Child Development and Learning:

Turn Questions Into Action

Breadcrumb trail:

Improve your daily practice and enrich your experiences.

Action is the test of what you know and can do. It is where you see the results of reflection and self-assessment. The CompSAT protocol, Keys to Reflection and Inquiry, is designed to help you formulate good questions, pursue inquiry, and take action to improve your daily practice. The results of your actions provide evidence of your professional growth, and hopefully, spur you on to generate more questions and take further action. Action and reflection are essential to the processes of growth and change.

A day care director discussing details with a teacher.

Our role as teacher-researcher not only allows us to answer burning questions and address areas of concern, but it also helps us to grow professionally. Consider the framing questions again for the competency.

  • Who is this child and how do I connect with him or her?
  • What does this child need from me in order to support his or her development and learning?
  • What is development and learning about for this child?
  • What is involved in knowing a child full well?

Try This!

Choose an area of children's play that typically bothers you or you tend to ignore and make it a focus of research for two weeks or more, using the following process:

  • Choose and explore some interesting, open-ended materials with potential to promote this kind of play.
  • Offer these materials to children over an extended period of time and observe and document what unfolds.
  • Examine your documentation for new insights into the meaning and significance of this play for children.

Learn more about the role of play in children's development and learning by reading Elizabeth Jones' article, "Play Across the Life Cycle: From Initiative to Transcendence," and apply the ideas to a current situation in your workplace.

Use this template to record your observations, thoughts, and feelings.  Download the Template

Deepen Your Understanding

California Early Childhood Educator Competencies

Deepen your understanding by checking out the Topic: Learning through play in Performance Area 2 o the CA ECE Competencies. Scroll to page 19.

Can you find other places in this competency area that address your interests and needs?

Download the California ECE Competencies

California Early Childhood Educator Competencies