Becoming an Early Childhood Professional (Professional Experience Placement)

Instructions

Description

Students are required to build a Professional Portfolio which integrates personal critical reflections and sourced materials and resources collected throughout the professional experience placement. This Professional Portfolio will be maintained and build on throughout the course. A topic and structure will be assigned to focus these portfolios specifically grouped under focus areas including professional knowledge of development, professional knowledge of teaching, professional practice, and professional engagement. The portfolio serves as a core document for subsequent and ongoing work.

Requirements

Students are required to develop and maintain daily reflective notes and materials during their placement that demonstrate advancement of professional knowledge of development, professional knowledge of teaching, professional practice, and professional engagement.

Evidence of reflective work maintained throughout each placement can be in the form of dot points collated in the Evidence Log which is recorded throughout the duration of the placement. This Evidence Log serves to inform discussions with the Mentor Teacher and Holmes Institute academic and other staff regarding the ways in which the professional experience criteria are being met.

A sample Evidence Log of the criteria required to be evidenced will be made available. Please note that this Evidence Log aims to help you record your student learning and identify areas that might need attention. This is an instrument for conducting professional discussion between students, Mentor Teachers, and Holmes Institute staff.

Students are required to convert anecdotal observations, program plans, and other materials into a professional portfolio that presents a comprehensive collection of documentation that reflects understandings of what constitutes high quality teaching practice, knowledge of the early childhood field, and the importance of positive professional engagement. The professional portfolio can take a range of forms and there is no single set of criteria or organisational structure. It expands upon the Reflective Journal to provide further evidence of analysis, synthesis and interpretation of pedagogical understandings which enable the:

• Assessment of the contexts, practices and challenges associated with professional practice experiences in early childhood education and care settings;
• Evaluation of the structure and nature of early childhood settings;
• Critical reflection on children’s learning and development experiences;
• Analysis of collaborations with other early childhood professionals and with families and how they have ensured safe, sustainable and inclusive learning environments;
• Review of professional contemporary approaches to teaching and program planning, drawing on educational theory that supports children’s learning and development; and
• Effective integration of Indigenous perspectives into education programs, ensuring that the cultural identity and linguistic background of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is honoured.

Throughout the development of the Professional Portfolio students are required to source evidence that demonstrates engagement with Australia’s National Quality Framework, National Quality Standards, National Law and regulations and approved learning frameworks. Students should show how they embed sustainability into programs and practices.

The Professional Portfolio is required to be compiled as a single resource which collates observations, program plans, evaluations, reflections and other materials that together demonstrate a high level of professional understanding about the role of the teacher. The portfolio must include a satisfactory Final Placement Report. It can be divided into sections that help to organise the materials.