How Project-Based Reflection Helps Early Childhood Teams Grow, Connect, and Improve Practice

Project-based learning has always been a favourite approach of mine for children - and it’s just as powerful as a leadership tool that I use with teams of educators.

Sustained, meaningful engagement with a topic over time is what truly embeds practice. When educators have the opportunity to return to an idea, reflect on it, trial it in their classrooms, and then revisit it with their peers, the practices stick. It’s not about a single training session or a checklist item on the QIP, it’s about slow, shared transformation.

Why Leaders Need to Think Beyond One-Off Training

Many leaders I’ve worked with feel the pressure to “tick boxes” for professional development. Send one educator to a workshop, print off the slides, and hope some of it filters back into practice. Change rarely happens that way.

If your QIP is filled with tiny, fragmented goals that can be (or should be) just done, you’re probably spreading your team’s attention too thin. Wipe them. Get them off your plate. Instead, identify one or two bigger goals - especially if they require a real mindset shift - and commit to them as a team.

This isn’t about efficiency, it’s about effectiveness. When the whole team is united in exploring a shared vision, change has depth.

What Project-Based Reflection Looks Like in Practice

Think of project-based reflection with educators the same way you’d think about inquiry projects with children:

• It starts with curiosity. Choose a focus area that feels important and timely. For example: How can we strengthen children’s agency? How can we reimagine our playspaces to better support learning?

• It unfolds over time. Spread reflection across weeks or months. Introduce small, thought-provoking ideas in staff meetings or conversations, then revisit them later.

• It thrives on collaboration. Every educator’s voice matters. Invite different perspectives, highlight the value of questioning, and embrace healthy apprehension.

• It builds in action. After each reflection, ask: “What’s one thing we can try this week?” Then loop back to share observations and refine the practice.

Just as children learn through cycles of exploration, trial, and discovery, educators embed new approaches when they have time to revisit ideas, connect theory to practice, and notice changes in children.

The Leader’s Role: Vision and Guidance

As the leader, your role isn’t to have all the answers - it’s to set the vision and guide the process.

When I worked with my team on the RIE approach, it wasn’t about delivering a polished presentation. It was about creating space for shared exploration. After each reflection, I started to notice new things in children - the subtle ways they communicated, the cues they gave, the depth of their play. And because my perspective shifted, so did my practice.

This kind of shift doesn’t happen in a single meeting. It happens when educators feel safe to share their observations, doubts, and reflections, and when leaders hold the course long enough for real transformation to occur.

Overcoming Common Challenges

Leaders often tell me they struggle to make time for sustained reflection. Daily operations, compliance, staffing all gets in the way. Here are some practical strategies:

• Keep it simple. Reflection doesn’t have to be long. Five thoughtful minutes at the start of a meeting can spark powerful insights.

• Break it down. Big goals feel overwhelming, so carve them into manageable steps. Each week, focus on one question or one aspect of the practice shift.

• Model vulnerability. Share your own reflections openly. When educators see you noticing your practice and questioning yourself, it normalises the process.

• Celebrate the small wins. Notice and acknowledge when shifts happen, even if they’re tiny. Small wins build momentum.

From Resistance to Buy-In

Not every educator will jump enthusiastically into reflective practice. Some will resist because it feels like “extra work.” Others may be nervous to speak up. This is where relational leadership matters most.

• Reassure your team that reflection is not about judgement, it’s about growth.

• Emphasise that their voices are valued and needed.

• Show how reflections connect back to the bigger picture of children’s learning and wellbeing.

Buy-in doesn’t happen overnight. But when educators see that reflection leads to more meaningful work with children, motivation grows.

Reflection as a Habit, Not a Task

The end goal is for reflection to feel like part of the everyday rhythm of your team, not a task to complete and file away. When project-based work is embedded, educators naturally begin to:

• Notice more in their practice.

• Connect their observations back to shared goals.

• Take ownership of professional growth.

• Align daily decisions with the service’s vision.

Just as we want children to develop habits of inquiry, we want educators to develop habits of reflection.

A Play & Purpose Co. Reflection

At Play & Purpose Co., we know leaders and educators are short on time but big on vision. That’s why we’ve created tools to help you embed project-based reflection with your team, without spending hours preparing.

✨Make it Matter: 12 Months of Meaningful Staff Meetings: A done-for-you plan to guide reflective conversations, one month at a time.
✨Planning Guide to Re-Architect Your Playspace: Practical strategies to turn your big vision into manageable, sustained action.

These resources are designed to give you the confidence and structure to hold reflective conversations that don’t just tick a box, but transform practice.

Because when educators engage in sustained, project-like reflection - just like the children they teach - real growth happens