CHCPR502D: Organise experiences to facilitate and enhance children’s development
Encourage children’s involvement in experiences
Contents
Consult children about activities to be made available 3
Definition of ‘consultation’ 3
Consultation and its importance 3
Method for consultation with children 5
Acknowledge and value children’s work 10
Definition of acknowledgement 10
Importance of acknowledging and valuing the child’s work 10
Verbal acknowledgement 11
Adapt activity to cater to a child’s response to the activity 14
Consultation and adapting learning experiences 14
Review effective consultation and facilitation skills 15
What is the ‘emerging curriculum’? 15
Demonstrate respect for child’s choice not to participate 17
Value of children’s choices 17
Demonstrating respect for choices 17
Choice and consultation 18
Consult children about activities to be made available
Definition of ‘consultation’
You are probably familiar with the term ‘consultation’ in reference to discussions that take place between adult family members and co-workers who are stakeholders in the children’s service. This type of consultation is an important part of how we involve and reflect adult ideas and values in the service’s program. Consultation with children is based on similar principles and is also recognised as a critical skill for curriculum development.
When you refer to a dictionary for the meaning and definition of ‘consultation’ and ‘consult’ you will find phrases and words such as: to seek advice, to discuss, to meet, to interview, to seek information, to examine, to listen and question, to ask, to compare notes. All these statements provide us with an overall feel for what consultation with children actually is.
As these words and phrases indicate, consultation is a specific method or strategy for communicating and interacting with children. Consultation with children provides children with an opportunity to be involved in decision making relevant to their own interests and learning.
Consultation is a critical skill for curriculum development.
Consultation and its importance
The importance of consultation with children has been highlighted by its inclusion in a number of significant documents that guide early childhood workers’ practices. These documents include:
• United Nations’ Rights of the Child
• Early Childhood Association Code of Ethics
• Early Childhood Association Policy: Guidelines for Consulting with Young Children
• NSW Department of Community Services: Curriculum Framework for Children’s Services
The inclusion of consultation with children in these documents is a formal indication of the importance, relevance and value of this practice. It acknowledges an important shift in attitudes towards children and their abilities. Children are no longer regarded as beneficiaries of adult knowledge but instead are stakeholders in their own learning and makers and shapers of their own learning.
The value of consultation
Consulting with children is a critical skill for curriculum development. When we consult with children we create the following opportunities:
• learning experiences which become more individualised
• learning experiences which are more relevant to children’s interests, level of understanding and community and life experience
• children’s views and ideas often complementing and verifying the adults’ observations and interpretations
• promotion of children’s self-esteem and a belief in their ability to control, create and master their immediate environment
• a demonstration to children’s family members and others in the wider community that children’s views and opinions are worthwhile, meaningful and important.
The challenge of consultation
Consultation with children provides a challenge to many early childhood workers because of the shift in the way we think about children and their learning. Early childhood workers need to reflect on their beliefs, attitudes and relationships with children in this respect.
Carers need to develop a sense of trust in the children they are caring for and a belief in the child’s ability to choose and create learning possibilities for themselves, chosen from the experiences and provisions that are provided in the learning environment. Early childhood carers are no longer seen as the authority on the child’s learning. The carer is no longer able to decide, without consulting other adults and the children, the sorts of skills and knowledge that the child requires.
Carers need to create a participatory environment that will involve the children in meaningful ways and lead to meaningful learning. Consultation provides a method for achieving this goal.
Carer qualities
Early childhood workers who wish to consult with children in meaningful ways will need to possess or develop the following qualities and skills:
• patience—to watch, listen and allow children to explore and create their own learning without intervention
• respect—for children’s ideas and thoughts
• spontaneity and flexibility—to make modifications and adaptations to provisions, experiences and routines when requested or required to facilitate the children’s learning
• honouring—all children’s ability to communicate their thoughts, feelings and desires regardless of their age and ability
• sharing—to be able to share control and relinquish power to others, particularly children when they are learning or following an interest.
Method for consultation with children
One of the many challenges faced by carers who wish to consult with children about their learning is how to actually go about consulting.
Some obvious concerns and questions:
• What does consultation actually involve?
• How can we consult with young children and infants who have limited language skills?
• How can we consult with young children who have limited abilities and skills to communicate?
• How can we consult with young children who have a first language other than English?
Next we will examine all these concerns and important questions.
Many carers are surprised to find that they often already possess the basic skills required for consultation with children. Some are even more surprised to discover that they use these skills in a number of ways already and that for them to begin to consult with the children they may only need to make some modifications to their existing practices!
The main skills for consulting with children are:
• observe
• listen
• interact and respond
• decide
• facilitate.
Skill 1: Observe children
• How are the children getting along? Cooperating, playing alone, playing together but not talking, playing with preferred friends?
• What are the children doing? Which experiences and learning areas are being used? By whom? Are there a number of busy learning areas and who specifically is in them (names of children)?
• What materials and provisions are the children using? Which materials and provisions are popular and the most used? By whom?
• At what level are the children interacting with provisions (theory of creative play)—playing experimentally, functionally or representationally?
• At what level are the children interacting with each other (stages of social play)—parallel, associative, cooperative, games with rules?
• How long are the children attending to experiences and activities? What is their level of interest and participation?
• Are some children onlookers and non-active participants in play?
Skill 2: Listen to children
• What are the children talking about as they interact with each other? Listen to comments, statements, directions and questions.
• What are the children saying to themselves as they interact with the environment and provisions? Listen to comments, statements, directions and questions.
• What questions do the children ask each other, themselves and carers? What information are they seeking? What are they asking about?
• How are individual children communicating non-verbally? For example, what are their gestures? Do they show excitement? Do they seem withdrawn or cautious?
Skill 3: Interact and respond with children
Meaningful interactions and responses when consulting with children are characterised by the carer actively participating in the child’s play to facilitate learning and extend thinking. The carer does not provide answers, give directions and solve the children’s problems. Instead the carer makes comments and reflects verbally—providing opportunities for the children to express their ideas and thoughts in a way that is natural and unhurried. She or he provides a supporting environment and encourages the children to find out more.
Carers interact and respond to children in the following ways:
• acknowledge and comment on the child’s efforts, for example ‘You’ve dug the hole very deep!’
• respond thoughtfully to the child or children’s actions, for example ‘Tipping the glue into the other pot was a good idea—now John has some too.’
• make comments that reflect the child’s actions. Provide a monologue to accompany the child’s actions. This is especially effective for children with limited communication skills due to ability, age or being non-English speaking. For example, ‘That’s an interesting idea. You are twisting the tape around the top … oh, I see … It’s getting tight. It’s going really thin … now ….’
• ask open-ended questions to gather more information, for example ‘Fantastic building! How did you get the wood to stay on top of the box, Claire?’
• ask open-ended questions to prompt and challenge the child’s thinking, for example ‘I wonder if there is another way?’
• make comments that reflect what you actually see and label children’s discoveries, for example ‘That lizard has the same colours and patterns as the ground so it can’t be seen! It’s called camouflage.’
• model behaviour and enquiry techniques: ‘Let’s see what would happen if…..?’
• model enthusiasm and interest. Show delight in what the children are doing: ‘Wow, this looks exciting … who can tell me about it?’
• listen seriously and thoughtfully to the child. Remember your body language, eye-contact, full attention, body facing the child, down on their level and use minimal encouragers (eg ‘mmm’, ‘yes’, ‘I see’).
• avoid statements that ‘talk down’ to the children, for example ‘You know that! Rocks will always sink!’
Skill 4: Make decisions with children
From your interactions with the children, you and the children will have made some discoveries, have some questions, and perhaps thought of some new experience and activity ideas.
Talk to the children about this learning and these discoveries. Chat about their ideas.
Respond meaningfully by offering opportunities to extend their interest. For example, the children may have found a dead lizard. They may have discussed its colours and patterns. They may have asked why it is not moving. They may be interested in how it died. They may have touched its skin and described the texture and feel.
You could respond to the children by picking up on any of these comments and questions and asking the children what more they would like to know about the lizard.
Ask the children what they would like to know. Ask the children what they would like to do. Discuss and collaborate with them about their ideas and suggestions.
Decide on the best possibilities with the children involved, make plans and then facilitate the children’s learning by following through.
Skill 5: Facilitate learning with children
Facilitating the children’s learning actually requires the carer to assist the children sourcing provisions and materials to carry out their ideas, to answer their questions and extend their play. It is important that the materials and provisions provided actually relate to the decisions about what the children wanted to learn, investigate and play with in the previous discussions.
From the example above, the children may decide they want to bury the dead lizard. The carer could extend their thoughts about what they would need, where they would get what they needed, who would get what they needed, where they would bury the lizard and so on.
This learning would need to take place immediately as a dead lizard is not a material that can be kept indefinitely. This in itself is a learning experience for the children and should lead to questions such as ‘Why does it have to be buried now?’
This example also shows the importance of carers being flexible and creative. This is not a learning experience that can be planned but it is an experience that has many learning possibilities and for this reason the children’s interest and questions should be pursued. This is often referred to as a spontaneous learning opportunity and it is important that the carer recognises this and responds! This learning opportunity is more relevant and interesting to the children than, for example, the collage activity that may have been planned for that day.
Meaningful consultation
The level of decision making given to children in the learning environment will rely heavily on the attitude and skills of the early childhood worker. The quality of the consultation that takes place will also differ. It is important that you offer practical opportunities—opportunities that allow children to be heard and allow them to influence decision making about the curriculum and the learning experiences.
Early childhood workers should reflect on the following to ensure meaningful participation and consultation occurs:
• provide genuine opportunities for children to influence decision making based on honesty and clarity about the extent of, and limits to, their influence
• ensure children are able to express views and opinions freely and have them treated with respect
• encourage involvement of all children—ensure all children’s ideas are given equal weight in discussions
• enable children to negotiate their level of participation to reflect their own preferences and working methods
• encourage a process of learning and discovery (both personal and collective) which enables children to receive new information, understand what it means and then use and respond to it on the basis of their own experience
• encourage the sharing of experiences and ideas
• be flexible enough to respond to the expectations of the child
• build self-esteem and self-confidence in children so that they feel their opinions are worthwhile and valued
• allow time and space for the children to work together and come up with their own thoughts, questions and opinions
• ensure access to relevant child-friendly information as required.
Acknowledge and value children’s work
Acknowledging and valuing a child’s work is an important part of the learning curriculum.
There are a number of ways that early childhood workers can demonstrate an appreciation of the child’s work and share this appreciation with other children, family members and the general community.
Definition of acknowledgement
To acknowledge someone or their work is defined in many dictionaries as: to notice, to praise, to recognise.
When we acknowledge someone or something we automatically infer a sense of value or importance.
Acknowledgement can be demonstrated verbally by words or physically by action. Both forms are legitimate and effective methods.
Importance of acknowledging and valuing the child’s work
Carers acknowledge and therefore value children’s work to: