Emma is one of Explorers Early Learning’s freshest recruits. With a previous history of working together, Emma will be joining forces with Centre Director, Skye Bennett as the Director-In-Training at our brand-new centre, Explorers Brighton East.

Emma is currently enjoying time at Explorers Armadale House, immersing herself in the Explorers philosophy before moving to our new Brighton East centre when it opens in December. Emma will continue to work within the classrooms of Explorers Brighton East, using her extensive teaching experience to educate and interact with the children.

Originally from New Zealand, Emma loves to travel home to see her family, play competitive soccer and share her passion for life with the children she educates.

How long have you been in the industry? I have worked in early education for 7 years.

What roles have you worked in? I’ve been a Second in Charge, Lead Educator, Co-Educator, Sports Coach, Staff Social Co-ordinator and part of a Staff Leadership Team. I’ve worked with all age groups, from 0 to 6 years.

What do you love most about working at Explorers Early Learning so far? I love the passion shared by educators and the warmth it has as soon as you step inside.  

What is a project you’ve worked on with the children that you are really proud of? I conducted a community project with a class of two year olds, which stemmed from the children’s love of the book ‘The Lorax’ by Dr Seuss. We spread the message ‘stop cutting down the trees’ throughout the community, taking the train into the local town to hand out flyers the children had made themselves. It was truly beautiful.

What is your personal teaching philosophy? My personal philosophy is largely based around relationships. I am a strong believer in creating positive, trusting relationships with children, families and other educators. I use this as a platform for teaching.

I also believe having beautiful environments plays a huge part in children’s learning and development. I think these environments need to be relaxed and flexible and this is when the most valuable interactions and experiences take place.

What are some of your favourite things to do when you aren’t working? I love to play soccer, try new restaurants and go camping!

What is one of your strengths? I am adaptable.

What are your career goals within the industry? To become a Centre Director. I’d also love to facilitate sports programs within early education centres.

Are you interested in experiencing career progression like Emma’s? Or working at Explorers Armadale House or Brighton East? Sign up to our careers portal today!

To experience Emma’s wonderful teaching skills, join the Explorers Brighton East wait list here.

At Explorers, we are inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, which places high value on the learning environment as the third teacher.

Our Educators are passionate about designing a beautiful classroom and implementing an appropriate learning program; one that engages, challenges and inspires children. We know that the environment plays a central role in making each child’s learning meaningful.

“Learning environments engage and foster a sense of ownership and respect when they are aesthetically pleasing, reflect the identity and culture of children and families, and encourage a connection to place. As such, the physical environment is never simply a backdrop to the curriculum; it is an integral part of the curriculum or leisure based program. An environment with rich and built-in learning opportunities also frees educators to interact with children” (ACECQA 2016).

The environment conveys many messages to children and families, of which the most immediate is that this is a place where teachers have thought about the quality and the power of space. There needs to be purpose to every aspect of the environment, such as positioning of materials with attention to detail in each experience.

Below are 8 approaches we use to encourage children to respect their learning environments. Please note these suggestions are from our own experiences and may not suit every group of children. They can also be adjusted to meet the needs of the classroom, group of children and teacher.

1 – Modelling Behaviour.

We model the behaviour we expect to see, as children pick up even the smallest cues. If you walk around and step over things rather than picking things up/resetting, the children will copy the behaviour. We are role models and it is important to teach children how to take care of things. For example, when we spill something, we clean it up right away and vocalise what we are doing, “Oh, I’ve spilt the milk. I’m going to wipe it down straight away. Milk doesn’t stay on the floor”.

2 – Providing an age appropriate environment and having age appropriate expectations. 

We ensure that the environment is suitable for the child’s development. Children have access to a variety of experiences to extend their learning and development. Child-specific experiences and activities are at their level to support their autonomy.

We also have age appropriate expectations of how children will operate within their environment. For example, a 7-month-old can’t be expected to know that glass will break.

3 – Providing positive reinforcement.

Providing positive reinforcement builds on a child’s confidence. As Educators and Teachers, we avoid phrases that begin with the word “don’t” such as “don’t throw that”, and instead try saying “let’s pick it up”, and ask questions such as “where does this go? Can we put it back together?”  We aim to create a positive culture where children want to look after their learning environment.

4 – Teaching Children the Specifics.

Cleaning and packing up the environment can be an enjoyable experience if we make it! “How wonderful it is to make our environment beautiful and tidy again.”  We use positive language when resetting learning environments and include the children in the process. Encourage the children to understand that a big part of making a mess involves cleaning it up after. We help the children learn this process by creating a shared responsibility for resetting or tidying up the space.

5 – Having High Expectations.

As Educators we should have high expectations of children to build on their sense of self-efficacy. At Explorers we always interact with children in respectful and responsive ways. We focus on children’s strengths, offering encouragement for effort and setting challenging but achievable goals. We teach them appropriate behaviour and tell them, “I know you can do it. Show me how you will do it.” or “It’s not okay to throw the XX. Can you please pick it up / put it back.” 

For Older Children:

6 – Encouraging Good Manners.

Respecting the environment begins with respecting others. We help children learn basic manners, such as “please” and “thank you” to use when communicating with Educators and their friends.

7 – Provide Visual Examples.

At Explorers, we display visual examples of how each space should look. The children are able to refer to these images to help them reset the learning environment to its original state once they have finished using it. We also display encouraging statements in each learning space to help our Educators prompt the children as to how they could use the space.

8 – Sustainable Living.

A sustainable tomorrow begins with the actions of children today. Explorers Educators and Teachers are aware of their responsibility to help children learn the significance of caring for and protecting the environment. We provide children with opportunities to become environmentally responsible. For example, we believe in teaching and acting on the phrase ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ within our centres. We help our children recycle, only use what they need, reuse materials, turn the lights off and so on.

For more information on Reduce, Reuse and Recycle read: http://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/change-the-way-you-live/reduce-reuse-recycle.

When we design our learning environments, we reflect on the below points:

• How does the physical space of the centre encourage children’s agency?
• How is learning built into the environment?
• What learning opportunities are created by changing the space, for example by adding or taking away resources or equipment?
• How do the different spaces within the environment foster a sense of belonging and community?

At Explorers we consistently remind ourselves of the positive influence we want to provide on a child’s life and their learning and development. It is important that we embed a respect and love for the environment in children from an early age. Just like respecting each other, we need to teach children to respect the environment so that we can instil kindness, consideration and gratitude.

These blog was written from the kind contributions of Armadale Explorers Centre Director Jackie. 

Frozen sugar snap peas

Zip lock lunch bags

Paper towel

An area with natural sunlight

Lima beans

1: Invite children to plant sugar snap peas in a zip lock lunch bag.

Encourage and help the children to:

1. Dip paper towel into water, squeezing out excess moisture.
2. Put the paper towel in a zip lock lunch bag.
3. Place sugar snap peas in the bag.
4. Seal the bags.
5. Tape the bags to a big light filled window or place in an area which receives natural sun.

Ask the children,

what do you think will happen to the sugar snap peas?

2: Observe

Each day, help the children to search for any changes in the bags.Will the peas change in shape or grow? Has the seed germinated? Our children noticed that their sugar snap peas began to sprout after 4 days!

3: Experiment with edible lima beans

To continue with the project, help the children to plant Lima beans using the same method as their sugar snap peas.

Ask the children,

what do you think will happen to the beans?

 4: Plant the sprouted lima beans and sugar snaps in the ground

1. Once the children notice that their lima beans have sprouted, help them plant them in the ground.
2. Continue to observe the plants growth.
3. Support this experience by reading information books on plant growth (especially in relation to legumes).
4. Provide the children with some lima beans to taste.

Earlier this month, 1-2 Educators from each of our centres were given the opportunity of a life time – travelling to Reggio Emilia, Italy to attend a study tour on the philosophy. Once in Italy, the team explored the principals and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach with a large network of like-minded individuals.

Our team explored multiple Reggio schools and early education services, engaging with Reggio Educators and attending talks and hands-on learning sessions. Each Educator got personally involved in many projects and participated in different learning experiences and approaches.

Our team have kindly shared their personal reflections and learnings from the tour.

Mary – Educational Leader at Point Cook

What inspired me the most…

The trust the Reggio Emilia teachers had for the children in their care – Everyone was equal and possessed equal ability to contribute to a program.

The respect these teachers and children had for their learning environments and resources – This respect was clear because the learning environments were so well presented and thought through. The teachers were incredibly passionate about each learning opportunity.

The documentation process – The Educators consistently forward planned with all teachers and children. The documentation of project work was also always clear and visible in each room, with detailed documentation of how a project began and then evolved.

Bec – Director in Training

My time in Reggio made me realise…

We really need to BE with the children – To be attentive, intuitive and mindful of every child. We need to slow down, investigate further and think outside the standard realm of understanding.

We must equally value the individuality of the student and the teacher – This includes appreciating the wealth of knowledge we as Educator’s bring to the class room.

We must remain authentic and holistic in our approach to teaching.

We need to showcase all documentation – And accept that it’s about the content rather than the quality.

The study tour sparked a joy and eagerness to discover new ways and opportunities to learn with both my team and the children. I have come home inspired to be really connected and invested in what we do as Educators.

Veronica – Director of Abbotsford/Richmond

There are multiple things I think should be reflected on and considered as a result of our experiences in Reggio Emilia.

Community involvement in children’s projects – The children explored the city of Reggio Emilia as part of their learning. They regularly went out into the community, with a large number of projects being linked to things around the city. The children are seen as citizens of the community from birth and their voice is heard and prevalent. In Reggio, there was a culture surrounding the community’s responsibility to educate. I believe this needs to be unpacked and used in the Australian context.

The voice of the teacher – It is so important teachers offer their experiences and consider the intent behind their teaching. Whilst it is ok for the learning experience to change based on a child’s interest, my experiences in Reggio reminded me that the intent behind our teaching must always remain evident.

Additionally, critical, collaborative reflection was an important part of the Reggio teaching process and something that should be built on within our centres to extend on our programming ideas.

Thanks to our passionate team for their reflections! 🙂

A quote by Loris Malaguzzi-

‘Teachers are like explorers using maps and compasses, they know the directions but they also know that every year the terrain, the climate, the seasons, the children can add new directions and that the order of times and problems can change. Destinations are important and must not be lost from sight but more importantly is how and why we reach them. That is why it is essential for both adults and children to be able to retrace their steps, or rather their knowledge processes, through an attitude of recognition made possible by observation, documentation and interpretation.’

The Reggio Emilia Approach is an innovative and inspiring approach to early childhood education, valuing the child as strong, capable and resilient; rich with wonder and knowledge.

This unique approach to education begins with a particular and strong image of children, adults, of education and of life, flowing from a set of guiding principles. These principles include:

• The image of the child
• The role of the environment
• The role of the teacher
• The importance of time
• The value of relationships
• Documentation
• Project work and investigations

How do we incorporate the Reggio Emilia approach into our practice and curriculum at Explorers?

At Explorers we’re inspired and take inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach which informs our practice.  Our Curriculum is respectful of children, their rights and their desire to learn. We also believe that every child brings with them a deep curiosity that drives their interest to understand their world and their place within it. Our goal is to embrace this curiosity, challenge each child’s thinking and facilitate their eagerness to learn and construct understanding.

1. We encourage each child’s Inquiring Mind

Project based learning provides children with an opportunity to investigate and explore an area of interest. Materials used in the classrooms are intentionally selected and arranged. The materials have the power to provoke children’s exploration, curiosity, thinking, communication, problem-solving, creativity and sets the foundations for lifelong learning.

In Reggio Emilia, Italy they believe that, “the materials used should be rich and varied. They should create a multi sensory setting with surfaces which are smooth and rough, wet and dry, bright, translucent, and transparent.”

2. We value the Environment as the third teacher

The Reggio Emilia approach values the environment as the third teacher and the detail and attention placed on each learning space to stimulate children’s imagination, creativity, exploration, discovery, engagement and sense of wonder.

Environments are centred around children’s interests with provocations that promote deeper thinking. We promote a safe, inspirational
and innovative environment for children, which incorporates fulfilling learning opportunities. Our learning environments are inclusive and homely, allowing children to feel comfortable and secure, whilst also encouraging empathy, interest and the development of self-confidence.

“Space has to be a sort of aquarium that mirrors the ideas, values, attitudes, and culture of the people who live within it.” – Loris Malaguzzi

3. We are passionate about embedding a Community

We recognise the importance of working in partnership among families, educators and children. From the very beginning of care there are many valuable opportunities to build relationships and for educators to get to know each individual child, supporting their transition. Educators develop knowledge of the children and their potential.

Educators at Explorers work in partnership with families to achieve common goals for their child. The goal is to set the highest expectations for children, generating opportunities for our families and educators to come together to advance all learning and development outcomes.

Alike in Reggio, Explorers recognise the importance of connecting with the wider community. Physically experiencing and entering the environments around our services are important and our teachers promote ongoing outings and excursions to local attractions such as parks, shops and local services.

4. Our Documentation

Our educators document children’s conversations and representations, meeting regularly to use this documentation to interpret the children’s emerging interests and ideas, and to reflect on possibilities for extending their learning. Every child’s learning is respectfully documented in an online portfolio as well as within the classroom at the service. Explorers recognise and value the importance of making documentation and learning visible to both the children and families.

Explorers endorses project work as it supports the enquiring mind, connects our practice to the wider community, embeds the importance of the physical environment and emphasises the role of the educator. Our documentation is real, it captures the things that matter and represent actual learning and experiences at our service. Our documentation is supported by a strong pedagogical team which enhances the learning opportunities for the children and ensures a rich and meaningful journey for each child.

5. The role of the Educator

There is an understanding on the importance of each educator at Explorers and the role they contribute to a child’s early years.

Our educators role includes:

• Planning a curriculum to promote children’s development
• Carefully planning and preparing the environment
• Interacting with children to promote learning
• Providing nurture, guidance and support to children
• Observing children and assessing their progress
• Establishing strong partnerships with families and encouraging their involvement

 “There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colours are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” – Elizabeth Lawrence

Explorers Early Learning are thrilled to have recently sent 7 of our team to Reggio Emilia Italy on a study tour where they are expanding on their understanding of the Reggio Emilia approach.

We are taking enrolments! Places are limited, we recommend you Book a Tour today!

To register for enrolment today click here