EDN470

Project Rationale and Plan

Stacey Talbot
32189595

Tutor: Lesley Payne

Words: 1,715

Project Title
Helping to facilitate kindergarten children to transition through activities in an
environment that enhances their wellbeing and learning experience.
Project Rationale
This project topic has evolved from my personal experiences and practices through
working at an Early Childcare Centre. The wellbeing of the children who attend is the
main priority of the centre. Based on this, I believe that using a more flexible and
enjoyable approach during transition times would further improve the childrens sense
of wellbeing, as well as enhance their learning experience. For the purpose of this
project the transition time I am specifically focusing on is the time between playtime
and morning tea, when the children are usually read a story while sitting on the mat.
The children are encouraged to relax and cool down after play in preparation for
their morning tea, and I have both noticed and experienced that this can be quite a
difficult task for both the educator and the children, as it seems to cause frustration
and negative feelings for many involved.

I have chosen to work on this project in particular because through practicum, as well
as work experience, I know that needing to transition from a high level of, almost
free, activity to a more directed and focused practice is a common occurrence in early
childhood education. Thus I would like to learn how to better manage these types of
transitions in order to create a more positive experience for both the children and
myself. The transition I have highlighted therefore appears to be an ideal project to
undertake through the use of action research.

The school
For this project I will be working with the kindergarten class at my current workplace.
This is a childcare centre located in a rural town of Victoria called Wangaratta, which
caters for children from 0 to 6 years old. A kindergarten class is run in the centre on
certain days (Wednesday and Friday) and is designed to begin the preparation for the
children before they go into primary school. This childcare centre promotes student

centred and play based learning, with a Reggio Emilia approach, while also closely
following the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009).
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Wangaratta is made up of only 1% of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and in fact there are no recognised
Indigenous children attending this particular kindergarten class.
With the average salary income in 2008 being $32,125 it falls into the median of all
Australian statistics and therefore we could assume that the majority of the families
living in the area are middle class working families.
Rationale
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs outlines the necessity of first satisfying lower level
needs, before higher level needs can be accessed as motivators. This means that
physiological needs like adequate nutrition, sleep, and so on, together with safety,
have to be met in order for a child to be able to learn. When an educator observes
children who are disruptive and disconnected in their learning this could therefore be
a clear indicator that these fundamental needs are not being met. This would
negatively impact on children and prevent them from being able to meet their higher
levels, according to Maslow, like feeling a sense of belongingness and self esteem,
both of which are vital for successful learning.
By working with children in an early childcare setting I have seen how excited they
become when engaging in play and interacting with the world around them. This takes
place both in and outside the classroom, and shows learning occurring in different
ways - children using exploration, experimentation and play to learn about a wide
range of things. While this is a great experience, I have also seen that at times children
can become increasingly excited by everything that is happening around them, and
from this it seems to make it more difficult for them to return to a calmer state,
especially when relaxation and rest have been planned into a specific time of the day
to suit the classroom routine. When this occurs the expectations of the children can be
in direct conflict with those of the educator, and this can soon cause feelings of
frustration that would also undermine the childrens feeling of wellbeing.
According to the EYLF, wellbeing is fundamental to children being able to fully
participate in, and learn from, the daily routines, play, interactions and experiences in

their early childhood setting (The Department of Education and Training , 2009).
Helping children to maintain this sense of wellbeing can be challenging given
classroom dynamics and curriculum learning requirements, and even though children
would benefit from relaxation and rest that have been planned into the day they can
still struggle to adapt to this.
One way to help children feel confident and comfortable in the classroom is to ensure
that their emotional needs are met. Kids Matter states that Children need repeated
experiences of having their needs met by a responsive and caring adult to help them
develop a positive sense of self, manage their emotions and to get along with others
(Australian Primary Schools Mental Health Initiative , 2013). During transition
activities, when it can take time for children to settle and adapt to new expectations, is
precisely when they need the support of understanding adults. It is therefore important
for educators to review the assumptions that they hold in relation to what they believe
is the correct behaviour of children, by reflecting on their professional beliefs and
values.
The project I am planning will allow for a self-evaluation and reflection of my own
experience as educator in a kindergarten classroom to assist me to develop appropriate
strategies. Action Research is an ideal methodology for this sort of project since, as
Shirley Grundy describes it, one undertakes their own journey and discovers further
rather than starting at the beginning and reinventing the wheel (Grundy, 1995). This
emphasizes the usefulness of action research as a way to gain a personal
understanding that can inform future practice, rather than relying only on others
theories, ideas, beliefs and ways of doing things. Action research will thus enable me
to use my prior knowledge and understanding, together with experience and
reflection, to help me develop strategies for my future teaching.
It is always emphasised that a code of ethics must be followed by all in the classroom
to ensure the safety of children, families, schools and educators included in this is
also the importance of wellbeing (Education Services Australia, 2011). By
acknowledging the complexity of the holistic nature of childrens learning, together
with the significance of their cultural and linguistic identities, I am able to further
understand just how important it is to support children to more naturally reach a state

where they are calm and focused. This project allows for children to be seen as people
with individual needs and emotions, rather than just students who are fulfilling the
educational expectation of calming down and being focused, so as to minimize
distractions once asked.
Jean Piaget described children between the ages of two and seven as going through
the preoperational stage (Duchesne et al., 2013). During this stage children are
developing negotiation skills and imagination, they are also gaining a deeper
understanding about language in different contexts. All these skills can be developed
through the use of play, which also helps enhance a positive physical and socialemotional environment (Howe, Joly, Smith, & Vinet, 2014). In facilitating this an
educator makes it more likely for a child to start on the journey to reaching selfactualisation.
Your rationale is strongly supported by the literature but also needed to outline your
reflective process to come to this choice and how it will improve your teaching
practice.
Project aims
I will aim to be honest and reflective in my teaching strategies in order to
acknowledge what works and what could have worked better.
I aim to ensure children are given the appropriate support to more easily transition
from an energetic and less structured environment, into a more guided and focused
environment.
I aim to work with my mentor teacher to specifically assess which techniques are
working with the children.
I aim to explore ways that enable me to feel more grounded, so as to model this for
the children as an educator.

Focus Research Questions

1. Is it important for children to have time to wind down during a busy day, and why
is this so?
2. As children often copy what they see modelled, what are some different techniques
that can help me support children to transition into a calmer state?
3. How can I, as an educator, become more grounded in the classroom and how will
this affect the children and their behaviour?
4. How can I assess which techniques are working with the children.
5. How can I be honest and reflective in my teaching?

The questions need to address all aspects of your aims.

Project Plan
The methodology for this project consists of three main sections:
1. Reading and research
2. Putting strategies into action and observing the result
3. Analysing and reflecting on the results
1a. Read relevant literature about the importance of young children feeling in control
of their emotions, and on how this can create a more positive learning environment.
1b. Research different techniques to help children transition through activities
develop this by trialling the techniques myself (listening to calming music, listening
to meditation for children, allowing children more time to self-settle)
2a. Put strategies into action in the classroom

2b. Work closely with my mentor teacher - discuss which techniques are having a
positive effect, and document these in a journal.
3a. Analyse what sort of things prevent children from settling during transition times.
Are they bored? Are they distracted by other children? Are they engaged in the
learning? Do they often behave like this, or is it only during transition periods?
3b. Discuss with my mentor teacher, as well as other teachers, about how the children
have responded to the transition time strategies I have implemented in this project.
This plan seems feasible.

Use of the Literature

1. ACARA. (2011). Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts . Retrieved 2015,
from Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority :
http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_The
_Arts_-_Compressed.pdf#search=arts%202011
2. ACECQA. (2013). Quality area 5 - Relationships with children . Retrieved 2015,
from Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority:
http://www.acecqa.gov.au/Relationships-with-children
3. Australian Primary Schools Mental Health Initiative . (2013). Helping Children
Cool Down and Stay Calm. Retrieved 2016 from Kids Matter :
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/families/about-behaviour/anger/helping-children-cooldown-and-stay-calm
4. Bergin, C., & Bergin, D. (2014). Child and Adolescent Development . Sydney :
Cengage Learning.
5. Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bochner, S., & Krause, K.-L. (2013). Educational
Psychology: For learning and teaching (4th ed.). Sydney : Cenegage Learning.
6. Education Services Australia. (2011). Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers. Retrieved 2016, from Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leadership: http://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/classroom-practice/3australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf?sfvrsn=0
7. Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2011). Teaching challenges
and dilemmas (4th ed.). Sydney : Cengage Learning .

8. Grundy, S. (1995). Action Research as Professional Development. . West Perth ,

Western Australia : Arts Accord.
9. Howe, N., Joly, M., Smith, P., & Vinet, I. (2014). Child's play; Learning that comes
naturally . Retrieved 2016, from Child encyclopedia : http://www.childencyclopedia.com/Pages/PDF/PlayANGmcP.pdf
10. McNiff, J. (2014). Writing and Doing Action Research . London : SAGE.
11. The Department of Education and Training . (2009, July ). Belonging, Being and
Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework. Retrieved March 2016, from Early
Years Learning Framework: https://www.education.gov.au/early-years-learningframework

Proposed Items of Evidence

Feedback from children: Record this through open-ended questions such as What did
you enjoy about this group time? How are you feeling now that we are sitting
down?
Feedback from mentor: From comments, including ideas and suggestions on the
strategies I plan to use.
Documentation of observations: From a journal that includes written observations and
photos of what is being observed before strategies are put into place. This will then be
used to document multiple sessions after strategies are put into place.
Things that will be included in the journal - which activities took place, how long
children took to settle, how they felt, how the teacher felt, whether they were engaged.
does this include your own reflections?