Anthony Semann: Hi, I'm Anthony Semann and I'm joined here by Kirsty Liljegren, who is an early childhood trained teacher and consultant working in Melbourne, Victoria.
Anthony Semann: Kirsty, thank you for joining us to talk about this important topic.
Kirsty Liljegren: So it's such a joy to be here. Anthony, thanks for the invitation.
Anthony Semann: The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, one of its practice principles is assessment for learning and development. And within the VEYLDF it talks about understanding children's knowledge, their understanding, their skills and their capabilities. Now, part of that is taking strong observations as part of the cycle of planning. I wonder if you could share with us your understanding of what makes a solid observation, a strong observation, and how a team might go about interpreting that.
Kirsty Liljegren: I think we can't think about strong observations in assessment without thinking about they are based on the quality of our pedagogy. So we think about our values, our beliefs about children and how they learn. So when we are observing that, we have to ensure that these observations are meaningful, they're really purposeful and they're authentic. You know, how do they represent what we're looking for, what we're hoping to discover? The observation shouldn't be about what we already know about children.
Kirsty Liljegren: So we come with a curious mindset, you know, willing to discover the complexity of children's learning. And as they are evolving in their understandings, as they're actively seeking to make meaning of the world, and we bring our subjectivities to this and we should relish in that. But what we have a responsibility to do too, is to bring perspectives together so that we can bring our different subjectivities together to gain a richer understanding of children and how they're learning.
Anthony Semann: So when we think about having collected the observation, what are some strategies the team might consider when it comes to interpreting those observations?
Kirsty Liljegren: One of the most important strategies we need to consider is how we find time, how we organise ourselves so we can come together, so we can bring those multiple perspectives together to make meaning of what we've observed. Sometimes this means consulting with families, so we might share our observations, our documentation with families, and gain their perspective. Sometimes that might mean sitting down together with and looking at a video.
Kirsty Liljegren: Might be a small vignette. And bringing someone might see mathematical thinking. Someone in the team might see the way that children are communicating together and someone else might see the dispositions in children and how they're bringing that curious mindset or perhaps a sense of empathy to a situation. So I think that time is often something that people say that they don't have. But how can we use our time to interpret in many different ways to ensure that our observations are authentic?
Anthony Semann: Kirsty, in the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, it really urges us to have a holistic view of young children's knowledge, their understandings, their skills and capabilities. What are some practical ideas that a team might consider when strengthening their approach to assessment?
Kirsty Liljegren: I think there's varied ways and we have to ensure that we do have multiple strategies of observing and using documentation. The varied ways of documentation, whether it's video, audio, transcripts, photos that we then analyse to look at together to gain an understanding and use that as a tool to get closer to knowing and being in relationship with three-year-old children. To look at the wonderful complexity that is going on, you know, through their relationships as they're seeking to make meaning of the world around them.
Anthony Semann: So then knowing three-year-olds, really it's an important part of this process. Is this where child development or different theories are helpful in getting to know the child or the group of children in front of us.
Kirsty Liljegren: Absolutely, you know, when we look at I mean, all children are unique, but three, you know, when we're looking at the range of what happens within this three-year-old age group, we can draw on the children in front of us whilst being mindful of different theories depending on our contexts that are going to inform our understanding.
Anthony Semann: Kirsty, can you talk to us about this strength based approach to assessment and how this can support educators and teachers in both their planning and assessment practices?
Kirsty Liljegren: Such an important question because this
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