CHCPR510A: Design, implement and
evaluate programs and care routines for
children
Design and implement programs that are
relevant to cultural and social contexts of
children and their community
Contents
Gather information about contexts of the children’s lives and
use it to guide planning
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Learning about the children in our care
3
Recording observations
4
Observations and program development
5
Identify varying expectations of parents of diverse backgrounds
and accommodate where possible
Accommodating parents needs and expectations
Develop and implement programs that reflect diversity and
inclusive perspectives in an ongoing manner
Inclusive practices and cultural awareness
Select experiences and resources that support and develop
children’s identities
Learning styles and dispositions
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
Before you continue, you could revise the topic ‘Plan and implement programs
that reflect inclusive principles and value diversity’ which is part of the element
‘Support the development of inclusive practices in the service’, in the Unit
CHCIC511A Implement and promote inclusive policies and practices. The
information is very relevant to this topic.
Gather information about contexts of
the children’s lives and use it to guide
planning
Learning about the children in our care
Before we can design a program, we need to make sure we have a good
understanding of the children we are planning for. We need to know what their
needs, strengths, abilities and interests are. We need to know of any additional
needs. We need to aware of any serious challenging behaviours they consistently
exhibit, their behaviour management plans and possible reasons for the
behaviour. We need to know what the children’s family backgrounds are,
including the expectations of the child by the family. We need to know how there
can be mutual support and collaborate between caregivers and the family and the
community.
All this knowledge we seek to gain are to help us design appropriate programs for
the children in our care. How do we gain this knowledge? Observation is one of
the key methods that we use. There are other key methods, for example,
consulting with parents and talking with children. Here we shall focus on revising
what we know about observation.
Activity 1
Through sensitive and perceptive observations, we can plan effective programs
for children that reflect their interests and supports their development. If the
planned environment can be made challenging and interesting, the children are
more likely to be happy and settled.
We need to ensure transparency and accountability within the service and this
means that the recorded observations may be made available to a number of
people who have some relationship with the child. These people can include:
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
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children’s parents
other educators and staff within the service
professionals within support services that have parental permission, eg,
speech pathologists, social workers and early intervention specialists.
Types of observation methods
You should be very familiar with a wide range of methods for recording
observations, including narrative formats, work samples and photos, audio tapes
and video tapes. You should also gather background and contextual information
from a wide variety of sources such as family and other caregivers/educators.
Activity 2
Recording observations
Having already completed observation topics, you will understand the need to
write down each observation, interpretation and follow-up. Different services may
use different terms but the key parts need to be:
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the observation (information, rationale)
your assessment of what you have seen (interpretation, evaluation,
reflection)
what you plan to do next with the child (experiences, provisions, learning
opportunities, follow-up or implications).
It would be wise to include a list of possible provisions, learning and care
strategies and other implications in the follow-up or evaluation section. This will
assist you to simply take the information from your follow up and include it in the
program.
If we are to be considered professionals, we need to ensure that our recorded
observations and reflections on children are of good quality, valid and reliable.
Recorded observations need to be:
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objective
positive in language
made inconspicuously and often
systematic
collected in a manageable form
equitable and balanced
confidential.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
They are many ways of recording this information and many caregivers would
compile one that meets their needs and reflects the service and its philosophy.
These include:
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running record
anecdotal record
observation and planning record
visual diary sample
As your observations form the main basis of your planning for individual children,
they need to be clear, concise and well presented. Each recorded observation
needs to be interpreted.
Your program needs to follow on from your observations and reflect your
understandings of the children’s interests, strengths and emerging skills.
Activity 3
Observations and program
development
The process of using observations to inform program development is best done as
a group or team process. Just as multiple perspectives in observation are fuller
and richer, team-based program development results in a richer, more diverse
program for a group of children.
All carers bring to their services a unique range of skills, knowledge and
experience. We need to acknowledge each member of staff’s skills, interests and
personality when we are developing observation systems and planning the
program. For example, you may be musical and enjoy creative problem-solving
experiences. In this case you should try to tailor the approach you use for planning
to take best advantage of these attributes.
It makes sense to consider carers’ needs, strengths and interests as well as those
of children because the staff are a significant part of the human dynamic in a
service. It is necessary for carers to reflect on their own learning style, attitudes,
temperament and activity preferences. If an observation and planning approach is
selected which does not suit the style of the carers involved in its implementation
then it is unlikely to produce the best outcomes for the children.
The NSW Curriculum Framework for Children’s Services (Stonehouse, 2002) has
this to say about the link between observation and planning:
Planning is informed directly by close observation and documentation of
children at work and at play, and by ongoing evaluation of practice.
Traditional standard observation techniques such as anecdotal records
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
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and checklists provide some information, but careful observation and
documentation of processes, interactions and relationships, children’s
development and the emergence and progress of projects provide a much
richer basis for planning … The sources of information on which plans are
based also need to be diverse, going beyond what has worked in the past,
identified emerging skills of children based on checklists of developmental
milestones, or observations of individual children. These are valuable, but
sources should include information from parents, reflection on what the
children are talking about and doing, what is going on in the community,
and interests expressed directly by the children. (p 133–134)
In essence, planning provides direction for our caring interactions and the
education of young children. We can use the detailed information we have
gathered from observations of children to plan programs that are better suited to
the children in our care because the planning is firmly based in ‘authentic’
descriptions of children and situations.
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
Identify varying expectations of
parents of diverse backgrounds and
accommodate where possible
Accommodating parents needs and
expectations
Parents and families choose to use children’s services for a number of reasons
including;
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proximity to home or workplace
recommendation from friends
reputation of the service within the community
service matches their beliefs and values for children
service can provide for child’s needs
service has special programs to support children
only place available.
Whatever their reasons for using the service, there is an expectation that the
service will work with families to accommodate their needs and expectations.
Service providers and educators must discover these needs and expectations and
act on them.
This may be as simple as providing opportunities for families to have input into
the program through comments in the service visual diary or telling educators
about their child’s interests and the aspects of the program they enjoyed or it can
be a much more complex process where families play a large role in reflecting on
the program, writing comments, recording ideas, following up investigations at
home, coming into the service and being in the room.
Educators need to be careful when placing expectations for involvement that they
are not requiring a higher level commitment than families are able to achieve or
expect to put in. It’s fabulous when families want to become more actively
involved in the program but they should not feel pressured to do so.
Information on family expectations and needs should be gathered during the
situational analysis and then used to decide on the levels of participation you
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
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desire in the program. Services that expect high levels of parent participation
need to be upfront about this and inform families at the first contact.
The program at Mia Mia is a strong collaboration between the educators, children
and families. This service is very up front about the level of participation expected
and acknowledges that families may choose to join their program or look for
another service that more closely matches their needs.
Read Mia Mia’s practice on family involvement:
http://www.miamia.mq.edu.au/Aboutus/family.htm
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
Develop and implement programs
that reflect diversity and inclusive
perspectives in an ongoing manner
Inclusive practices and cultural
awareness
All children’s services should be reflective of their local communities and the
diversity within our society.
The NSW Curriculum Framework implores us to consider and honour diversity in
all that we do with children. QIAS requires services to reflect diversity within the
service environment and program. The regulations and other guidelines – Code of
Ethics, UN Convention Rights of the Child, request that we consider diversity not
only within our own small service but also the wider community.
Activity 4
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
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Select experiences and resources
that support and develop children’s
identities
Learning styles and dispositions
The learning styles of children have previously been referred to as important
when deciding on programming approaches for early childhood services. We need
to look closely at the group of children, their learning styles and dispositions when
designing the program as how they approach learning and their self-esteem will
impact on the experiences and opportunities provided.
Children who have a strong self-esteem and are resilient are more likely to try
new things and take a risk than those who are less secure. An approach where
children take a very active role and lead the program will suit these children more
easily. Children who are more reliant on adults require a program that gently
nurtures and supports their ability to try new things.
There are children who thrive on challenge, change and a fast paced learning
environment and those who need a more relaxed pace where new ideas and
changes occur in an organised and unhurried manner. As an educator, you need
to get to know the children in the group and provide a program that not only
reflects their interests, capabilities and emerging skills but also their disposition
and learning style.
By identifying children’s learning styles, we are able to provide opportunities and
experiences that will enhance their development. A child, who learns by being
active, needs an active program. A child who learns through visual stimulation
needs a visually stimulating program, and so on.
The topic on collaborating with others to determine the needs of a children’s
services program looks at compiling a situational analysis to gather knowledge
about the children, families, educator and community and this information should
underpin and support the program approach taken. It is also important to
complete an analysis of the learning styles and dispositions of the children in the
group to ensure your approach is the wisest for this group and will facilitate and
support their growth and development.
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Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
Common learning styles
Here is some information on common learning styles:
Spatial visual: Needs and likes to visualise things
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learns through images
enjoys art and drawing
reads maps, charts and diagrams well
fascinated with machines and inventions
plays with lego
likes mazes and puzzles.
Kinetic: Processes knowledge through physical sensations
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highly active, difficulty sitting for long periods
communicates with body language and gestures
shows you rather than tells you
needs to touch and feel world
likes scary amusement rides
naturally athletic and enjoys sports.
Language oriented: Thinks in words, verbalises
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spins tales and jokes
spells words accurately and easily
can be a good reader or prefer the spoken word more
has excellent memory for names, dates and trivia
likes word games
enjoys using tape recorders and often musically talented.
Logical oriented: Thinks conceptually, likes to explore patterns
and relationships
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enjoys puzzles and seeing how things work
constantly questions and wonder
capable of highly abstract forms of logical thinking at early age
computes math problems quickly in head
enjoys strategy games, computers and experiments with purpose
creates own designs to build with blocks/lego.
Using these learning styles we can provide experiences and resources for the child
that will readily support each child’s identity.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCPR510A: Reader LO 9398
© NSW DET 2010
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