AGENCY: Part 4 Capable and Competent:--A Foundation for Child Learning

Capable and Competent: a foundation for child learning and how educators can apply these 6 principles.

All of the following material is directly quoted from the OneChild post  https://one-child.com/466/capable-competent-foundation-child-learning-educators-can-apply-6-principles/  

 “Having a professional pedagogy which includes the concept that children are capable and competent, provides a foundation for learning and development where educators can provide a unique learning environment for every child. The result of this is empowered children who thrive, with the ability to achieve learning outcomes in a variety of contexts.        Supporting a child in their learning is crucial to developing capable and competent learners however, educators need to be mindful of their influence and should aim to be an enabler of learning rather than an enabler of task completion.  It takes a skilled practitioner to provide learning through discovery rather than direction.   Supportive scaffolding with capable learners may be broken down into six stages:

 Identification  Identifying a learning opportunity through observation or responding to call for assistance from a child. 

 Questioning  To understand the problem, ask questions to identify the roadblocks for success.  Questioning is not just for the benefit of the educator’s understanding. It is a strategy to assist a child to discover a more in depth appreciation about the issue at hand and to enable connections to be made to solve the problem themselves, if possible.  What is the problem? What is a potential solution?  What skills/steps are needed to resolve the issue?

 Scaffolding Provide the necessary skills by modelling and explaining how something is done.  Be logical and  linear in the explanation by proving a number of incremental steps to develop a new skill set. Take the lead when the need exists but challenge and be led when the opportunity presents.

 Participation/co-construction  Give opportunity for active participation in the development of a new skill.  Provide sufficient support to enable a successful resolution, but not so much to take away the satisfaction of accomplishing the task or diminish the learning experience.  Encouragement and praise can be used successfully to develop patience, skill acquisition and confidence. 

 Reflection Reflective practice is about the improvement of teaching and the optimization of learning.  Being reflective during and after interactions can provide valuable insight into dealing with successive learning interactions.  During  At what point can the child take the lead?  What is the minimum I can to do to ensure success or a learning opportunity or point of reflection for the child?    After  Was the problem resolved?  How much assistance was given?  Was it too much or not enough to complete the task? What was done well?  Where could improvements be made to what was needed to achieve a task and what I did? 

 Self determination This is the point where a child controls their own actions and learning, having mastered a new skill.  It is most evident when a child can recognise a problem and be assistive while being instructive and sharing their knowledge with their peers.  This is a time for educators to celebrate the success of developing a capable and competent child.

 How to apply this. Recognise that all development though learning cannot be prescribed.  Each experience will be different for each person involved, including the educator and the child.  By providing a fluid learning environment where mistakes can be celebrated and opportunity for discovery are encouraged, will undoubtedly ensure that successful, capable and competent children will grow.”

AGENCY: PART 3

CRITICAL REFLECTION AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Educators are encouraged to reflect on the following points when considering how the service involves children in decision making:

                What is an appropriate level of autonomy for children in the age range?

                How are children involved in program decision making and contributing to the environment? How do they assist everyday routines and transitions? How are they involved in menu planning and food preparation?

                What responsibilities do children have? How does this contribute to their sense of agency?

                What strategies do you employ to capture the voices of children in planning and seek their feedback?

                How will children know they have been heard?

                How are children’s interests pursued and celebrated?

                Does the physical environment and culture of the service allow for educators and children to chat about ideas?

                   

WHAT TO CONSIDER FOR ASSESSMENT AND RATING

Authorised officers may look for and discuss a range of different behaviours which demonstrate that educators value children’s agency. They might also look for how this is reinforced through the service’s policies, the educational program and educator’s practice.

Observing educators:

                Encouraging children to try new things

                Positively impacting children’s self-esteem and belief in their own ability

                Bolstering children’s motivation to try new things

                Encouraging family’s expectations for their child

                Making a positive difference to children’s sense of wellbeing and agency.

Discussing with educators about:

                Believing all children are competent and capable

                Having an awareness of their own beliefs, culture and the values they hold around children’s learning and considering how this may influence the opportunities they provide for children to promote agency

                Having high expectations for all children regardless of their age, gender, ability, cultural, linguistic or family background

                Valuing and showing respect for children’s autonomy and independence.

Sighting:

                Philosophy and policy that recognises children’s rights and describes their role in decision making

                Documentation and planning for children’s wellbeing, decision making and supported self-regulation.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

Early Childhood Australia’s Professional Learning Program e-Learning videos, Connecting with practice – EYLF & NQS, Doing your own thing—Child’s agency at www. earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp

Agency Part 2: Supporting Agency by Involving Children in Decision Making

LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, EXPERIENCES AND RESOURCES

Environments that support children’s decision making are set up in ways that provide children with a variety of resources to choose from and allow children to make choices independently of adults. They can be open-ended, allow multiple uses, be used creatively, and involve sustained, shared thinking, and include both manufactured and natural items..

Examples of responsive environments include:

                Having equipment shelving at child height and encouraging children to choose the materials they want to use

                Having areas where children can store works in progress to return to over a period of time

                Setting up play spaces with areas that allow children to choose between quiet and busier areas, solitary play

                Providing space where children can store and independently access their own belongings.

EXAMPLES OF PRACTICE

Supporting agency at a service level:

                Engaging children in decisions about meals and routines

                Involving children in discussions about service policies, procedures and practices

                Developing the service philosophy by engaging with key stakeholders such as children, schools, families and the broader community.

Supporting agency in under two years olds:

                Seeing babies and toddlers as capable of being an active participant in routines, activities and experiences

                Scaffolding language to assist children in expressing feelings

                Using routines as a platform for learning about well being, identity, communication and learning

                Facilitating self-help skills as opposed to doing tasks for children

                Being aware, and responsive to young children’s verbal and non verbal cues

                Being respectful during routines, asking children’s permission to check their nappies, talking to them about putting on a bib and respecting if they are not hungry or need a cuddle to transition from sleep.

Supporting agency in 3-5 year-olds:

                Supporting children to negotiate a resolution rather than solving it for them

                Providing opportunities for children to set goals for learning

                Providing opportunities for children to learn through co-researching with adults

                Offering choices of experiences based on what children are interested in learning about

                Encouraging children to think about fairness and equity within the service, local community and outside world

                Considering a more democratic system of decision making, for example children could explore voting on relevant issues

                Supporting children’s voice within the community and connecting with community planning and consultation in all matters that affect children.

Supporting agency in school age children:

                Promoting learning through leisure and play-based activities that children plan and are relevant to their interests and other learning

                Extending on peer support programs and creating mentoring relationships

                Allowing children opportunities to assess and identify hazards and develop risk assessment strategies

Supporting children to take on the responsibilities of arrival and departure including developing procedures for handling their belongings and greetings educators.

There Are Many Ways You Can Support Children's Agency

Part 1 of 3

Intentional teaching

When educators are intentional, purposeful and plan for children’s learning, this helps children to be active agents in sourcing their own learning. This can be achieved by allowing children to make decisions about, plan for and help set up their preferred method of learning. Children might decide how to research information on dinosaurs for example, or what they would like to cook in a cooking experience.

Genuine decision making

Sharing the power that adults hold, and trusting that children are competent decision makers can support children’s agency.

For example, educators can:

                arrange activities, routines and the physical environment so that children have a range of opportunities to make choices about what they will do and how they will do it

                provide children with the opportunity to make choices in circumstances where their decisions will be able to be accepted.

Supporting agency involves educators taking a step back and critically reflecting on, “Do I need to decide for children?”.

Instead, consider ways of setting up environments, routines and learning experiences that support children to make decisions and have agency independently of adults. For example, asking children what they know about areas of interest and what they would like to find out more about.

Think about ways educators support children to make their own choices throughout the day.

Responsive interactions

Talking respectfully with children, and having conversations where children’s ideas and thoughts are genuinely sought and valued, is the key to engaging children in decision making processes. As children develop, they will be able to participate in increasingly complex decision making.

Talking with children about what they think and responding to what matters to them will give children a sense of ownership over the decisions that they have contributed to.

Examples of responsive interactions include:

                Promoting independent exploration and appropriate risk taking

                Asking questions that give children the opportunity to initiate and lead their own learning

- What do you think?

- What do you want? Why?

- How can we do this differently? (or safely, enjoyably, easily)

                Allowing children to establish their own routines, behavior, guidelines and consequences, or taking cues from children’s behavior

                Providing flexible and unhurried routines which allow children to make choices about decisions which affect them

                Using behavior (rather than the clock) as a cue for meal time or moving from one structured activity to the next

                Providing children with the opportunity to participate in large periods of uninterrupted play and taking cues for providing structure or resources (this will allow children to negotiate where and with whom they would like to play)

                Acknowledging and responding to children’s contributions by ensuring their ideas and interests are reflected in the program

                Promoting independence and self-help skills through the opportunity to participate in routine tasks like preparing meals, setting up environments and selecting resources.

http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/QualityInformationSheets/QualityArea1/supporting_agency_involving_children_in_decision_making.pdf