As a result of the Leitch review the Government made a recommendation that all childcarers hold the minimum of a current level 3 certificate in early years. In order to achieve this they can apply for funding through the ‘Transformation Fund’ which was set up by the Government as part of ‘Choice for parents, the best start for children: a ten year strategy for childcare. This gives parents a greater choice about returning to work and ensuring that their childcare needs are met.
The impact for my role as a tutor in childcare working for Richmond Childminding Group (RCG) was that as a result of the Leitch review the course that I was teaching CCP (Certificate in Childminding Practice) became obsolete and had to be re-written (by CACHE and the National Childminding Association) to became the DHC (Diploma in Home-based Childcare) a recognised Level 3 qualification as the CCP did not have any level, it was a course that childminders did to underpin their knowledge for an NVQ level 3 in early years if they chose to go in and achieve it. So this has meant that now the award has carried more value in the child care environment, meaning that probable employers of the childminders would be able to see that they have trained to the same level as a nursery worker or a pre-school employee. The DHC consists of five units; the first entitled Introducing Childminding Practice (ICP) which is now mandatory for all childminders as an Ofsted requirement. As a further result of the change the ICP now ends with a multiple choice test as a summative assessment as opposed to assignments which was the previous course assessment. The other four units have a summative assessment with assignments. The transformation fund has allowed greater access to the qualification so Richmond Childminding Group have had to run two courses concurrently to meet the demand. This has meant that I have had a greater opportunity to teach and it has allowed me to stay with the same group of learners throughout all the units, for them it has meant continuity of teaching which has an impact on their learning making them feel comfortable with each other and they have got used to my style of teaching. They know what is expected of them and I have found that they are completing the assignments a lot sooner within each unit. Many of our students have never achieved any qualifications, when they fill out the monitoring forms a great number have not even got level 1, so although they require a little more support this has meant greater access to education for them.
So we are meeting the needs of the employers – the parents, the needs of the students – the learners and the government by raising the skill level within the childcare field and also complying with the ten year strategy.
I believe the Government will legislate that having a level three qualification will become a requirement of registration. I am sure that childminders will start achieving higher levels of qualifications to compete in their field. Above all this will mean that there will be a greater standard of care and that there will be a commitment to educating the children they care for.
Quality Assurance
The dictionary definition for inclusion is the state of being included, which although very simple, adequately describes the act of inclusion, when applying it to the classroom it means that regardless of a persons disability, colour, religion, gender, social background, culture they have the right to be included. With all the training courses I do the ICP and DHC there is a strong emphasis on inclusion both with the course learners and the syllabus to ensure that all children are made to feel valued and welcomed, so this should be the same for the adults that attend the course.
I plan my lessons to include the students differing abilities so that learners who complete tasks and activities faster are given other opportunities that will challenge them, otherwise they could become bored and be disruptive to the rest of the students. It is important that any task has a sense of differentiation suited to the learner’s abilities. They need to be treated as individuals and there should be a variety of activities to suit all learning styles – audio, visual and kinaesthetic. The course needs to be within a learner’s capability, on the right level for them to ensure they feel comfortable and confident which can be a problem on the ICP course as there is no initial screening process. The prospective childminder attends two briefing sessions then they are automatically enrolled onto an ICP. On the enrolment form the learner has the opportunity to disclose a learning difficulty then I can refer them to the ALS where they can also be assessed for learning disabilities such as dyslexia if so then they may be eligible for additional support perhaps with one to one support in an exam such as a transcriber or additional tuition.
‘Quality assurance (QA) is the activity of providing evidence needed to establish confidence among all concerned, that quality-related activities are being performed effectively. All those planned or systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality.’
I agree with the definition above from the Wikipedia website in order to meet with the needs of every learner there has to be quality assurance systems in place to ensure that every learner has the same opportunity. It ensures that there are standards in place, a benchmark to meet. All concerned should be giving and receiving the best possible outcome. Lesson plans are a form of quality assurance providing they take into account different learning and teaching styles so as to ensure students enjoy and learn, as the result is that more students will be retained throughout the course if they are enjoying and feel that they are learning. In order for lesson plans to be worthwhile they also need to be evaluated regularly to ensure they are effective.
In my role the self assessment (SAR) record that operates in colleges differs as I work directly for Richmond Childminding Group who operates the ICP and DHC as an outreach provision for Richmond upon Thames College. RCG’s self assessment procedure is done through how well the learners are achieving on the ICP this is marked against the multiple choice test pass rate, with the DHC it is the individual unit assignments grade A-E. At the end of each course/unit the learners fill in questionnaires asking them to reflect on what they have learnt. They also fill out an evaluation form asking what they thought of the tutor’s teaching, materials/ resources used and what they enjoyed particularly.
Learners have access to advice and guidance all the way through a course. Before the course has started via the prospectus, at the beginning on enrolment to ensure that any additional needs that a student may have are and can be met, at the interview to ensure they are about to embark on the right course, at the right level for them. They can give general advice such as funding, crèche facilities, and signposting.
Tutorials can be seen as a form of quality assurance they offer the learner advice and give feedback on their learning journey – how far they have come, where they are now and where they are going to. On ICP the course is only fifteen hours so there isn’t the time to give one to one advice, however in the last session there is two hours set aside to ensure that every learner understands the different types of questions and there are opportunities throughout the course when I am available for them to chat about anything they are having difficulties with. On the DHC the tutorials are structured and there are two sessions where the learner’s book allotted times for feedback on their assignments and if they have any general concerns. An individual learning plan can be organised within the first tutorial and is be agreed between myself and the learner we set goals for them to achieve that they agree with and then a time limit is given and a review date is given to discuss the progression, what they have achieved and where they feel they can achieve next for example – correct use of punctuation, or research on a particular topic.
Appraisals are another form of quality assurance, after a teaching observation at RCG there is a meeting arranged where feedback is given covering the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson and the tutor is given the opportunity to respond to any comments. Training needs are assessed and continuous professional development is also discussed, where the tutor wants to go next. Then written feedback is given so that the information from the appraisal can be reflected on afterwards. Teaching observations are a positive experience within RCG a chance to receive constructive criticism as well as positive aspects of the lesson and has a benefit towards my professional development. Internal and external moderators also ensure that quality assurance takes place by overseeing that all tutors are marking assignments to the same standards, which means the learning outcomes are all the same no matter where the learning takes place for example within the college or at an outreach venue such as the RCG’s offices where I teach.
Reflective practitioner
Donald Schon made a major contribution to understanding theories and practice of how we learn. He introduced the concept of looking at reflection as a critical process using three separate actions to define this process.
Reflection-on-action which happens after the event, thinking back on a situation. After every lesson I reflect back on how it has gone and ask the questions ‘what went well?’; ‘what didn’t go well?’; ‘how will I improve it?’; ‘what resources do I need?’; ‘who can help me?’; ‘can I observe another practitioner doing this?’ I need to ensure that I am being objective, to stand back and be an observer of the event. I base some of my next lesson plan on this reflection so that I move the learners on to the next step.
Reflection-in-action which is during the event, thinking whilst in the situation. Whilst standing in front of the class if a learner brings up an interesting topic that is covered in the syllabus but is relevant I will alter the lesson accordingly. Alternatively if a planned activity is not getting the intended message across for example in a session on inclusion and anti-bias I have an activity where the whole group have to stand in a circle and their instruction is ‘to place themselves into group(s)’. The intention is that they look at there shoes and place themselves into several groups dependant on their shoe colour. The learning outcome is for the learners to realise how easy it is to be put ourselves into exclusive groups. On one occasion the learner’s did not move, they appeared baffled. So I decided I needed to be more specific, I told them to move themselves according to their footwear they did and put themselves into groups of types of footwear so the learning outcome was eventually achieved.
‘The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation.’ (Schon 1983: 68)
Reflection-through-action – pre-planned deliberately deciding to do something differently, approaching a task in a different way to see the learner’s reactions differently. The last session on ICP is preparing the learners for the multiple choice test, the first time I delivered this I gave them individual example papers then asked them to discuss the questions with a partner. This did work well, but on the next session I changed the activity by putting them into groups and giving them the same questions and making it a team game. The reactions was very different they got quiet competitive. I have since changed it again as although the competitive element was fun it isn’t an ideal way to end a course.
‘Kolb suggested that learning took place by active involvement followed by reflection and moderation in a continuous cycle’ (Reece and Walker 2000:112).
The cycle involved the ‘concrete experience’ which relates to having the occurrence, event, happening next is the ‘reflective observation’ is stepping back and reviewing what has happened, next is ‘abstract conceptualization’ which is to use the reflection and learn from it, what you can gain from the occurrence, then the result of the conclusion gets put into practice with the ‘active experimentation’, what has been learnt from the original concrete experience and so the cycle starts again.
I have experienced and utilise both of these models when I am tutoring for example the ICP course that I teach there is a lesson on safety where there are various activities to deliver that all relate to the common theme of safety, I started with the first activity where they have to risk assess various rooms in the home environment – the answers they were giving me led to other aspects so using reflection-in-action I decided to lead onto other activities within the subject returning to the risk assessment as each one was completed, I then after the lesson did a reflective observation and concluded that it hadn’t worked as well as I felt at the time as there was some areas that got left out completely and had to be re-visited on the next lesson. The active experimentation will be that the original scheme of activities should be planned as they had been.
In order for reflection to be successful one may need to look deep within to find the possible flaw, so a level of self-reflection is needed which some may find difficult. I did find this difficult at first, the key I find is to not see it as a personal slur. Appraisal or individual reviews can be a good source of personal reflection and benefit ones development and growth as a tutor, they can be an opportunity to discuss and clarify thoughts and ideas on certain aspects or situations whilst getting the benefit from a perhaps more experienced tutor. These can also be used to further ones professional development by identifying possible training needs, further skills that can enhance the skills required to develop as a tutor or further ones career path to a department manager.
Appraisal or individual reviews can be a good source of personal reflection and benefit ones development and growth as a tutor, they can be an opportunity to discuss and clarify thoughts and ideas on certain aspects or situations whilst getting the benefit from a perhaps more experienced tutor. These can also be used to further ones professional development by identifying possible training needs, further skills that can enhance the skills required to develop as a tutor or further ones career path to a department manager.
‘CPD is the means by which members of professional associations maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop the personal qualities required in their professional lives.
Although the type of continuous professional development that one undertakes should have be meaningful and specific to development or involve keeping up to date on developments within a certain subject area or in educational policies, reviews, consultations etc. Mentoring, observing a peer tutor or a subject manger whilst tutoring are all good ideas to enhance development. Continuous professional development is vital to enhance one skills, knowledge and personal qualities. I have undertaken this course as part of my own CPD.
Word count – 3300
References
Reece & Walker (2000) Teaching, Training and Learning: A Practical Guide, Business Education Publishers Ltd
Smith, M. K. (2001) 'Donald Schön: learning, reflection and change', the encyclopedia of informal education, accessed on 26th October 2007
accessed on 21st October 2007
accessed on 21st October 2007
accessed on 25th October 2007
accessed on 26th October 2007
