Assessment information utilisation from learning stories in New Zealand early childhood centres

Abstract

This research provides an insight into early childhood teachers’ every day, real life experiences for current ECE assessment practices from a bottom up perspective using experienced early childhood teachers as the data source. The research investigated the ways teachers collected data for assessment purposes, the tools they used to document the information, the ways they utilised the assessment data from Learning Stories, and the challenges they were faced with during the process. The study invited participants from different types of centres from different areas of New Zealand. Five highly experienced early childhood teachers participated in the research from kindergartens and privately owned early learning centres. The study, which was grounded in a constructivist-interpretive paradigm, applied a phenomenological approach. The research utilised semi structured interviews as the main data collection method of a phenomenological research. The findings indicated that assessment information from Learning Stories can be utilised in numerous ways. The study revealed interesting practical ideas of every day assessment practices for the profession. The research highlighted the complexity of the current assessment approach and the sophisticated nature of the Learning Story writing process. Teachers’ high level of data literacy skills, thorough understanding of data collection, documentation and data analysis processes were shown as fundamental factors in an effective assessment practice. The documentation and information sharing about children’s learning and behaviour difficulties through Learning Stories were identified as a problematic area of assessment information utilisation. Teachers’ Learning Story writing competencies and better utilisation of assessment information from Learning Stories for children with special learning needs were suggested to be avenues for further investigation in future research.