Putting Child, Parent and Whānau Voices First Lynda Hunt

What teaching strategies support children to embrace challenges in their learning and become resilient learners?

“Good quality assessment in early childhood education includes and values many perspectives.” ERO 2007

Analysis of 24 portfolios:  75% of families had no written comments in their child’s portfolio  1 formative comment that informed future learning  5 stories showed child involvement in future goal setting

Marjolein Whyte Marjolein trialled the use of an ‘Initiating Parent Child Voice’ form to involve parents, children and wh ā nau in assessment through shared dialogue – before a learning story is written. ‘Collaborating with children and whānau in assessment for learning’ (2010)

In what ways can inviting child, parent and whānau perspectives using “learning snapshots” enrich interpretations of childrens’ learning?

Date:

Over three terms: 72 snapshots were completed. The return rate was about 80%.

Teacher notices learning and completes learning snapshot Family invites child to discuss learning Family writes down conversations, links to learning at home and future goals Returned snapshot prompts further discussion Team discuss snapshot, incorporate family/child perspectives and plan for future learning Plans are implemented and snapshot is added to child’s portfolio Learning story written with links to information shared Teacher and parent discuss this when the snapshot is given to the family Child and family Teacher, parent and child Team Child/family may comment on story

Key Themes

 Gave detailed information about the child’s perspective and their learning goals  Provided insight into learning at home  Gave information about family aspirations / values  Informed team planning  Led to more intentional teaching

Teacher response: “The way that learner’s share and explain their experiences with a family member are so much richer than we could ever gather ourselves as teachers.”

From a child perspective:  Positioned the child as an ‘expert’ as they explained their learning to their family  Provided the opportunity to revisit, and reflect on their learning and decide on new learning goals  Gave their voice greater prominence

Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive If we pool our ideas, with equal respect for all parties, everyone will benefit.