Part 1: Reflective practice journal

To do this part of the assessment, you are required to document and reflect on observations about the ways in which relationships are developed in your work placement service.

You mustcomplete the following reflective practice journal, which has three areas:

1. Reflection about the relationships you develop with children
2. Reflection about the relationship other educators develop with children
3. Reflection about the relationship children develop with other children.

When reflecting on each area, follow the model:

• What? (Detail what you experienced or observed.)
• So what? (Explain what this tells you about the relationship or about how children develop relationships. Analyse the relationship or interaction.)
• What next? (Consider how this reflection will change your approach in the future with a focus on improvement.)

There is no word limit for each entry, however you need to provide a sufficient enough response to meet the criteria

Table1 Reflective practice journal

Reflective Practice Journal

1. Reflecting on your relationships with children
   1. Reflect on the relationships you have built with the children at your service. Describe how you have established and created positive relationships with the children. Link the experience to the relevant National Quality Standard from Quality Area 5.

State how you have:

1. Responded sensitively and respectfully to all children's efforts to communicate
2. Engaged in sustained conversations with individual children about things that interest the child and encourage them to share their stories and ideas
3. Showed genuine interest in, understanding of, and respect for all children
4. Demonstrated sensitivity and initiated warm, trusting, and reciprocal relationships with children and families.
   1. Building on your previous answer:

1. Provide two examples of the basic features of positive and effective communication and reflect on how it helped strengthen your relationship with children and positively impacted children's behaviour.

2. Extend your thinking and explain how forming a strong relationship with children will support your own pedagogical practices and, in turn, reinforce the impact of your own pedagogical practices on children's behaviour.

3. Provide two examples of how yousupported the children's learning and development by establishing strong relationships with children.

4. Based on your two previous answers, consider the skills and knowledge you have developed from your experience in establishing and creating positive relationships with children at the service. Provide an example of how in the future you will enhance how you establish positive relationships with children. Discuss with your work supervisor your strategies and incorporate the supervisor's guidance.

1. Reflect on a time you observed a conflict within a group of children. Describe the situation, the behaviour and how you handled the situation.

Your answer should include:

1. Description of the situation and children's behaviour within the group
2. Two strategies you used to resolve the conflict
3. Two communications techniques you used to ensure you responded appropriately to the child's age and stage of development
4. An example of how you supported the child to recognise and label emotions
5. An example of how you communicated and agreed on expectations for behaviour based on service policies in ways that children will understand. Detail how you ensured children's understanding and agreement.
   1. Based on your previous answer, explain how you have formed a holistic understanding of the child's behaviour.

Your answer should also detail:

1. How you have formed a holistic understanding of the child's behaviour
2. The type of information you gathered from the child's social and physical education and care environment
3. How you assessed the child's individual stage of development, temperament, and personality.
   1. Based on your two previous answers:

1. Explain how the strategies and communication techniques used to resolve the conflict promoted self-regulation, self-esteem, and wellbeing.
2. Reflect on what you have learned and what you could do to improve your relationship with children based on the holistic understanding of children's behaviours.
3. Discuss with your work supervisor your strategies and incorporate the supervisor's guidance.

1. Reflecting on your observations of other educators' relationships with children
   1. Reflect on a time when you observed an educator interacting with a child or children. Describe what the educator did to support the child's sense of belonging in the service and link the experience to the relevant approved learning framework.

1. Base on your previous example, reflect on what you can learn from this observation, and what approaches you could implement in the future to support other children to feel a sense of belonging within the service.

1. Reflecting on your observation of children's relationships with one another

1. Gender has been shown to influence how children interact and play with each other. Reflect on a time when you observed two or more children showing gender influence on the way children were interacting:
2. Describe what you observed during interaction, including a description of the types of behaviours and communication observed and the impact that one child's behaviour had on the other child/ren.
3. Explain on your own words why children show gendered behaviours.
4. Explain what you can do as an Early Childhood Educator to guide and teach young children about gendered behaviours.

1. Reflect on social interactions you observed between groups of children that were positive in nature and successful for all children involved.
2. Describe the types of behaviours and communication observed and the impact that one child's behaviour had on the other child/ren.
3. Identify at least three factors that influence group dynamics and explain how relationships between children are formed.
4. Link the experience to the relevant National Quality Standard from Quality Area 5.

1. Based on your previous example, reflect on what you can learn from your observations, and explain why it is important to support and strengthen relationships between children. What you could change to improve your practice and keep supporting and strengthen relationships between children? Discuss with your work supervisor your strategies and incorporate the supervisor's guidance.