Be You offers online Professional Learning aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of educators to support mental health and wellbeing in children and young people.
Educators can engage with Be You individually, but when a whole learning community works together, this can turn their professional learning into action for everyone.
Resources can help
Educators engaging in conversations where they share their learning, experience and ideas promotes professional growth and development.
The Share and Extend Guide supports Action Team Leaders implementing Be You Professional Learning to facilitate quality professional conversations that brings learning to life. Through these conversations, knowledge gained through Professional Learning has a greater impact on practice and can act as a change agent in the service.
This guide also provides information about creating a safe and supportive learning community, practical ideas for facilitating group learning and for considering adult learning principles.
Attending a National Check-In, facilitated by Be You Consultants, enables participation in national professional conversations.
Support from Be You Consultants
When one early learning service first engaged with Be You, the director was initially concerned that she would need to ‘train’ the educators, completing the modules herself and sharing the information. The Be You Consultant reassured her that educators could complete the online learning, or look at the resources, then engage in professional discussions which would help build their knowledge and support their practice as a team. The director’s confidence was further lifted when the consultant introduced her to the Share and Extend Guide.
This guide, together with consultant support, gave the director the knowledge and confidence to lead her team during quality professional conversations about the information gained through the professional learning. She considered the learning style of her team members and the knowledge and experience they brought to the group, and used the guide to develop activities, providing opportunities for the team to share their learning and discuss what the new information meant for them as educators and as a service.
A safe space to learn
The director spent time creating a safe and supportive environment and educators felt comfortable sharing what they had learned and discussing ideas about their practice in a respectful and positive way. They initially focused on educator wellbeing which led to great discussions about self-care and supporting each other. Over the coming weeks, they started to look at the Family Partnerships domain which they identified as a priority area. The team engaged in professional conversations about how they could continue to develop partnerships with families.
At the next National Check-In, the director was happy to share her experience with the consultant and the other services online as she was confident they were building a mentally healthy community.