The Reflective Practitioner Podcast
A new podcast series by DET with Catherine Hydon
Janine Bird, Early Childhood Teacher
On May 2nd 2022, I was excited to be a guest on The Reflective Practitioner, a podcast about high quality Early Childhood Teacher and educator practice.
The podcast was hosted by Catharine Hydon and this particular episode was looking at “Longer Days”.
In her introduction Catharine discussed the way Victoria is moving towards two years of funded kindergarten and that now is a good time to “reflect on the pedagogical practices that support learning and development of three and four year old children”. She states that the reforms that are taking place have “presented a number of challenges alongside possibilities to improve and strengthen our commitment to providing children with the best possible start in life”.
My role in the podcast was to shed light on the ways in which we are developing practises that maximise opportunities for children’s learning and implement the reforms into everyday practice.
Catharine posed some very interesting and challenging questions throughout our conversation which I will briefly outline below. A big thank you to Melissa MacMaster, Glen Education's GM of Operations, Education and Pedagogy, for her support, advice and professional language that guided me through this very rewarding opportunity.
How have you come to understand longer days?
How would you explain the benefits of longer days to families and colleagues?
We tend not to refer to our days as “Longer Days” but rather a “full day”. When we say it’s a long day, it implies that its hard and tiring and has negative connotations, rather than a full day which implies possibilities, opportunities and rich learning discoveries.
Full days give us the gift of time. Time is the most valuable thing we have.
Time for rich, real life experiences. Authentic experiences like cooking, gardening, tinkering
Time to engage in the broader community, discovery walks, local parks and shops and schools.
Time to revisit children’s learning at different times of the day. Scaffold and extend prior learning.
Time gives us opportunities for incidental and spontaneous learning. Time helps build connections, relationships and partnerships.
What happens in a typical day? What does a longer day provide for you and the children? What does more time mean you can do?
It is hard to describe what a typical day looks like as no two days are the same. Our days follow a broad and flexible rhythm. The children’s sense of agency is valued as they navigate their day. Progressive morning and afternoon tea where children eat in response to their own hunger. An invitation to gather in the middle of the day before sharing lunch together as a social group.
Families arrive and depart at times that work for their family circumstances. We value our interactions with families, and due to our flexible pick up and drop off times, families can spend time with us as they transition their children in and then out of the service each day.
Throughout the day the children have the opportunity to move from the indoor space to the outdoor space and back again, both spaces are considered valuable learning environments or “classrooms”. Opportunity for emerging interests, incidental and spontaneous learning, intentional teaching and focus “skills” make up our rich and broad curriculum each day. Clear expectations and respectful relationships are key to creating a full day program that nourishes each child’s learning style.
How do you manage breaks?
Our breaks are quite innovative in that we don’t have a “lunch cover” person. As Mel states…”language plays a big part in the way we articulate the value of everyone involved in the team”. Alternatively we have a morning educator and an afternoon educator who have an overlapping time together. It is at this time that the full day educators have their lunch. This model shows value and respect as each educator is viewed as a contributing member of the team.
Lets talk about rest and sleep? How do you manage this?
We support children to learn to read their own body rhythms. We provide baskets of cushions, blankets, quiet nooks, mindful music and comfy couches. Our environment is set up in a way which carefully considers the need for both active and quiet play, restful spaces and spaces that can be altered throughout the day to cater for each child’s needs. This sense of empowerment and control over their own body also creates an awareness of how their body is feeling… hungry? Thirsty? tired? Restful? Active? Restless?
We have children enrolled in both their first year ( Three year old) and second year ( Four year old) of kindergarten, and like all children their needs can be very different from one another.
Were there things that were unexpected surprises or benefits from this approach?
The gift of time, as I mentioned before.
We have time to engage in project -based work, over an extended period of time. Children can revisit their learning from the morning, in the afternoon. Our relationships and sense of community are stronger. Our day is not governed by routine, more specifically set up and pack up. The length of time that we have to discover, explore, grow, imagine, learn, play and connect is one of the blessings of this model.
Do you have any advice for our listeners?
Be innovative in your thinking. Instead of looking at it as a looong day, think of the endless possibilities of each day. Relax and enjoy the richness of each day and the deep, strong connections with children.
Critical reflection! This is something that we do daily, sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes every hour. Time gives us the chance to reflect in the moment, be flexible and change the course of a day as it evolves.
To create true agency in young children you need to let go of the control eg: control over the routine, control over the program… Embrace each day in all its messiness, noise, joy and laughter!
Rethink how you set up your environment for children and families. It is important now more than ever to have opportunities for quiet play, small groups, independent play and active play. Create spaces where children can revisit their learning throughout the day… shelves and areas for investigations to be stored and then selected again in the afternoon.
Create an outdoor environment with rich learning opportunities – bring the inside out and the outside in.
Break open the myth that First year’s ( three year olds) need items’ removed to avoid mess! Empower the children to respect and own their space.
You can still maintain quality in the program in the afternoons, I find some children’s level of engagement shifts as they feel more settled and comfortable as the day progresses. Some our most inspired leaning occurs at 3.30pm!
Embrace the rhythm of each child’s day…. This will involve into what I like to call a “beautiful mess” if you can look beyond this and see the wonder, joy, discovery and imagination then the possibilities are endless!