Group+3

Group 3 - you seem to have lost everything? Kathy 14/11/11

Hi Kathy - we had a bit of a mishap :)

Lovely group members - as it's week 3 and the installation is looking FANTASTIC... can we please get the ball rolling for the handouts/instructions leaflet and the written part of our assignment? Nikita, I was wondering if you could maybe post the link to the CRO's from the course you were saying would be helpful so I can do some reading? Maybe we could allocate a couple of readings each and summarise them on here? Let me know what you think!

Teagan 15/11/11

Hi girls! Well Teagan got me back on today, but I realised all the steps I did before were exactly what I had done but after I pressed apply everything was deleted. Anyway. So sorry for all your troubles Sandy and Nikita and how generous you both were to keep soldiering on. We got alot of work done on Saturday. After talking about the two media options we have to use I think Teagan's idea was a good one. I just need to read more. Lyn 16/11/11

Hi girls,thank you for being so understanding. :-) I am ready to roll on Saturday. I have a great text book you can borrow, although I have already scanned it for our assignment and have some ideas. I also listened to the 2 video's in Images and have notes from them. I will now attempt to add a link for you with a CRO from our Diversity course. Look forward to brainstorming on Saturday. Sandra 18/11/11Okay it wont allow me to link to CRO's I will email it to you as PDF. try this link it is a good policy link:  Education Queensland (EQ). (2005) //Inclusive Education Statement.// Retrieved from []    Hi ladies,   We got the cube finished off... it is spinning and looks great. The CRO's for Managing diversity need a password to view and because you haven't done that course you wont be able to view them but we can talk about practical ways to cater for a class of diverse students when we meet on Saturday. See you then. Nikita

19/11/2011 Group meeting was very productive!!! Just a reminder about what everyone is looking at for the next time we meet..

Teagan - The image of a child as unique Lynn - The challenge of having a diverse classroom (the image of the teacher as having to cater for this diverse class and how this is a big challenge!... check out that link i sent you Lynn it has so much good info in it!!) Nikita and Sandra - How we can overcome this issue (We are going to look at theorists, practical classrom solutions and policy docs).

Meet next week

I agree, we have a great base for our presentation, which will lead nicely into our rationale Sandra 19/11/11

Hi Ladies,

Here is the table that somehow got deleted :) Anything important from now on I will text or email as this wiki seems to be playing up.

//(just some ideas, please feel free to change/adapt/expand/reword)// || Some ideas for catering to diversity: Challenge: Diversity Solutions: Tools/strategies for catering to diversity || Solutions: Aim to provide tools/strategies for achieving engagement and success for all learners. || What we have learnt: Obstacles: Any suggestions? || Teagan 20/11/11 Hi girls! Glad this worked as well this time. Thanks Sandy I got on and looked at those videos about Images and the challenges. It has helped thinking about HOw it is a challenge and Why it is a challenge. Yeah Teagan that is a good idea. I got your text this morning. Lyn 20/11/11
 * **__Task description (as per Images course profile)__** || **__How I think it applies to our assignment__**
 * **The installation should focus on:** ||
 * Images of the child as a learner || * Unique ||
 * Images of the teacher || * Flexible
 * Creative
 * Responsible for providing the best possible chance for success in learning to all learners (owe it to the learners?)
 * Responsible for fostering and catering to individuality ||
 * Interrelationships between child, teacher and education stakeholders || * Teacher and learners collaborate to plan for learning experiences
 * Respect should exist between teachers and learners
 * Teacher and learners should be supportive of each other in planning and learning
 * Teacher learns from the learners not just the other way around ||
 * How can we overcome the challenge? || * Catering to diversity is the challenge
 * Profiling/observing learners to identify strengths, needs, interests etc.
 * Learner-centred/directed teaching
 * Reflective teaching (what worked, what didn’t and why?)
 * Flexibility (to stop something if learners are losing interest, to extend something if learners need/want more, to go with learners ideas/suggestions etc.)
 * Cater to variety of learning styles ||
 * **Theorised 1500-2000 word rationale explaining your presentation should:** ||
 * Identify core ideas || Image: Unique
 * Note what you have set out to do || To make the link between the unique child and the diverse classroom and to explore strategies for catering to this in early childhood education. ||
 * Highlight the significance of each component || Rubik cube: Represents children as unique and diverse and the Learning Manager’s challenge to manipulate the delivery of learning to suit the needs of the learners.
 * Note how each component links to your analysis || How did the installation support our oral presentation? Similar to above? Not really sure what this means. ||
 * Note what you have learnt from the experience and any obstacles you have encountered || I believe this refers to the content covered not the group work process.
 * Our images of childhood/children influence and shape the way we teach and interact with children and the way we overcome the challenges of early childhood education?
 * Catering to variety of learners at once?

Hi again :)

Here is my part for the presentation....

We began as you do most group assignments; brainstorming and throwing around ideas. Choosing an image seemed a good place to start, ‘should be easy enough’ we thought, wrong. It turned out everyone had a different image of children and childhood, each with a story, a memory or a classroom example. Some were complimentary of others, like curious and explorative, while others conflicted, like capable and dependent. So as we sat there staring at our long list of images, it occurred to us that choosing just one would be more difficult than we thought. After all, as teachers we can’t go through our career catering to one image of childhood, just because of a memory or the words of one theorist.

Our long list of images now resembled an early childhood classroom, a diverse list of children, all on one page. Suddenly we realised that the reason we couldn’t choose just one, was because we all knew that every child is different. Somewhere in the back of our minds we were all holding on to an image of children… Unique. Every child is unique. As you can see in our installation, children cannot be put into a box, they each have their own individual box. It is our responsibility as early childhood educators, to cater to their diverse range of strengths, needs and interests.

...Suggestions/comments welcome. Let me know if it the tone is to casual... I went for conversational since we are talking to classmates. It takes about 1 mintue 20 seconds when I read it. Let me know also if there is anything I should add in. I thought the last line would tie nicely into Lyns stuff about the challenge, but we can take it out if it isn't needed. Thanks!

Teagan 21/11/11

Hi Teagan,

I dont think that you need to talk about the decision making process that much. Maybe you could talk more about what it means to see children as unique more of the "so what" Children are unique... so... how does that affect the way people see them, how does it affect the way people interact with them, how is the unique child perceived and how do educators treat children when they think they are unique. It might also be a good idea to give an example of what you mean in a real context, For example in a classroom setting when there is free play how different children gravitate to different activities and different roles because of their unique personality. I also think that you need some references to back up what you are saying. I think you are on the right track but it needs some more substance, especially if we are using this in the essay. Maybe you could write it more as an essay piece and get all your refernces and stuff in there and then write a more informal version from that for the presentation



Also, maybe it would be a good idea for all of us to prepare something for wednesday or thursday so that we can meet and read each others stuff during a lunch break so that we are prepared on friday to hash it out and be done with it!! Let me know if you think you will be ready?? Nikita

Hi again,

Thanks for the suggestions. I will start again. This was just my idea for the presentation... I was unaware we were working on the essay before our next meeting. Should I aim for about 500 or so words? Of course I will be more academic in preparing the essay... I just remembered someone say that the presentations were quite informal which is why the above was conversational. I will re-write the presentation bit and get started on the essay. I'll try to have it done for uni tomorrow.

Teagan 22/11/11

Hi All sorry for any confusion. I thought we discussed that we would use our presentation paragraph as the base of our essay. I liked your suggestion about the so what, Nikita. Yes the presentation will be less formal. I think once we cross check our info together we will be right. Maybe dot points (with any references) would be a good start Teagan, If you work better doing straight 500 that will be okay as well then we can expand on them and blend them with everyone else see you all tomorrow Sandra 22/11/11

I've done about 600 words on the image and how it affects the way teachers teach... don't stress about the 600 words... I know full well half (or most) of it will probably get cut out. I've REALLY struggled because we have not covered differentiation so I know very little about it... So please don't expect a masterpiece :) See you tomorrow!

Teagan 22/11/11

Hey Teagan, thats great!! Nikita and I have the differentiation stuff covered, Lyn has looked into the challenge so if you have the image stuff thats perfect :-) I just found this gem called The Inclusivity Challenge from Dept Edu ACT. Its a good read and has perfect stuff for this assessment, could be useful for others too. [] I have emailed my notes to you all, I will probably say what is in the box if it fits with everyone else Sandra

Hi guys! I showed Sandy my notes at school today. I will bring them in tomorrow. I havn't written the 500 words yet. I thought I would get this part right first. Lyn 22/11/11

Hi Girls, the solutions sheet is done, I have emailed it to you for your approval. Nikita will print it (30 pages which means 60 copies). Lyn has answered the "what have we learned' questions so we will look at them and brainstorms whole group ideas from her resposes. We need to finish our paragraph about the challenge and our solutions/strategies to differentiate paragraph. Sounds like a lot when I type it out!! But it will be fine when all four of us are together. See you tomorrow  Sandy  24/11/11

Hi all! I managed to condense my 600 words for the essay in to a paragraph for the presentation. I'm pasting it below because I am likely to do something silly like forget my USB tomorrow.

Every child is unique. The image of the child as unique illustrates the belief that every child has a different set of attributes, experiences, relationships, strengths, needs and interests. The teacher who views the child as unique reflects this image in their teaching philosophy and practices. Their interactions with children reflect their belief that each child is unique and that therefore an understanding of each child as an individual is required. Some practices that may indicate this image of the child include; building relationships with the children, involving the children in the planning process and making use of inclusive pedagogy. These practice reflect the image of the child as unique because the teacher actively seeks to engage the learners by catering to and fostering their uniqueness.

I'm not sure about the part that says "making use of inclusive pedagogy" can anyone think of a better way to word this??? Engaging with... Conducting... Delivering learning through..?? Solutions sheet looks great :) See you tomorrow!  Teagan 24/11/11

Great communication ladies. It appears that you are all contributing well. I can see that Teagan has been working on her sections before she leaves us. Enjoy your holiday Teagan and I look forward to working with you next year. Ladies your presentation sounds interesting and I look forward to viewing it. Kathy 25/11/11

Hi girls! I made up the Solutions sheets onto cardboard. I just used the four colours of our main faces of the Rubik's cube.They can go up at the back of our presentations and in the front as well. Lyn 28/11/11