Students will collect at least three documentations of one child's (birth to 2 years) learning on different occasions within an early education and care setting. They will analyse the documentations to recognise the learning occurring to identify if there are patterns that are emerging. They will develop and implement a program to extend the child’s learning and then critically reflect on the overall planning process.
How to approach?
Step 1:
Identify one child of focus within your placement experience or in your work place if you are not doing ECP128).
Step 2:
Gain permission from the child’s family to undertake the assignment.
Step 3:
Observe the child’s engagement in the classroom environment over a sustained time
Step 4:
Document the child’s learning on a number of occasions (at least 3). Use three different forms of documentation (e.g. learning story, work sample, anecdotal notes, language transcript…) to record the learning experiences that illustrate the child’s learning behaviours. Submit the documentations with the assignment (in the body or a section of appendix)
Step 5:
Assess the child’s learning according to the patterns identified from the documentations.
Look at and across the three documentations to see if there are patterns of behaviours (e.g. if the child repeats certain behaviours). See if you can identify any interest about the child from the documentations or if the child was engaged in the use of skills (e.g. fine motor), knowledge (e.g knowing what is safe), feelings (e.g. confident), or emerging disposition (e.g. curiosity). Use relevant readings, developmental milestones and learning outcomes to analyse the child’s learning behaviours and what he or she could achieve further.
Step 6:
Plan a learning activity or experience to extend the child’s learning. This planning must include;
a) A learning goal (g what the child could learn further)
b) A rational
(why this goal?). Based on the above documentations and analysis and use literature, developmental milestones and the learning framework to explain.
c) Description of the learning activity or experience that can work towards supporting the child to achieve the learning goal
What is the activity/experience? Why is this activity/experience able to move the child to a further step and achieve the learning goal? What is needed (e.g. resources, space, strategies…)?
Step 7:
Implement the activity/experience with the child and/or any other children
Describe how the activity/experience was implemented.
Step 8:
Reflect on the process of planning
a) What worked well?
b) What challenges did you face?
c) How could this be improved? (use literature to help)
