The Development Map Cycle
The Development Map cycle should be very familiar to everyone working in the Early Years Foundation Stage. It starts with observation then moves into assessment and planning and is explained in the EYFS Statutory Framework (2.1 p.13) but more clearly illustrated through the diagram in Development Matters (2012 p.4)
Mary Jane Drummond’s explanation of the cycle is probably one of the best you will ever find – it’s so good that New Zealand practitioners used this as their starting point for developing learning Stories;
‘When we work with young children, when we play and experiment and talk with them, when we watch them and everything they do, we are witnessing a fascinating and inspiring process: we are seeing them learn. As we think about what we see, and try to understand it, we have embarked on the process that in this book I am calling ‘assessment’. I am using the term to describe the ways in which, in our everyday practice, we observe children’s learning, strive to understand it, and then put our understanding to good use’. (1993, p.13)