Role of Early Childhood Settings in Australia-Samples for Students

Questions: 1.Does play-based learning, as it has been conceptualized and reported on in the course resources, refute the notion that 'schools stifle creativity'? Explain. 2.What does the contemporary literature report about the value of play-based learning? Compare and contrast current opinion with historical perspectives regarding the value of play in Early Childhood. 3.The Early Years Learning Framework (ELYF) is the mandatory guiding document all educators and educators must use in Early Childhood settings in Australia. Explicitly explain how Early Childhood educators and educators can use the EYLF to guide curriculum development in the area of play- based learning. 4.Many parents and other stakeholders see play as being something that children 'just do', however they do not often view play as an essential 'learning opportunity'. Taking on the role of an Early Childhood educator, prepare a PowerPoint presentation that you would use at a meeting with parents and other staff and stakeholders to provide a seminar on the importance of incorporating play-based learning into your early childhood curriculum. 5.Based on the guidelines of the EYLF regardin g appropriate learning outcomes, recommend 23 techniques and explain how you would employ them to assess children's play to ascertain the extent to which diverse children have achieved these outcomes. Answers: 1.The first question centers on the fact that school stifles the creativity of the children. One sight of the verb stifles the traditional functionality of school. With schools, people have the conception of inculcating good values and the demarcation of right and wrong. Effective utilization of these skills enhances the creativity of the children as well as justifies the efforts of the teachers in terms of leading the students towards proper academic establishment. These connotations contradict the proposed statement of the question (Aifs.gov.au 2017). At first, the definition of play within the school premises has to be assessed, which enhances the clarity of the readers regarding the contribution towards proper development of the children from their budding stage. Defining the term play It has to be noted that the term play does not have any concrete definition that can be attributed to it. Rather, there are some definite characteristics of the term. These certain characteristics can certainly be attributed to this term (Bodrova Leong, 2007). These are:- Play that is done for pleasure and enjoyment is absolutely a pleasurable activity. Some features play has are of fear, frustration and challenges. However, enjoyment is the main objective (Trawick-Smith, 2013). The matter of active-play needs action. It may be physical, verbal or mentally engaged with certain ideas, people or the outside environment (Mrtensson, 2014). Voluntary-play has to be chosen freely but the players are chosen and prompted to participate to play as well. Other kinds of plays that are involved in this process are process-oriented play, symbolic play and self-motivating play (Seligman Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). One of the causes for encouraging play among children is the development of the brain. Many experts and scientists, over the years, have believed that playing shapes the structural design of the brain and makes its functional abilities smoother (Prado Dewey, 2014). The most important aspects for the development of brain are secure attachments and stimulation. The habit of play among the children creates such an atmosphere where the children are motivated with flexibility of the brain and increased potential of the brains activities (Singh, 2013). The playing process among children helps them to explore new things, identify the challenges in them, negotiation and risk taking abilities to create a new meaning to it. There are many play schools, which look after the nourishment of the children from a very young age. Here, education is only about teaching them the names of animals, plants, flowers and numbers. In view of this context, creativity can be related with the ways and means adopted by the teachers to make the students learn these things in a play way method (Australian Childrens Education Care Quality Authority, 2013). Emerging successful in this direction, nullifies the verb stifles in the proposed statement and links the variables school and creativity. On the other hand, if the teachers fail to cater to the developmental needs of the children affirms the proposed statement. Eagerness and willingness revealed by the teachers for the development of the children is one of the other grounds, which negates the verb stifles in the statement (Australian Childrens Education Care Quality Authority, 2012). There are several benefits of playing for the children. These benefits can be documented from the intellectual and cognitive aspects. It has been a noted fact that the children who are engaged in quality playing process, are surely to develop better memory skills and language development. When it comes to the responsibility of schools, the fact becomes somewhat different. These children can very easily regulate their behavior that leads to better school adjustment. This is also a reason for a better academic learning (Geary, 2012). The fact that education or largely formal education has a large effect on the matter of creativity has been supported by most of the experts and critics. The pressure that the schools create on the brains of the little children, aged till 8, is killing their creativity in a large extent. The major drive behind this is the heavy bags, which they are compelled to carry to the schools. In view of this pressure, the future development of the children attains a dark and ombre shade. Moreover, it is a shame for the school authorities in terms of giving a proper academic establishment to the children. This shame is stifling in terms of the reputation of the school (Nolan Sim, 2011). The high expectations from the parents about those children also work as a factor behind this. The parents are very rarely seen to encourage the true talents of their children. In fact, some parents are so absorbed in making their children successful in the formal ways that the real talents of the students like playing, drawing, singing and other co-curricular activities fades under the wishes of the parents. The school syllabi are so large that most of the times pass by reading these books (Menzies Lane, 2011). They hardly get any time to practice their favorite things. The parents are also not supportive of the fact that they pursue their lives with their hobbies or likings other than school education. These facts reveal that school education system is almost killing the creativity among children. Herein lays the appropriateness of the proposed statement. 2.Play-based learning in the schools has a mixed reaction all around the world. These views and opinions have been very useful to address the present situation. The different play-based school mediums like Montessori and Kindergarten have been very popular in the recent times (Biordi Gardner, 2014). The historic documents suggest that in early times, Montessori had believed in the fact that the children should be allowed to be engaged in playful activities that would enhance their skills. They should also be allowed to play with various materials within the school premises with various materials. Within this, the initiatives taken by Australian Childrens Education and Care Quality Authority are worth mentionable. The major drive behind this is the Guide to National quality Standard. The National Quality Framework developed in 2009 broadens the scope and arena of the research. This is due to the maintenance of equality, diversity and the basic rights possessed by the children in term s of receiving quality academic establishment (Australian Childrens Education Care Quality Authority, 2013). The current literature shows that the need for play-based schools, which is essential in terms of reaping the seeds of development from a very early age. Learning the basic things in a play way method generates a feeling of collaboration between the children. Development of collaboration from early developmental stages is beneficial for the students in terms of establishing stable relationship with the others. Inculcating the values of collaboration within the children generates within them an urge to expose collaboration with the teachers. This thought comes along with the advent of maturity and attains less importance in comparison to the children of the play schools. However, sharing food, playing together are the common features, which comes with play based learning (Einarsdottir, 2005). The purpose of this play-based learning method is to ensure the fact that the students are actually learning something through this playing method and interacting with the other children. The pla y-based model or instruction or learning can be equal to the fact of student-centered instruction. In this process, the children have to learn with their teachers at the same time through cooperation. The more importance for the learning process should be put on guiding them rather than trying to teach them something directly. In the current time, the students are in need of teachers who can be their friends, philosophers and guides at the same time. This will help to establish the fact that students learn through playing and by the guidance by their peers or teachers rather than the older method of instructions by the teachers. As play is a vital aspect for the natural, social, emotional and cognitive development of the children, it should be looked upon as a strong medium for the learning process. 3.In Australia, the most important aspect for the development of children in the Early Childhood Settings is the Early years Learning Framework (EYLF). This is considered as the guiding framework for the educators to follow (Masters, 2013). This framework caters to the care and nourishment of the children in their school years. The principles, programs and the practices undertaken in this framework support the students in their learning. Taking into consideration Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) would help the educators to construct effective plans for providing the students with quality play based learning. However, understanding the needs and requirements of the children in their early learning years is crucial for both the educators and the children (Verstege, 2011). The pedagogy of the educator has to be perfect when he is engaged in the assessment procedure of the childs learning). Therefore, it is of utmost importance to consider and question the pedagogical and corresponding responses of the children while making them learn certain things. 3.The EYLF framework has to be practiced and implemented in the real world of education for the children. This is because, they have to discuss and understand the principles to be practiced. According to this framework, the vital aspects are the belonging and becoming of the children in the education system and learning the right things in the right ways. The core subject of this framework is to assess the learning of the children. This framework suggests that the education and learning of the children is dynamic, holistic and complex at the same time. The various aspects of learning like the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, personal, linguistic and spiritual are the kind of developments that the children need to undergo (Black Wiliam, 2010). According to this framework, the model of curriculum decision-making is an ongoing cycle and this includes the application of the knowledge of the educators in their respective domains. This framework says that the children are able to r eceive a number of wide ranged experiences. Overall, it can be said that the framework perceives childhood as a crucial phase in terms of progressing towards a proper development. Adequate communication between the children and the teachers is an essential aspect in the framework. Communication helps the teachers to assess the grasping power and ability of the children, which helps in determining the further modifications needed for enhancing the standard and quality of the play based learning (Perie, Marion Gong, 2009). Constant and frequent evaluation is needed for the schools and educational institutions in terms of upgrading their performance regarding the academic establishment of the children. This upgradation would simultaneously result in the upgradation of the learning power of the children. On the other hand, this upgradation would help the play schools to reach the benchmark level of performance for gifting the children with quality academic development (Barnes, 2012). 4.(Refer to the document named Transcript for Question 2 part 3) 5.Some of the outcomes that are associated with the EYLF framework are:- Children have a strong sense of identity within themselves. Children are constantly connected with the world and they contribute to its causes. The children can feel strongly about their well being. Children are more confident than ever and are involved in the learning process. Children can communicate effectively At the initial stage, the play school authorities need to make concrete plans for progressing with the developed framework. Experimenting with the existing services would make the authorities aware of effectiveness of the proposed plans. Within this, the managerial authorities can talk with the teachers regarding the performance of the students. The response of the teachers is essential in terms of introducing new plans for the children in terms of receiving quality play based learning (Carr et al., 2001). In view of the performance of the children, new teachers can be hired. However, this needs financial speculation in terms of organizing the recruitment and selection process. Apart from this, frequent conferences and seminars can be organized in terms for enhancing the preconceived knowledge of the stakeholders and shareholders regarding striving for academic establishment of the children. Allowing the children to play within groups or assigning them group projects can be one of the other ways of assessing the grasping and adjustability skills of the children with the others. However, this needs to be done in the presence of the teachers for ensuring the safety and security of the children (Dunphy, 2008). Social media can be adopted for establishing relationships with the parents. With this, they can be informed about the progress of their children. Rather than informing the parents about the quarrels among the children, ways can be thought of regarding solving it internally. This would enhance the creativity of the play schools in terms of leading the children towards proper academic development from young age itself (Risko Walker-Dalhouse, 2010). Conclusion The paper can be concluded by saying that EYLF framework has been one of the most important frameworks in the early childhood settings in Australia. In this country, early childhood education has been considered to be one of the major aspects in the country. The things that has to be in line with the early childhood education are the role of the educators and the schools, the parents and the other stakeholders who are associated with the education sector. The various important factors like the EYLF framework, the learning outcomes associated to this, the ways by which the brain can be developed for the children have been discussed here. It has been overwhelming fact that the learning outcomes for the EYLF framework have to be achieved by employing certain strategies. These strategies will help to reach the desired goals for the children who are aged between 0 and 8 years. References Australian Childrens Education Care Quality Authority (2012). The national quality framework. Retrieved from https://acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework Australian Childrens Education Care Quality Authority (2013). Guide to the national quality standard. Retrieved from https://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/NQF-Resource-03-Guide-to-NQS.pdf Australian Psychological Society (n.d.). Understanding specific learning disabilities. Retrieved, from https://www.psychology.org.au/publications/tip_sheets/learning/? Barnes, S. 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