CHCPR510A: Design, implement and evaluate programs and care routines for children

Design and implement programs that are relevant to cultural and social contexts of children and their community

Contents

Gather information about contexts of the children’s lives and use it to guide planning 3

Learning about the children in our care 3

Recording observations 4

Observations and program development 5

Identify varying expectations of parents of diverse backgrounds and accommodate where possible7

Accommodating parents needs and expectations 7

Develop and implement programs that reflect diversity and inclusive perspectives in an ongoing manner 9

Inclusive practices and cultural awareness 9

Select experiences and resources that support and develop children’s identities 10

Learning styles and dispositions 10

2 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 © NSW DET 2010

Before you continue, you could revise the topic ‘Plan and implement programs that reflect inclusive principles and value diversity’ which is part of the element ‘Support the development of inclusive practices in the service’, in the Unit CHCIC511A Implement and promote inclusive policies and practices. The information is very relevant to this topic.

Gather information about contexts of the children’s lives and use it to guide planning

Learning about the children in our careBefore we can design a program, we need to make sure we have a good understanding of the children we are planning for. We need to know what their needs, strengths, abilities and interests are. We need to know of any additional needs. We need to aware of any serious challenging behaviours they consistently exhibit, their behaviour management plans and possible reasons for the behaviour. We need to know what the children’s family backgrounds are, including the expectations of the child by the family. We need to know how there can be mutual support and collaborate between caregivers and the family and the community.

All this knowledge we seek to gain are to help us design appropriate programs for the children in our care. How do we gain this knowledge? Observation is one of the key methods that we use. There are other key methods, for example, consulting with parents and talking with children. Here we shall focus on revising what we know about observation.

Activity 1

Through sensitive and perceptive observations, we can plan effective programs for children that reflect their interests and supports their development. If the planned environment can be made challenging and interesting, the children are more likely to be happy and settled.

We need to ensure transparency and accountability within the service and this means that the recorded observations may be made available to a number of people who have some relationship with the child. These people can include:

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 3© NSW DET 2010

• children’s parents• other educators and staff within the service• professionals within support services that have parental permission, eg,

speech pathologists, social workers and early intervention specialists.

Types of observation methods You should be very familiar with a wide range of methods for recording observations, including narrative formats, work samples and photos, audio tapes and video tapes. You should also gather background and contextual information from a wide variety of sources such as family and other caregivers/educators.

Activity 2

Recording observationsHaving already completed observation topics, you will understand the need to write down each observation, interpretation and follow-up. Different services may use different terms but the key parts need to be:

• the observation (information, rationale)• your assessment of what you have seen (interpretation, evaluation,

reflection) • what you plan to do next with the child (experiences, provisions, learning

opportunities, follow-up or implications).

It would be wise to include a list of possible provisions, learning and care strategies and other implications in the follow-up or evaluation section. This will assist you to simply take the information from your follow up and include it in the program.

If we are to be considered professionals, we need to ensure that our recorded observations and reflections on children are of good quality, valid and reliable. Recorded observations need to be:

• objective• positive in language• made inconspicuously and often• systematic• collected in a manageable form• equitable and balanced• confidential.

4 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 © NSW DET 2010

They are many ways of recording this information and many caregivers would compile one that meets their needs and reflects the service and its philosophy. These include:

• running record• anecdotal record • observation and planning record• visual diary sample

As your observations form the main basis of your planning for individual children, they need to be clear, concise and well presented. Each recorded observation needs to be interpreted.

Your program needs to follow on from your observations and reflect your understandings of the children’s interests, strengths and emerging skills.

Activity 3

Observations and program developmentThe process of using observations to inform program development is best done as a group or team process. Just as multiple perspectives in observation are fuller and richer, team-based program development results in a richer, more diverse program for a group of children.

All carers bring to their services a unique range of skills, knowledge and experience. We need to acknowledge each member of staff’s skills, interests and personality when we are developing observation systems and planning the program. For example, you may be musical and enjoy creative problem-solving experiences. In this case you should try to tailor the approach you use for planning to take best advantage of these attributes.

It makes sense to consider carers’ needs, strengths and interests as well as those of children because the staff are a significant part of the human dynamic in a service. It is necessary for carers to reflect on their own learning style, attitudes, temperament and activity preferences. If an observation and planning approach is selected which does not suit the style of the carers involved in its implementation then it is unlikely to produce the best outcomes for the children.

The NSW Curriculum Framework for Children’s Services (Stonehouse, 2002) has this to say about the link between observation and planning:

Planning is informed directly by close observation and documentation of children at work and at play, and by ongoing evaluation of practice. Traditional standard observation techniques such as anecdotal records

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 5© NSW DET 2010

and checklists provide some information, but careful observation and documentation of processes, interactions and relationships, children’s development and the emergence and progress of projects provide a much richer basis for planning … The sources of information on which plans are based also need to be diverse, going beyond what has worked in the past, identified emerging skills of children based on checklists of developmental milestones, or observations of individual children. These are valuable, but sources should include information from parents, reflection on what the children are talking about and doing, what is going on in the community, and interests expressed directly by the children. (p 133–134)

In essence, planning provides direction for our caring interactions and the education of young children. We can use the detailed information we have gathered from observations of children to plan programs that are better suited to the children in our care because the planning is firmly based in ‘authentic’ descriptions of children and situations.

6 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 © NSW DET 2010

Identify varying expectations of parents of diverse backgrounds and accommodate where possible

Accommodating parents needs and expectationsParents and families choose to use children’s services for a number of reasons including;

• proximity to home or workplace• recommendation from friends• reputation of the service within the community• service matches their beliefs and values for children• service can provide for child’s needs • service has special programs to support children• only place available.

Whatever their reasons for using the service, there is an expectation that the service will work with families to accommodate their needs and expectations. Service providers and educators must discover these needs and expectations and act on them.

This may be as simple as providing opportunities for families to have input into the program through comments in the service visual diary or telling educators about their child’s interests and the aspects of the program they enjoyed or it can be a much more complex process where families play a large role in reflecting on the program, writing comments, recording ideas, following up investigations at home, coming into the service and being in the room.

Educators need to be careful when placing expectations for involvement that they are not requiring a higher level commitment than families are able to achieve or expect to put in. It’s fabulous when families want to become more actively involved in the program but they should not feel pressured to do so.

Information on family expectations and needs should be gathered during the situational analysis and then used to decide on the levels of participation you

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desire in the program. Services that expect high levels of parent participation need to be upfront about this and inform families at the first contact.

The program at Mia Mia is a strong collaboration between the educators, children and families. This service is very up front about the level of participation expected and acknowledges that families may choose to join their program or look for another service that more closely matches their needs.

Read Mia Mia’s practice on family involvement: http://www.miamia.mq.edu.au/Aboutus/family.htm

8 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 © NSW DET 2010

Develop and implement programs that reflect diversity and inclusive perspectives in an ongoing manner

Inclusive practices and cultural awarenessAll children’s services should be reflective of their local communities and the diversity within our society.

The NSW Curriculum Framework implores us to consider and honour diversity in all that we do with children. QIAS requires services to reflect diversity within the service environment and program. The regulations and other guidelines – Code of Ethics, UN Convention Rights of the Child, request that we consider diversity not only within our own small service but also the wider community.

Activity 4

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 9© NSW DET 2010

Select experiences and resources that support and develop children’s identities

Learning styles and dispositionsThe learning styles of children have previously been referred to as important when deciding on programming approaches for early childhood services. We need to look closely at the group of children, their learning styles and dispositions when designing the program as how they approach learning and their self-esteem will impact on the experiences and opportunities provided.

Children who have a strong self-esteem and are resilient are more likely to try new things and take a risk than those who are less secure. An approach where children take a very active role and lead the program will suit these children more easily. Children who are more reliant on adults require a program that gently nurtures and supports their ability to try new things.

There are children who thrive on challenge, change and a fast paced learning environment and those who need a more relaxed pace where new ideas and changes occur in an organised and unhurried manner. As an educator, you need to get to know the children in the group and provide a program that not only reflects their interests, capabilities and emerging skills but also their disposition and learning style.

By identifying children’s learning styles, we are able to provide opportunities and experiences that will enhance their development. A child, who learns by being active, needs an active program. A child who learns through visual stimulation needs a visually stimulating program, and so on.

The topic on collaborating with others to determine the needs of a children’s services program looks at compiling a situational analysis to gather knowledge about the children, families, educator and community and this information should underpin and support the program approach taken. It is also important to complete an analysis of the learning styles and dispositions of the children in the group to ensure your approach is the wisest for this group and will facilitate and support their growth and development.

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Common learning stylesHere is some information on common learning styles:

Spatial visual: Needs and likes to visualise things • learns through images • enjoys art and drawing • reads maps, charts and diagrams well • fascinated with machines and inventions • plays with lego • likes mazes and puzzles.

Kinetic: Processes knowledge through physical sensations • highly active, difficulty sitting for long periods • communicates with body language and gestures • shows you rather than tells you • needs to touch and feel world • likes scary amusement rides • naturally athletic and enjoys sports.

Language oriented: Thinks in words, verbalises • spins tales and jokes • spells words accurately and easily • can be a good reader or prefer the spoken word more • has excellent memory for names, dates and trivia • likes word games • enjoys using tape recorders and often musically talented.

Logical oriented: Thinks conceptually, likes to explore patterns and relationships

• enjoys puzzles and seeing how things work• constantly questions and wonder• capable of highly abstract forms of logical thinking at early age • computes math problems quickly in head • enjoys strategy games, computers and experiments with purpose • creates own designs to build with blocks/lego.

Using these learning styles we can provide experiences and resources for the child that will readily support each child’s identity.

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398 11© NSW DET 2010