Recommended
CONTENTSHei whakaaro iho | Some questions to think about
- How do our relationships contribute to and strengthen our review process and outcomes?
- What is the quality of our evidence? How do we use evidence to inform and transform our practice?
- How valid and reliable is our evidence?
- What opportunities does review give us to share and debate our personal philosophies?
- What does our service philosophy say about our image of children as learners?
- How well does our shared vision for children reflect our beliefs, values, and attitudes?
- What is the link between our vision and goals and the priorities we establish in review?
- What opportunities do we have to revisit our vision as a result of review?
- To what extent does review improve our practice? What is the impact on children's learning?
- How well do we manage change in our service? What are the challenges we face?
- What strategies do we have for overcoming these challenges?
- How well do we work together? Who gets to have a say in review? How often do children, families, and members of our wider community contribute to review?
- Do we feel safe? How do we ensure that we behave ethically in review?
- How does our collective wisdom contribute to effective review?
- How reflexive and reflective are we in review? How do we know?
- To what extent are we able to critically reflect on our evidence in order to make sound judgments in review?
Whakamutanga | Conclusion
Te Whāriki suggests that we, as members of our early childhood education service, belong to a community of weavers. Review involves us in a process of raranga as we systematically look back, check, and refine our whāriki for children. Raranga brings to mind feelings of unity and togetherness, weaving together children, their families, whānau, and communities into the life of our early childhood education service. Raranga reminds us that we are weaving together a curriculum that has at its core our best intentions for children.
When we take the time to pause and look back critically at our practice, we are making sure that what we do matches up with what we set out to achieve for children. As a result, we have the opportunity to transform our practice, based on strong evidence and sound judgments.
Review therefore involves us in:
- Preparing: being clear about what we are wanting to find out.
- Gathering: collecting information that helps us to find out.
- Making sense: analysing that information and generating evidence.
- Deciding: making judgments, deciding what to do as a result, and acting accordingly.
Through the process of effective review, our practice has the potential to be transformed. Children are the ultimate beneficiaries of such transformation because their learning is enhanced as a result. Effective review allows us to be more confident that the curriculum whāriki we weave for children is robust and strong and that we have a clear design to work with in the future together.
