Social & Emotional
Agency & Adaptability
1
Lay the groundwork
Practices to create an environment where all children can develop
Start by working with all the children in your setting. Create an environment that can support children to build skills related to Agency & Adaptability.
- Consider your current environment and how you could make it better.
- Talk to others about what you are already doing.
- Select practices that will be meaningful in your setting.
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Why is this practice important?
Having opportunities to make choices and contribute as responsible members of the setting fosters children’s learner identity and sense of empowerment. Over time, children develop deeper understandings of the concept of contribution, both their own and that of others, within their community of learning.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Offer children authentic choices throughout the day in routine events and in play and learning experiences.
Adapt the complexity of choices offered to individual mokopuna to match their growing capacity to manage complexity and decision making.
Only offer options in which children’s choice can be honoured. If there is something that children need to do, avoid offering it as a choice; rather offer choices about how, when, or with whom they do the needed thing.
Ensure that opportunities for mokopuna to take responsibility involve real and authentic responsibilities that make a valued contribution.
Notice and positively acknowledge children when they take responsibility for themselves and their own belongings, and when they show care for others and the environment.
Celebrate the multiple ways in which children and adults work together in the learning community, highlighting how they make different and valued contributions.
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are supported to develop their own learning goals and plans, their learning dispositions and identities as capable and confident learners are strengthened. Revisiting learning with children enables them to recognise and celebrate the shifts in their learning over time. Children’s learner identity is strengthened when they hear that kaiako believe in their developing dispositions to try, persevere and succeed in their learning.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Reflect on your own biases regarding children’s capabilities in view of 'Te Whāriki' positioning of mokopuna as inherently confident and capable.
Scaffold support for individual mokopuna to develop their own learning goals and plans, adapting to their growing capacity to aim for longer term plans and more complex goals.
Support mokopuna in their efforts to engage with people or things that are of interest to them and to persist with their plans, even when things get difficult.
Have processes in place for kaiako and whānau to share observations of children’s emerging interests, learning goals and plans.
Create opportunities for all mokopuna to access their own assessment documentation so they can revisit interests and learning with kaiako and other children.
Invite whānau and children to look at their child’s portfolio together and to celebrate their child’s learning and growing identity as a learner.
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are supported to access and use materials and resources, including those that may not be readily available each day, their learning is enriched. Accessing materials of interest to them provides opportunities for children to revisit and extend their play and interests.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Make thoughtful, informed decisions about which resources and materials will support and extend children’s play, learning and interests. This will include what is available every day and what is available sometimes.
Consider issues such as children’s safety, available space within the environment, the robustness of resources to withstand frequent or unsupervised use, and which materials and resources are rich with open-ended learning possibilities.
Participate in reflective team discussions to share understandings of agency and expectations for children’s ability to manage different materials and resources. Consider how different experiences may shape perspectives and values.
Ensure that materials and resources that are often used by mokopuna and can extend learning are frequently made available for them to use.
Consider how the range of materials and resources in your setting are available for mokopuna including those that are not available all of the time.
Discuss materials children enjoy using at home and in other contexts with whānau and consider whether these might be included within the programme.
Why is this practice important?
Knowing the expected limits and boundaries for behaviour helps mokopuna navigate their day and fosters their wellbeing and sense of empowerment. When children experience respectful and responsive interactions with adults about limits and boundaries, their mana and self-esteem is enhanced.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Regularly discuss and review the expected limits and boundaries for behaviour in the setting. Ensure that kaiako expectations around children’s behaviour are based on established shared values.
Adapt expectations to reflect children’s growing capability to understand and meet expectations. Have discussions with mokopuna about intentionally varying expectations for individuals.
Describe and explain what children are expected to do rather than what they should not do (e.g., “remember to walk when you’re inside” rather than “don’t run”).
Sensitively support mokopuna to navigate differences when setting and home expectations and rules differ.
Recognise that any change in routine can be unsettling for some children. Know children’s temperaments and typical responses to change, and proactively support children to navigate these changes and transitions.
Recognise that children’s capacity to meet the expected limits and boundaries may vary from day to day and within a day. When mokopuna find it challenging to meet expected limits and boundaries, respond with support and sensitivity. Take into consideration the various factors that might be affecting a child’s behaviour (e.g., hunger, illness, home events, etc.).
Use a range of approaches, such as storytelling, to support mokopuna to explore ideas about limits and boundaries.
Why is this practice important?
When kaiako know about and understand children’s lives and experiences outside of the setting, children are supported to navigate differences between contexts more easily. When their home knowledge is valued and connections are highlighted, children’s learning is enriched.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Build relationships over time with whānau to gain better understandings and support conversations with children about their lives outside of the setting. Take care that information gained from whānau is used appropriately so they can see their input is valued.
Show interest in learning about children’s lives and experiences outside the setting without judgement.
Invite mokopuna and their whānau to share their knowledge and experiences, and resources and materials that reflect children’s experiences outside the setting. Use these to support provision of similar experiences within the setting (e.g., provide chopsticks as an option to use at meal times).
Discuss differences between home and the setting without judgement and support children to understand and consider what this might mean as they navigate these different settings. Provide empathy and support when mokopuna find navigating these different settings challenging.
Celebrate the experiences and learning that mokopuna have outside of the setting and use these as opportunities for further exploration and learning within the early learning setting.
Draw on whānau knowledge of children’s experiences and expertise developed outside of the setting to inform and contribute to their assessment and planning documentation. Show whānau you value their contributions, such as including shared information in assessment documentation.
Why is this practice important?
When children take risks that may lead to difficulty and disappointment (and learn how to manage these), their resilience is strengthened. Mokopuna develop a positive mindset that taking risks and persisting through difficulty is part of the learning process and can be personally rewarding.How to apply this practice in your setting:
As a team, discuss risk-taking and what that looks like within the environment to create a consistent approach to these play experiences.
Discuss with whānau what risk-taking and safe risk-taking might mean or look like for their child. Strive to understand the diverse cultural and personal perspectives that whānau may hold about risk-taking and engage in respectful conversations about the benefits of taking risks for learning.
Use your knowledge of children to create an environment that includes a balance of low-risk experiences and risks that stretch their comfort zone to create an element of challenge.
Recognise and name the emotions observed, such as disappointment, as a starting point to support mokopuna through the challenges faced (e.g., “I can see you’re feeling disappointed. What you tried was really hard. Shall I help you try again?”).
Celebrate effort and the process of learning in ways that foster a growth mindset. This includes talking about the process of trying, making mistakes, trying again, adjusting plans and ideas, and believing in themselves.
Why is this practice important?
Creativity, flexibility, and imagination supports new learning, and the ability to connect ideas and experiences, consider possibilities, and make and share meaning with others in a range of ways. Collaboration with others supports mokopuna to co-construct ideas and make meaning together.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Provide a rich array of open-ended materials and encourage mokopuna to use these in creative and imaginative ways.
Explore diverse cultural ways of being creative and expressive, and incorporate these into the programme. Involve whānau as part of this exploration.
Support children to explore and learn different ways of using open-ended materials and tools (such as blocks, clay, sand, water, visual arts materials), so that mokopuna are supported to represent their ideas through these materials.
Provide opportunities for children’s socio-dramatic play and participate as and when appropriate.
Model uncertainty and thinking-in-action during interactions with children. Use tentative language (e.g., “Perhaps...”, “Maybe ...”) and possibility thinking (“I wonder what would happen if ...”) to open-up opportunities that invite mokopuna to offer their perspectives.
Empathise and provide support when mokopuna find it challenging to be flexible (e.g., when another child has alternative ideas for play).
Share and celebrate children’s creativity, imagination, and flexible thinking with other children and with whānau.
Notice and encourage mokopuna who want to explore different aspects of their identity through creative expression and imaginary play, for example trying out non-traditional gender roles.
Why is this practice important?
The development of a child’s identity as a competent and confident learner is core to their sense of self and ongoing engagement with, and success in, learning. This includes viewing themselves as capable of learning in all areas of curriculum while also recognising their own unique strengths and contributions to the learning environment.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Consider whether the learning environment in your setting is inclusive and supports mokopuna to develop a learner identity that is meaningful to them and their whānau.
Provide all children with opportunities to engage with a deep, broad curriculum within the setting. Use intentional systems and processes to notice, recognise and respond to children’s learning, interests and engagement across the curriculum.
Communicate in ways which position mokopuna as capable and competent in their learning. Provide specific descriptive feedback on children’s capabilities.
Acknowledge children’s positive dispositions for learning and celebrate children’s strengthening dispositions.
Describe children’s learning journeys, highlighting successful strategies used and how they overcame difficulties.
Engage with whānau about their mokopuna as learners. For example, revisit the perspectives of whānau, share strategies and ideas, and discuss children’s learning, agency and adaptability, to support shared understanding of how their mokopuna are learning and growing.