CONTENTS
When the review process is shared, it builds everyone's capacity.
Ara - direction, method, process, technique, approach, procedure.
The 'ara' in raranga emphasises the significance of procedures and systems in achieving, our goals. In the context of effective review, such procedures and systems are evident through systematic and robust approaches to preparing, gathering, making sense, and deciding. By rigorous analysis of relevant information, we generate evidence that we can draw on to inform the decisions we make and then make changes to our practice accordingly.
We have developed a clear awareness of the need to gather a lot more information before coming to conclusions.
Evidence is generated from the information we have analysed. Evidence informs the judgments we make about our practice. If asked “How do you know?”, we should be able to show how we reached our judgments by drawing on our evidence. You can read about the relationship between information and evidence in Section 2.
In effective review, we generate evidence we can have confidence in.
[The process of generating evidence] is situated within the context, practices and thinking patterns of its creators
2004, page 91
We can evaluate the quality of our evidence by questioning its validity and reliability:
- Is our evidence valid? Is it based on sound information?
- Is our evidence reliable? Would we generate the same outcome if we repeated the process?
- Can we explain (to ourselves and others) how evidence enabled us to reach judgments in review?
By making review as transparent as possible through documenting the process as we go along, we are able to demonstrate to others what we have done and why. You can read about the process of making sense of information and different approaches to analysis in Section 2.
The following information helps us to consider different kinds of information as evidence and its likely value in informing our judgments.
Kinds of evidence
One-off observations or comments
Inspiration is a kind of information that may be a trigger for review but doesn't, in itself, provide sufficient evidence to make judgements about our practice.
Information gathered on the run or that is in progress
A hunch is a kind of information that, again, may be a trigger for review or a source of information that contributes to a base of evidence to inform the review.
Eternal sources of evidence that support the information we have analysed
When we have rational belief, different sources of information (including research evidence or evidence from external review processes) confirm, support or strengthen our analysis. However, on their own, they do not constitute evidence in review.
Conclusive evidence
Understanding is information that enables us to state with confidence that our evidence represents “reality”. This means that the information has undergone rigorous analysis and is reliable. As a result, we can make well-informed judgments about our practice.
The extent to which we use evidence to inform judgments and transform our practice is influenced by our commitment to making a difference to children and their learning through effective review.
[The potential of evidence to effectively inform practice will only be realised] through better listening to teachers, ensuring that they have a strong voice in figuring out the processes needed to make it work
2004, page 871
In effective review, the voices of all members of our early childhood community contribute to the generation of evidence.
