If you are an early year’s teacher/practitioner/manager or anyone within the sector, then you will have heard of the term “next steps”. I came across a blog post this morning all about next steps and their purpose and it really got me thinking, are they really useful or are they just another piece of pointless paperwork? I mean how many of you have written down a next step in a child’s learning journey, or on tapestry and then had a look through development matters found a point from a specific age band, written it down and thought there we go job done? Tick it off, file it away and move on. How has that interaction enhanced the child’s learning? Does ticking something off mean the child has learnt something? Or does it just mean you believe they have met a specific statement? Is that what learning is for young children? I know I have been guilty of this in the past, but I know it was due to lack of confidence and being in experienced to actually question what I think is right for the children.
So, is it necessary for a child to be given a next step after every observation? Or a child having to have a next step every term or every half term? What is the purpose of this and is it adding value to the child’s development? If the answer is NO then STOP NOW! In my opinion next steps happen every moment of every day but it depends on how you think about it. If you are only thinking of what their next step should be in relation to development matters then you are missing the point completely, learning does not happen within the lines of those statements (which we are told time and time again are not a checklist, take a moment and think about that, do you use them as a check list?) learning for young children is a much bigger picture, and as adults it is our job to facilitate this, use your knowledge, confidence and ability to see those “magic moments” and enhance the child’s learning there and then, because I guarantee you do this already. Think about how you help a child with their coat, if they are unable to do up their zip, what do you do? You facilitate that by starting the zip off and getting them to do the rest, there you have a skill taught and moved on all in a 20 second period! There are so many moments that happen like this each day we just need to see them. If you are not writing this down, then does it mean that the child never moves on? I would like to think that we all agree that this is not the case.
Believe me I know that its not as simple as saying ok no more next steps, when you have the pressure from your SLT, parents and other colleagues too, but how can we change? What can you do within your setting to ensure you are adding value to the children’s learning and not just box ticking to please someone else? You know the children best, have the confidence to use that knowledge to make their learning valuable, meaningful, and relevant to them, without having to write it down.
So, what do we do about this, I guess the question if like me you are questioning the need for these next step’s. I personally think that children are learning and moving on with most of the interactions they have, if you have skilled knowledgeable staff supporting them then the opportunities are endless. Can your staff talk about their key group of children’s development? Do they know where they are heading next, know what they need to learn next? If the answer is YES then why are we still writing this down? We do not need to log every single thing the children need to do.
So before you pick up your check lists or grab an iPad stop and think is this really going to benefit the child, if the answer is no then put it down and carry on being in the moment with the children playing, teaching, learning and having fun.
Thank you for reading, please let me know your thoughts on this 😊
Amy
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