Introduction

Early childhood educators' expertise, abilities, and practices all play a significant role in
influencing how much children learn and how equipped children are for school attendance.
Educators are being requested to obtain a greater understanding of child growth and early
year educational issues; to give higher education opportunities for all kids, even those who
are susceptible and unprivileged; to engage children with a diversity of upbringings and
abilities; and to communicate with a broad range of families.

The formative period of a kid's development are hectic. I think that studying happens
constantly and is entwined throughout all domains of development. There are four types of
development: physiological, sociocultural, intellectual, and communicative. As such, my
vision is to help this continual learning experience be safe, constructive, and enjoyable,
supporting the complete kid while guiding them into the next development stage with self-
confidence and a passion for continued learning. As an early childhood teacher, I would seek
to provide a suitable, child-centered setting in which kids may overcome new difficulties
through exercises and subjects that are meaningful to them, so their self-esteem will increase
as they grow and learn. Children should be provided with choices, duties, and opportunities
to be responsible for their own education. Observations and evaluations, I suppose, are
excellent instruments for curriculum planning. Observations not only assist in developing the
syllabus, but also give insights into each child's growth, perceptions, and ability levels. Thus,
the purpose of this paper is to articulate my professional commitment to the critical nature of
documentation, making plans, evaluation, and instruction in early childhood education
settings.

Personal commitment to the importance of documentation within early childhood

education

Recording and responding to children's learning is a process referred to in the Early Years
Learning Framework (EYLF) as 'Assessment for Learning'. Teachers actively listen to
understand children's knowledge, abilities, and comprehension. They gather data on
children’s learning and development, describe their progression, and identify their strengths,
abilities, and comprehensions. There are various approaches for documentation process:

Classical Documentation

This style of documentation is perhaps the most familiar to the majority of individuals. Tests
and evaluations of learning fit into that category since they were designed to reflect changes
and achievements in a child's development (Clemens, 2015).

Pedagogical Documentation

Identifying the way each child study and spreading findings with others in the kid's
development is what pedagogical approach to documenting focuses on (Clemens, 2015).
Teachers gather papers of test results or from observing classrooms, checking and analyze the
whole amount of data, and then share their findings indicated on paperwork about the
child with their families.

Holistic Documentation

The Australian Holistic Method to Documentation aims to record learning from different

perspectives and regards educators as "important and unique" (Clemens, 2015). This method
intertwines the child's learning styles and the instructor's philosophy through a complicated
set of documentation categories. In the educational process, children and adults are valued
equally and have equal legal rights.

Reggio Emilia Inspired Approach of Documentation

The Reggio Emilia method to early education is a way of looking at and implementing
education in a smaller Italian community. Child-led learning, which emphasizes recording the
child's views and thought process rather than grades and test results, is used in courses
influenced by this method (Boucher, 2019). This approach includes artistic and verbal
resources created by the student as examples of how learning is documented.

Examples of Documenting Children's Studying

These frequent educational activities, in my opinion, are excellent examples of learning

documenting:
 Displays on bulletin boards that depict a process, such as an idea web
 Examples of children's writings
 A photograph shows a child involved in the learning process, along with a remark
provided by the child.
 Comments from teachers' observations
 After completing a learning unit, students create a slideshow in their journals.
 Portfolios that show how particular themes have progressed over time.

Assessment entails collecting and analyzing data on children from a variety of settings and
sources, including written, graphical, and/or audio recording of children's interaction with
one another, works in progress, and questions and ideas. Kids, as well as their parents and
teachers, can take an active role in capturing and analyzing this data. The child care facility
where I work has a curriculum that focuses on using pedagogical documentation and
cooperative discourse as inquiry methods. Pedagogical documentation, which is frequently
utilized in Reggio-inspired settings, documents the learning and thinking of children and
instructors. Pedagogical documentation is a record of a child's experiences that allows for
dialogue among children, families, and educators, as well as study of the child's learning from
various angles. It demonstrates how children's learning is "provisional and dynamic" (Wien,
2011) and assists in children's learning activities observable and thus available to children,
parents, teachers, and other partners. Pedagogical documentation not only exposes what kids
are seeing and learning, but it also reveals what instructors are thinking and acquiring
knowledge about education (Boucher, 2019). This documentation contains thorough data that
enable teachers to think about how they teach and learn in the classroom (Naughton, 2008).
From my point of view, pedagogical documentation is not only a means of making children's
studying accessible, but it also aids in making our own ideas, concepts, and perceptions of
learning public (Clemens, 2015). Documentation acts as a historical record of past
occurrences, as well as a way to share information with family members. It also gives us
suggestions for new experiences. Daily diaries, narrative notes, observations, discussion
diaries, blogs, forums, and portfolios were all instances of our recordkeeping. Individuals
must make decisions about documentation, such as choosing the material that has the
potential to be interpreted in the future (Naughton, 2008).

Statement to the importance of planning within early childhood education

Early childhood care and education services have a crucial role in organizing for children's
learning and development. The Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 and
the National Quality Standards make it clear that instructors must establish an education plan
for each child. Meeting with colleague teammates to go through the planning cycle and
ensure that each phase is being handled properly and that everybody is able to speak about
how it is being used to assist children's learning is a good practice to ensure high-quality
childhood education.

Figure 1. The plan cycle (DEEWR, 2009)

Educators can combine their specialist skills of children's learning to solid pedagogical
methods that encourage development and our own continual progress when they adopt an
ongoing planning approach. It is one of the most significant instruments available to
educators, ensuring that we stay true to our own and others' demands that we play a vital role
in the well-being of families and children in our communities (Nolan & Macfarlane, 2012).
This planning method, in addition to supporting instructors' thinking, offers a plethora of
alternatives for making children's learning visible. Children's learning is disclosed to families,
partners, and, most importantly, the children themselves, when we gather data, analyze it, and
document it.

Personal and group documents can be linked to planning ideas. These are possible future
experiences and teaching tactics that educators can use to help them make decisions about
planned activities and long-term initiatives, as well as in their unexpected interactions and
answers to children's ideas.

Commitment statement to the significance of assessment in early childhood education

Assessments should take place in a familiar setting that is a piece of children's daily

experiences, instead of involving unusual tasks that are performed or happen in exclusion, to
be meaningful and effective records of children's learning (National Association for the
Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2009). Genuine and ethical assessment employs a
variety of documenting methods, collects data throughout time, and involves young kids in
self-consciousness and self-evaluation (DEEWR, 2009).

Assessment allows all kids to confidently display their strengths while also focusing on
prospective potential and current perceptions (DEEWR, 2009). Authentic assessment entails
educators monitoring and documenting children's learning, organizing the data, reflecting on
and analyzing its meaning, and then using the data to prepare for the future (Naughton, 2008).
Teachers can, for instance, observe children building with boxes and note their behavioural
traits, such as imagination and perseverance, learning processes, and conceptual
understandings, such as form, quantification, patterns, weight, gravity, and stability, using
this information to make plans for future learning. In comparison to a workbook or test, this
offers much more meaningful information about what the youngster is capable of and in
which circumstances. Children are measured against a standard or "norm" in standardized
examinations like the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)
and math and reading assessments in the first weeks of formal schooling. Using standardised
methods to measure learning may offer teachers a picture of each child's perceptions, which
may be utilized to plan future education.

These assessments, on the other hand, do not not include a precise estimate of what young
kids learn, do not account for the numerous types of learning that take place in children's
various socio - cultural contexts, and do not give information that is important to children's
continuous learning. According to international studies, these types of examinations have a
negative impact on children's well-being and teachers' assumptions of some kids (Polesel et
al., 2013).

Commitment statement to the importance of teaching young children within early

childhood education

It is crucial to find a balance between time spent recording learning and time spent educating
youngsters. There has to be an equilibrium between “teaching” and “assessing,” as Arthur
(2018) points out, and any recordkeeping is only as important as the information it offers to
assist children's next phase learning.  She cites Anne Kennedy's suggestion that it's more
important to focus on quality than quantity. Educators have a tendency to record excessively,
either because they feel it is required for accountability or just because they have a
vague objective for their documentation. There are numerous misconceptions regarding
documentation, according to Arthur (2018). Educators must retain written records of
children's learning, but there are no requirements for how or how often they must document. I
saw that several early childhood educators at the childcare centre where I used to work
tended to record too much in an unfocused manner and became overwhelmed with large
amounts of data. When educators spend a lot of time gathering data, they may only have a
limited amount of time to dwell on and analyze what they have gathered (Wien, 2011).

Interactions play an important part in children's learning, according to societal theories of

learning. Children's learning may be supported, challenged, and extended via thoughtful,
compassionate relationships between teachers and children. In the EYLF, this is referred to as
"deliberate teaching" (DEEWR, 2009). Teachers listen closely, ask questions and make
remarks that encourage children's thinking and expand learning in discussions with kids, or in
what is often referred to as "sustained shared thinking" (Hyson, 2003). Educators may
scaffold children's learning by using particular language in these interactions to explain ideas
like dimensions and pattern, processes like writing, and arts methods like modeling (Arthur et
al., 2018).

Examining the government's policy for early childhood education, which includes chances
for all Australian schoolchildren with schooling to be effective learners and residents in the
twenty-first century, regardless of geographic location, capacity, or social economic
resources, is recommended. There is also a greater emphasis on responsibility in preschool
environments, mostly through rules and accrediting systems. For the first time in Australia,
the National Quality Standard (NQS) for Early Childhood Education and Care and Outside
School Hours Care (ACECQA, 2011) establishes a national framework for these service
categories. The NQS includes an emphasis on staff qualities, in acknowledgment of the need
of competent personnel in providing "high quality children's services" (Hyson, 2003).
Documents like the EYLF launched in 2009 and the National Standard, can offer a unified
framework that aids teachers in developing career decisions.

Conclusion

The early years are acknowledged as a vital period for children's education on both a national
and international level. As a result, the state is concentrating its efforts on bolstering
communities and families in order to give children a better starting point in life.
Documenting, assessing, and monitoring children's learning is critical, as it is connected with
goals and practicing principles. It's also about examining how the program involves and helps
all children through critical reflective practice. My core beliefs as an early childhood
educator include compassion, caring, teamwork, critical thinking, social equity, ethical and
legal issues, honesty, and expertise. As a future teacher, my mission is to provide high-
quality, timely instruction and caring to my students in a productive approach that puts them
in the center.
REFERENCES

ACT government. (2011). Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011.
Retrieved on 12 September 2021, from
https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/Static/Notes/education_national_regulations_es.pdf.

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2018). Programming and
planning in early childhood settings. Cengage Learning Australia.

Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). (2020). National
Quality Standard. Retrieved on 07 September 2021,
from https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-quality-standard

Boucher, K. (2019). Responding to Reggio Emilia: Researching with Materials to Cultivate

an Ecology of Practice in Early Childhood Education. Journal Of Childhood Studies, 44-53.

Clemens, S. (2015). Alma Fleet, Catherine Patterson, and Janet Robertson (Eds.),
Conversations: Behind Early Childhood Pedagogical Documentation. Reviewed by. Journal
Of Childhood Studies, 39(3), 64.

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace relations (DEEWR) (2009).

Belonging, being and becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.
Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.

Hyson, M. (2003). Preparing early childhood professionals. National Association for the
Education of Young Children. (Hyson, 2003)

Naeyc.org. (2021). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs

Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. Retrieved 17 September 2021, from
https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-
shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/PSDAP.pdf.

Naughton, G. (2008). Equity Challenges for the Early Childhood Curriculum. Children &
Society, 6(3), 225-240.

Nolan, A., Cartmel, J., & Macfarlane, K. (2012). Thinking about Practice in Integrated
Children's Services: Considering Transdisciplinarity. Children Australia, 37(3), 94-99.

Parnis, A., & Petocz, P. (2016). Children’s attitudes towards numeracy: an Australian
investigation based on the National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy
(NAPLAN). The Australian Educational Researcher, 43(5), 551-566.

Polesel, J., Rice, S., & Dulfer, N. (2013). The impact of high-stakes testing on curriculum and
pedagogy: a teacher perspective from Australia. Journal Of Education Policy, 29(5), 640-
657.

Wien, C. (2011). Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw (Ed.), Flows, Rhythms, & Intensities of Early
Childhood Education. Reviewed by. Journal Of Childhood Studies, 36(2), 49-51.