Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Outcomes Project 2010-11 - Transcript
Part One
Voice over
In this Early Years Exchange we share some learningsfrom the pilot Early Years Learning andDevelopment Outcomes Project.
This project ran in 2010 and 2011 and involved three groups of early childhood professionals working with researchers and VCAA policy makers.
Early childhood professionals gathered and analysedin depth evidence of children’s learning using the five outcomes from the VictorianEarly Years Learning and Development Framework.
Anne Stonehouse co-facilitated the Outcomes ProjectGroup which focussed on the birth to three period.
Anne works extensively across the early childhood sector as a facilitator of professional learning and as awriter. She’s published many books and resources for early childhood professionals and parents.
Andrea and Bernie participated in the Birth to three years Group.
Interview
Anne Stonehouse talks to Andrea Alvis and Bernie Harrison
Anne
It’s really great to have an opportunity to talk to you about the outcomes project and some of the things that we learned through doing that.I learned so much from that project.
Four of the…, I guess the main ideas thathave stayed with me since the project finished.
(1) The first one is that it’s easier and probably more common to focus on babies and toddlers actions and what they’re doing rather than focussing on their learning.
(2) Doing the project was a very powerful reminderof the complexity and the importance of learning in the first three years, and a lot of the important learning in the first three years with babies and toddlers, isn’t really obvious.
(3) A third idea for me that was really, really powerful, was about the importance of reminding ourselves and helping families to be aware of the important learning opportunities that are available in every day experiences.
(4) The fourth point for me was the tremendous power of the learning and development outcomes in the framework, as a kind of mechanism for talking with families about their child’s learning, making their child’s learning more visible.
Andrea, I wonder if you could tell us a bit aboutthe effect of participating in the project and particularly of becoming more familiar with the learning and development outcomes, the effect of that.
Andrea
The focus on the five outcomes has helped me to bettersee children’s strengths and capabilitiesand to more confidently talk with parentsabout their children’s learning.
Part Two
Andrea
I was previously more focused on engaging parents in broader support issues but since my involvement in the Outcomes Project,
I’ve been much more focused on childrenand on helping parents to noticetheir children’s learning.
This has been quite a watershed for mein my work with families.
Anne
Bernie, how have you been able to incorporate your understanding of the learning anddevelopment outcomes in your work?
Bernie
By using the five outcomes, by usingthe framework, we’ve been able to have a commonality between the health field and the education field and that’s been veryvery helpful when talking to professionals within the childcare setting.
Andrea
It’s also helped parents to have, me toencourage parents to have higher expectationsof their children, because I believe parentswant their children to be confident learners, and parents want to be confident teachers.
For example, the outcome of ‘Identity’ really helps families to focus on the importanceof a warm and supportive relationship for their children, both now and in the future, and the outcome of
‘Wellbeing’ helps us to really focus on the happiness and joy and delight in children’s play.
Anne
Bernie, in your role as an Enhanced Maternal and Child Health Nurse, what have been the challenges for you, in incorporating the learning and development outcomes into your work with families?
Bernie
The challenge is really about looking at theframework, sitting with that framework, to looking at it with the families – where is the child’s learning in that family?
So the challenges are really working together with the two frameworks and looking at the child’s development and learning.
Using the five outcomes, it’s not about beingharder; it’s about using the opportunityto be able to work on the same platform.
It’s a struggle and it’s a challenge as Maternal and Child Health, because we have our framework, but it just gives so much more when you’re looking at that education of the child’s learning.
And I believe the more you use it, the more you reflect on the framework, the more it becomes familiar in your everyday practice.
Early Years Exchange No. 7 Page 1