What does quality look (and
sound) like?
Anne Stonehouse
• What’s the first thing you think of
in response to the question
‘What does quality look (and
sound) like?’
Good quality is about…
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The program or curriculum
The physical environment
Educators’ relationships with children
Relationships between children
Relationships and communication with
families
• Educators’ relationships and
interactions – with children,
with families -- are what
matter the most!
Quality is about…
educators building a strong
positive relationship with each
child, and both educators and
children ‘using’ that relationship
to support children’s learning.
In good quality services you can see
and hear evidence of…
• respect for children
• honouring children’s dignity
• not ‘doing to’ children but
collaborating with them as
partners in their own experience.
• Good quality means that the
educators’ attention is much
more on the children than on the
activity.
What matters is evidence of…
starting with children’s interests,
abilities and strengths and taking
them further.
• Simply responding to children’s
interests isn’t necessarily
evidence of good quality. It’s
how educators respond that
matters. In good quality services,
educators are creative and go
beyond the obvious.
What matters is understanding that
the curriculum or program is …
all the interactions, experiences,
activities, routines and events,
planned and unplanned, that occur in
an environment designed to foster
young children’s learning and
development. (EYLF)
A rich environment where there are
many things that children can
engage with frees educators to build
relationships, support learning and
have quality interactions.
Good quality means…
• Relaxed pace and flow – not driven by the clock
• Catering for individuals – experience is
personalised
• Attention to routines
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Arrivals, separations and reunions
Eating
Resting and sleeping
Hand washing
Toileting and nappy changing
Good quality means…
• supporting children’s sense of agency
• deep understanding of power of play
• evidence of intentionality -- planning and
preparation.
Physical environment
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Enough space
Furniture and equipment scaled to size
Not too busy, not too bland
Big spaces divided into smaller spaces
Organised
‘Things’ and educators spread out
Physical environment
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Balance of tidy and messy
Soft and comfortable
Materials displayed with purpose
Interesting things to look at at child height
Real things
Natural materials
Open-ended materials
Physical environment
• Built-in learning, indoors and
outdoors: What would be there for
children to engage with if all the toys
were taken away?
Partnerships with families
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Families as sources of information
Sense of welcome
Empathy
Families used to build relationships with
children
• Continuity taken seriously
• Shared decision making
• Sharing ‘good news’
Interactions and relationships
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Each child known really well
Individualised, differentiated experiences
Responsiveness
The dance -- initiate and respond
Empathy
Respectful image as capable contributors,
agents, amazing learners
• Educators ‘present’ and tuned in
• Working well as an educator is rocket science!
• Supporting children’s learning, development
and wellbeing requires educators to make
many decisions and complex professional
judgments.
• Educators need to be committed to their work
and to get great satisfaction from it.
• In early learning services, we
do want people wondering
around our early childhood
care and education services !