Enhancing Early Childhood Education and Care in Palestine /CARE
Educational Strategies in the Early Childhood Supervison Supervisory
Palermo- Sicily – Italia
June 3-7
Cristina Mesquita & Luís Castanheira
Topics
Key Strategies in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Comparative Review Based on European Standards.
Supervisor Development Strategy: Technical and Personal characteristics
Supervisor's multifaceted role in observation, coaching, and mentorship.
Paradigms and models of pedagogical supervision
Develop a comprehensive and effective supervision grid to assess the pedagogical practice
Brainstorming on the concept of supervision, its functions and purposes
Group Brainstorming
The action will take 15 to 20 minutes
Participants will be divided into small groups, assigning a moderator to each group to record ideas.
Each group needs sheets of white paper divided into strips.
Each group member to record ideas, concepts and key words related to supervision, functions and purposes on the strips of paper. All group members should record several ideas
Encourage the groups to be creative and not to censor any ideas. All suggestions are welcome.
What do we mean by supervision? What are its functions and purposes?
Presentation of Ideas
Concept of supervision in pre-school education
Supervision, in the educational context, refers to a process whereby a professional with more experience and knowledge guides, monitors and supports other professionals, usually teachers or educators, to improve their pedagogical practices and support their professional development
Supervision concept
Supervision aims to guarantee quality in early childhood education, professional development and the fulfilment of established educational goals.
It involves a mutually supportive and evaluative relationship, where the supervisor provides constructive feedback and encourages the professional growth of educators.
The Importance of Supervision in Education
. Improving pre-school education: educators can receive direct feedback and guidance to improve their skills, which in turn benefits the children.
Professional development: Opportunities for the continuous development of educators, helping them to keep up to date with the best teaching practices.
Evaluation and Accountability: Supervision helps evaluate the performance of educators and ensures that they are aligned with the quality standards and educational goals set.
Focus on the child: Through supervision, the focus is maintained on children's development, learning and well-being, ensuring that they receive a quality education.
- Promoting Innovation: Supervision can also encourage innovation and experimentation in the classroom, which can result in more innovative educational approaches.
Different perspectives on supervision
Supervision perspectives
Normative perpective
Descriptive perpective
Formative perspective
Normative perpective
Advantages:
Standardisation: Establishes standards and norms that help maintain a minimum level of quality in education, ensuring that teachers are aware of expectations.
Accountability: Creates a sense of responsibility among educators, as they know that their performance will be assessed against specific criteria.
Objective Evaluation: Allows for a more objective evaluation, since supervisors use clear and predefined criteria to evaluate teachers' performance..
Disadvantages:
Descriptive perspective
Advantages :
Objective Observation: The emphasis on objective description of teaching practices allows for impartial and direct observation of classroom activities.
Non-threatening feedback: Educators tend to feel less threatened by this type of supervision, as it does not involve immediate evaluation or judgement.
Identification of trends: Descriptive observation helps identify trends in educators' performance, both positive and negative, without the immediate pressure of conforming to norms.
Basis for Formative Intervention: The information gathered through the descriptive perspective can serve as a solid basis for formative interventions and professional development plans.
Disadvantages :
Lack of Evaluation: Immediate and critical evaluation of performance, which can result in a lack of feedback.
Lack of Clear Direction: Provides direct guidance for improvement, leaving educators with the responsibility to interpret and act on observations.
Possibility of Subjectivity: Even with the intention of being objective, descriptive observation can be influenced by the subjectivity of the observer, making conclusions less reliable.
Time-consuming: Collecting and analysing descriptive observations can be time-consuming and require substantial resources.
Descriptive perspective
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Time and Resources: Can be time-consuming and require significant resources to provide personalised feedback and support to each educator.
Implementation Challenges: Can be complex to implement effectively, especially in large educational systems with many educators.
Who Are the Actors Involved in Supervision?
Supervisors
Educators/Assistants
What role should supervisors play? And Educators/Assistants
Group Discussion
For 10 minutes
They should record their ideas
Write down 5 aspects that characterise you as a supervisor
Discutam em grupo, a partir dessas características as que melhor se adequam às atividades do Supervisor.
Characteristics of a Supervisor
Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
Good Communication Adaptaion Flexbility Creaivity Affection and Empathy Knoweldge and Apdate Organizing Attractive Impressoive Encouraging Knoweldge about loca l Culture Positive | Patience Deep thinker Initiative Effective Facillitator Updated Mentor Friendly and Positive Good Communication Ability to build Capacity \ | Self Confident Flexible Supportive Positive Well known about the standards Abide to Profession Ethics Have the ability to mentor and guide people Positive |
Characteristics of a Supervisor
Personal Competences | Scientific and technical competences | Pedagogical Competences | Professional competences |
Being humble Being a good listener Empathise Understanding Humble Being empathetic Being tolerant Being honest Being patient Show solidarity Being respectful Be committed Being responsible | Innovator Facilitator Have a leadership attitude Be observant Have a global vision of the pre-school system Be participative Be a communicator Being observant Have scientific knowledge Being observant | Be able to deal with group differences Be able to manage conflicts Pedagogical mastery Adapt strategies to the context Managing working groups Use participatory methods in sessions Discuss scientific texts | The ability to delegate duties and tasks - Professional ethics - Be honest when making decisions - Have the ability to control the behaviour and attitudes of employees - Good human relations |
The role of supervisors
Pedagogical Interaction Styles
Impact of Styles on the Quality of Supervision�
Collaborative: Promotes an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, which generally leads to a positive learning environment and professional development.
Authoritative: Can create a relationship of power and submission, which can inhibit open communication and professional development. Can be effective in situations of strict compliance.
Facilitator: Encourages educators' self-reflection and autonomy, resulting in a person-centred learning environment.
Formative: Focuses on the continuous growth and development of educators, contributing to the improvement of educational practices and, consequently, to the quality of supervision.�
What do you think is the most appropriate style for supervision?
Group Discussion
For 10 minutes
They should record their ideas
Analyse the following case study
Case Study: Supervisory Perspectives in Early Childhood Education�
Context: A kindergarten with children aged 3 to 5.
Description:
In this case study, we explore how a supervision approach is developed in a kindergarten where educators work with children aged 3 to 5.
Supervisory Approach:
The kindergarten has four educators working with children in mixed and vertical groups. Twice a month the supervisor will observe the work of the educators. At the end of each observation session, he talks to the educators and shares his notes. At the end of the day, he usually meets with the whole team. They talk about organising the space, defining new possibilities. They talk about some of the children and jointly outline some action strategies. The educators point out some difficulties with organising action in small groups and the Supervisor undertakes to organise training on the subject.
What style of Supervision is involved in this case?
Describe:
What Paper Supervisor?
What is the role of the kindergarten teacher?
Expose the difficulties
Share the idea together
Agree on ideas
Identify the case (the question and build a problem)
Agree new strategies
Being committed to participating in new actions
What Impact on Childhood Education?
What style of Supervision is involved in this case?
Describe:
What is the role of kindergarten teachers?
Explain the difficulties
Share the idea together
Agree on ideas
Identify the case (the question and construct a problem)
Agree new strategies
Be committed to participating in new actions
Self-evaluate
Seeking solutions and
put into practice what has been decided with the supervisors
Show willingness to improve and participate
Training related to organisation in order to facilitate children's learning
What Impact on Early Childhood Education?
What style of Supervision is involved in this case?
Describe:
What Impact on Early Childhood Education?
Collaborative Work
Pedagogical practices contributed to a quality teaching-learning process
The practices developed were interactive and participatory.
Mastery of content and scientific knowledge
Improving Pre-school education
Creating a safe and healthy environment
Potentialised professional development
Participatory learning
Case Study Resolution
This is a formative style of supervision
What is the role of supervisors?
Supervisors play an active role in observing educators' practices in the activity room environment.
They provide constructive feedback and individualised guidance to educators based on the specific needs of the children.
They help identify pedagogical strategies that are suitable for the different age groups and learning paces of the children.
They encourage the creation of play activities that stimulate children's cognitive, emotional and social development.
What is the role of kindergarten teachers?
Early childhood educators are encouraged to actively participate in the supervision process. By carrying out their own self-assessment
They commit to reflecting on their practices and adapting them to the children's individual needs.
They work closely with supervisors to develop engaging and developmentally appropriate educational activities for children.
They value self-reflection and continuous improvement of their pedagogical skills.
Case Study Resolution
What Impact on Early Childhood Education?
The supervision approach contributes to a more dynamic and adapted learning environment, where children are actively involved in learning activities suited to their needs.
The quality of pedagogical practices constantly improves, promoting children's cognitive, emotional and social development.
The collaborative approach lays a solid foundation for successful early childhood education, offering children a solid basis for their learning.
Supervision grid