Some thoughts on assessment and documentation

Day 2. Auchlone Nature Kindergarten.

I woke after the first full nights sleep since Saturday morning. I'm hopefully in this time zone now, I hope my brain realizes that it's not really my bed time at 11:30 in the morning. I am staying in a gorgeous bed and breakfast that was once a castle. At breakfast I looked across the fields and dreamt that I was Elizabeth Bennett, reflecting on last nights ball and wondering about Darcy.

Coming into the Kinder this morning I was greeted by familiar faces and met a few different children. Struan greeted me with "What are you doing here again?" I think they are quite used to visitors around here. I'm inside the outdoor kitchen right now and there is a steady hum of activity around me. Some children are outside making hides with staff, cutting down stumps, swinging on home made rope swings and digging for treasure in the sandpit, but in here they are engaged in more quiet pursuits. A small group are standing at the kitchen bench preparing fruit snack and dying eggs with beet root and vinegar. The educator explains that she's not sure if it will work but feels its important to model to the children that it's good to experiment and try things. "Years ago I would have researched and made sure I was going to get it right, but these days I just give things a go with the children"

There is a large wooden table with home made (by the children) charcoal and various surfaces to draw on. There is glue and boxes, paint and paper. Children are painting, cutting, folding and comparing their work. "Does this picture look weird? It's actually a monster. I'm going to hang it now on the far end". He secures it with a peg and his friend describes it. "That's the grass and that's the reindeer and that's the dragon and it doesn't actually look weird". The conversation continues between the two boys for some time and then they all help to tidy up in preparation for snack. The place is getting busier as more children come from outside and wash up. One child is having a moment and an educator is talking and reassuring her, asking and listening to what is happening for her. Children come in and tidy up, wash their hands and go to the bench to choose their snack with the help of an educator. They sit together and it is relaxed as they eat. The routine has form, a certain structure so that all know what is expected in the space, but it is not regimented or inflexible. Two children wander in as everyone else is finishing and this was no drama. They knew where to go and what to do, children are trusted to make decisions. 

The documentation here is something I'd like to share with you. I did a seminar once in South Western Sydney about it, based on the book 'Floorboards', which some of our Western Sydney preschools may have. I think the idea is taking off in some preschools. This form of documentation appealed to me when I first read about it, but seeing it here in action is fantastic. One comment from Kate, who is looking after me while I'm here, was that it all occurs with the children, not on the children. Staff are not encouraged to take their documentation home, in fact one educator was very creative and liked to take the floor books and the children's portfolios (called a learning story book) home to work on them. She'd put them in her car and her colleagues would sneak them back out again. 

So how does this work? I hear many comments that there is such pressure to document everything that our teachers are up until late at night working on it. This concerns me greatly, because a persons personal well being is more important than their professional lives, and I don't believe you can be an effective teacher if you are under pressure and strung out from working late into the night. Another complaint I often hear is that educators are spending less time interacting with the children because they are busy observing, being behind a camera, or scribbling on note pads. 

I'm not seeing this here. The educators do admit to taking some work home, but not hours. The bulk of the documentation is done around the talk around time, talking tubs  and developing the talking and thinking floor books which occur as group times with the children. These group times are flexible and of short duration. The children are called over and invited to attend. Staff support the children in joining in. The topics are based on a project or interest of the group and everyone is invited to contribute. Children as young as two are involved in a variety of ways and often sit with an educator, or hover nearby. All educators and children are present and invited to contribute.

Two learning stories are done each term for each child and these go into what we would call portfolios. They are flexible booklets that can expand as the child grows. Some children have been here since two year olds, so their learning story books are pretty thick and show wonderful progression. 

The other documentation is seen on the walls as educators respond to children's learning by writing short reflections and displaying photos. 

Anyways it's hard to explain here but if people are interested I'd love to expand on this concept more, perhaps through some workshops? I wish you could all be here seeing this in action like I am. You would be as abuzz as I am.

Bye for now. 

Ruth