EL CASTILLO DEL REY DEL MUNDO

Georgina was a teacher in the over-twos section of the ECE setting. She completed a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (ECE) at University over a two year

158 period and began working in the sector in 2011. Her first job as an early childhood education teacher was with this ECE setting, so she had been there for just over two years. Georgina had a background in Playcentre where she had attended alongside her children. She was the key teacher for both Johnny and Kate.

Sarah was employed by the umbrella organisation that this ECE setting was part of, and was based in the offices next door to the setting. She worked full time.

At the beginning of this research Johnny was four years old, and his sister Kate was two. Johnny had been attending the ECE setting since he was six months old, mostly full time. His hours were reduced to part time when Kate was born but became full time again when both he and Kate returned to the setting when she was one. Kate had just moved into the over-twos section of the setting at the beginning of the research period. She is the focus of this case study.

Georgina’s experience with paper-based portfolios

Being relatively new to teaching, Georgina was still finding out about herself as a teacher. She enjoyed writing Learning Stories to add to the children’s paper-based portfolios, but because she needed a lot of time to think about what she was writing she needed more time than what she was allocated at the ECE setting (two hours per week non-contact time). This meant that she often worked on Learning Stories at home.

Georgina felt that the children’s paper-based portfolios were valuable to support their learning journeys. Revisiting children’s learning with them through the paper-based portfolios meant that Georgina could see their growth and development over time. She was also able to explore children’s interests further through interaction with the paper-based portfolios alongside them. However, this was something that Georgina said that she did not do often enough, and the revisiting wasn’t usually initiated by her.

159 A particular benefit of the paper-based portfolios that Georgina shared was the useful role they had when helping a child transition into the ECE setting. This was particularly relevant for her key children as she used the paper-based portfolios to help them develop a sense of belonging at the ECE setting. In terms of sharing the contents of the paper-based portfolios with parents and whānau, Georgina only did this during the transition period for new children.

Georgina valued the paper-based portfolios as an assessment and planning tool. They helped her connect with families to show what learning was happening for their children while they were at the ECE setting. The paper-based portfolios also allowed Georgina to show parents and whānau what learning was valued by the ECE setting, such as dispositional learning; furthermore it acted as a good communication tool. Georgina used the paper-based portfolios to inform her planning for children’s learning experiences. The formative assessment contained in the paper-based portfolios helped Georgina to plan for “where to next”. This was as an area that Georgina thought that she was still learning about. She said that she did not learn much about planning and assessment in her graduate diploma qualification so she was still working out how best to do this.

Sarah’s experience with paper-based portfolios

Sarah valued the paper-based portfolios as they allowed her and her husband to share in what the children were doing at the ECE setting. She enjoyed the fact that the Learning Stories in the paper-based portfolios often showed interests that the children had at the ECE setting that were different to those they showed at home.

Sarah and her husband spent time looking at the paper-based portfolios with Kate and Johnny at home, but never looked at them at the ECE setting because of time constraints. As their extended family lived out of town Sarah appreciated being able to use the paper-based portfolios to show them what Kate and Johnny had been doing at the ECE setting when they came to visit or

160 when the family visited them. None of the extended family contributed to the paper-based portfolios and although Sarah did not contribute anything tangible she felt that her verbal contributions were included by the teachers.

Sarah was able to recall a favourite learning story that she had in Kate’s portfolio. She did not have a particular favourite for Johnny. She was also able to identify the children’s favourite Learning Stories. Sarah liked the way the Learning Stories in Kate’s paper-based portfolio were written. She felt that they were written from Kate’s point of view and that they showed Kate enjoying the experiences provided for her at the ECE setting.

Sarah considered that children learnt through their interests and that they needed support to follow these interests through. She felt that the paper- based portfolio played an important role in the children’s learning as through revisiting the Learning Stories Johnny and Kate could restart an interest or experience.

Sarah’s older son Johnny would be leaving the ECE setting to start school early the following year. She had thought about using the paper-based portfolio to help his transition to school. She thought that the New Entrants teacher might be interested in looking at the paper-based portfolio so that she could get to know something about Johnny before he started school. But Sarah wasn’t sure that this would be well received. She thought that she would take it but if it wasn’t well received she wouldn’t force the issue.

What Kate’s paper-based portfolio showed

Kate’s paper-based portfolio was started in January 2012 when she began in the under-twos section of the ECE setting. Sixteen Learning Stories were added to her paper-based portfolio in 2012, along with one piece of artwork. Two Learning Stories were added in 2013 prior to the ePortfolio implementation.

161

Table 6.10 Contents of Kate's paper-based portfolio from January 2012 - June 2013

Learning Stories Group Learning Stories or montages

Artwork Other items Parent/Whānau

comment/contribution

16 0 1 0 0

162 In the year and a half that Kate had been at the ECE setting 18 Learning Stories had been added to her paper-based portfolio. The majority (16) of these had been added in 2012. In the six months prior to the implementation of the ePortfolios only two Learning Stories had been added to the paper-based portfolio. This shows a significant decrease in the number and frequency of additions to Kate’s paper-based portfolio. Each teacher who had contributed to Kate’s paper-based portfolio had written the stories differently, although they were all written to highlight Kate’s strengths and interests. However, very few of the stories identified ways to extend Kate’s learning experiences, or indeed actually clearly identified what learning was occurring. Some reference was made to theory and research within the text of the stories but this was not acknowledged or attributed to another source.

Georgina’s experience with ePortfolios

Georgina’s feelings about contributing to portfolios had changed in a positive way during the year. She valued the ePortfolio system and was really enjoying making contributions. Although she was still spending a lot of her own time writing the Learning Stories she did not resent this because her enjoyment had increased so much. In fact, Georgina liked the system so much she brought her own iPad to use at the ECE setting.

Georgina purported that her practice as a teacher had changed significantly with the introduction of ePortfolios. She now understood formative assessment better and the teaching team were having more discussions about this which further supported her understanding. She was involving the children in their Learning Stories since the introduction of ePortfolios. She would include their voice and often they made the decisions about which photos they wanted included.

Georgina said that the response to the ePortfolios by parents and whānau had been “amazing”, particularly in terms of making physical contributions to their children’s ePortfolios. She noted that parents and whānau were commenting on her stories, which affirmed her work, adding their own

163 stories and putting up photos. The ePortfolios had also increased verbal communication between herself and parents and whānau, Georgina thought. She said that they were talking more about the contents of the ePortfolios than they had done about the paper-based portfolios. Georgina thought that this was because of the interactive nature of the ePortfolios.

Georgina would choose ePortfolios as a documentation platform over paper-based portfolios if she had to make a choice. However, she firmly deemed that paper-based portfolios still had a place and that they were vital to children’s learning.

Sarah’s experience with ePortfolios

Sarah felt that the ePortfolios allowed her to engage more thoughtfully with her children’s learning than the paper-based portfolio did. This was because she was able to explore the contents when she had time and was not rushed.

Sarah said that there had been a change in the teachers’ formative assessment practices. Sarah had realised that she sometimes did not like the way the Learning Stories contained in the paper-based portfolios were written. She felt that they contained jargon and this sometimes made them hard to understand. Sarah thought that this had changed with the introduction of ePortfolios. She thought that the teachers were writing their Learning Stories aimed at parents and they were being written better.

Another change for Sarah was the way she was using the ePortfolios with her children, compared to how the paper-based portfolios were used. With the paper-based portfolios Sarah would spend time with Johnny and Kate looking at the Learning Stories and other contents. Sarah was not using the ePortfolios in this way. When asked why she wasn’t using the ePortfolios with her children Sarah said that it was because of a technical issue. She felt that the photos were too small and she hadn’t worked out how to enlarge them so they were easier for the children to view. She did, however, watch the videos with Johnny and

164 Kate. Sarah noted, too, that she would talk with her children about the contents of their ePortfolios. She might mention to the children that she had seen a photo of them doing something at the ECE setting and this would be when she understood that she was engaging with their learning. Sarah had made the occasional contribution to the children’s ePortfolios in the way of commenting on Learning Stories but she did this very rarely.

However, the ePortfolios had increased the engagement of their extended family in Johnny and Kate’s learning. One set of grandparents in particular consistently commented in the ePortfolios. The comments that were made by these grandparents were aimed at the children, rather than the teachers, Sarah said. They would make comments which affirmed what the children had been doing or they would make links to what the children could see and do when they visited. It was because of these comments that Sarah felt the grandparents were engaging with and encouraging Johnny and Kate’s learning.

Sarah felt that the contents of the children’s portfolios were useful in supporting their transition to school and she had sent Johnny’s paper-based portfolio to school with him. Although she had received no feedback from Johnny’s New Entrants teacher Sarah thought she might have read the paper- based portfolio as he was doing so well at school. When Kate went to school Sarah thought she would offer her teacher access to Kate’s ePortfolio. She supposed it might be, at the very least, a good conversation starter.

Sarah strongly felt that both forms of documentation should remain at the ECE setting. She felt that the ePortfolios had a lot of benefits for parents and whānau but also that the paper-based portfolios were still very important for children.

What Kate’s ePortfolio showed

In the year and a half that Kate had been attending the ECE setting prior to the introduction of the ePortfolios 18 Learning Stories and one piece of artwork had been added to her paper-based portfolio. Since the introduction of

165 ePortfolios this had increased dramatically. From July 2013 to June 2014 32 Learning Stories had been added to her ePortfolio. The Learning Stories contained one comment from Sarah and seven comments from Kate’s grandparents.

Table 6.11 Contents of Kate's ePortfolio from July 2013 - June 2014

Learning Stories Group Learning Stories or montages

Artwork Videos Parent/Whānau

comment/contribution

166 Figure 6.11 An example of a learning story in Kate’s ePortfolio

168 The Learning Stories written for Kate in her ePortfolio were very different from those in her paper-based portfolio. Nearly every story identified what learning was happening and how this learning could be extended. The teachers were writing in a more consistent manner and they were making links to previous learning experiences. Regular reference to research and theory was made by the teachers within the contents of the Learning Stories and it was clear how these ideas connected with the learning that they had identified. There was a significant increase in the number and frequency of Learning Stories in Kate’s ePortfolio compared with her paper-based portfolio, with 32 Learning Stories being added in the year of data collection. Parent and whānau engagement had also increased, particularly for one set of grandparents who regularly commented on Kate’s Learning Stories. Seven videos had been included in Kate’s ePortfolio and it was through reviewing these videos with Kate, alongside talking about the stories, that her parents engaged with her learning.