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Storypark “Child Mode”, a multi-dimensional means to support stronger practice
Jason Roberts
Sep 21, 2021
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Storypark, the well known pedagogical documentation, professional development and parent engagement platform, has released an innovative new feature that enables educators to capture children’s actual voices in their learning documentation.
“Child Mode”, which is available on the Storypark for Educators iOS app, is a first for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector and places children at the forefront of their documented learning by allowing them to share their thoughts, feelings and reflections on photos and personal narratives safely via recorded voice and video.
“Supporting educators to include a child’s actual perspectives and reflections on their own learning journeys aligns with best practice and enhances the inclusion of children’s views in curriculums,” Peter Dixon, Co-founder of Storypark said.
‘Child Mode” enhances practice by:
- Supporting the work and aspirations of educators to more actively include children’s voices in their documentation;
- Encouraging recall and memory development for children by using photos and images as prompts to revisit their learning and encourage verbal responses;
- Providing children with a deeper sense of agency in their own learning journey and foster a stronger identity as a lifelong learner
- Supporting and providing evidence of key elements of the National Quality Standard 1, 5 and 6
Jennifer Ribarovski, Managing Director of JR Consulting and a well known thought leader in the ECEC quality and practice said, “Storypark’s Child Mode feature represents the important concept of valuing children’s views in educational programs and provides an opportunity to bring children’s voices to the forefront through its capability of recording information from children that can be used to shape pedagogical decisions.”
“Quality Area One of the National Quality Standard highlights the importance of considering children’s perspectives in both the program and in educator’s practice and when educators listen to children and the children can see themselves as active participants in the program, this contributes to warm and responsive interactions between educators and children, while reflecting the notion that children have a right to have a say in matters that affect them.”
“Standard 5.1 of the National Quality Standard, and in particular Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, further reinforces these ideas in practice,” she added.
As a purpose-led organisation, Storypark's discovery, design and innovation processes work towards solving meaningful challenges that exist in ECEC, not only for individual centres and larger providers, but also for the families and children that attend.
“Children are at the centre of everything we do, and by providing the means for children’s voices to be captured this way, whilst also respecting their rights to be recorded, we will continue to evolve the boundaries of what ‘documentation’ and ‘family engagement’ mean,” Mr Dixon said.
“The written word, video and images can now be brought to life by side-by-side contributions from a child. This enriches the family experience and can strengthen outcomes which is entirely consistent with what Storypark strives to achieve day in and day out.”
“It’s also a way for ECEC services to set themselves apart and do things their way. We’ve heard from our customers that customisation of experience is super important, and so this is another part of our suite of tools that can be adapted to work the way you do.”
To learn more about Storypark, please click here.
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