3 Critical Reasons Why You Need Articulation Skills In Family Day Care
Have you ever experienced going to a job interview or sitting an exam at school and you are so proud because you feel prepared only to be faced with a question that stumps you? When that happens, your confidence is rocked and you are left reeling. This happens a lot during ratings and assessments, and it is why articulation skills in family day care are so important.
Think about it, how many people in our sector are still petrified and intimidated by regulatory officers and assessors? How would your team react to a question they are not prepared for?
Let’s take a look at why developing skills in articulation will help you when it comes time to face a regulatory officer or assessor.
What is meant by 'articulation skills in family day care'?
To articulate means to express yourself readily, clearly, and effectively. it is the ability to make your thoughts and knowledge easily understood by the person you are speaking to.
In the context of family day care, ACECQA states that, “articulating professional values, knowledge and practice is also and ethical responsibility, and an important component of the communication that exists within services”.
In essence, developing articulation skills in family day care will help you synthesise your thoughts and help you to concisely structure your response when it’s necessary to participate in discussions around the work you do.
There are 3 critical reasons why you need articulation skills in family day care:
1) ‘Discussion’ and ‘collaborative decision making’ is mentioned in each of the quality standard’s exceeding themes.
Did you know that discussion and collaborative decision making is specified in each of the exceeding themes? When you come face to face with a regulatory officer or assessor, you will be expected to respond to questions they ask, and engage in a discussion about your role.
Are you ready to have that conversation? Is everyone at the service ready? Don’t forget, for most people, speaking to a regulatory officer or assessor can be intimidating. This only adds to the pressure of the situation and getting your response right.
It is important that leaders are able to articulate the NQF, and that each member of your team understands what is expected of them by law.
When being assessed, the questions you will be asked are designed to determine your understanding and knowledge of the National Quality Framework. So, the fundamental question will ‘always’ come down to the one question EVERYONE ‘should’ be able to answer and if not, the regulatory officer or assessor has no choice but to determine and record you ‘cannot adequately respond to the question’ affecting the entire service or application.
Often, when asked “What is the National Quality Framework?”, many professionals will explain it is ‘everything’ we need to do to make sure children are safe and the house is clean and so on”.
But that is the ‘purpose’ of the framework, not WHAT IT IS and NOT the answer to the question.
The National Quality Framework is:
-The Education and Care Services National Law
– The Education and Care Services National Regulations
– The National Quality Standards
– The Approved Learning Frameworks; of which there are three:
* Victorian Early Learning Framework
* Early Years Learning Framework (Belonging Being Becoming) and
I cannot stress enough how terminology and articulation can improve an individual and/or service. How can we expect educators to learn, grow and develop as professionals, answer questions and engage in conversations with regulatory officers or assessors if they are not getting clear guidance and role-modelling from their leaders? (a massive gap in the sector in my opinion).
So, your goal should be to instil and develop professionalism, including the ability to articulate the National Quality Framework to lead others in the right direction.
2) To enable the communication of the values, policies, and procedures of the service to stakeholders, such as families, regulatory authorities, other team members, and potential clients.
No matter what role you play in family day care, there is an expectation on you to be able to articulate your understanding of the values, policies, and procedures of the service. This is not just so you can answer questions from the regulatory authority, but also, because questions are a part of every role we play in our lives.
Asking questions is the most commonly used, and most effective, method to measure another person’s understanding and views. In family day care, the skill of asking questions can confirm if a person is knowledgeable in their role and responsibilities.
That is why developing articulation skills in family day care is an underpinning aspect of an improvement strategy. Developing a shared language with all stakeholders should inform each team members’ self-reflection and the Quality Improvement Plan of your service.
3) The smooth transfer of knowledge between stakeholders will ultimately lead to better outcomes for the children in your care.
When there is a shared understanding of expectations and goals between everyone involved in the care of a child, your program will be on track to achieve the 5 learning outcomes.
Conversations through your service should focus on everyone’s understanding of the National Quality Framework. It is through these discussions with their team and with the families of children that educators can plan how they will deliver a program that incorporates a child’s strengths, culture, interests, and abilities that will help their social and emotional development.
Now that you’ve read these three crucial reasons why articulation skills in family day care are essential, can you imagine if everyone in your service spoke and communicated the language of the framework?
Let’s take a look at how I can help you achieve that.
How to improve your articulation skills in family day care
I’ve spent the past 12 years working with participants on their governance improvement journey and I love nothing more than when I speak to people and hear them clearly articulating the national framework in their responses, conversations and decision making, the way the Department’s Authorised Officers and Quality Assessors need to hear, which is another issue facing family day care.
With everyone in the leadership team having a sound understanding of governance for the role they are in, the issues I mentioned earlier can be gone, I promise, and it also won’t take long for the positive effects to be felt throughout the service.
When preparing for ratings, providers often tell me they are ready for assessment and are expecting to be rated as ‘Meeting’. However, after conducting a very quick assessment, I can identify where there are potential gaps that could affect the assessment outcome. I am a governance expert, it is what I do.
If you think articulation is a gap in your service, book a consult with me to find out how I can help (and check out my free videos on YouTube).
Coaching is not limited to approved providers and nominated supervisors, anyone in family day care leadership is encouraged to participate in coaching for their role. Coordinators and educational leaders have different obligations and responsibilities under the legislation, that link directly to quality area 7 – Governance and Leadership. Book coaching for your team members now.
You will be glad you did it. Promise.
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