Member in the Spotlight: Elephas Education inquiry-based approach to planning Boe Hasanovic > Development Manager at Elephas Education
At Elephas Education, we focus on supporting the in-depth development of each unique Elephas child and equip them with the knowledge, skills and experiences needed to support them in their next phase of education. We are also committed to supporting their growth and passion from dedicated, early childhood industry professionals. We firmly believe in order to give each child the best start to their learning, our educators must focus on preparing and nurturing children’s practical and developmental skills. We do this by focussing on intentional teaching and inquiry-based planning using The ROSE Way framework. What is the ROSE Way and why does it work? The ROSE Way is an action-based research planning tool to design and scaffold early education programs. The format is based on the current activities within the centre. It is so successful at assisting in achieving results because the framework is educator driven. It also aligns with current industry trends and philosophies and real-time
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EARLY EDITION > SUMMER 2020
research. Rather than just observing a child’s interests and then creating an individualised program, The ROSE Way focusses on a research and inquiry-based approach to planning and then blending this with the child’s emerging play ideas. How do we incorporate it at Elephas? This approach begins with our educators choosing a concept to research about their practice. This concept is directly related to how children learn or how they make their choices in the centre environment context. Once the concept has been selected, our educators engage in a brainstorming session with the intent to develop key inquiry questions that directly align with the children’s play and other core interests.
With the term concept at the forefront, our educators use journaling, notes and thoughts to plan and document meaningful learning and discovery experiences. To allow flexibility and fluid planning, prior to each week, our educators write key planning notes with scaffolding strategies for when they are engaging with children. It’s not so much planning ‘activities’, rather it’s understanding how to scaffold learning over time in relation to the core focus. Once the scaffolding learning notes have been developed, we can share with our valued families. We summarise the intentions of learning for each week and outline how this is going to support their child’s learning.
