Top tips: Listening to and acting on the voice of the child
Providing meaningful opportunities for the voice of the child requires adults to genuinely listen, act upon what children are sharing and to teach children the power and importance of their own voice. Review our top tips below to assess your daily practice for including the voice of the child in your setting.
Top tips for listening to and acting on the voice of the child
- Ensure all staff are skilled at tuning in to children’s non-verbal communication and treat every child as a competent communicator regardless of age or language stage
- Create opportunities for staff to spend time with individual families of non-verbal children in order to get to know the child through the parents’ knowledge of their child. Welcome the use of home languages and encourage families to share their culture and languages
- Use peer observations to review how staff follow children’s interests and provide exciting provocations based on their knowledge of individual children
- Review the quality of adult interactions and communication, such as whether all staff use meaningful open ended questions to encourage thinking and sharing ideas
- Review the environment to assess the opportunities for children to have a voice. Ensure these include offering choices, for example, what to play with or what to eat for snack. Think about how you can use children’s voices to shape their day, for example, decisions about the environment or new additions to resources. Use photos, videos or audio clips to capture children’s expressions, choices and interests
- Provide regular opportunities for group decisions or for voting on everyday practice
- Assess staff skills for active listening to ensure that they are all good role models for listening to what children say
- If appropriate, offer responsibilities for big decisions, such as via a children’s committee or group
- Engage children in reflection opportunities, for example, discuss what went well or what could be changed moving forward
- Act on what children say, but if you are not able to follow through on a child’s suggestion tell them the reasons why and discuss alternative, possible solutions together.
NDNA products to support you with this tip
Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have adequate supervision. Resources and materials must always be appropriate for children’s age and stage of development.
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