THE CHALLENGE

Government has given prime importance to Early Childhood Education. This will no doubt raise the bar for quality education across the whole market.

1. The curriculums and pedagogical approaches are renewed significantly:

• Play-, activity- and inquiry-based pedagogy is in focus.
• Learning objectives guide activity planning and implementation.
• Assessment will shift to examining the learning process.

2. Parents need to be empowered

• Parents have a significant role in the child’s learning.
• Ways for them to participate and take responsibility need to be developed.

3. Preschools and childcare centers face increased competition

• The renewal underlines achievement and accountability of prescribed curricular standards.
• Parents ask for proof of the children’s learning and want to see Return on Investment.

New competences and new working methods are now required to achieve the desired outcomes in the preschool. Use of new technology is also a prerequisite to make the change successful.

A STRUCTURED END TO END LEARNING PROCESS IS REQUIRED

The whole learning process need to be revisited to support holistic learning:

• Upgrade the learning objectives
• Create pedagogical activities that match the learning objectives
• Let children learn by play
• Document the learning moments
• Reflect the learning with the children
• Engage families in learning
• Assess learning with portfolios
• Ensure quality with statistics

Learning from best practices can significantly speed up the planning and implementation. In Scandinavian countries, children are given intensive support – not academic teaching - until they are “school ready”. This has shown a significant impact on their learning capabilities. Children who are provided with quality early childhood care show improved learning outcomes in mathematics and language later in the primary years. Research also shows that children provided with quality early education and care are 15 to 20% less likely to drop out of the schools.

 

ASSESSMENT OF AND FOR LEARNING IS CRUCIAL TO SECURE THE DESIRED OUTCOMES

In all businesses it is key to set clear objectives, do the work, measure the results and create a feedback loop for developing the way of working. In the preschool this means setting clear learning objectives, running playful pedagogical activities, making smart assessments and reflecting on the outcomes.

Play is a continuum of activities including child-initiated free play, play with adult guidance, and teacher-directed play. Play often does not produce concrete artifacts to be assessed by educators.

"Preschool educators are now tasked with ensuring cognitive, social-emotional and academic curricular goals are met within the context of children’s play."

Assessment practises evolve from the examination of physical products of learning, such as worksheets or standardized assessments, and towards examining the process of learning. This includes collecting pedagogical documentation of children’s individual growth and how learning unfolds within different classroom activities. Observations are done in the learning moments to provide authentic understanding of children’s learning progress. The observations are reflected with the children, peers and parents on many occasions during the term. Linking observations to the learning objectives creates a continuous feed back loop to improve children’s learning and the quality in the center.

NEW TECHNOLOGY IS A PREREQUISITE TO SUPPORT THE LEARNING PROCESS

Technology is already used, but in a limited way and not really supporting the learning process. Two phases of development can be recognized:

• First, educators integrate technology to document student learning in order to meet curricular standards and complete report cards. This is done separate from the time with the children and actual learning. The goal is mainly to work efficient, but little new innovation takes place.
• Second, technology is used to extend assessment practices in ways not possible without technology. Teaching and student learning is enhanced in the moment of play and after the play activity. Technology is used to store and share different types of assessment data to promote student, co-teacher and parent reflection as well as determine and record next teaching steps.

Based on best Finnish practices, Kindiedays has developed a complete Pedagogical Management Solution as the foundation for a modern preschool. The playful learning process, new formative assessment and use of Kindiedays is outlined in our briefing

“How to use technology to ensure that curricular goals are met, and evidence of learning is visible to parents, authorities and other stakeholders?”

Even if many aspects of NEP and new curriculums are still open, the direction is clear and a roadmap towards NEP should be worked on now. Let’s work together and explore how Kindiedays can support you to secure children's learning and the success for your preschool. Sign up for a Free Consultative Call with our expert at a time convenient for you!

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