My Giant, Wendy Lee

As I previously worked in Early Childhood Settings, years came and went with what I thought the ‘expectations’ of documentation was, which was changing constantly. We must have at least one formal observation of every child, every month. We must link all learning to the aims and goals of Aistear. We must make links to child development throughout. Where is the learning? I have done it all and lost a lot of time and hair because of it….

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Learning Stories and all the fundamental values that came from the wonderful theories that weave through Wendy Lee and Margaret Carr’s writings. This can’t be right; all we have to do is tune into children at a deeper level…!? It seemed like so much less work for us, the educators. As I grew in confidence with these theories in mind, this idea of less work for me became a reality. Not only that but I began to truly love my job again, it became more meaningful, exciting, and confirmed for me again, the ‘why’ I always wanted to work with children.

Wendy Lee’s work revolves around a culture of togetherness. Everything she says offers an abundance of respect to not only the child but everyone in a child’s life. She focuses on families, cultures and educators and recognises how together we each bring opportunities of teaching and learning. At a recent conference Annie White, California State University, described Learning Stories as a framework that makes the learners learning visible, but the learner is not just the child, it’s all of us. This statement resonates with all of Wendy Lee’s work.

The thing with Learning Stories is that they are an ever evolving, changing and unique way of being with and knowing children. They go far above and beyond the written word on paper. Wendy describes Learning Stories as a philosophy, a dynamic process where teachers make them their own. The freedom of this statement, recognising that every educator is different, our styles of writing, our curiosities, our approaches are all different, and that’s ok!! There is no one hat that fits all, there is no one way of writing that we all must conform to. There is a freedom of writing in a way that feels right to you.

Being honest it took me a while to sit comfortably and confidently in my writings when documenting children’s experiences and learning in this way. Coming from a culture where I interpreted expectations of documentation differently, it is hard to trust purely documenting what is happening for children without all the development language flowering it up to ensure inspectors knew I knew what I was talking about. But my old ways of writing were just that, for inspectors. Now it became about children, with children, for children. It created a space for families to come together and see what was happening for children in my care and how that could spiral into further play in the home. It offered opportunities of togetherness, of play and of understanding beyond the setting I worked in. It offered me a true knowledge of who each child was, their curiosities, their hopes and dreams, their cultures, families, and friends. This style of documentation offered me magical moments of togetherness with children, and I learned as an educator with almost every spoken word, glance, and example of dispositions I witnessed. My focus changed. My practice became all about the child and with that the families came with me on the journey.

Wendy told of a quote she once heard explaining that a child’s culture cannot enter a classroom unless it enters a teacher’s consciousness. That is the power of Learning Stories. They invite the child and all that matters to that child into your consciousness. You can’t help but be excited by play that you see happening and interactions that are so meaningful between children. You begin to see dispositions in all that the magical things that children do, and you learn to celebrate them in a way that brings the child to a true state of being confident and competent in all that they do. You become an educator with the child and every day you experience feelings of awe and disbelief at the capabilities of children.

I am so fortunate to now be part of the awards team in Early Childhood Ireland where I get to see Learning Stories from early childhood settings across the country that are beautiful examples of Wendy Lee’s theories in practice. Every year we see examples of educators taking the time and space with children to capture meaningful stories. I have worked with many settings who began implementing the use of Learning Stories and they transformed in every way because of them. I have used Learning Stories and felt the power of that in my practice. I thank Wendy Lee for transforming so many peoples practice around the world and for helping us to truly see children in this transformation.