STATEMENT ON AUTHENTIC LEARNING IN THE EARLY YEARS D E F I N I T I O N
Early learners in SCS are students in Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two.
I N T R O D U C T I O N
The Sydney Catholic Schools Statement on Authentic Learning in the Early Years articulates characteristics of this stage of schooling. In the context of Sydney Catholic Schools' Strategic Improvement Plan: New Horizons, it gives expression to the Authentic Learning and Authentic Assessment Statements, the core document on Religious Education Curriculum K 2 and the Literacy and Numeracy Statements in the early years. This statement is an evolution from The Early Learner Position Paper (Catholic Education Office, Sydney, 2011) and incorporates contemporary research in early education and faith formation. Through the integration of faith, life and culture, the school lays foundations for young children to learn about and engage with the mystery of God and the faith of the Church. Implementation is supported by an early years website which will identify, describe and provide examples of age-appropriate pedagogies and practices that support the dual purpose of a Catholic school namely, religious and spiritual development and learning and teaching in the early years.
P U R P O S E
The purpose of this statement is to provide clarity and direction for creating, evaluating and sustaining practices that support learning and teaching in the early years. As Catholic educators, we have the responsibility to nurture the religious, spiritual, social, emotional, and intellectual development of each child, and this begins from the child’s first encounter with formal schooling. Hertzman (2004) emphasises the importance of investing time, effort and resources in students’ early years at school. He articulates, “The early years lasts a lifetime. Early child development affects health, well-being and competence across the balance of the life course.” Additionally, Heckman (2007) states, “Gaps in children’s achievement levels open up early and stay mostly constant after eight years of age.” Sydney Catholic Schools is committed to... ● ensuring early learners are given the best start ● providing strong literacy and numeracy foundations for all students ● narrowing the achievement gaps ● setting students on a trajectory of success in their learning, schooling and life ● enabling children to engage with, reflect upon and explore the mystery of God through story, wonder and prayer.
DISPOSITIONS OF EARLY LEARNERS
This statement acknowledges dispositions1 and approaches to learning that characterise successful learning in the early years. Dispositions such as curiosity, imagination, playfulness, resilience, concentration and creativity begin at birth and place students on a strong trajectory for success. To create confident life-long learners, these dispositions and approaches need to be recognised and nurtured.
PEDAGOGIES IN THE EARLY YEARS
Education in the early years values and responds to the age, dispositions, prior-to-school experiences, culture, home language/s and spirituality of each child to meaningfully connect them to learning. It is acknowledged that children in the early years have the potential for rapid cognitive growth and development from diverse starting points. It is also noted that executive function2 (EF) skills are important prerequisites for children’s cognitive and social development. Alignment between age-appropriate pedagogies and syllabus outcomes is paramount in addressing the needs of young learners. To challenge and support their learning, a balance of the following pedagogies is required: ● ● ●
creative and play-based learning3 intentional,4 explicit and scaffolded teaching5 recursive, repetitive and predictable learning.
These age-appropriate pedagogies facilitate high levels of student engagement, interest and enjoyment.
P R I N C I P L E S O F L E A R N I N G I N T H E E A R L Y Y E A R S The following principles underpin pedagogy in the early years.
Learning in the early years is... ● religious and spiritual:
we provide opportunities for children to learn about and engage with the mystery of God and the faith of the Church
● active: we provide opportunities for early learners to be active in their learning to foster sustained concentration, motivation and self-regulation
● creative and play-based:
we promote inquiry, investigation, imagination, curiosity, artistry and the child’s freedom to achieve learning goals
● focused on growth:
we value the mistakes of students as significant opportunities for learning and growth
● intentional, explicit and scaffolded:
we plan for and provide differentiated support for new learning, skills and understandings
● language rich:
we value learning environments where rich language is modelled and meaningful dialogue is evident
● learner focused:
we recognise that early learners have different starting points and that learning is a highly individual process. We balance child-led and teacher-led learning in flexible ways
● relational: we value learning that is social, co-constructed and purposeful. We model positive relationships that build a sense of belonging and connection
● responsive to student voice:
we respond to early learners by ensuring classroom planning and practice recognise their interests and ideas
To ensure the principles of authentic learning in the early years are realised, stakeholders have particular responsibilities and needs. Students learn authentically in the early years when they: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
feel safe, respected and valued as learners have opportunities to discover, imagine, innovate and create explore and respond to challenge, solve problems and construct meaning experience a balance between familiarity, repetition, rhythm and new learning move, do and interact appropriately in a range of learning situations to increase focus, concentration, motivation, and self-regulation have opportunities to build on prior learning and experiences recognise mistakes as opportunities for learning.
Families enable authentic learning in the early years when they: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
are valued as partners in the education of their child share information about their cultural context contribute to and support their child in transition to school processes work collaboratively with teachers to further develop understandings about how their child learns foster in their child a positive attitude to learning recognise that learning takes place when children encounter and overcome problems engage with their Catholic community to support the spiritual development of their child.
Teachers enable authentic learning in the early years when they: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
establish positive relationships with students and their families set the learning culture in the classroom as they integrate creative and play-based learning with intentional, explicit and scaffolded teaching design an innovative and functional environment underpin the principles of early learning in classroom practice gather and interpret relevant assessment data to inform teaching design learning for cognitive challenge and high quality verbal interaction provide opportunities for students to consolidate and deepen their knowledge, skills and understandings value the mistakes of students as opportunities for learning and growth nurture young children’s spirituality through stories, symbols, ritual and prayer.
School leaders enable authentic learning in the early years when they: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
lead the vision for authentic learning in the early years initiate trusting and respectful relationships with families facilitate positive transition to school processes provide processes for the collection of entry-to-school data to continuously monitor and support student growth monitor and provide feedback on quality Kindergarten to Year 2 classroom practice provide professional learning opportunities that enable collaboration and build the capacity of early years teachers promote, maintain and resource an innovative and pedagogically sound learning environment.
System leaders enable authentic learning in the early years when they: ● ● ● ● ● ●
know, articulate and promote the principles enunciated in this statement develop and implement directions, intents and strategies for this statement design and strategically resource effective data collection processes remain current with contemporary early years research provide professional learning opportunities that build the capacity of early years teachers evaluate and monitor the impact of the Statement of Authentic Learning in the Early Years.
G L O S S A R Y 1. Disposition
Frequent and voluntary habits of thinking and doing. Katz (1993, p.16) defines “a disposition as a pattern of behaviour exhibited frequently… in the absence of coercion… constituting a habit of mind under some conscious and voluntary control… intentional and oriented to broad goals”.
2. Executive function
Executive function skills are the mental processes that enable children to remember and follow multi-step instructions, avoid distractions, control rash responses, adjust when rules change, juggle multiple tasks and persist with problem solving.These skills are crucial for learning and development. Executive function skills depend on three types of brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control: ● working memory governs our ability to retain and manipulate distinct pieces of information over short periods of time ● mental flexibility helps us to sustain or shift attention in response to different demands or to apply different rules in different settings ● self-control enables us to set priorities and resist impulsive actions or responses.
3. Creative and play-based learning
Creativity is using imagination or original ideas to create something and/or s olve problems. Play-based learning is described in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) as “a context for learning through which children organise and make sense of their social worlds, as they actively engage with people, objects and representations” (2009, p.46). Abundant research has shown that play during early childhood is necessary if humans are to reach their full potential. Goldstein (2012) identifies play as important to healthy brain development, and as a contributor to the wellbeing and cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development of children. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. There are a number of types of play that children engage in: ● active ● explorative and manipulative ● imitative ● constructive ● pretend ● games with rules. The teacher’s role is to enable and empower children in their play by supporting and scaffolding their ideas and thinking.
4. Intentional teaching
Intentional teaching is purposeful, informed and deliberate.
5. Explicit teaching
Explicit teaching is an instructional strategy that presents unambiguous, clearly articulated teaching that is purposeful and relevant. It includes: ● setting clear goals ● modelling new skills and concepts (including think-alouds) ● providing opportunites for guided and independent practice.
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