Building upon the success of Gowrie SA’s Unpacking Quality Area professional learning series, the Pedagogy in Practice program is designed to be a wraparound support for early childhood education and care settings. It explores the teaching and learning connections that intersect between the National Quality Standards and the second edition of the Early Years Learning Framework and how to provide a curriculum that promotes children’s development. Each session is hands-on, exploring the key legal, theoretical and evidence-informed implications you need to consider in your everyday practices. The Unpacking Quality Area sessions include:

• QA1 – Educational program and practice
• QA2 – Children's health and safety
• QA3 – Physical environment
• QA4 - Staffing arrangements
• QA5 – Relationships with children
• QA6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
• QA7 – Governance and leadership.

For more information on the program, visit : https://gowriesa.org.au/preschool-boost/pedagogy-in-practice-series-educator-upskilling

Expected outcomes for this program are:

• ability to adapt environments to promote active play
• connections between learning opportunities and the environment
• ability to support diverse needs through inclusive practices.

This program is delivered in-person and online across 7 x 2-hour sessions (one for each Quality Area of the National Quality Standard). Run sequentially, group mentoring support of 4 x 3-hour sessions will be provided following each hands-on session. This session offers educators an opportunity to ask questions, engage in critical reflection, and garner feedback on their site practice. Mentoring may be focused on documentation (eg. Quality Improvement Plan, Site Inclusion Plan, policies, and teaching and learning program), or discussion of educators’ practices using an inquiry approach.

The program is delivered for $2,950 which covers all 7 quality areas. An alternate option, of only 2 focus areas, can be delivered for $1,320. If the program is delivered in-person, travel will be charged at $100 per hour (where the round trip is up to 20km), $100 per 1.5-hours (where the round trip is up to 40km) and $100 for 3-hours (where the round trip is up to 70km).