Speak Out Feb 2020 DIGITAL EDITION. pdf

we coach in build relationship and language rich environments concurrently. In Children’s Centres coaching occurs in groups, as well as individually. It looks different in each setting, but always begins with building relationships with caregivers and children. Sometimes this occurs quickly, particularly when the caregiver has approached the speech pathologist for assistance with supporting their child’s development. At other times it may take many weeks of building trust and rapport for a caregiver to be ready to engage in coaching. In an individual setting the speech pathologist talks with the caregiver to establish what the caregiver is noticing in their child and how they interact with each other. Through this conversation they establish the caregiver’s goals. The speech pathologist may observe the caregiver and child interacting and highlight moments of responsive caregiving or parent child connection that occur. The speech pathologist invites the parent to try the next step (expanding on the existing responsive caregiving) to support their child’s development. For example, the speech pathologist might say, “When Lee has a play idea, you are following his idea. You could also name his idea by saying something like, ‘you’re feeding the teddy’. In this way he knows that you’re in his world, that you have noticed and accept his idea, and also gives him the words to go with what he’s doing.” Once the caregiver has practised using that strategy, the speech pathologist invites them to reflect on what the experience was like for them, and what they noticed in their child. The speech pathologist builds on that by commenting on strengths in their interaction, gently encouraging the caregiver to use the skill, as well as highlighting the child’s positive response. Finally, the caregiver and parent brainstorm how the caregiver will use the strategy at other times and in other settings. In group settings the coaching process is modified according to the size of the group, and the familiarity of caregivers with each other and the speech pathologist. A speech pathologist might use role playing in caregiver pairs as an opportunity for caregivers to practise strategies, with a third caregiver observing and assisting with reflection. This may occur while the speech pathologist moves around the various triads scaffolding reflections and offering feedback. This would be followed by play activities where caregivers practise the strategy with their children while the speech pathologist continues to facilitate reflection and give feedback. Another tool used in coaching is video review. The speech pathologist and caregiver review video of a different caregiver and child, or of that caregiver and child, and then reflect on how the “We know that adults learn and make changes if they are motivated…and develop skills to reflect on their own understanding and

caregiver and child interact — what influence they had on each other and why their responses to each other have an impact. We still have much to learn about coaching and how we can use it most effectively with caregivers. In 2020 we will look into objective measures of our coaching practices. Joanna Gerangue and Jane Backhouse Children’s Centres for Early Childhood Development and Parenting Department for Education South Australia

Previous articles about ‘Capacity building from within’ appeared in the August 2018 and December 2018 editions of Speak Out.

1. https://inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc.edu/sites/inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc. edu/files/handouts/Using_a_Coaching_Interactive_Style_with_Families. pdf 2. http://www.hanen.org/SiteAssets/Helpful-Info/Whitepapers/parent- implemented-early-language-intervention-wha.pdf 3. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0a21/6189233771198f7fb282a934d fa21d887c2c.pdf 4. https://inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc.edu/sites/inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc. edu/files/handouts/Using_a_Coaching_Interactive_Style_with_Families. pdf 5. https://www.martemeo.com/en/ 6. https://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/ccchdev/ CCCH-The-First-Thousand-Days-An-Evidence-Paper-Summary-Sep- tember-2017.pdf

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February 2020 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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