Assessment in ECE

Blaiklock writes: “It is useful for teachers to be aware that it is not compulsory for centres to use Learning Stories when assessing children. The licensing criteria for early childhood services (Ministry of Education, 2009) state that services should be ‘informed by assessment, planning, and evaluation (documented and undocumented) that demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning, their interests, whanau, and life contexts’ (p.8). The type of assessment that centres choose is not prescribed.” (p.6)

Blaiklock reminds us that “we need to be cautious when assessing young children and should ensure that the techniques we use are manageable, are well supported by research, and have benefits for children.” (p.6) “Assessment,” he points out, “must have a purpose.” (p.6)

“Effective assessment takes equal account of all aspects of the child’s development and learning.” (p.7)

“Assessments must actively engage parents in developing an accurate picture of their child’s development.” (p.7)

“Children must be fully involved in their own assessment.” (p.7)

Concerns related to the use of Learning Stories as an assessment technique

Blaiklock lists the following concerns:

“* Problems with establishing the validity or credibility of Learning Stories

* A lack of guidance on what areas of learning to assess.

* Problems with defining the learning dispositions that are supposed to be the focus of Learning Stories.

* A lack of rationale for the links between particular learning dispositions and the strands of Te Whariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum (Ministy of Education, 1996) [-p.6]

* Problems in using Learning Stories to show changes in children’s learning and development over time.

* Problems in using a Learning Story about a specific experience as a basis for planning future learning experiences in different contexts.” (pp.5-6)

His emphasis on the need for clear descriptive language with minimal interpretation in the observation part of assessment also points to a problem with Learning Stories in practice – their tendency to turn into overly subjective narratives (where the child’s learning is lost somewhere in the teacher’s desire to glow… and the story becomes one about the teacher, not the child). “A difficulty with Learning Stories,” Blaiklock writes (less emphatically than he could!), “is that teachers are not advised on the importance of objectivity when first describing a child’s learning experiences.” (p.8)

Learning Notes – an alternative assessment tool

Blaiklock proposes the use of ‘learning notes’, which “consist of three components: ‘Describe’; ‘Interpret’; and ‘What Next?’. The ‘Describe’ section provides a description of a child’s involvement in a particular learning experience. The description may be short (a sentence of two) or long (several paragraphs) and should be recorded as accurately as possible. …The Describe sectrion of the Learning Notes needs to be written in clear descriptive language with minimal interpretation. …Sometimes a Learning Note will consist only of the Describe section. This may, for example, be all that is required to record a child’s accomplishment in a particular area of learning and development. At other times, a teacher may find it useful to add an ‘Interpret’ section to the Learning Note in order to provide a comment that highlights the significance of the learning that a child demonstrated. This comment could be linked with a specific section of Te Whariki or with other publications on children’s learning and development.

Another optional component of a Learning Note is the ‘What Next?’ section. The teacher only needs to complete this when it is useful to document ideas for future experiences that follow on from what was observed. These ideas should be enacted as soon as possible after the observation.” (p.6)

“Learning Notes,” he writes, “do not impose the constraints of a ‘story sequence’ and hence allow teachers to focus on accurate recording of the event.” (p.8) “Accuracy of recording,” he continues, “is crucial when making observations; a point made in many publications on assessment of young children. Although all teachers may be influenced by preconceived ideas, they should strive to be as accurate as possible when carrying out observations.” (p.8)

“the more frequent documentation that is available with the use of Learning Notes allows teachers to build up a more comprehensive record of a child’s learning and development than is possible with Learning Stories.” (p8) [oh now that sounds excellent!] Blaiklock points out that the time invested in creating a single story often means that each child might only get one ‘Story’/documented assessment a month (p.7)… how true…

Ref: Ken Blaiklock (2010) Assessment in New Zealand early childhood settings: A proposal to change from Learning Stories to Learning Notes. Early Education, 48(2), 5-10

Note also: Blaiklock, K. (2008). A critique of the use of learning stories to assess the learning dispositions of young children. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education, 11, 77-87    Blaiklock, K. (2010). The assessment of children’s language in New Zealand early childhood centres. New Zealand Journal of Education Studies, 45(1), 105-110

That is the Kindergarten outcome for measurement.  One of the activities that we did this year that helped us learn this was to make a name tower.  We figured out how many letters were in our names and collected that many cube links to make a tower.  With our name towers we compared our names to each others, we compared other objects to our name.  We had a great time.  I was very excited to see how the children were taking this concept of measurement and making it their own.  We began to put cube links together to see how long things were, like the table, and the cube links box, and the wall, and the shelf.  I spent about 30 minutes following the children around and labelling what they had measured.  It started with one student, but quickly blossomed into a class of children measuring.  I could go on and tell you more, but maybe it would be better to show you.  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Now that we have mastered the art of measuring with a “non-standard” object, we will begin estimating.  Looking forward to seeing how we do!

Mrs Marshall and the students of KD

Agnes worked for over ½ hour at scooping up sand and putting it into the sand pail.

She never lost concentration.

Hello all. Below you will find an example of a Learning Story. Learning Stories are observations of children as they play, explore and experience the world around them.  Through Learning Stories you communicate a story to parents, children and your colleagues.  You also enhance your own teaching practices by having a better grasp of each child’s thoughts, ideas, and development. Learning Stories also help provide ideas to further extend children’s learning. That way, you can better plan curriculum that is truly interesting to children.

To create a Learning Story, you watch, listen, take photos and jot down notes. It is only later, away from the classroom, that you put it all together. It should be simple while capturing a moment in time. Look for:

• A child taking initiative
• A child deeply engaged
• A child relating to other children or materials
• A child being intentional
• The child’s (or children’s) way of learning, exploring, and creating.

1. Start with what interests you about what the the child is doing. It’s okay to use the pronoun “I.” This is not objective research! This is a story.
2. Next, describe what the child is doing and saying. Be open to really hear and see what the child is experiencing.
3.  Relate what the story means. I always direct this to the child. Writing as though you are talking to the child helps you to write more clearly and forces you to think through very carefully what it is you see and appreciate. Be careful. This is not about praising the child, but about giving her real information and acknowledgement. This also helps her reflect on her own experience. If the child wants to add or change something, it is a good opportunity to tweak the story while acknowledging your respect for her ideas and opinions.
4. This can be called, “What next?” or “Opportunities and Possibilities.” In this section, you use what you see to plan how you will further the child’s experience. What opportunities does this observation offer?
5. Give the story a title.
6. Offer a blank page for the family to respond.

“Mud-Luscious”

Benjamin discovers mud on the playground.

“A footprint.”

Beautiful, shiny, mud-luscious footprint.

Making more footprints.

Transferring mud prints to wet prints on cement. Follow the footprints.

back to the mud to find something new.

“There’s light in the mud!”

“There’s marshmallow in the mud!”

  What happened?

Benjamin and other children were excited to discover that the sprinkler created something new—mud. Like all children, Benjamin could not resist standing and stomping in the mud. He bent down to look in it. He turned his muddy footprints into wet cement footprints. He traveled back and forth to “study” this wonderful phenomenon. Bending down, he shouted, “There’s light!” •I asked him to tell me more about the light but he was too busy running back and forth to stop for conversation. •He then bent down and said, “Marshmallow!” •The small puddle turned-to-mud was intriguing and provided a variety of learning opportunities.

Dear Benjamin,

Watching you discover the mud puddle was very interesting and fun.
First you noticed there was a small puddle that resulted from the
sprinkler. Then you watched the water and dirt combine to make a nice
squishy mud patch from which you observed a lot. You saw light in
the water! You mentioned marshmallow. I’m guessing that you
were reminded of marshmallow because of the white in the puddle.
Is that the case? You made footprints from the mud to the cement.
What a surprise! You were like a scientist because you kept watching
and experimenting. That’s the best way to learn.

What Next? or Opportunities and Possibilities:

1. Read my note to Benjamin to a group of children.
2. Talk about the light and the comment about marshmallow.
3. Elicit their thoughts and ideas. Build on those.
4. Provide more water play. Experiment with light, color, and  mud.
5. Read, Oh Lovely Mud! (Children act it out?)

•  Science Opportunities * Discovering that water and dirt change to mud. *Exploring the many properties of water. *Discovering that water reflects the light. *Noticing how the pooled water created a white foamy material (minerals?). *Observing and feeling the texture of mud. *Transferring mud footprints to cement footprints and comparing the two.

• Language Opportunities Use of descriptive words (squishy, muddy, wet, dry, cool, warm, muck)
• Creative Thinking Opportunities•Connecting the color white in the mud puddle to the white of a marshmallow •Using mud to make footprint designs on cement •Thinking about two properties combining to make one

Last week we read the story,  911 Quack!  the story of a mother duck and her 8 baby ducklings.  As they were walking to the park, the ducklings fell into the storm sewer.  What is a mother duck to do? Well, she must get them out!

Before we finished the story, KD had some ideas about what we would do if we were to get the ducklings out:

In the science area, two friends worked together to build a crane from shells to get out the ducklings.

In the language arts area, four friends drew a picture of a tow truck pulling out the ducklings.

In the block area, four friends built a crane and a pet truck to get out the ducklings.

In the art area, two friends painted a picture of the mommy duck flying in and rescuing her babies one at a time.

In math, two friends used the pattern blocks to build a crane.

And in sand, two friends build the sewer and the ducks and rescued the babies.

We work together to problem solve, to come up with solutions to a variety of situations we encounter during the day, figuring out a math problem, or how to get ducklings out of a sewer grate.  Community.  It’s what Kindergarten is all about!

What is it that sand does?

Scientists began looking into the nature of granular material in the late 1980′s.

Simple, ordinary, modest sand, neglected by engineers and physicists for decades, adopted by well meaning but experimentally challenged mathematicians, defies explanation.

That not even a physicist can explain why sand behaves the way it does seems astonishing.  Sand is neither invisibly small nor impossibly distant; observing it requires neither particle accelerators or orbiting telescopes.  The interactions of grains of sand are entirely governed by the same Newtonian laws that describe the motion of a bouncing ball or the orbit of the earth about the sun.  The odd behaviour of a layer of sand bounced up and down on a tray should, in principle, be entirely knowable and entirely predictable.  Why, then, can’t physicist’s simply take a bunch of equations describing the motion of all the individual grains, put them in a very large computer, and wait-for years, if necessary-until it spits out a prediction?

The problem is not one of computation but of knowledge: though sand is acted on by Newtonian forces, we simply don’t know enough about how those forces operate when let loose on a pile of sand.

One grain of sand acts like a ball.  When dropped from a great height to the floor, it bounces-pretty high, in fact…drop a sack of sand on the floor and it absorbs the energy of the fall quite well, which means it doesn’t bounce at all.

Because the language of physics does not contain a vocabulary for granularity, engineers must treat granular material as either a liquid or a solid.  These approximations work most of the time, but occasionally they lead to disaster.  Grain solos, for instance, are designed under the dubious assumption that the grains distribute their weight uniformly, as though they were water molecules. In fact, when the grains come to rest against one another they form intricate, quasi-self supporting structures.  That is why adding more grains to the top of a silo often does not increase the pressure delivered to the bottom at all, but rather increases pressure outward against the sides of the silo.

The flow of grain itself can very unpredictably from a trickle to a gush- to the constant annoyance of engineers in the food, mining, and shipping industries.  Drop sand a grain at a time and the pile if forms will get higher and higher until, at some critical point, the very next grain causes and avalanche.  Sometimes the avalanche occurs almost immediately and constitutes only a few grains sliding down the slope.  At other times the grains collect for longer than seems possible, until a great many of them come crashing down at once.

This entry is about the importance of Block Play, and how it fits into our Kindergarten curriculum. The quotes all come from the book The Block Book by Elisabeth Hirsch.  It is published by The NAEYC. The page numbers are in parenthesis after the quotes.

Science: “Invention and discovery are part of scientific thinking.  A successful scientist has a creative mind, and creates new forms through finding relationships among established ideas. In block building, the material is fluid, providing for infinite possibilities for a child to develop ideas and improvise or create at will (p. 32)

Math: A child’s artistry in- and feeling for- block building is closely related to the true mathematician’s view of mathematics as a creative art.  The aesthetic pleasure which an adult mathematician experiences when he contemplates shape and form and their properties is similar to the pleasure and joy the child experiences when he builds (p. 33).

Social Studies: The relationships with other people, children and adults, is the basis of social studies. In social studies, we deal with people and their relationships to each other through time and space (p. 68)

Dramatic Play: One of the most profound means available to children for constructing and reconstructing, formulating knowledge is through play…Play is the visible language of childhood wherein we see and hear the total functioning, revealing his or her concerns, conflicts, information and misinformation, ambivalences, wishes, hopes, pleasures, and questions. (p. 69)

My personal observations about block play in our class this year:  Some of us enjoy the structure and some of us enjoy the accessories.  By this I mean some of us enjoy building many structures, while some of us prefer the “add ons” the little things that add to the animation of the structure.  We all enjoy the block area, but some of us enjoy it more.  Some enjoy the building and some enjoy telling others what to build.  Some enjoy the process and some enjoy the end product.  It is creative and functional.  It is trial and error.  It is balance and gravity.  It just is the block area.

-We couldn’t see anything.                                                                                                                                                                                                     -It would be just like the old movies.                                                                                                                                                                     -We would never want to play outside.                                                                                                                                                                 -The planet would be all white and black.                                                                                                                                                                -We couldn’t see the sun.                                                                                                                                                                                         -It would be like a haunted house.                                                                                                                                                                           -It would be like night time all of the time.

That thinking led us to our exploration with white and black.

What if the only colours we had were white and black?

-It’s weird, white didn’t work very well.                                                           -It was like we were in a black and white world.                                          -White wasn’t really good.                                                                                   -Black and white paint made grey.                                                                    -BORING! I missed the other colours!

     Some of us enjoyed working in black and white, but some of us still  missed colours:

Those in favour of Black and White liked them because they were, “my favouritist colours”, “I like the way the white lights are on my Christmas tree.”  ”I like watching old movies”.

Those in favour of all of the colours liked them because,”All of the colours stand out and look bright”, “It’s nice to use more”, “I like all of the coloured lights on my Christmas tree”, and “Rainbows include leprechauns.”

What I loved about this exercise was the way it made us re-think some ideas.  How do you make a sky with only white and black?  What do you do when white doesn’t show up on paper (“When white won’t work, just use yellow!”)? Can you make a picture with only white and black?  It gave us an opportunity to see the world from a different perspective.

First, you need a straight edge to draw a horizon line.

Then you need to draw a long rectangle on top of the line.

Then you need some tall rectangles on the sides, and some small rectangles for the soldiers to hide behind.

Some more balustrades.

Every castle needs a few flags!

Final touches.

The gate into the castle.

Once the blueprints are made, the building can begin.

The more designs, the more castles.

Each castle needs a knight, with a shield and sword, of course!

More detail to the blueprint, more detail to the castle.

Soon, our castles become vertical.

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The 21st century will see monumental change. Either the human race will use its knowledge and skills and change the way it interacts with the environment, or the environment will change the way it interacts with its inhabitants.

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Look at this one Jules. Ain’t she a beauty. Nah, we won’t touch that one. See ‘ow ‘ealthy she is. Look at those leaves, an’ the bark. She’s only a young ‘un just like you. Let’s see who’s living in her. ‘Ave a look at this little fella. Wonder where ‘is mum is? ‘Ave a look but don’t touch – utherwise ‘is mum’ll pick up ya scent and chuck ‘im out. Ya gotta ‘ave ‘respec’.

Yes. Having ‘respec’ was around a long time before rap music and Ali G. It was a concept that I learned very young from the old men of the bush, around whose ankles I played, and who taught me lessons   I’ve never forgotten  about conservation and ecology. My Dad was one of them.

When I was four years old, in the late 1950’s, he would wake me up and help me dress, ready for the day’s adventure. We’d walk hand in hand, both dressed in our work overalls, his covered in oil, mine in mud, through the stacks of timber that filled the paddock behind our house, among which we kids played hide and seek, over to his workshop. There, the petrol tanker he’d had to weld the day before because it was leaking, and no one else would go anywhere near it, would be ready to head out. So would the log truck that had a chain break the day before allowing a massive Mountain Ash log to roll onto a hapless mill worker- crushing his arm and leg. I’d heard my Mum and Dad talking about it with the bush nurse who lived next door to us and was the only medico in the area. She wondered if he’d be able to work again. He was a newbie, and had stood on the wrong side of the truck, a potentially fatal mistake, as he’d discovered to his detriment. To be in the wrong place at the wrong time was often deadly or at least disabling, in those days.

But a log truck couldn’t stand idle as other people’s livelihoods depended on it. The show had to go on. So my Dad had fixed it and was going to drive it up the mountain that day to collect a load. I went as his navigator.

With no seat belts to keep us safe we just had to hang on as we crawled around corners so tight we sometimes had to ‘back and fill’ to make it. My nose would wrinkle at the smorgasbord of smells – oil, diesel, dirt, and honest sweat. I would wriggle in anticipation of the wonders I would see, the stories I would hear, the sounds and smells of the bush. On the way Dad would point out all sorts of birds and animals. We’d often need to stop to allow an echidna to amble across the road in front of us, or to check a dead wombat or roo to make sure there was no baby hiding in a pouch, hidden safely and protected by Mum’s body. Often there was, and we’d arrive home with a baby animal to install in a sock or a pillow case strung on the back on a kitchen chair, in front of the wood stove to keep it warm. We’d then have to take it in turns to get up during the night to feed the baby every four hours with eye droppers. Dot, the local district nurse,  would show us how. She was as experienced with animals as she was with people so there was no need for a local vet, and everyone was a wildlife carer – we didn’t have any special training.  Most of them survived, and they either became pets and bounced around the backyard and schoolyard with us, or we released them back to the wild – those we had carefully nurtured but not humanised. Learning to love and let go was one of the first of many lifelong lessons.

We’d stop halfway up the mountain and have a cuppa with Old Bill, a Chinese man who seemed so old he seemed to have been there since the gold rush. In a town of eccentrics, he was an oddity. He didn’t have a car, so we would drop off his groceries and collect letters he wanted posted. He couldn’t speak a lot of English but always had treasures to show me that he’d made or found. One day a magnificent feather, the next a nest with some baby chicks in it, or a new moss he hadn’t seen before on a dead branch. Then we’d travel on to where we had to collect the day’s logs. Sitting in silence with these men who seemed as ancient as the trees, yet who were probably only in their thirties and forties, taught me the value of contemplation. When it was time to work, we’d wander through the bush putting red ribbons on the trees that were to be felled. You took only the ailing trees or those surrounded by new growth that would replace them. Discernment and careful selection were key. Clear felling in those days meant clearing the way for more growth, not wholesale slaughter.

There was no unnecessary talking, nor unnecessary taking. This was their cathedral, and my library. I learned that This one ‘ere is on the way out. We’ll take ‘im but not the one next door. First though we ‘ave to check to make sure ‘e’s not anyone’s ‘ome. Then, after a close inspection to make sure no-one was in residence and we wouldn’t be destroying someone’s home, the next discussion would be about how to fell the tree.

I WISH I WAS A TREE   POEM: Author Jack Aged 6

A tree is a person

Sap is its blood

And the roots are its legs

It has so many hands

Because they are its leaves

It has quite a number of arms

Which are the branches and

Inside the trunk is the body.

It drinks from the rain and

Gets energy from the sun

I wish I was a tree.

A cuppa before we started was always the order of the day. I had my special little stump to sit on so I could watch and listen while I drank my milk. A plan would be constructed and we would all silently commune with the tree before they felled it expertly. Precise angles would be calculated by these men who’d never experienced a physics class in their lives. Their formal education, if they’d had any at all, would have finished at year 6, at latest, but George could tell you could tell you exactly how many cubic metres of wood were in a tree just from looking at it, and Old Lindsay could fell a tree with a cross-saw so that it would fall exactly where he said it would. You sit over here little ‘un. She’s gonna land between those two mountain ash. We won’t touch ‘em, they’re only young ‘uns like you. We havta miss those branches, don’t want to damage anything else. I would sit and watch in absolute awe as he did exactly that. Connoisseurship, discernment, environmental partnership and sensitivity became the basis of my personal value system.

ECOLOGICAL  VALUES

These values are inherent in living systems/learning communities. They require a new way of thinking about and acting in a world whose fundamental characteristic is relationship and connectedness. This involves a shift in thinking.

From interdependence to interdependence  independence???

From competition to cooperation

From quantity to quality

From expansion to conservation

From domination to partnership

You learn the wisdom of the elders very young in the country. Lessons city kids often seem to miss. The science and spirituality which pervade my adult life was first shaped by these old men, and the bush. I never saw them in church, but to sit in silence with them, watching clouds float overhead that often contained magical stories, surrounded by animals going quietly about their business, the overpowering smell of eucalyptus and the rough touch of bark on bare legs as we sipped our morning cuppas was my first introduction to real spirituality. Thoughtfully assessing the readiness, or willingness, of a tree to cease being the shelter for animals and birds and form human shelter instead was a lesson in peaceful collaboration.

They taught me the bush is to be respected. Nature is to be revered. You work with her, as they referred to her, long before Gaia became the name given to mother earth, not against her. Like all women, never take her for granted. Never try to ‘conquer’ as she’ll always win. James Lovelock, developer of the Gaia metaphor, in his book “The Vanishing Face of Gaia” describes Gaia not as a kind and gentle mother, but as a powerful, overbearing figure who knows how to put her children in their place. This is exactly as the old men of the bush used to see her.

Cooperation is the key. Take only what you need. Give thanks for what you do take, and make sure it’s replaced wherever possible.

But the old men gradually died, and with them their skill and bushcraft, to be replaced by efficient machines. These relentless monsters grew bigger and bigger, seemingly more bloated with each tree consumed as they ate their way, ‘War of the Worlds’  - style – across the landscape, consuming everything in their path. Sustainable logging became replaced by the environmental rape of machine clear-felling, I started to become ill and commenced a lifelong search to re-find the health and joy of my own childhood, and ways of helping others learn similar lessons through delving into earth-centred cultures and environmental principles. These were to be found in later work with education, developed in alliances with wonderful mentors, and through life with indigenous communities around the world, where I found congruence in values and rituals which celebrated human beings as an integral part of the macro-ecosystems, and showed we are capable of making life better, or far worse, for other species.

Indigenous spiritual principles such as:

Connection to Force beyond Self

Individual Working for Common Good

Holism

Passion, Energy, Spirit

Balance and Harmony

Worth in All

Mystery

Reconciling Paradox and Dualism

Not thinking, but wisdom; not knowing ,but intuition and creativity;

wakefulness; compassion, beauty

Inspiration–fill with energy, spirit

Working with Aboriginal communities in Australia where western education seemed at odds with the needs of their young people to live in, and be part of, the bush, led to a meeting Dr. Greg Cajete. A Native American Pueblo elder, Greg was the first indigenous person to achieve his PhD through demonstrating the traditional learning techniques of his people. He introduced me to the ‘Four Fold way’ – a perspective of the native American medicine wheel which,  in various interpretations, provides the pivotal and fundamental element which provides the simple framework to explain all we need to consider to live well. The wisdom of the elders is balanced by the enthusiasm and need for detail of the youth of our society. Vision is balanced by introspection, male by female. In all incarnations it reminds us of the paradoxes which dominate our lives, and the need to balance and surpass them for our systems to survive and thrive. And what happens when we fail.

Greg Cajete’s seminal work ‘Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education’ described the beginning of the Great Disconnect where the French saw their task as creating a new society, half indigenous, half-European. So while they educated Indian children in the ways of the church, they also encouraged their leading families to send their children to Indian villages to live as part of a chief’s family and absorb Indian ways. Whereas the English, from whom educational efforts have always been derived, sought only to provide Indians with sufficient familiarity with their economic system so that educated Indians would fit into the rural Protestant agricultural milieu. Gradually the philosophical basis of learning moved away from seeing the world as an intimate relationship of living things, towards the world as an inanimate mass of matter arranged by chance into a set of shapes and energy patterns and a Cartesian-based belief in the certainty of scientific knowledge.

Native American Principles for Living

Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect,

Remain close to the Great Spirit,

Show great respect for your fellow beings,

Work together for the benefit of all mankind,

Give assistance and kindness whenever needed,

Do what you know is right,

Look after the well-being of mind and body,

Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good,

Be truthful and honest at all times,

Take full responsibility for your actions.

And so the societal journey through disconnection began, where we all gradually moved through a series of educational eras where the purpose of schooling kept changing – e.g. the Agricultural Era where schools promoted common culture and citizenship, to the Industrial Era (‘Americanise/Australianise’ immigrants and prepare them for factory work), to the Social Era (social reform with a hospital perspective) and finally to the Electronic/Ecological Era where one would hope that the wheel may finally turn again so that community building and ecological principles may become the norm. Along the way young people gradually disconnected from the natural world and their families as their environments changed and technology enabled them to access broader and broader networks which expand their access and eased their need for physical work, but not necessarily their improved their self worth or their personal capabilities.

Now, I look at young people growing up now, plugged into PDAs (what is a PDA?) and earphones through which ear-splitting music blasts as they simultaneously text their mates, tweet their thoughts and post comments on the message boards of ‘friends’ they’ve never met. Intimate relationships have been replaced by the need to accumulate people and material stuff. I despair at the disconnect many of them appear to experience with their surroundings – both human and environmental, unless their Facebook friends tell them there is a ‘cause’ they should become involved in. The principles of living systems that informed ancient cultures seem to have become lost in the consumeristic game to invent the next intriguing gadget that will enable you to connect with everyone, but at arms’ or computers’ distance.

While I appreciate the flexibility and reach afforded by advancing technologies, I also wonder whether our ‘Adaptive Mutation’ as humans is being adversely affected, particularly the brain and intelligence development in young people which is becoming skewed.

Understanding that building resiliency in young people to overcome this sense of disconnectedness requires that they are supported to build relationship with self, others and the environment, led me into the fields of systems thinking, environmental literacy and ecopsychology where the focus is restoration of balance, and the wonders of natural capitalism, sustainable development, and Biomimicry are suddenly entering the popular lexicon as we struggle to address climate change concerns both of our own making, and Gaia’s response.

The question now is what do we need to do to ensure the survival of the human race on earth, or, as luminaries such as James Lovelock, Tim Flannery and Clive Hamilton have written recently, are we already past the Tipping Point.

I choose to think not. I continually search for ways to reverse the ‘damage of civilisation’ and take heart in contributions such as the Minke Whale Project, where university researchers who couldn’t get funding have paired with ecotourism operators in creative ways; in the ‘Real Avatar’ call where thousands from around the world lobbied the Indian Government recently to stop a British company from mining the Niyamgiri Hill worshipped by the remote Kutia and Dongria Kondh indigenous tribes who have no access to modern technology; and  I take heart in moves by the Victorian Government in establishing a Sustainability Commission to address at least one of the Principles of Ecology on a systemic basis.

Principles of ECOLOGY, EDUCATION and COMMUNITY

Interdependence                                      sustainability                        ecological cycles

energy flow                                               partnership                            flexibility

diversity                                                     co-evolution

I also choose to live at the beach! Here, my daily, health giving walks are constantly interrupted to gaze at the skies as a newly released baby wedge-tailed eagle learns to ride the air currents, with no parent to teach her. Or where a sea eagle pair engage in a provocative courtship dance out over an incoming tide. Where an osprey has built her nest on top of a specially provided pole, far out of the reach of any human related mischief, but when a young one peeps tentatively over the side before a first flight, locals gather excitedly to watch.

I glory in the feel of the wind on my face as I watch whales protectively shielding their babies as they cruise purposefully, but slowly, past on their way to summer feeding grounds. I experience the wonder of dancing with dolphins, first discovered on beaches in Florida and Western Australia, who do come in when they are called, to circle around my legs and then with a flick of their powerful bodies leap back into an oncoming wave.

My beach-walking memories are also of being introduced to salmon fishing in Michigan, where the magnificent creatures are caught and prepared in grateful ceremony by the Ojibwe people; and of Monterey – where the local people care so much for the Monarch butterflies which migrate there each spring, that they not only voted to pay an extra tax to build a sanctuary, but they staff the sanctuary and encourage police to pin $1000 fines on anyone disturbing the butterflies. And I give thanks to the friends in Pacific Grove who first introduced me to sea otters – to me the most endearing of creatures. Venturing outside, I simply walked down to the beach, past wild deer grazing on berries along the path, to craggy rocks from which you can see otters frolicking. These delightful little creatures have a highly practical habit of rolling themselves in kelp to sleep or eat, belly up, often with a very cute baby lying on top. The mums also roll their babies in kelp to keep them secure while mum is off finding shellfish for dinner. They are also great parents and watching otters teaching their babies is one of the best time-wasting pleasures I’ve ever experienced.

The sound of waves is accompanied by the knock, knock of the stones they hold in their paws to break open molluscs on their stomachs, behaviour Jane Goodall compared to her observations of the tool-using Gombe chimpanzees, and I send silent thanks to Margaret Wentworth Owens and her colleagues in their conservation work to save these most playful of creatures from extinction. The same day I was introduced to the sea otters I stayed the night and watched the sun sink into the golden ocean, listened to the plaintive calls of the seabirds, the haunting barks of the seals, the slapping and sighing of the waves breaking on the rocks below.

As the conscience of conservation shifts from the dim memories of yesterday to the uncertainties of tomorrow, cannot we hold in our heart the shining hour of today?’                                                Margaret Wentworth Owings 1998

As the young teenagers call out ‘Hi’ as they run past with their surfboards tucked securely under their arms, or in a carrier attached to their bikes, or stop to chat about the latest battles we’re having with bureaucracy to ensure the biodiversity of the area through restricting unsustainable development, I give silent thanks to those old men of the bush who first opened my eyes, heart and soul to my personal place in the ecosystem, and I renew my vow to continue to do whatever I can to ensure that my brand new grand-daughter, and all of her friends, can survive and thrive through a legacy of my generation’s stewardship and my on-going work with Eco-Literacy.

We are all united in a common cause

It is a proud cause, which we may serve

Secure in the knowledge that the earth will be

Better for our effort. It is a cause that has no end.

The closing words of Rachel Carson;s acceptance speech after receiving the National Audobon Society’s Gold Medal, 3.12. 1966

ECOLITERACY IS BOTH A CONTENT AND A PROCESS

Ecoliteracy as content

Ecological principles

Ecological values

Ecoliteracy as process

Systems thinking

Systems change

Yet the support documents are a long time coming. I have been attending the training sessions … and am still waiting for the nuts and bolts of how it will look, I understand they want us to develop our own ideas but some examples would be useful especially with the new National Quality Framework coming in.

I love to make proformas and have put a couple together based on the Framework, some I have gone on to use others peers have taken and adapted. I thought I would put them up and encourage other’s to do the same, what are you using?

VEYLDF – Records

EYL learning story

During our field trip to Lincoln Park for low tide Amalie was amazed at the large, beautiful seaweed that was floating by. She began collecting it and showing it around to everyone – ooh-ing and awe-ing about its beauty. This caught Rohan’s attention. So he began to collect it with her. They began really looking at the different types of seaweed. They were getting frustrated because they had too much seaweed to carry around and they really wanted to display and share these treasures. They decided to clear off a space on the cement just above the rocks and began laying out all the different types of seaweed. They began drawing an audience of other kids, adults and people just walking by.
I had brought low tide and sea life books along for identification. I handed Rohan one of the books and he began to identify the seaweed. Amalie had some previous knowledge from studying seaweed before and they went back and forth about which seaweed was which from the book. Other kids were guessing what the different seaweed was and even started giving the different seaweed nick names.
As it approached time for us to leave, I could see that Amalie was starting to panic about all the work they had put into this project and having to leave it. She and Rohan talked back and forth about what they could do and how we could transport it since they had decided they wanted to dry it out at school. As I listened, I offered something that I don’t usually do since we almost always leave everything we find on the beach, at the beach. I handed them some bags so that they could continue their investigation at school. They both gently laid the seaweed into the bags.
As soon as we got back to school, they ran to the side yard to lay the seaweed out to dry. The following school day, they both helped me to bring the seaweed in to display on a large table where I had seaweed identification books, paper and colored pencils out. We spent the entire morning researching, as a class, the different names of the seaweed, why they have these names and then drawing and labeling the specimens and writing a little bit about what we learned from the seaweed.

What it means
Rohan and Amalie, you really came together as a team to create a beautiful and engaging display of the different types of seaweed that you collected. You really stuck to what you wanted to do and found a way to display the seaweed and engage others at the beach. You also followed through with your desire to bring it back to school and we came up with a plan that allowed you to do this. Your passion for the seaweed and for sharing your passion with others was catching. The entire class now knows something they didn’t know before because of your willingness to share your project and the information you learned. I also noticed that you did all of this work and negotiating without losing your patience with each other, especially since I’ve seen you struggle to work together in the past. I have also noticed that you have turned this love of nature you both share into working on the hillside in the big yard together in a very cooperative and gentle way. Thank you for your interest, your passion and your commitment to sharing this love of nature with all of us and for showing us that a shared love of something like seaweed investigation can bring two people together and create a strong bonding friendship.

Opportunities and Possibilities
Watching two people who generally won’t play with the opposite gender, come together over this very simple act of seaweed collection and identification is a good reminder that crossing bias lines often comes when we join in a shared interest activity. I think this type of crossing over can be life changing in the struggle for kids to see that boys can work with girls and vice versa and that even if we are very different people or personalities or any other differences that we can love working together out of a passion for a shared interest. Partnering kids with others for different activities, even against their wishes often brings about this same effect especially if you know the kids and what interests they may share. Being open to them bringing the seaweed back to school, allowed them to feel proud, and to work as a team to share their knowledge with the rest of the class – remembering, that as a teacher, saying “yes” is so important and can change everything. Having kids teach each other is something I value and seeing this unfold has inspired me to have even more “child teaching” occur.

A Learning Story by Iris, Kailee and Michelle

During independent reading time I was reading with each individual child one at a time.  For everyone else, I had them pair up and read to each other.  For two of the kindergartener’s, Iris and Kailee, I gave them a copy of Hop on Pop to read together.  They are both able to sound out words and are beginning to site read if they are given a somewhat familiar book with fair words.  They decided to go to the tables to read instead of reading at the circle area where everyone else was.  I was just across the carpet in the chair with another child but I was still able to listen in to their conversation.  They opened the book and Kailee began to sound out the words, reading the book fairly easily to Iris.  When Kailee got to the word “three” she struggled and Iris took the book and read the word for her and then continued to read to Kailee, also fairly easily.  Then Iris came to the name “Mr. Brown.”  They both went back and forth about how to sound out “Brown” and neither could quite get it.  They were both trying back and forth for quite a while, almost getting it and then Kailee said, “Look he’s wearing brown, IT’S BROWN!  WE FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHAT THAT WORD WAS!”  Kailee was beaming at Iris and Iris was beaming at Kailee.  They were giddy and silly and their pride shown out to the entire classroom.

What it means

Iris and Kailee you are building the ability to work independently and cooperatively.  You stuck with the book I gave to you and worked diligently to sound out the words, use the pictures to help you make meaning of the words and helped each other when you felt stuck and needed assistance.  You are both learning to read and understand written language.  You inspired others around you by working for a long time to figure out the word “Brown” and your perseverance paid off with the pride you felt from being able to read all the words in the book.

Opportunities and Possibilities

I will continue to give Iris and Kailee space when reading.  They are a good match developmentally and they truly enjoyed working together to read the book I gave to them.  Knowing where they are in their reading journey, Hop on Pop was the perfect book to break into independent reading for both of them.  By not rushing over to “help” them sound the words out, they gained confidence and pride in their own abilities.  This was a good reminder for me to stay back and let the kids work it out, make mistakes and overcome obstacles on their own.

We all have different and unique ways to communicate ideas, concepts and memories. When we record them in a logical manner using words, sentences and pictures, our learning will becomce more clear in our minds.  We can use these reflections to increase the learning from our accomplishments as well as our failures. Quite often, we may rely upon these reflections to improve or change the way we will do something in the future.

Complete the following questions using words, sentences, pictures and stories. Be honest and record important and meaningful ideas to you. 

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR REFLECTIONS 

• What was your task, the ultimate goal or outcome for this activity?  (This relates to the challenge that you were given.)   
• What are some important concepts, factors and ideas that you discovered/learned?  (Remember – you may have heard or known about the concept before your challenge; try to jot down something new about it.) 
•   How did you solve the problem or task? Did you reach your goal? Explain.   
• Were your ideas good or bad?  Would you make revisions to changes if you had to do it again?  Explain.   
• How could your activity and the manner by which you approached or solved it be important to a real-life situation?  (Think about your home life, school experiences, sporting events or laces of employment for others.) 

The “Learning Stories” we’ve been studying have a bit of a different style and it was interesting to learn about and practice the technique. Of course, I detoured slightly from the rules and had many players scattered in the story but I had to go with this particular incident because it held such a powerful message about the philosophy of this classroom of ours and the coming transition in the Autumn.

I love to study and be engaged in learning. Part of learning, is to take new ideas and concepts and meld them into what already exists for you. As a fervent documentarian of my classroom and life in general, this just fuels my fire even more. Enjoy the little vignette below – “A Learning Story” about cooperation, growth and the taking on of new responsibilities.

Alex, Charlie, Beck, Georgia and Cosmo Explore Writing Games Together

A Learning Story

May 7, 2009

Today, as we prepared for group focus time, one of the preschool kids, Cosmo, who often visits our class, came up to me, hugged my leg, and then just stood looking at me and looking into the classroom. I knew he wanted to join the group, so I asked him if he would like to come in. He nodded vigorously.

Charlie, a kindergartener, and Cosmo sat down at the table. Then Beck, another preschooler, who will be in our class next year, approached me and wanted to join in as well. I set the table with alphabet game books that use dry erase markers. One of the first grader’s, Alex, was still at the table working on his math when we came in.

Cosmo and Beck, the preschool students, and Charlie, the kindergartener, sat down in front of the books. Charlie announced, with much pride, that he knew how to play a specific game in the book and I encouraged him to teach the preschool kids. They all turned to the page he was on and he explained the game.

They played for a while, flipping a coin, if it was heads, advancing to an upper-case letter, if it was tails, advancing to a lower-case letter and practicing writing them in. They were all cheering as they progressed, commenting on who was getting ahead.

All the while, they played, Alex, the first grader watched and gave suggestions about how to maneuver faster through the maze.

Cosmo decided to move on to another page in the book and Beck reached over and helped him figure out what to do.

Alex finished the page in his math book just as Georgia, another kindergartener came in from the studio and took his spot with one of the alphabet books. She turned to a game page and asks if anyone would play with her and Alex jumped in and they played a game of alphabet tick-tack-toe.

When they finish their game, Georgia wanted to play another game. Beck wanted to play too, so she moved her chair around the table to play. They ask me to read the rules, so I did. They then proceed to play a similar upper-case, lower-case game.

As they flipped the coin and advance, they talk about their advancing pieces. Georgia: Beck if you get tails you are going to be on top of me.” Beck: I hope we can finish at the same time.” Georgia: Yeah, you are on the same spot as me. Georgia: “I win but that’s okay.” Beck: “I want to play Sorry.” Everyone at the table wants to play too, so they move to another table, set up the game and play together.

What It Means

Alex, Charlie, Georgia, Back and Cosmo, even though you had never worked together in this way before, you were all so helpful, cooperative and encouraging to each other. Looking to each other for help is a fun way to learn. When you help each other and encourage each other to finish instead of trying to “win” the game, we are all winning as a community. Inviting students in from other classes and including them in your games shows that we are all working together to learn new things. Helping each other figure out the difference between upper and lower case letters is an important step toward learning to read and write. Sharing your pens, erasers and books builds a sense of cooperation and creates an atmosphere of caring and kindness. After focused time, all of you decided to play a game together. Figuring out who would be what color took some negotiation but when we give-and-take and talk through our feelings, the games we play in the classroom are even more fun.

Opportunities and Possibilities

When Cosmo hugged me and looked toward the classroom, I know he was asking to be included in our group – staying open to cues such as these are an important part of the power of awareness and inclusion. The Inclusion of Beck in the group was also helpful for the transition into our class next year.

The instruction coming from the students in the group gives them all a sense of autonomy from the teachers. This was a perfect example of how a mixed-age classroom provides opportunities for teaching within the group. We know that when you teach someone something, it in turn, reinforces what you already know and helps to build relationships.

This mixed age (4-7) group was helpful and encouraging even though the games were competitive type games. However, because the nature of our classroom is based on group and cooperative learning, instead of playing “against” each other, they used strategies, guesstimation, and encouragement so that they all finished the games without needing the reinforcement of the winning/losing aspect. It also set in motion the basis of our cooperative learning style.

In addition, because these students had not worked together in this way before, the work they did together today helped to build a foundation for further exploration together in a cooperative learning way. The fact that after helping each other with “individual” work, that they then chose to move on and play a game together shows the beginnings of this community building. We are all feeling even more excited about the new students joining our classroom in the coming September.

The very fact that this type of cross classroom/cross age learning is possible and encouraged in our school, builds a stronger community and love of learning.

I have also heard the Ministry of Social Development has approved my funding application to run the School Holiday programme. I still don’t know to the tune of how much yet but I am hopeful – The last holiday programme ran at a loss because we did not secure funding in the last round.

I had an incredibly intense staff meeting last week which involved me literally pouring information over the teaching staff as fast as I could before they could escape at 7 oclock. The first one made a beeline for the door at about 6.45 and it was all down hill from there. I managed to convey a number of important messages before they bolted, in particular pointing them to ERO’s green book which nicely lists all the performance indicators for the delivery of a quality educational programme. The lists include descriptions of what the children would be observed doing as well as what the teachers should be doing.

In preparation of ERO’s visit, inspection of recent ‘Learning Stories’ has revealed that those teachers that have adopted the template I produced back in April? are at last assessing children’s learning more fully and are able to plan for these children based on their individual interests and dispositions. Gone (she says hopefully) are the meaningless colourful scrapbooks of old which provided no continuity of planning.

The focus of the Governments ERO reviews in ECE this year is ‘Self Review’ – Most of my job is self review and it is not until quite recently that I have begun formally documenting it. Topics I have reviews this year include:

Assessment (Learning Stories) Here is the documentation of the process. self-review-profiles1

As I am trying not to work so much in the weekends I will end this post, however I hope to post an exemplar of a good Learning Story here next week and talk more about the performance indicators as listed by ERO.