A Message from the Project Leader
More Than A Score !
Surely, you all remember the TV commercial about the little guy who lost his hockey game. His mom pours him a nice cup of hot chocolate as they commiserate together and then she asks him the famous question, "But did you have fun?" Viewers get warm and fuzzy feelings about what's truly important in life and, of course, we associate those warm fuzzies with the particular brand of hot chocolate. In writing this article, I'm not going to try to promote hot chocolate or anything else but I hope to tweak your thoughts as to the true value of using environmental assessment tools on a regular basis.
Since
taking on the role of Healthy Child Care Environment Co-ordinator, I have
had the pleasure of visiting many of Hamilton's child care centres to
use the ECERS-R, ITERS-R, or SACERS to conduct an observation and guide
my consultaion with the program. Feedback sessions with supervisors and
staff usually focus around program strengths and opportunities for enhancement
while score sheets are set aside for future reference. Before long, ideas
are positively bouncing around the room! Undoubtedly, if I run into the
teachers when they come to use the ASCY Library, I'll hear an exciting
update about changes and enhancements. Supervisors often tell me that
staff motivation is way up after training or using ECERS. Furthermore,
the value of the experience extends far beyond the walls of the centre
because I always leave a program with many more ideas than I brought to
share and those new ideas are carried forward on visits to other sites.
I was never a math whiz but using my trusty calculator, I've determined
that the compounded creativity from beginning with just one idea and coming
away with one new one, on one visit per month, per site, results in 2048
ideas in just one year! Fresh or refreshed ideas and renewed energy for
the work you love are the positive spin-offs of doing environmental assessments.
So if scores aren't important, why are they used? Compare the environmental assessment experience to an annual check-up with your doctor. The doctor uses a number of different tools to assess your health - even if you don't have outward signs of illness. You step on the scales, have your blood pressure taken, have your heart listened to, etc. and the doctor writes down numbers. Each number is an indicator of either changes in your overall health, or possible signs that the doctor should look more closely for an underlying condition. Scores on the environment rating scales serve the same purpose to the ECE. The score might reflect that things are just fine, improved since last time, or perhaps you need to look a little closer at an area.
At other times, the scale can help you to diagnose a situation. Compare it to reaching for the thermometer when a child appears to be under the weather. By taking the child's temperature, you have more information to work with. The temperature is only one sign, but it can be the one that prompts you to take action. In your classroom, you can use the environmental assessment to determine where and when to take action if things are not going as smoothly as they once did. Perhaps the children seem to be disinterested in one activity area. Use the tool and check the score to see if there is room for enhancement, and then brainstorm and take action.
Regardless of when or why you use the tool, the bottom line is that the value lies not in the score, but in the ideas and creative solutions that follow, and at the end of the day, in the personal job satisfaction that comes from attending to your responsibility of ensuring that the environment for children is of the best quality possible.
Lois Saunders, RECE
Healthy Child Care Environment Co-ordinator
If you have any questions or comments regarding Raising the Bar, please e-mail lsaunders@ascy.ca