Reflective questions & References
He pātai hei whakaaro iho & Ngā āpitihanga

Reflective Questions

• How do we define “competence”?
• How does our assessment documentation help the children to develop their sense of themselves as capable and confident learners and communicators?
• Looking at some samples of our assessments in recent weeks, what kinds of learning have we been documenting? Have we recognised and responded to the kinds of learning that we value? Do we want to extend or change this focus? Do these samples reflect the cultural perspectives of the families within our centre?
• Taking a selection of children’s names from our roll, what have we noticed and recognised about each child’s personal goals, interests, and working theories?
• What learning strategies and dispositions are valued here? How does the programme encourage and motivate the children to develop them?
• What social roles and culturally valued literacies have we recognised in recent assessments?

References

• Black, Paul and Wiliam, Dylan (1998). “Assessment and Classroom Learning”. Assessment in Education, vol. 5 no. 1, pp. 7–75.
• Brooker, Liz (2002). Starting School: Young Children Learning Cultures. Buckingham: Open University Press.
• Cole, Babette (1986). Princess Smartypants. London: H. Hamilton.
• Cullen, Joy (1991). “Young Children’s Learning Strategies: Continuities and Discontinuities”. International Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 23 no. 1, pp. 44–58.
• Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1996). Creativity: Flow and Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Collins.
• Durie, Mason (2001). “Hui Taumata Mātauranga”. Available on the Internet at
  http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/.../AFrameworkForConsideringMaoriEducationalAdvancement.aspx
• Hidi, Suzanne (1990). “Interest and Its Contribution as a Mental Resource for Learning”. Review of Educational Research, vol. 60 no. 4 (Winter), pp. 549–571.
• Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa/Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
• Paley, Vivian (1992). You Can’t Say You Can’t Play. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
• Radford, Glenys (2001). “Can ‘Learning Stories’ Increase Opportunities for Closer Relationships and Partnerships between Families and Kindergartens?” Unpublished manuscript, The University of Waikato.
• Royal Tangaere, Arapera (1997). Learning Māori Together: Kōhanga Reo and Home. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
• Wright, Lyn (2003). “Living the Early Childhood Curriculum: Five Days in Family Day Care Settings”. Unpublished MEd thesis, Victoria University of Wellington.
• Wylie and Thompson (2003). “The Long-term Contribution of Early Childhood Education to Children’s Performance – Evidence from New Zealand”. International Journal of Early Years Education, vol. 11 no. 1, pp. 70–71.