The process and dialogue that shaped the development of a Digital Video Disc (DVD) of early childhood practice is the subject of this paper. The initial idea was to make a DVD to prepare students for their first practicum. Having obtained funding, lecturing staff at the School of Education contacted the Department of Communication studies at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) to discuss the possibility of working together on this project. The idea was well received as the third year students were in the process of selecting their final project to make a community video. This resulted in a mutually beneficial cross disciplinary collaboration between students, lecturing staff and an early childhood centre in making what finally emerged as an ‘introduction to teaching experience’. We were extremely fortunate in having a student from communication studies who was enthusiastic and had excellent technical skills in both filming and the editing process. All concerned thought this DVD was a great success! The DVD has not only been enjoyed by students, but the early childhood centre has used the video for parent evenings, as well as in community presentations to obtain additional grants for resources. The success of the first DVD provided the motivation to attempt a second project.

Following this first project a grant was awarded to produce a second DVD with a focus on developing responsive and reciprocal relationships with children. This was intended again for early childhood education students prior to their first year of teaching practice (Kontos & Wilcox-Herzog, 1997). Preparing students for practicum has been researched extensively. McDonald (2004) suggests that it is important for students to develop a critical awareness of teaching so that they can understand, reflect on, and articulate their practice. It was felt by the team that students needed to be introduced to the concept of “responsive and reciprocal relationships” (Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 3) as a foundation for teaching practice. It was felt the DVD would allow the students an opportunity to reflect prior to going out and would assist them in forming a critical awareness. It was also felt that the visual preparation helps to reduce any anxiety that a student may feel when venturing into an unknown setting. Moreover, by emphasising the importance of relationships as a foundation for teaching, it was hoped to avoid what Hiebert, Morris, Berk and Jansen (2007) refer to as attempting to describe teaching practice as a set of technical competencies and strategies that can be applied to any teaching situation. It was thought that the DVD would provide students with an opportunity to see teaching practice as being situated within a community of learners (Wenger, 1998). It was hoped that students would be excited about joining such a community, rather than becoming overly anxious about the technical strategies of teaching and getting it right.

The range of students in this study included experienced practitioners in early childhood education who have worked in New Zealand centres as well as students who were recent immigrants to New Zealand. The intention was to prepare students for their first teaching practice in New Zealand with a DVD that was contextually relevant. While there are existing materials for use in relation to New Zealand’s national early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996), there are no materials that focus directly on student placement. The first DVD was produced and edited primarily by the year three communications student, while for the second DVD the editing process was jointly carried out by a colleague from the AUT Centre for Professional Development working with three lecturers from the School of Education.

Locating an early childhood education centre that was suitable to film in was a challenge. One requirement was that the centre provided enough space for the cameras to roam freely to capture interesting aspects of teaching practice. Another technical requirement was that there was enough light in the centre to enable filming to take place. While these technical considerations were crucial to the success of the DVD, more important was the issue of finding a centre where centre staff and families were happy to participate in the filming. Initially it was felt that having examples of different age groups was an important factor but given the time and funding allocated for the filming these expectations had to be reconsidered.

A privately owned childcare centre was approached and after discussion the parents at the centre were asked for their permission to allow their children to participate. After an initial consultation the owner contacted one of the lecturers to say that the parents had expressed some concern about having their children filmed. This concern was about the potential for misuse of the DVD if it found its way into the wrong hands. Another privately owned centre was approached, but here the centre owner was concerned that if the centre was sold and the DVD of the centre was still being shown, future owners may not be pleased as the DVD may no longer reflect the philosophy and practices of the organisation. Eventually the centre where the first film was made was approached again. As this centre was community based, the issue of ownership was less complex, there was adequate light and space for filming and teachers and families were happy to support the project.

Ethics

The process of applying for ethics approval was seen as a vital part of establishing relationships with the centre from the start (Cullen, Hedges & Bone, 2005).The team responsible for the filming were committed to maintaining respectful relationships with the teachers, families and children that were being filmed. A full ethics application was applied for and informed consent was requested from all the teachers and parents. It was also suggested that a way of enabling the children to give their consent before they were filmed was obtained. Finally it was stated in the ethics form that no child would be filmed against their wish. Children would be free to remove themselves from the gaze of the camera and only positive behaviour would be recorded. As staff had knowledge of both children and families, they had the final say over whether a certain scene could be included or not.

While the lecturers had complete trust in the teachers, it was hard to fully recognise the potential risk that teachers take in the process of being filmed. As one teacher remarked, “We have put ourselves out there!” This comment demonstrates the feeling of being exposed to the dangers of misinterpretation. One of the challenges faced was how a teacher’s beliefs and values could be made explicit in what was inevitably a snapshot of their daily practice.

Another ethical issue that had to be addressed was the ownership of the DVD. Did the DVD belong to the lecturers, the teachers, the institution or families in the centre, without whom the video would not be possible? In addition, what were the rights of families in this process? Although the families were happy for their children to be filmed for teaching purposes within AUT University they did not wish the DVD to be distributed elsewhere. There was also an awareness that there was no personal gain but a sense of professional obligation. The teachers, who did not feel very comfortable being filmed, were willing to do so in order to support the learning of student teachers. These questions had to be addressed when working on a collaborative project with the centre. Without careful consideration, a situation could have developed where lecturers assume a position of power and privilege, while teachers in the centre could be left feeling bruised. This remains an ethical dilemma for the team responsible for the DVD production and the ways it is used even after completion.

Editing

When faced with the challenge of editing the final cut of the film, there was a feeling of tremendous responsibility on the part of the lecturing staff. Six hours of film was reduced after editing to only forty minutes. Once the film was selected it was then a matter of deciding how to organise the material. The intention was to make a record of practice that valued the integrity of relationships. Having edited the footage it was then decided to divide the DVD into three sections – each having a specific perspective. The creation of these sub headings and insertion of titles created opportunities to show examples of responsive and reciprocal relationships between the adults and children in relation to each section.

In all the editing process took 30 hours with at least two lecturers involved at each session that lasted on average for five hours. The staff at the centre were provided with a first edit before the final editing was undertaken. While it was relatively straightforward to choose the scenes that would assist students in their preparation, it was more difficult to showcase the relationships that made the interactions so meaningful to the children.

Post Filming

One of the discussions with the staff at the centre concerned the title being Quality Interactions. The staff expressed some nervousness about using the term quality given that this is a word that is contentious in early childhood education. A separate yet connected issue concerned authenticity and contextualisation. As the centre was the venue for the first DVD the feeling was that the issue of camera shyness would not be such a significant factor. However the experience of having two male camera crew for the second film, compared with the two female crew for the first film, was felt to be an important factor in how staff reacted to the camera. This aspect of the production process has still to be fully explored.

Another issue arose from a first viewing of the DVD by the students. One of the clips provoked an interesting discussion among the students about how the centre promoted literacy. During one of the first viewings of the completed DVD a number of students commented on the role of the centre staff in promoting formal literacy. This was perceived by the students as incompatible with recent research on literacy and should not be considered as an example of quality practice. When this was discussed with the staff at the centre they were uncomfortable with this perception. They were uneasy about the use of the words quality interactions, as they were aware that quality in early childhood education is “a relative concept… rather than an objective and universal reality” (Moss & Pence, 1994, p. 172).

From the outset centre staff realised the potential of the DVD process for their own professional development. In addition they saw the value of having their practice on record to share with the families who attended the centre. The following is a reflection written by staff at the centre after the filming of the DVD. The quote is made in full so that their voice can be recognised within the process.

Conclusion

The benefits of making the DVD far outweighed some of the difficulties inherent in the process. The need for New Zealand based materials is felt to be vital for students to gain a better grasp of life in the centre before embarking on their first practicum.

The process of gaining ethics approval highlighted the importance of clarifying ownership and individual rights for all who were involved. For lecturing staff it was imperative that those working in the centre staff had the final decision on what was or was not to be included in the DVD. Families were also reassured that their children could withdraw from the film shot should they wish. This was respected on several occasions.

Editing is by definition a selective process and on this occasion only involved lecturing staff, owing to constraint of time and funding. In any future project it is anticipated that centre staff will be more fully involved in this process. The families found the DVD very valuable as it gave them an insight into the daily practice of the centre. They commented on the value of seeing their children in a variety of social interactions and engaged in meaningful and constructive play.

It is clear that the students have found the resources helpful. Comments were made as to the relevance of the DVD to New Zealand practice and the value of seeing children interacting with the staff. Over the next year (2009) we plan to develop written material to use with the DVD and continue to assess its value as a teaching and learning resource. It is already clear that each section of the DVD has immense potential for demonstrating to students different aspects of practice in the early childhood centre.

References

• Cullen, J., Hedges, H., & Bone, J. (2005). Planning, undertaking and disseminating research in early childhood settings: An ethical framework. Retrieved August 29, 2007, from http:// www.childforum.com
• Hiebert, J., Morris, A.K., Berk, D., & Jansen, A. (2007). Preparing teachers to learn from teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 58(1), 47-61.
• Kontos, S., & Wilcox-Herzog, A. (1997). Teachers' interactions with children: Why are they so important? Young Children, 52(2), 4-13.
• McDonald,L (2004). Effective mentoring of student teachers: Attitudes, characterisitics and practise of successful associate teachers within a New Zealand context, New Zealand Journal of Teacher’s Work, 1(2), 85- 94.
• Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki – He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa, Early Childhood Curriculum. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.
• Ministry of Education. (2004). Assessment and learning: community. Te Aromatawai me te ako: Hapori. Book 5. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.
• Moss, P. & Pence, A. (1994). Towards an inclusionary approach in defining quality. In P. Moss & A. Pence (Eds.), Valuing quality in early childhood services, (pp. 172-179). London: Paul Chapman.
• Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.