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In a rush? Here's the quick run-down.
To get the lowdown on Leuven Scales, we spoke with Dr Sue Allingham, who runs Early Years Out of the Box Consultancy. Sue has an MA and a doctorate in Early Childhood education, writes regularly for Early Years Educator where she’s the Consultant Editor. Not only that, but she has trained with Ferre Laevers himself on how to apply the Leuven Scales in the UK.
So, how should we use the Leuven Scales in the Early Years?
According to Laevers, high levels of both well-being and involvement allow children to experience deep learning and development. A happy, involved child can experience the world at its fullest.
“If we’ve got well-being, we’ve got a lot,” says Laevers. “It indicates for us that everything that has to do with the personal social and emotional development of the child is going well.”
And yet, it’s not enough by itself. A child can be happily getting on with tasks, and never cause any problems, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re being challenged and finding opportunities for focused learning.
“So many times people say ‘He’s really involved’ and actually he’s not, he’s just 'doing' it,” Sue explains. “Children are very biddable and so if you give them a task to do then they’ll do it for you and they’ll smile. But that doesn’t mean they’re involved in it.”
Both well-being and involvement are scored from one to five, with one being the lowest level and five being the highest.
“Well-being is the beautiful stage in which children can be when they feel OK. They feel at ease. They radiate. They are open to anything that comes in.”
- Ferre Laevers, How Does Well-Being and Involvement Contribute To The Quality of Learning
The scales you’ll find here are adapted from "A Process-Oriented Monitoring System" by Laevers et al. They are:
The scale of involvement is less about a child’s happiness, but how focused and involved they are in what they’re doing.
“Involvement is about concentration. Being totally focused on something, wanting to get that contact with the reality around you. And from within there is a motivation to do that, a fascination – you want to continue to have that sense of contact with the reality and in your actions to take it in.”
- Ferre Laevers, How Does Well-Being and Involvement Contribute To The Quality of Learning
Observation and assessment are a key part of the Leuven Scales. Making them part of your reflective practice will give you a much deeper understanding of the children you care for. But it’s not a quick fix.
“It is a time-consuming thing,” Sue admits, “but this isn’t just another tick list or another thing to add to your to-do list. When used properly it can be a really powerful tool.”
An observation should, by its very definition, be a 'wow' moment. So using Leuven Scales as a tick box on an observation is often meaningless because you’ll never catch the children at the lower end of the scale – and that’s exactly who you’re trying to assess.
“You might want to say in an observation that a child was particularly involved,” explains Sue,” but you shouldn’t just tack a Leuven Scale assessment onto an observation. That’s not what they’re for.”
So how should we use Leuven Scales? For starters…
First and foremost, you should be making Leuven Scale assessments on children you’re concerned about.
“It’s a useful tool if you’ve got a concern about anything or anyone,” says Sue, “or if there’s a specific group of children that you’re involved in.”
A one-off observation is not enough, because children change over time. The way they feel one day may be completely different from the next.
“Things change,” says Sue. “Just because a child’s well-being or involvement is high one week, it doesn’t mean it will be the next. You shouldn’t be making a judgement until you’ve done a number of assessments.”
Settling in can be a particularly stressful time for children. Because the Leuven Scales help identify distress and reactions to new environments, they’re particularly good for understanding how your children are settling in.
“They’re always useful for children settling in,” agrees Sue. “It’s so easy to make so many sweeping judgements about new children without really seeing how they’re settled.”
If you really embrace Leuven Scales, you'll be surprised at just how many uses they have.
“Ferre would advocate that it’s something you could do with the adults in your setting too,” says Sue. “It’s not just about the children.”
Once you truly understand the material, you’ll realise that the theory applies to any age group and your staff are just as important as the children. Their involvement and well-being really does matter in order to give children the best care they can.
“If your staff well-being and involvement is shot to pieces, then what hope do you have with the children?” asks Sue.
We've gone through why the scales are such a great tool to weave into your practice, but what does high well-being and involvement actually look like?
Once you’ve made the assessments, you’re only just getting started. It’s time to make it a critical part of your reflective practice.
“From there, you have to start really looking beyond what you see and taking the ‘soft data’ stuff,” says Sue. “What do you know about the child? Do you know if they have breakfast, for example? From there, you use it to look at your own practice, and find out ways you can improve.”
Luckily, the Ferre Laevers-directed Research Centre for Experiential Education has produced a list of 10 action points to get you started.
But, mostly importantly - you should have a deep understanding of your children and their challenges.
You know your children best, as well as their competencies and interests. Children need to be faced with challenges and experiences that are not too easy, nor too hard, and that all starts with you and your understanding of your children.
As Ferre says “Involvement is only possible when there is a certain match between your capabilities and the environment around you.”
Guidance from the Danish Health Ministry, translated in full to English.
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The full recommendations from a working group of over 70 nursery chains in the UK.
Please note: here at Famly we love sharing creative activities for you to try with the children at your setting, but you know them best. Take the time to consider adaptions you might need to make so these activities are accessible and developmentally appropriate for the children you work with. Just as you ordinarily would, conduct risk assessments for your children and your setting before undertaking new activities, and ensure you and your staff are following your own health and safety guidelines.
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