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By: Kasia Sulewski, Olivia Murray and Michelle Redeker, Early Childhood Educators
On October 25, 2019, Terra’s Early Childhood Educators from our Child and Family Support Centre welcomed 55 colleagues from the early learning and childcare (ELCC) community to share in professional development. It was a successful day for learning and growth in the field of early learning.
A significant part of Terra’s Early Childhood Educators’ practice is creating documentation and writing learning stories. They do this to share their knowledge, as well as honour what the children are creating, discovering and learning. Documentation is a collection of photos, observations and questions that represent what children are exploring every day. Learning stories are a collection of photos and a sequenced story that shines a light on children’s engagements and dispositions to learn as they play. Pedagogical documentation is created when educators place meaning behind what children are learning, using the information from resource books or from the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework for Alberta, titled “FLIGHT” (Makovichuk, Hewes, Lirette & Thomas, 2014).
The focus of this year’s professional development event was engaging Terra families and the community in the documentation process. Moving throughout the centre, the hallways and rooms buzzed with conversation and excitement as learning and experiences were shared amongst colleagues and ELCC community members. They invited community members to reflect on the following questions:
How do Terra’s Early Childhood Educators encourage meaningful participation from families and the community?
A young mom absorbed in her son’s learning story.
After a full day of presentations, conversations and knowledge sharing, the educators’ passion for lifelong learning was evident. Some of the comments from attendees include:
“Seeing how inspired and thoughtful the educators are, the curiosity and commitment to furthering community and a sense of place.”“Thank you Terra educators. I love your willingness to share what you are doing.”[I am inspired by] “Your educators! Your responsive environments! What great work you are doing…and the difference you are making in our community.”“The skills, experience and thoughtfulness of Terra staff is just so evident. I am leaving inspired by the way they have focused on relationships and partnerships as a way of building a strong early learning and care environment.”“The staff are so incredibly knowledgeable, committed and creative. What a gift for families to be able to engage with these fantastic humans. The responsiveness to families is beyond inspirational.”
“Seeing how inspired and thoughtful the educators are, the curiosity and commitment to furthering community and a sense of place.”
“Thank you Terra educators. I love your willingness to share what you are doing.”
[I am inspired by] “Your educators! Your responsive environments! What great work you are doing…and the difference you are making in our community.”
“The skills, experience and thoughtfulness of Terra staff is just so evident. I am leaving inspired by the way they have focused on relationships and partnerships as a way of building a strong early learning and care environment.”
“The staff are so incredibly knowledgeable, committed and creative. What a gift for families to be able to engage with these fantastic humans. The responsiveness to families is beyond inspirational.”
Learn more about Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Day here.