2. Acknowledgement
I acknowledge that we meet on Darug land and I pay my respect to the elders, past
present and future and to those who may be with us today
3. Mia Mia History
Mia Mia Philosophy – based on social justice and equity and
adults (families and staff) and children with equal rights and
responsibilities
Early childhood education (not a work place solution or
preparation for school). A shared responsibility – significant others
Pedagogy is underpinned with early childhood educational
theories – Social-constructivist, post-
structuralist, behaviourist, developmental theories
Curriculum elements – NSW Curriculum Framework: The practice
of relationships, EYLF, NQS
Knowledge of the KLAs and the Foundation Statements Early
Stage 1 and the standardised testing
4. Curriculum
Curriculum – based on our knowledge of children‟s
dispositions and play preferences and the
foundational learning areas including numeracy,
literacy, communication, science and natural
science, sustainability, technology, sense of self,
others, their communities (including the indigenous
community) and the world events – through the lens
of social justice and an understanding that we all
have rights and we also have responsibilities.
Intentional teaching
5. Contextual elements
The learning environment both indoors and out creates
spaces for relationships to flourish, for children to have
agency, where there are invitations to play and visible
signs of tenderness ( Alain De Botton 2006)
Qualifications of staff – EPPE Study
The Outdoor Teacher Project – sustainability is more than
being green – contribution to the broader community
Ratios and group size
6. Reflect, Respect, Relate
Observation Scales SA DECS (Pam Winter 2008)
Relationships – significant, responsiveness, positive
interactions, quality of verbal exchanges, appropriateness
Active Learning Environment – Constructivist pedagogy, play,
enabling learning dispositions, engaging, de-institutionalised,
de-cluttered
Well being – children and staff, Happiness and satisfaction,
social functioning, dispositions
Involvement – concentration, energy, complexity/creativity,
facial expression and posture, persist ence, precision, reaction
time, verbal utterances/ language, satisfaction -is every child
involved and truly engaged?
8. Self-directed,
Engaged Learning
Taking on Challenge
Critical Thinking
Making Connections
Communicating
Perspective Taking
Focus and Self Control
9. 16 Habits of Mind Costa & Kallick 2008
Persisting Thinking and communicating with
clarity and precision
Managing impulsivity
Gathering data through the
Listening with understanding and senses
empathy
Creating, imagining and
Thinking flexibly innovating
Thinking about thinking Responding with wonderment
(metacognition) and awe
Striving for accuracy Taking responsible risks
Questioning and posing Finding humour
problems
Thinking interdependently
Applying past knowledge to new
10. Building a thought-full
environment
Costa & Kallick (2008)
Level 1: Learning how to teach habits directly and to
reinforce them throughout the curriculum.
Level 2: Enhancing instructional decision- making to
employ content not as an end of instruction but as a
vehicle for activating and engaging the mind
11. Early Years Learning
Outcomes
DEEWR 2009
Children have a strong sense of identity
Children are connected and contribute to their world
Children have a strong sense of well-being
Children are confident and involved learners
Children are effective communicators
12. Learning environments
A child arrives in our space with a wealth of knowledge and experiences, we
collaborate, negotiate, facilitate and engage with both the child and their family – in
other words learning takes place everywhere – education enhances and opens new
pathways and ideas in the context of our relationships
13. Louv (2005) is of the opinion that when children do not have access to the natural world
he calls this “nature deficit disorder: the human costs of alienation from nature…a
diminished use of senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional
illness”
Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature deficit disorder (Louv 2005)
Deep ecology movement: we need to inspire children to love and respect the environment
before we can ask them to „save‟ it.
14. Assessing and reporting on
Habits of Mind Costa & Kallick (2008)
Level 1: Learning about a range of techniques and
strategies for gathering evidence of student‟s growth
in and performance of Habits of Mind
Level 2: Using feedback to guide students to
become self-assessing and to help school teams
and parents use assessment data to cultivate a
more thoughtful culture
Assessment should be used to guide future learning
not simply provide a snapshot of children‟s skills,
knowledge and abilities.
15.
16. Student Outcomes for the
21st Century Costa & Kallick (2008)
Creativity and innovation
Critical thinking and problem solving
Communication and collaboration
Flexibility and adaptability
Initiative and self-direction
Social and cross cultural skills
Productivity and accountability
Leadership and responsibility
17. Radio National Interview: what does the
future hold for education?
Cannot lose sight of the magic that happens between a
teacher and a student…remember your inspirational
teacher?
Children in the future will need curiosity and the ability to
reason
Allow children to explore, try out things, make
mistakes, again and again, but encourage persistence
and dreaming of Big Ideas
To become a kind, thoughtful and productive member of
society…for then we have done the best that we can.
