QUALITY AREA 1 DEVELOPING A LEARNING THROUGH …

1 National QUALITY Standard | Information sheet QUALITY AREA 1. DEVELOPING A. CULTURE OF. LEARNING . THROUGH . REFLECTIVE. PRACTICE. When educators strive to LINKS TO THE NATIONAL DEFINING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE. assess and understand the QUALITY STANDARD. LEARNING from the everyday impact of their practice, The National QUALITY Standard (NQS) Reflective practice is about LEARNING they are engaging in promotes and supports educators to from ordinary and interesting situations reflective practice. engage in reflective practice THROUGH and from the issues and problems that self-assessment. are part of educators' daily experiences. It is a critical examination of not only DEVELOPING a culture of The importance of individual reflective what happened but why.

2 For example, LEARNING THROUGH this practice and a collaborative LEARNING an educator may reflect on the original culture are identified more directly objectives and expected outcomes of a reflective practice drives under QUALITY Area 1, QUALITY Area 4 and plan and consider how they evolved. continuous improvement QUALITY Area 7 of the NQS, in particular: Guiding decision making and focuses attention on Standard : Educators and Critical reflection also allows educators to QUALITY outcomes for co-ordinators are focused, active and engage in bigger questions such as Who children and families. reflective in designing and delivering is advantaged and who is disadvantaged the program for each child.

3 When I work this way?' (Early Years LEARNING Framework, p. 13, Framework Things to reflect on: Element : Critical reflection on for School Age Care, p. 12). How do we observe, listen and children's LEARNING and development, both as individuals and in groups, is By deconstructing or pulling apart'. critically review what is happening experiences and critically examining each THROUGH the day? regularly used to implement aspect, educators can gather information What is the rationale behind our the program. to guide their decision making about practice? what should be repeated or extended Element : Educators, Is the practice consistent with co-ordinators and staff members work and what might be changed.

4 THROUGH this our beliefs, values and service collaboratively and affirm, challenge, process, educators can enrich children's philosophy? support and learn from each other to LEARNING , build their own knowledge and Does our practice foster respect for skills and affirm and challenge further develop their skills, to improve and inclusion of all children and their colleagues. practice and relationships. families? How do other services reflect on Standard : There is a commitment their practice? to continuous improvement . What is best practice? How do we monitor and change our practice? What theories inform our thinking? QUALITY Area 1 | DEVELOPING a culture of LEARNING THROUGH reflective practice By deconstructing or pulling apart' experiences and critically examining each aspect, educators can gather a wealth of information to guide their decisions about what should be repeated or extended and what might be changed.

5 Reflection-in-action Documenting meaningful information Most educators spontaneously engage in reflective practice as The intent of critical reflection is to question philosophy, they make decisions in response to what happens throughout ethics and practice. Recording meaningful information to the day or session. They build on children's discoveries by share with families and authorised officers will demonstrate adding materials and extend children's thinking by posing your process of critical reflection and how it will inform questions or suggesting another way to tackle a problem. your practice. Try to efficiently gather information that will This type of reflection-in-action also occurs when new enrich decision-making about children's LEARNING both as an situations present themselves or established strategies do not individual and in groups.

6 This will help all stakeholders to feel seem to work, and the educator experiments with alternatives included and to understand the thinking behind any changes (Sch n, as cited in Department of Education and Children's and improvements. Services, 2008, p. 141). Reflection-on-action MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES. Thinking about experiences after the event, reflection- on-action provides an opportunity for deeper reflection Sometimes it is difficult to develop a critical perspective of our (Sch n, 2008). It involves thinking about what happened and own practice. New ideas are often better clarified when there questioning how and why a specific practice contributed is an opportunity to talk to other people about them.

7 Team to, extended or detracted from children's LEARNING , or discussions and debates provide an opportunity for educators the educators' relationships with families and exploring to challenge each other and to use their collective knowledge alternative approaches. This type of reflection might take and perspectives to improve practice. place at the end of the day or, in more complex situations, over a period of weeks or even months. A culture of openness Educators are more likely to engage in reflective practice when Reflection-for-action there is a culture of openness and trust where everyone has Reflection-for-action is a proactive way of thinking about a voice and is listened to, not just the most powerful or vocal future action (Sch n, 2008).

8 It may be triggered by past members of the group. Individuals need to feel that they can experiences, but might also involve thinking about future question, offer ideas and raise concerns about their own and events and how an educator or service might respond. This the service's practice. Recognising there is no single or right'. might include being responsive to shifts in the community, way to approach complex issues is also an important element considering different approaches, and refining inclusive in supporting reflective practice. practices and communication strategies to develop and maintain relationships with children and families. The big questions The bigger the question, the wider the reflection may need to be.

9 For example, if an issue is being considered that may result REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND CONTINUOUS in a change to service policies or procedures, it is important improvement that management, educators, families and, where possible, children are involved in the reflective process. Reflective practice requires a strong commitment to continuous improvement and to lifelong LEARNING . Ideas and theories Looking outside the service and engaging with people, Self-assessment and collaboration ideas, research, theory and innovations happening in the The most important component for QUALITY improvement is wider community, can support educators to gain a different for services to self-assess and determine what is working and perspective and to ask questions such as: How do others see why.

10 By consulting families, children and the community, the issue? What are others doing? What does research tell us? educators can identify ways to ensure the service is inclusive Drawing on a range of theories and contemporary research and responsive to all children and families. The Guide to the can help challenge traditional ways of teaching and LEARNING National QUALITY Standard includes a series of questions to (Early Years LEARNING Framework, p. 11, Framework for School guide reflection. Age Care, p. 8). October 2016 QUALITY Area 1 | DEVELOPING a culture of LEARNING THROUGH reflective practice USEFUL STRATEGIES. Providing educators with time and space can support their commitment to reflective practice.