Simulated workplace the key to authentic assessment in childcare
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
WORKPLACE LEARNING - ASSESSMENT CASE STUDIES | Alison Jones, Head Teacher, Personal, Community and Health Services Illawarra Institute
Making links with parent groups and family day care schemes - extending on established links with community groups - provide information and education.
Alison Jones
Training Packages
Community Services (CHC02)
Learning Environment
Simulated community-based childcare centre used as a location for assessment events for 250 Certificate and Diploma Community Services and Children’s Service students.
Teaching Approach
In response to a specific need Alison Jones and her team have established an authentic assessment event that has spin-off advantages in strengthening community liaison and involvement.
The team establishes a large play session for use as the assessment tool which runs over five morning sessions for a total of three hours per day. Children attend for two hours, whilst students attend for three, including half an hour setup and half an hour debrief at the end of the session. Each session attracts more than 25 children and their parents/carers per day. The program starts from day one in the students’ course, which means that they are dealing with parents straight away.
Previously it wasn’t possible to adequately or authentically assess the community-based assessment component of what is largely a practical course. This approach has been developed in response to this situation and its aim is to reflect the setup as nearly as possible to that in a community-based centre, including all administrative functions (enrolments forms and policies).
Students have a play session log book for assessment in which competencies are signed off by the staff running the play sessions.
Evaluation Methods
Post-session debriefings are held at which participants are encouraged to be positively critical and proactive.
Student evaluation forms are used at the end of each semester to more formally gauge effectiveness of the program.
An informal measure of the success of the approach is that although the program has never been advertised, the play session attracts at least 25 children and their parents/ carers per day, all through word-of-mouth.
Positive Difference to Learning
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the local childcare industry consider Alison’s approach best practice. By making the assessment program more realistic and hands-on, the theoretical component of the course has evolved into one that gives opportunities for seeing theory put into practice.
The fact that this is best practice is evident from:
- feedback from community-based centre placement
- increased awareness of occupational health and safety, and
- improved ease of students in speaking with parents.
See Also
Case
Studies Innovative and Excellent Practices in VET Teaching and
Learning 2003 (426 Kb) are
also available as one downloadable file.
