Stepping Stone (SA)’s Educational Leaders attended their first quarterly meeting for 2023 this month. After two years of online meetings, it was incredible to reconnect in person and nurture our professional relationships at our new purpose-built training facility.
Coordinated by our company’s Pedagogical Mentor-Educational Leader, and supported by our growing Pedagogical Mentor support team, this meeting welcomed new and long term Educational Leaders from across our company.
Throughout this productive day, our community of mentors were engaged in multi-modal critical reflection opportunities, where robust discussions and questioning supported their professional learning.
The Educational Leaders revisited and unpacked the role of the Educational Leader, where discussions focused on Educational Leader mentoring processes, and how this important leadership strategy supports quality improvement within our centres.
In light of the revised Early Years Learning Framework (Version 2), our Educational Leaders were consulted as our Pedagogical Mentor support team outlined their intended outcomes and the professional development opportunities they will be providing for reconnecting and re-engaging with the framework throughout 2023.
Other topics of focus during this meeting were ‘Pedagogy and Critical Reflection’, and planning for physical activity.
Sharing their knowledge and experience, three of our Educational Leaders presented Pedagogy and Practice stories from their centres, providing inspiration to their mentoring colleagues;
- “Living off the Land”, a 2022 Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant, teaching children about Indigenous culture and providing a starting point for creating more sustainable and biodiverse gardens;
- “Happy Valley Reservoir Reserve”, rich engagement and learning opportunities in local environments;
- “Fostering the development of Educators’ Personal Pedagogies”, an example of one Educational Leader’s mentoring approach.
These professional development opportunities support our Educational Leaders as they continue to foster the development of curriculums and practices in their centres, promoting high quality care and education for our children, families and communities.
