ly childhood education e 2. Collaborative practice (Fostering a learning community - authentic opportunities to learn and to contribute to learning) 3. Governance and management practice (how we operate our service with the knowledge of our priorities and external expectations) Once we identify and plan what it is we are to review, we then start the process of self review. We document the answers to questions such as What do we want to find out? How will we find out? Who can help us? What do our children say? What do our family and whānau say? What does this information tell us? What did we learn? What decisions are we going to make? How do we decide what to do next? How will we share the results? Documenting self review allows us to explore all of the different options we may have, acknowledging and respecting the many different languages, culture and identity of the contributors, to come to a decision on how best to proceed whilst at the same time leaving opportunities for the item to be revisited again at a later date in order to review its ongoing and relevant effectiveness. Documented in Ngā Arohaehae Whai Hua (MoE, 1999), the review process identifies six elements of effective review: Relationships Evidence Vision Improvement Ethics Wisdom.
Relationships Effective self review means hearing and actively listening to all parties to the review process, as each individual brings with them knowledge, understanding, culture, and a learning perspective that is recognized and respected as being valid. Therefore, self review should be undertaken collaboratively with teachers, children, whānau and family, hapū, iwi and where practicable, the wider community. “Whakawhanaungatanga, building a collaborative learning community, establishes and environment of trust and reciprocity as an essential base for effective review.” (MoE, 1999, p39)
Evidence Gathering evidence is an important component in the documentation of self review, as it is used to help us
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By Pam Wardrope
make informed decisions on best teaching practice. Gathering a range of evidence such as learning stories, observations, children’s voice, whānau and family voices, and current research, enables all parties to the early childhood service to contribute to the process of self review.
Vision Having a shared vision for children involves developing and setting clear goals, and then regularly engaging in ongoing, robust self review to monitor our journey towards achieving those identified goals. Having an explicit service philosophy and regularly reviewing this, enables us to check that what we believe about children is actually evident in our practice. “It is critical to effective review that we discuss and debate our service philosophy so that we can develop a shared vision to guide our practice.” (MoE, 1999, p43).
Improvement The purpose of self review is to reflect on what we do with a vision to improving practice and ultimately learning outcomes for children. Self review enables us to identify and celebrate what we do well and highlights areas for improvement. Ultimately, we create a climate of enquiry “in which we seek to acknowledge and act on areas for improvement rather than justify our practice through review” (MoE, 1999, p44).
Ethics The four fundamental principles for teachers that guide us to act ethically are justice, autonomy, responsible care, and truth (New Zealand Teachers’ Council, 2004). Acting ethically throughout self review also requires us treat all parties to the process with dignity and respect, irrespective of culture, gender, age, ethnicity, community, and geographical location.
Wisdom Through reflection and reflexivity, wisdom is achieved. Reflection is about becoming aware of ourselves and why we make the decisions we do. Reflexivity is the acknowledgement that there are many ways of knowing and we explore these through the process of preparing, gathering, making sense, and deciding. Linking it all together: strategic goals, annual plans, and ongoing self review: Underpinning and essential to robust and ongoing planned self review are the Strategic goals and annual plan of the service: Good Teacher Magazine Term 4 2013 35