Canada Childcare Centre

A Research ReportChild Research International

March 2017

Impact of Play-based, Early Learning Curriculum Policies In Six Global Contexts

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SummaryThe past 20 years have seen a focused attempt by national governmental agencies across the globe to address the needs of young children in early childhood contexts. Many of these national policy documents have led to new curriculum developments, guidelines, and frameworks for the early years. The objective of this research study has been to address to what extent policies have been enacted within childcare facilities in six international contexts, as well as to examine the impact of the policies on early childhood education and learning.

This project draws upon the expertise of members of the Child Research International (CRI) team based in the Faculty of Education, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. CRI spearheads collaborative, interdisciplinary, community-based research focused at the intersections of early learning, play, health and well-being, cognitive and social development and family and institutional learning environments for children aged 0-8 years. Research initiatives are drawn from international contexts, and reflect global perspectives on children in the early years. CRI initiates research projects which serve to develop and promote innovations in early child care and education, while contributing to the development and mobilization of new knowledge aimed at informing and influencing public policy and affecting programmes and initiatives for young children living in international communities.

This study used a team of co-researchers to work with participants in six different countries to examine early years policies, implementation, and impact. A modified case study approach utilizing mixed methods was used for this study as it allowed the research team and our international participants to collect a wide range of data, in order to effectively investigate these six international contexts.

This study extends previous research where early learning curriculum policies from 18 countries were reviewed and analyzed for common themes leading to specific directions for practice in early learning classrooms (Arias de Sanchez, Doiron, & Gabriel, 2012). Several themes uncovered in that research indicated a requirement for research to examine the impact these policies are having on daily practice, and how play-based learning principles are being implemented. To conduct this study, we approached a co-researcher in each of six countries (Argentina, Canada, Ethiopia, Japan, Malta and New Zealand) to assist in examining the impact these policies are having.

The research questions that guided our study included:a) What is the extent to which existing early learning curriculum policies have been

implemented in six global contexts?b) What impacts have these existing early learning curriculum policies had on early

learning programmes in six global contexts?c) What examples of excellence in play-based learning can be identified in these

early learning programmes?a) What gaps/refinements need to be addressed in current early learning curriculum

policy implementation in six global contexts?

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This document represents findings from a childcare centre in Canada (its name remains anonymous) where our local co-researcher Brenda Goodine, an Early Childhood Research Innovator in her province, led the research process. She visited the childcare facility, interviewed the Director, one early childhood educator (ECE), and a Centre Coordinator, collected photographs of the facilities, activities, play and work spaces, physical layout and outdoor surroundings of the centre; she collected documents used for program planning, information to parents and general information on professional development and ongoing program development. The names and faces of participants were not used to protect the anonymity of the children, the adults and the centre itself. All of the data material was supplied to the research team at CRI in Canada where an initial analysis was conducted; that analysis was subsequently verified by the co-researcher in Canada.

The summary of findings included here is organized around the four main research questions used to guide the study.

The Context for the Canadian Childhood CentreThe research site for Canada is located in a mid-sized city in western Canada. It is located in an urban area, and has offered a number of different services over the years. The Centre was founded around 1970 (47 years ago) as a two room daycare centre serving 16 children that focused on serving working women and their families. It was initially connected with a church, although that connection no longer exists. The Centre grew and developed into a family resource centre, and then subsequently became the Parent Link Centre for a particular area of the city. Growth in the numbers of children coming to the Centre occurred over time, and in the 1990s, the daycare had to move to different locations four times to accommodate increasing numbers. The Centre has traditionally received additional funding from the city to provide additional supports for families.

The Centre currently serves 56 children in four playrooms including the infant room. The majority of the playrooms have a team of three staff members. There are also two additional floating educators, who are able to go to a room where they are needed. There is a third float position as well—this educator’s role is to provide time for other educators so they can take professional training or attend mentoring time with their mentor. There is also a Coordinator who mentors the staff in the implementation of the curriculum policy, and who oversees the kitchen and menus. This Centre does have enhanced staff ratios in the rooms, which allows them to accept a larger number of children who have individual needs. The majority of the staff who work here possess a two year diploma in early childhood, while four of the educators hold an education degree.

Developing the Early Years PolicyThe Centre uses the Early Learning and Childcare Curriculum Framework for Alberta (See http://childcareframework.com/play-participation-and-possibilities/). This framework was initially developed in 2013-2014. The Canadian research site was involved with the framework since its original inception as one of six daycare centres purposefully selected to be involved in the development and implementation of the

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document. This Centre was likely chosen because of its record in espousing an inclusive philosophy. The development of the curriculum document has occurred in three phases.

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During Phase 1, faculty from the Grant McEwen Early Learning program visited the Centre to talk to educators about their daily practice, ask reflective questions, and mentor the Centre educators. Personnel actually began writing the document at this stage, as educators began writing their own learning stories, and sending them to the college mentor who provided feedback. In addition, Centre staff held three focus groups with parents that allowed families to become informed about the process in which the Centre was engaged. In Phase 2, mentors visited the Centre every two weeks and met with all of the playroom teams. In small groups, they had pedagogical conversations with one another, as educators continued to reflect on their own practice. They worked with initial drafts of the curriculum, to discuss how they could put it into practice. During Phase 3, the educators began to take the lead in their own learning. They decided what they wanted to explore, and then worked with a mentor on those specific questions. The curriculum document was also sent to other childcare centres during this year, and educators from our research site began attending meetings with other centres, to show them how the Centre’s educators were working with the curriculum document.

The Centre is a Lighthouse school, a designation that supports the Centre in its quest to disseminate and share what staff members have been learning with others. Before the new curriculum document, they always had weekly planning meetings to plan themes. Now, teams meet continually for a different purpose; the focus is on emergent curriculum, and what it means to plan daily with the children in the playrooms. The Director of the Centre commented, “Everybody has been part of the process…I’m always amazed at the alignment between…how we work with children, and…how we work with each other…. Everybody’s part of the process together.” One of the educators stated that “It’s [curriculum implementation] been very powerful, to see ourselves in that role of being able to mentor someone else…to share what you’ve done, and why you’ve done it … it really kind of solidifies things”.

Implementation of the Early Years PolicyThe manner in which the curriculum document was developed and implemented has had a substantive impact on the Centre, its educators, Director, children and parents. The Centre now provides three days each year of professional development. The first day focuses on a specific chapter of the framework, such as “environment, time, space and materials”. The educators read the chapter and work to answer questions in small groups. By the end of the day, the staff has developed a plan to move forward and document progress in one particular area of the document. Throughout the year, then, the ECEs document changes with regard to the environment. They share these in planning meetings and in staff meetings. They also invite their families to visit the playrooms, and to give input about (in this case) the environment.

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Changes are made to the Centre when this is necessary in order to implement the new curriculum. The toddler room, for example, needed new flooring, and the ECEs viewed this challenge as an opportunity to start building a room from scratch. They brought parents and children into the room to talk about what they thought would be important to have in the room. Parents, children and educators had conversations about everything that was put into the toddler room.

Impact of Early Years PoliciesThe Director stated that “I very much value that it is a framework, that it is not a prescriptive: ‘This is how you do it’ document”. The ECE commented that “It is about the holistic view of a child, the child as a citizen, like it’s about how you view the children…this curriculum has …helped me put into words what I’ve always believed, and I’ve always strived to do in my practice. The professional development activities that have been put into place in this Centre allow staff members to work towards effective implementation of the curriculum framework in daily life. In fact, the Director states that the curriculum document “shapes who we are as a centre”.

The Centre staff is working on intentionally changing, improving, and making the environment child-centred. The Director commented that “at one point, we just wanted everything to look natural, so we just took everything out and put in a whole bunch of pine cones and baskets but we hadn’t really thought through …the purpose of this and …the process”. The educators at the Centre have been engaged in a growth and learning process over a number of years as they continued to reflect and discuss decisions and policies. Now as a result, the Coordinator believes that, “I think we value our space and our materials a lot more, and we have found ourselves now, we’re not buying as much. We’re not buying as many materials because of the curriculum framework…and how we see even…re-using and making sense of natural materials…”. Even the focus of staff meetings has changed since implementing the curriculum document. Now ECEs share their observations of children during their weekly team meetings, to see if there are points of convergence, and possibilities for collaboration.

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Another aspect of child-centred learning here involves the families of the children. The parents of the children are even more involved than they were before the implementation of the curriculum document. Besides being involved in events at the Centre every other month, such as open house, parent nights, and family celebrations, parents are also invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Centre. They attend parent/educator conferences; they are welcome to come into the playrooms. The parents of the children at this Centre are learning and

beginning to use the language of the curriculum themselves. As an example of this increased sensitivity to the role of parents in the centre, the educators came to see a gap that occurred when a child moved from one room to another. They would spend several weeks preparing the child for the move, but did nothing to prepare the parents. Now the parents are invited to come during a planning time, and talk to their child’s new educators about their child’s gifts and talents, and what they would like to see her/him learning. They are involved in setting learning goals for their child. In this Centre, the staff “engage our parents as partners”.

Examples of Play-Based Activities Educators have shared how they have been enabled to listen to the children, and plan the program with them, according to their emerging interests. ECEs talk about “being in the moment, and planning with the children”. The children even have input into the documentation that the ECEs are placing on the walls of the playrooms. Parents are invited to come into the playrooms and participate. Staff has tried to set up the playrooms as a home environment, so the children are engaged in something they know. The toddler playroom is a good example of this. After receiving input from parents and children, the Centre staff renovated the toddler room, which now has comfortable furniture and a carpet. People know they are welcome there.

Members of staff also debated not using clocks, so they could just “flow through the day”. However, reality at this point did not allow it.

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Children engage in a wide range of dramatic play. Educators believe strongly in the power of playfulness and imagination, and have explored how best to unleash that among children. In book clubs, the children might respond to read-aloud texts with painting or drawing, making puppets, anything that might help the children extend and reinforce the stories. The educators “literally watch the children’s learning, and then attach it to the framework, every time”.

Children’s learning stories cover the walls at the Centre. Children’s work is giving place of importance, and their explorations, stories, and documentation are important artifacts for children, parents and educators alike. For

instance, children work with playdough and plasticene to represent the playroom’s dragon Smaug, and make him come alive. When out on the daily nature walks, children might be looking for dragon bones and dragon eggs to add to the playroom collection. In the play yard during the winter (with the help of the custodian), children played on a huge mound of snow that had been given dragon features. These initiatives emerged from the children’s interest in dragons, and how their educators developed invitations for their engagement and exploration.

Affordances and ConstraintsThe Director, Educator and Coordinator who participated in this research study were all able to highlight the affordances and the constraints of the Early Learning and Childcare Curriculum Framework. The opportunity for ongoing mentoring from the university faculty has facilitated the development of a strong understanding and implementation of an emergent early years program. As the educators themselves wrote their own learning stories, they became more comfortable writing their children’s learning stories. As they shared their documentation, and received feedback on what they were recording, their own practice was enhanced. In addition, as the staff has been asked to report on their Centre’s process of implementation (in conferences and in professional development presentations), staff members themselves have became very familiar with all aspects of the framework, including the language, and how to engage parents and children. Finally, members of this Centre are now mentoring other ECEs in the city, to support other centres as they implement the framework in their practice.

Staff at the Centre identified a number of benefits that the curriculum document afforded, including:

A made-in-Alberta document that has been developed from frontline feedback and experiences;

A framework that is not prescriptive; and

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Requirement for a certain level of educational understanding for adoption and implementation; and

Mutual support among Centres as an important aspect of implementation, for example, the Lighthouse model.

As they considered issues of implementing the document, staff also identified some constraints including:

Each ECE’s interpretation of the document can be different; Proper implementation of the curriculum framework requires more funding to

enhance child/educator ratios; There is an ongoing need for time and support for Centres and their staffs to

implement.

As the Coordinator at the Centre thought about these affordances and constraints when implementing the curriculum document, she succinctly suggested: “To me, it’s about mentoring, coaching, and consistency”.

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