COURSE OVERVIEW:
This course is designed to equip educators in the childcare sector with the knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary to foster artistic expression, imagination, and innovation in early childhood settings. In this course, we will delve into various facets of creativity, exploring its significance in children's development and learning while aligning with the requirements of the National Quality Standard (NQS) and related regulations and laws.
Section A of this course will provide a foundational understanding of creativity and the arts in early childhood education. We will examine current research and theories surrounding the role of the arts and creativity, emphasising the value of both the process and the product of artistic endeavours. Furthermore, we will explore how arts and creativity intersect with diverse cultures, highlighting the importance of creative freedom and its implications for practice in the Australian childcare sector.
Additionally, participants will gain insights into techniques and skills necessary to support children in implementing their creative ideas, including the maintenance of resources and equipment used in creative experiences. We will discuss various forms of artistic expression and how to match creative opportunities to children's interests, while structuring experiences that encourage and support their exploration.
Evaluation methods for reviewing children's learning and educators' practices throughout the artistic process will also be covered, ensuring that participants are equipped with effective assessment strategies to monitor and enhance children's creative development.
In Section B, we will further explore the role of the arts in early childhood development and learning, emphasising the positive connection between creativity and different learning dispositions. Participants will learn how to provide inclusive experiences that expose children to a range of art forms and artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples' art forms and artists.
Moreover, this section will focus on practical strategies for nurturing creativity based on children's interests and cultural backgrounds, including research and organisation of resources, promotion of diverse materials, and facilitation of collaborative and sustainable creative experiences. Participants will learn to foster children's creative confidence, resilience, and problem-solving skills while promoting a sense of value and responsibility for equipment and materials.
Furthermore, participants will develop skills in planning and implementing holistic experiences that encompass a wide range of creative domains, including construction, digital technologies, dramatic and imaginative play, language and storytelling, movement, music, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and maths), and visual art. Through documentation and evaluation of these experiences, participants will gain insights into assessing children's participation and outcomes, informing future practice to continually enhance creative opportunities in early childhood settings.
By the end of this course, participants will be empowered to foster a culture of creativity and innovation, laying the foundation for lifelong learning and holistic development in young children.
This course is designed to align with the content outlined in the Nationally Recognised Unit of Competency CHCECE043.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of this course, you will be able to understand the following topics:
Section A: Knowledge
· Requirements of the National Quality Standard (NQS) and Related Regulations and Laws
· Current research and theories about the role of the arts and creativity
· The Value of Process as well as Product
· Arts and Creativity in Diverse Cultures
· Forms of Artistic Expression
· The Importance of Creative Freedom
· Implications for Practice in the Australian Childcare Sector
· Techniques and skills in the creative areas at a level sufficient to assist children implement their ideas
· Maintenance of resources and equipment used in creative experiences
· Types of creative opportunities, how to match these to children’s interests, and the appropriate types of resources required
· Ways to structure experiences that encourage and support
· Evaluation methods for reviewing children’s learning and educator’s practices throughout the artistic process
Section B: Performance Tasks
· Explore the role of the arts in early childhood development and learning.
· Understand the concept of creative freedom and its positive connection to development and learning.
· Identify the connection between creativity and different learning dispositions.
· Provide opportunities for children to be exposed to a range of art forms and artists from diverse cultures.
· Provide experiences that allow children to be exposed to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples’ art forms and artists.
· Identify opportunities that nurture creativity, based on children’s interests and cultural backgrounds.
· Structure and document opportunities and intentional teaching strategies that assist children to explore the arts.
· Research and organise resources required for creative activities.
· Select and promote the use of diverse natural and found materials and make them available to children.
· Identify and use opportunities to make sustainable resources.
· Provide time for children to be creative and encourage efforts to extend over days or weeks.
· Teach children how to use and care for materials and equipment according to the nature of the activity.
· Plan and create opportunities for children to collaborate creatively with each other.
· Encourage children to use creativity to overcome challenges.
· Use flexibility to respond to children’s interests and needs.
· Support children to feel a sense of value and responsibility for equipment and materials through encouragement and modelling.
· Use strategies that model creativity by improvising with equipment and materials.
· Encourage children to pursue their own original ideas, interpretations and expressions.
· Invite children to ask questions and assist them to find their own answers.
· Engage children in talking about their creations and ask them open-ended questions.
· Model and share enthusiasm for creative work with children.
· Show respect and seek permission from children regarding their creative work.
· Encourage children to respect and appreciate the creative effort of their peers.
· Monitor children’s role in creativity through observation and critical reflection.
· Identify and use opportunities to gather feedback from colleagues, families and children.
· Use and expand on children’s ideas in relation to creativity.
· Collaborate with others to regularly evaluate children’s participation in experiences and document outcomes according to service policies and procedures.
· Use evaluation outcomes to inform future practice.
· Plan and implement at least three experiences for children between the ages of birth and six years that collectively involve all of the following:
o construction
o digital technologies
o dramatic play
o imaginative play
o language and storytelling
o movement
o music
o science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM)
o visual art
· Document evaluation outcomes for each of the above planned experiences.
COURSE DURATION:
The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.
COURSE DELIVERY:
Purchase and download course content.
ASSESSMENT:
A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.
CERTIFICATION:
Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.