Anthony Semann: Hi, I'm Anthony Semann, and I am here with Kelly Goodsir, an early childhood trained teacher and consultant based in Melbourne, here to talk to us about reflective practice. Kelly, thanks for joining us.
Kelly Goodsir: Pleasure.
Anthony Semann: Kelly, the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, or the VEYLDF, one of the core practice principles, one of the eight, is reflective practice, and it states that reflective practice is one of those core enablers for a team to engage in ongoing improvement around their work. Can you talk to us a bit about how you define reflective practice and, you know, its role in the culture of a team?
Kelly Goodsir: Sure. I think of reflective practice as the idea of thinking, questioning, learning, unlearning - these sorts of capacities that ignite our curiosity as a teaching team to better understand what it is that we do. I think the purpose, as well, of reflective practice is not just to discuss what we did today or a dear diary type of approach. It's actually to gain an insight, a deeper awareness about why we do what we do.
Kelly Goodsir: So in that sense, I think about when we nurture this as a teaching team, when we have the capacity to talk out loud and bravely about the things that concern us, we are a team that becomes an inquiring team. And this type of culture over time creates brave spaces for educators and teachers.
Anthony Semann: Reflective practice is at the heart of continuous improvement. Can you share with us some of your wisdom around how a kindergarten team can really embrace reflection as a way of improving what and how they do what they do?
Kelly Goodsir: I guess I think of reflective practice as a set of systems and practices that a teaching team adopt, and when they're integrated together, it creates this culture. So if I was to define a set of strategies, the first thing I think about is the connection points that we create in our timetabling to come together, to talk about the things that matter to us, the things that concern us, the things that even that excite us. Those connection points, I think, have to go beyond the hallway conversation.
Kelly Goodsir: So there has to be an element of time. Time to deliberate, to ponder, to wonder, to debate, and to get comfortable with tension I think that sometimes gets raised through reflecting on the things that really matter.
Anthony Semann: I would imagine in a team, you'd say at the beginning of the year where you might have had some new team members start working in the three-year-old kindergarten program, that there will be many opportunities to want to discuss and reflect. How do we choose the important stuff if we want to call it, to reflect on within that program?
Kelly Goodsir: Oh, gosh, good question. I, I guess there is one thing I always go to at the beginning of a year, and that is gaining an insight and an understanding amongst a teaching team about what respectful practice means. I always like to ask the question, what does it look like in how I talk? What does respectful practice look like in how I show up and interact with children for the decisions that I make? And then also that deliberation amongst the team I think can really help identify how we move forward as well.
Kelly Goodsir: So look, there's many starting points. I think that that's an example of one but asking what matters to us is really important.
Anthony Semann: So critical. Absolutely critical. When we start reflecting, it's inevitable that diverse perspectives will come to the surface, given we've all entered with a whole heap of experiences. I'd love for you to share with us how we can positively work with diverse ideas to improve our practices.
Kelly Goodsir: I think the first thing is to create the conditions to listen, to hear people's thoughts, their ideas, their concerns, and to consider them. So listening, I think, is not just a head thing. It's a heart thing. And sometimes it's about holding back our judgment and withholding our perspective. So for me, this is, I think, a really important starting point as we learn to listen, we learn to regulate our points of view. But part of that is also being brave enough to ask questions that can create a level of robust discussion.
Kelly Goodsir: I think that's how change happens. Learning and reflection doesn't happen because we're comfortable. It usually happens because there's a level of discomfort. And it's about creating the conditions to listen and acknowledge respectfully others points of view in order to get comfortable in those spaces.
Anthony Semann: It really talks about the need to create a democratic space where everybody can hear and share what they think.
Anthony Semann: How does that democratic space, that allows everybody to enter, how do we form that in a time where we spend so much time wanting to be absolutely respectful, which is a critical part of what we do? But the democratic space might mean diverse perspectives don't always sit together so nicely.
Kelly Goodsir: Yeah, I think asking or considering the focus that we have for the conversation initially is helpful. So there's preparation, part of that preparation I've always found really helpful to put a piece of research or reading, a podcast, something to that effect in the middle of that conversation. So it becomes a connection point for us. So it sort of takes us out of things being personal and keeps things being objective. And we're debating, I guess, a well-researched idea and what that means for our context.
Anthony Semann: That's why the evidence base is so important.
Kelly Goodsir: Yeah. Yeah.
Anthony Semann: Really, a really helpful idea for teams to consider.
Kelly Goodsir: Yeah. And I think it's about preparation. We have to know what matters to us, what we're reflecting on in order to bring to the table in conversation, that research.
Anthony Semann: Yeah. Thank you so much, Kelly, for sharing your ideas. I think the viewers of this will find some really practical advice around how to improve practice through reflection.
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