Reflective practice is key to the delivery of high-quality childcare, which is why the core unit 'Engage in Personal Development' in the new Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce is so important.
A nursery manager obviously needs to ensure the setting has effective up-to-date policies, procedures, training, supervision and appraisal systems, but practice will not develop or improve if the staff are not thinking about what they do and the difference they can make.
Although reflective practice has been covered in previous qualifications, this core unit in the new award explores it in greater depth, according to Gail Shenton, deputy to the partners at the Jancett Group and JACE Training.
'It is a very good unit. Our assessors are getting feedback from nursery managers, who say they are finding it useful for developing staff and making sure they are confident about their roles,' she says. 'I don't think everybody always realises just what an impact they have. Reflective practice is about understanding your professional involvement and the impact on the children.'
'SO WHAT?'
The process encourages staff to take responsibility for their practice as they consider their contribution. It can be a useful unit for learners to tackle early on as it helps them become comfortable with taking and giving feedback, thinking about their strengths and weaknesses and how they can develop - which can be a daunting experience for people new to the workforce.
'Reflective practice is challenging,' says Mrs Shenton. 'It is not natural to say, "OK, I have made a batch of playdough this afternoon, what impact has that had on the children and my colleagues?" But once people start reflecting on their practice and get the hang of it, they are able to think about what they have done and why, and how it has added value to the day.
'It is about walking in someone else's shoes and seeing how you are being received. It is about asking the "so what" questions. You can't just think, "I've done some CPD", and tick it off the list. When you reflect, you have to ask yourself: "I have been on this training, so what difference has it made to what I do? So what impact has it had on the children? So what difference has it made to my colleagues?" It really makes people feel they have an impact on what happens. What they do makes a difference.'
Sometimes this approach means literally getting down to ground level. 'Sometimes it is good practice to get down on your knees on the floor and look around you,' she says. 'From a standing point you might think the room looks good, but what can you see from floor level?'
UNDERSTANDING APPRAISALS
For Laura Clark, who is taking the diploma while working at Pollyanna Day Nursery in Carshalton, the requirement to write a personal development plan has been a real help.
'I am halfway through the diploma now and I've completed most of this unit,' she says. 'It was one of the first we did. You have to write a personal development plan. If you do it at the start it really helps you as you can go back and tick off the things you have done. It is good because you can see how you are progressing.
'I had never done reflective practice before. I did course work for my A-Level and for that you are given time schedules to work to, but with this I am setting my own deadlines. I am having to monitor my own progress.'
Sharon Perry, the manager at Pollyanna Day Nursery, corroborates the value of tackling this unit early in the course. 'This is a unit the assessor often starts with so the people taking the diploma can see how they are progressing as well as how the children are progressing,' she says. 'It covers issues like reviews and appraisals, which is really good because it enables people to identify their strengths and weaknesses and move forward with them. Or it could be they identify something they need to work on and improve over the whole of their training, such as improving their confidence.'
She says the appraisal process can be unnerving for young people coming into the workforce and can even pose problems for more mature learners, who find that practice has changed from when they first started work. This unit sets appraisals in context and demonstrates to learners how they work and how they can use their nursery's appraisal system to take and give feedback, and set goals to help them develop and progress.
The first outcome of the unit is that learners understand their work role and should be able to explain their role, duties and responsibilities, and the expectation of the relevant standards on their work. This helps individuals see how they fit into the staff team.
Ms Perry says, 'It is very hard for people to identify what they need to do to develop, but this unit gets people thinking about what they are doing rather than what they are helping the children to do. So I think it produces better staff, and helps people work more as part of team.'
Part 9, in Nursery World 20 September will look at promoting equality and inclusion.
KEY ELEMENTS: ENGAGE IN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Understand the requirements for competence in one's work role including being able to describe one's role and responsibilities, and expectations of the relevant standards about one's work.
- Be able to reflect on practice, including demonstrating the ability to reflect on practice and describe how one's values, beliefs and experiences may impact on working practice.
- Be able to evaluate one's performance, including one's own knowledge, performance and understanding, against the relevant standards and demonstrate use of feedback to evaluate one's own performance and inform one's development.
- Be able to agree a personal development plan, including demonstrating how to work with others to review and prioritise one's own learning needs, professional interests and development opportunities.
- Be able to use learning opportunities and reflective practice to contribute to personal development including demonstrating how reflective practice has led to improved ways of working and showing how to record progress in relation to personal development.
TOP TIPS
Gill Mason, enterprise director for Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council, specialising in training and education for the children's workforce, recommends:
- Understand the relevant standards under which you work and make sure you keep up to date with changes.
- Be clear about what your work roles, responsibilities and duties are - if in doubt, check with your line manager.
- Think about the part you play in the staff team.
- Consider the elements of your working day that you know you do well and that you enjoy most, and also think about what you find most challenging and least enjoy. Once you have analysed your strengths and weaknesses, think about where you can get support to enable you to progress on both fronts.
- Keep a reflective diary/journal of your professional development.
- Always listen to feedback from children, colleagues and parents/carers. Be aware that sometimes people are telling you things solely by their body language.
