The term quality is a multidimensional construct, and can be interpreted in many ways (Hunkin, 2019). The purpose of this assignment is to expand your knowledge and understanding of the term ‘quality’ in relation to effective teacher-child interactions in early childhood settings. To demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of this construct you will use the current academic literature (peer reviewed journal articles from within the last 6 years) to explain what this means, make links to how quality interactions between educators and children are measured by referring to the National Quality Standard (NQS) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), and make a connection between the research and practical application in an early childhood setting.
The steps required to complete this assessment are:
1. You must have completed topics 1 and 2 in order to complete this assignment. Explore the NQS and CLASS documents (available from the learning modules content area.)
2. Explore and identify the research regarding interactions between educators and children using peer reviewed journal articles from the last 6 years. The depth of your reading will be reflected in the appropriateness and quantity of your references. Critically read the articles and make notes of the key findings which will support quality interactions between educators and children in early childhood settings (the notes will help with your writing of the essay; they do not need to be handed in.) At this point you may need to discard some articles and/or you may need to continue your search for other articles.
3. Write an essay which presents a review of the literature. Your essay will:
a. Include an introduction which describes what your essay will be about.
b. The body of your essay will include:
i. A critique, comparison and/or contrast of major themes/approaches or theories from the literature (this will depend on the literature you find.) Hint: Do not quote from the NQS or CLASS! Your information must come from the peer reviewed literature to support what is identified in the NQS and CLASS (therefore you will be linking the research to these documents.) Write in the third person.
ii. A description of how and why quality interactions between educators and children are measured by referring to the National Quality Standard (NQS) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and why this is important. (1 paragraph)
iii. A connection between the research and practical application in an early childhood setting: Describe the implications for educators (1 paragraph). Create a vision statement and clearly articulate strategies for implementation in practice (1 paragraph – this should start with for example with: My vision is… Followed by: To support this vision I would…then list your strategies.) You can write this in the first person. No bullet points, it must be written in essay style. (500 words for part ii and iii)
iv. A conclusion which summarises your findings.
c. Follow the structure of an essay with a clear and concise introduction, conclusion and body. A link to how to write an academic essay can be found here: https://intranet.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/20609/essay.pdf You are not to use headings. Your first sentence in each paragraph should describe what the paragraph is about! 4. Ensure you comply with academic writing standards and APA 7th referencing style and ECU’s academic integrity policy.
Please refer to the Assessment tab on Blackboard for further information. The essay will be graded according to the rubric in Appendix B of the unit plan (also available under this assessment tab).
Word count: 2000 words (500 words for part b(ii) and b(iii), 1500 words for the remainder of the essay)