PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION - Gowrie SA

1 GowrieSouth Australia1 PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION :A SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVEG owrieSouth AustraliaA resource for early education and care educator teamsWritten by Jamie Huff Sisson and Victoria Whitington GowrieSouth Australia2 Copyright 2017 All rights reserved. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, sold or re-distributed without the express written permission of the publisher. Written by Jamie Huff Sisson and Victoria Whitington First published in 2017 by Gowrie SAISBN: 978-0-646-97613-6 (e-book) Gowrie SA 39a Dew Street Thebarton, SA 5031 Email: Web: Australia3We acknowledge the Adelaide Plains Kaurna People s spiritual relationship with the country on which this ebook was developed.

2 We recognise that their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with this land is of continuing importance to the Kaurna. We also acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples relationship with the lands on which this ebook will be read. This ebook was made possible with funding from the Department for Education and Child Development as part of the Strengthening Universal Access to Preschool project that extended from 2014 to 2016. We would like to acknowledge that the content of the book is informed by the work of key researchers into PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION , Carla Rinaldi and colleagues, Ann Pelo, Marilyn Fleet and colleagues, and Margaret Carr and Wendy Lee, and sociocultural perspectives.

3 Many early childhood teachers, educators and directors participated very actively in the Strengthening Universal Access Project. We acknowledge their energy, enthusiasm and rich contributions to the overall project, and to the thinking and examples in this ebook. We would particularly like to thank Seaford District Community Children s Centre, Seymour Early Learning Centre and Gowrie SA educators who all submitted examples for use in this Strengthening Universal Access Project included a reference group that met at intervals and provided valuable advice to the researchers and project team.

4 We acknowledge their important contribution. The reference group included representatives from all major early childhood Australia4 Jamie Huff Sisson (PhD) is a Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of South Australia. Previously Jamie was an early childhood teacher and educational consultant in the United States working with sites in moving toward emergent and inquiry based pedagogies. Jamie s contribution to the project included two Emergent and Inquiry Based lectures and lecture meetings and facilitating hub groups as well as working with Elspeth McInnes and Victoria Whitington on the Universal Access project evaluation.

5 Victoria Whitington (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of South Australia. Previously Victoria worked as both an early childhood and primary teacher in South Australia and Canada. Victoria contributed the lectures and lecture meetings on Leadership and PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION and facilitated hub groups. She also worked with Elspeth McInnes and Jamie Sisson on the Universal Access project evaluation. Mary Scales is the Program Leader for the Professional Learning Programs at Gowrie SA.

6 Previously Mary worked as a kindergarten teacher and has held a number of leadership and project management roles. Mary led this Universal Access project funded by DECD which assisted educational leaders and early childhood teachers in 76 services. Carrie Mitton is an Educational Mentor working for Gowrie SA in this project. Her past her roles have included training and assessment, consultancy, teaching and coaching within the education and care sector. She worked with educators within sites through mentoring, special events and hub groups to build capacity and deepen learning and reflection within those theProject TeamGowrieSouth Australia5 Krystal Kimble Krystal is an Educational Mentor in this project.

7 Currently she is also the Children s Program Leader across Thebarton and Underdale sites of Gowrie SA. Her past roles have also included kindergarten teacher and team leader. In this project, she supported sites through mentoring, inquiry projects and a regional hub group and special events for Zadow is an Educational Mentor in this project working for Gowrie SA and has previously worked as a teacher and director within kindergartens and primary schools over sixteen years. She supported educators in sites through a mentoring and facilitating role, with a particular focus on educator-based inquiry, hub group networks and events for early childhood would also like to acknowledge previous members of the Universal Access team, Dr Elspeth McInnes, Lyndsay Healey and Anne Mitchell.

8 Each of these individuals have made early contributions to this project that have been important to our learning journey. About theProject TeamGowrieSouth Australia6 Beginning in 2014 Gowrie SA and University of SA joined in a venture funded by the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development to provide support in a variety of ways for long day childcare centres offering Universal Access preschool programs as part of the Australian National Quality Agenda (2009) and the National Quality Framework (2012).

9 Data collected from the needs analysis suggested that participants were interested in professional development concerning leadership, emergent and inquiry based curriculum and PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION . Lectures and lecture meetings, local hub groups, site visits, and online resources focused on these topics were offered to participating centres and their staff over one year, and extended to a second year in which additional centres joined us, then a third year. The evaluation of the work of the first year showed that centres found the offerings most useful in the establishment and development of a Universal Access preschool program, with resources a valued component.

10 As the end of the project was near we decided to develop a resource on PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION to explore how PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION can be used to inform practice in rich and meaningful ways. It is our hope that this resource is useful for those who participated in the project and beyond in exploring PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION . PrefaceGowrieSouth Australia7 PrefaceThe purpose of this e-book is to provide sites with a resource to support their teams in understanding and engaging in PEDAGOGICAL DOCUMENTATION to make children s and educators learning visible.