very interesting." 
"Most important for me was the comparison of our assessment approach (the yellow book) with the New Zealand Curriculum and the roots of assessment. As a school teacher I learned a lot today."
"To hear the New Zealanders live was a great opportunity – very impressive and enthusiastic women!!"

On the Mat - Wrestling with the BIG ONE!

“Mat times”, “Group times”, “Circle times”, “Meeting times” and “Whānau times” feature largely in our early learning centre programmes and fill the curriculum.


In her upcoming lecture, Kathryn will wrestle with ideas on teachers’ learning intentions and possible learning outcomes for children. - A lecture not to be missed!


Auckland: 14th September, 7pm-9pm,  Kohia Education Centre, Epsom Campus, Auckland University
Hamilton: 21st September, 7pm-9pm, PWC (MSB1.04), Management School, University of Waikato


Costs: $40 for ELP Members, $45 for non-members, $30 for full-time students


For more information (maps, upcoming lectures etc.) please visit out website: www.elp.co.nz

Where is your vegetable garden?

Arriving home after 3 months away to be met by knee-length grass, muddy slopes, a disappearing gravel driveway and a vegetable garden that any cow wanting sweet green grass would be delighted by - was enough to stop me in my tracks. Well where do you start? Every time I pulled a weed out the hole filled up with water. Still the gardener in me persisted and I planted my seeds in my conservatory and my mini garden is thriving, waiting for dry days to be planted out. This got me thinking…..


Where is your vegetable garden, do you have one? Hopefully yes. And hopefully it's not stuck around in some pokey, uninteresting corner that nobody visits, but takes up plenty of space, is accessible and more importantly alive! Why oh why are we constraining ourselves with small square modular boxes for a few dying vegetables? What are we telling our children about the joy of growing our own food, and learning about the wonders of the growing seasons. Plants can grow anywhere and in almost anything. I have seen small gardens hanging on containers off fences, in tyres, in old wheelbarrows, in fact anything that can hold some soil can hold a plant. It doesn’t have to be purpose built and cost a small fortune. Soil is readily available in the ground, with a bit of additions it can quickly be ready to grow something. Children are quite able to dig, and very willing. Seeds are the cheapest way to get started. So what are you waiting for?


Let's fill our spaces with plants and start a year-round growing cycle in centres. Plants can be grown indoors, and if we make excuses that our children won’t look after them, we are setting the scene for expectations of failure. Children do respect the environment when they are surrounded by fabulous role models who have a genuine interest in what they are doing.


I would love to see fruit trees planted wherever there is a space for one to grow. Natural shade is unbeatable. Our environments are becoming so plastic, so unnatural that sometimes it is hard to believe that centres are actually located in New Zealand. So what a joy it is to see places where there is grass -yes it will be muddy at this time of year - welcome to nature. To see food being grown and picked, prepared and eaten in centres is a wonderful thing. There are places where children wander through their gardens showing a sense of ownership and also respect. Scenes like this fill my heart with hope. I know around New Zealand there are centres that have a strong and established culture of gardening. If your centre is not yet one of these, why not find a centre in your area to visit for inspiration. Clean, green New Zealand is sadly a fast fading image. However we know that what happens in Early Childhood Education can change the world, so let's get started on a gardening revolution. Find a spade and a few willing helpers and away you go……. Don’t forget to take some photos.


Alison

Don't be careful, you'll hurt yourself!!

In recent months risk has been a focus of some of the work of ELP, Wendy reveals a little insight into this work she has been sharing with teachers around NZ.

In a climate of increasing regulation and media hype it is vital that teachers stand back and reflect on the current notions of risk management. These risk averse views can, in the words of Michael Unger, create some very serious longer term problems, “Odd as it may sound, there is a connection between all the security we offer children and why kids behave violently, do drugs, and take risks with their bodies, minds, and spirits.” Take time to read Michael Unger’s book Too Safe for Their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive, I am sure you will find this a most worthwhile read as both a teacher and a parent in dealing on the day to day level with issues of risk.


Yes, the world is full of risks. Some are good risks and some are bad. Some would say, as indeed Beck does, that the society we now live in is “no longer concerned with attaining something good, but rather than preventing the worse?”. As teachers we need to turn this around in our early childhood settings. Children need to learn from a very young age how to both recognise and respond to risks in their environment. Risks provide a fabulous opportunity to learn. The struggle is important, valuing the struggle is important. It is through struggle and endeavour that we build our skills and experience and strengthen our learning. As Carol Dweck says, “You can see how the belief that cherished qualities can be developed creates a passion for learning... The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives“. Carol Dweck’s book entitled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is a must read for all teachers. In my opinion every educational setting in the country should purchase this book.


It has the potential to change lives and minds! We as teachers need to consider these ideas in relation to providing opportunities for risk and responsibility. In the words of Gever Tulley "...there are aspects of danger in virtually everything we do, the trick is to learn how mastery actually minimizes danger. Walking is dangerous when we start as babies, but we persevere and it becomes safe. Next we learn to negotiate stairs. Why stop there? Why not practice and become proficient at walking on the roof or walking on a tightrope?” Listen to Gever Tulley on TED.com, I think his lectures would provide a great starting point for a parent or staff discussion group. It is useful to consider the freedom that so many of us had as children as we explored the world beyond our homes. So many of us appear to have brought into the notion that our streets are dangerous. This is not the reality, the most dangerous places for our children are in fact their homes. The statistics show this very conclusively. Many children are no longer experiencing a world of challenge and risk. We are turning a generation of children into ‘bubble wrap children’, we need to work with families to provide environments that are rich in opportunities for children to fail and to go on to pick themselves up and have another go. Giving children opportunities to learn their limits and how to bounce back so that they build resilience and persistence. It is through these pathways that children will strengthen a growth mindset.

Haere atu rā e whaea Bobi

From the ELP team our deepest sympathy to all those touched by the sudden passing of Whaea Bobi Dempsey of Aunty’s childcare centre.  Ki a Cherie, ngā kaiako, ngā tamariki me o koutou whānau, a te whānau pani, ngā mihi arohanui ki a koutou katoa.

Physically we are unable to be with you today at Whaea Bobi’s funeral as our team is working in Sweden and Germany for this month, however our thoughts will most certainly be focused on you all today and beyond.

Haere atu rā e whaea Bobi, haere atu rā ki tua o te arai, ka mihia koe e Hine nui te Pō, ka mihia koe e to whānau. Moe mai rā, moe mai rā, moe mai rā.

Young thrive with skilled teachers - NZ Herald 25 June 2010

Margaret Carr and Linda Mitchell on why early childhood centres need qualified staff

We found it startling that questions are being raised about whether teachers in early childhood services should be qualified.
Especially when we know know so much about the significance for lifelong learning of the early years and about the complexity of the education and care task.
Prime Minister John Key is wrong to say "It is a matter of personal belief as to whether a high proportion of centre staff should be trained [teachers]".
This is not so. It is a matter of an informed and evidence-based decision.
Questions about qualified versus non-qualified teachers would never be raised about the adults who teach 5 and 6 (or older) year-olds in school.

The lessening of targets for employing qualified teachers and the removal of the top two rates of funding for early childhood services employing 80 to 100 per cent registered teachers will undermine the high quality of early childhood education that New Zealand should be aiming for.
The services that will be hardest hit are those very services that have managed to achieve a highly qualified workforce and that offer an inspiration and exemplar to others.
Research evidence is clear that positive outcomes for children and families participating in early childhood education depend on the quality of staff; child interactions; the learning resources available; programmes that engage children, and a supportive environment for children to work together.
The outcomes for a child include things such as motivation, persistence, reciprocity, resilience and imagination that will set children on a life-long learning journey.

They include cognitive outcomes such as numeracy, reading and language progress - outcomes the Government is particularly interested in.
A key characteristic of a early childhood service supporting these child outcomes is that the adults working with children hold early childhood teacher qualifications.

This was the finding of the 2003 US National Institute of Child Health and Development study on the impact of childcare quality on children's cognitive development.
Across 10 countries, a 2006 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement study of nearly 2000 children found that as levels of teacher education increased children's age-7 language performance improved.
The study found that teachers with more education use more words and more complex language in communicating with children.

Another US study of 800 4-year-olds, using data from the National Centre for Early Development and Learning, linked higher levels of teachers' education to gains on standardised measures of mathematics skills.

A myth has spread that early childhood education is over funded. Quite the reverse. New Zealand spends less on early childhood education than many countries.
A recent Unicef report (2008) suggested a benchmark and minimum level of 1 per cent of GDP should be spent by governments to ensure that childcare is managed in the best interests of children and societies.
New Zealand's level of funding is only 0.6 per cent of GDP. Its spending has increased three fold in the past five years, but it was woefully inadequate before.
And costs have increased because there are more services, more children participating, and more children attending longer hours than five years ago.
Money spent now on early childhood education saves money in the long run.

Together with Cathy Wylie at the NZ Council for Educational Research we recently completed a literature survey of outcomes of early childhood education, published by the Ministry of Education.
We found that investing in good quality early childhood education can bring actual cost benefits to government as well as to children and families.
One relevant study of quality provision with teaching staff qualified in special education and early childhood development followed the children to middle age.
It found that a dollar spent in early childhood saved $17 at age 40 in terms of the later cost of social services and criminal convictions, and the tax benefits from employment.

Key says that "There will be some [centre owners] that in the end say, "I want to be 100 per cent teacher-led", and I suspect that will be driven by the parents who send their children there and they may be prepared to pay a little bit more.
High income families whose children participate in early childhood centres will be able to afford the fees to maintain the high quality standard of 100 per cent qualified staff.
But low income families will not.
Economic inequality will now be associated from the early years with educational inequity.

The new education policy established by the May budget says that we cannot afford the financial cost of qualified teachers to provide care and education for all of New Zealand's youngest and most vulnerable of children.
We say that as a nation we cannot afford not to - the long-term social, economic and educational cost is too high.


Margaret Carr is Professor of Education and Dr Linda Mitchell is Senior Lecturer (Early Childhood Education) at the University of Waikato.