Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Your Assignment Module Number and Heading: Plan for a Professional Development Day
Your Assignment Type: Standard Question
Currently Working in Childcare? No
Your knowledge: Beginner

Your Question?
Hi guys, I am having trouble to even begin ‘staff professional development day’ task. I never attended staff professional day, any kind workshop or even staff meeting. Now I have to plan staff professional day. Honestly, this is the hardest task I have been given so far at uni. I am thinking to go with gender or ethnicity but I cannot think of any activates that would challenge staff’s knowledge but they are key of the given task. Please help me the task is worthed 50%

Task;
You have been given the task of organising a staff professional development day for your service/centre/department/school. You have been asked by your Director/Coordinator/Head Teacher to provide reflective and stimulating activities for your colleagues which focus on one of the following areas that we have addressed this session: sex, gender, sexuality, social class, status, rurality, ethnicity, Aboriginality. Although disability is a diversity issue, it is not an appropriate topic to undertake for this assessment.

Pay close attention to issues of pedagogy and be thoughtful about the nature and duration of the teaching/learning activities that you build in throughout the day. You are not trying to cover the topic in its entirety. Instead, less is more. Engage your colleagues deeply and meaningfully in aspects of the topic, drawing out the connections to their teaching and the implications of these issues for their practice.

It is important to build elements of reflection into the staff professional development day. In other words, when will teachers devote time to self-analysis, engage in substantive conversation with peers, 'sit and think' or write about their practice? How will you structure the day so that you allow for this to happen?

The professional development day [and thus, your assessment] needs to include:

· a rationale (justification) for the professional development day and why it is an appropriate topic for your service (approx. 350 words);

· a statement of aims for the professional development day (approx. 150 words);

· a realistic timetable of events in table format (approx. 150 words);

· a description of each teaching/learning activity and a rationale (justification) for their selection that is thoughtfully substantiated by reference to a range of relevant and current literature. Ensure your teaching/learning activities provide information and opportunities to think deeply and reflect on your topic. They should challenge, question and 'reconceptualise' current notions of your topic within early childhood education (approx. 2000-2500 words);

· implications that these might have for teachers' practice (approx. 300 words).

What is your answer so far or What have you done so far as an attempt to solve this question?
So far i come up with role-play. I would collect toys that foster gender stereotypes and ask staff to brainstorm how they mould children’s life. I think I need about 5 activities throughout the day.

Description and Message:

HI there
I did something similar to this but mine was on ethnicity.
I read the following story called Purple World (with embellishments!) to the group. this could be read to kids too.
In Purple World, everyone was the same. There was only one colour, purple, so everything you saw
was purple. There was only one kind of food, purple soup, and everybody ate the soup at the same
time. There were no boys or girls, just purple people who all looked the same. They all went to a
purple building on purple day and they all said the same prayers and sang the same songs.

We then broke into small groups and discussed/listed the positives and negatives of living in purple world. The negatives list ended up being much larger than the positive lists. Each group nominated a speaker and that person read out their thoughts to the whole group.

This led into a discussion on the positive role diversity plays in the world and we talked about our differences and how these differences made the world (and our centre) a more exciting place.

We listed ways we could involve the children in the centre in celebrating one another ethnicity and also how we could improve the way we include celebrating/recognising/utilising the differences in our own centre.

This list was on a large sheet of paper attached to the board and staff were invited to add ideas throughout the day and these were to be included in our programming and planning for the centre.

I hope this is of some help (even though it was not on gender)
Cheers
CAthiek

Thanks, it sounds good. I did not make up my mind yet between gender and ethnicity. What do you think about this; ask staff to dress differently for a day. Just say hijab or indian dress (sary) and then ask staff to discuss how physical appearance and reliance on what is visible influence their views. Then we could list stereotypes attached to this.

Hi, I need reference for the purple world book. can you please tell me who wrte it, the year published and who is publisher. thanks

Sorry - it was a story that I had been told by someone else years ago, so I would not have a clue where it originated.