‘New’ Phonics: What will need to change?

…one of the questions heads and leaders are asked to think about in light of the principles and recommendations of the Rose Report.

We have to consider the Rose Report recommendation that a high-quality phonics programme is “the prime approach to teaching word recognition for the vast majority of children.” This is the basis for the Letters and Sounds programme, although guidance is clear that this is one of the possible approaches, others being commercially produced or home grown programmes.

It would be possible – and maybe a bit cheap – to query line-by-line some of the difficulties that the “new” approach takes or even some of the research that supports it. It’s here, here to stay until the wind changes at least, so the question at the head of this entry remains. What is to be done? What will the changes in EY look like?

The worry is, of course, that EY practitioners face a de-skilling here that says “You know nothing about this, so We are going to tell you.” Could this corner people into “playing teachers,” overloading the day (or session) with adult content? This might mean, as far as I can see it, using a model of pedagogy for the youngest children that is sometimes barely sustainable in Y2: too much adult-directed material, often drawing heavily on published material that may or may not be connected to the children’s own interests. I have already highlighted this in discussing HMI 2610.

It need not be like this. In fact, this really should be a very small part of the day for young children, and taken into account when thinking of an appropriate balance of child-initiated and adult-led activity.

What may (I think it’s contestable, see below) need to change is a view that children “just pick this stuff up.” The new model of reading, the so-called simple view, knocks this on the head, and points the way – perhaps a little unsteadily – towards a need for direct teaching. But I am unsure how many schools, how many teachers, would want to think like that any way. I think it’s contestable because I feel it’s a gross over-simplification to say that EY practitioners have such a poor view of children that they do not understand how young children learn. If anything, the contrary might be argued: that very many EY practitioners know this one thing very well, but what they don’t know is how to articulate that knowledge. What I am less sure of is how the talk of improving outcomes sits with a vision of child as a competent learner, a co-constructor of their world view. There is still some work to do at what we might call a philosophical distance (and by implication, no real time to do it properly, such is the pace of change) around how the first themes of Early Years Foundation Stage marry with this deficit model of education, and a view that children need x or y because the Government has organised it to be so.

Perhaps final word goes to the EYFS FAQs, then:

Will I have to change my practice now that we have EYFS?
No – as long as you have been using Birth to Three Matters and/or the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage effectively, as the EYFS brings these two documents together. You will now be able to see more easily how your work with any group of children fits into the birth to five continuum. What providers will need to do is check that their provision meets all the statutory requirements. The introduction of the EYFS gives all providers and practitioners the chance to review their current provision and to ensure that they are meeting the needs of all the children in their care.

More on this another time, perhaps.

So how do we train practitioners in Sustained Shared Thinking?

 

 

I worry that what we could end up doing – what I think the new EYFS does – is looking at it as a bit of an add-on. With the Rose Review, the new phonics material and the “simple view of reading,” we could very easily forget about it, more or less, and simply stress that children have to be respected and that practitioners should be genuinely interested.

Yet it would seem to me to be a crucial issue in EY pedagogy. SST (which reminds me of STD too much) is to do with effective interaction between adults and children; it comes very close to the “co-construction” that Angela Anning et al champion so effectively in Early Childhood Education: society and culture, in particular in Barbara Jordan’s chapter, where she declares that there is a

“qualitative difference between the minimal levels of shared understanding developed during either teacher-directed teaching or unassisted, child-directed play, and the much greater levels that develop when all parties are contributing to interactions though the sharing of power.” (Anning 2004, p36)

There is an interesting extract from Marion Dowling’s Nursery World article from May 2006 on the Literacy Trust website.

But the question remains: how do we train practitioners in Sustained Shared Thinking?

 

There is, of course, the training material from Early Education, and the daunting (perhaps too daunting?) question that the EYFS card ends with: Have you ever taped your interactions with children to see how you support the development of creativity and critical thinking?

Perahps the diffculty lies not so much in the subject as the fact that this is a skill, largely intuitive, that we are looking for. There are books like Dunkin and Hanna’s Thinking Together, which form a sort of programme of in-service work and reflection designed to improve practice, and an Early Childhood Centre in Nebraska has compiled a bibliography on the subect, but perhaps what is called for is observation of good and bad practice, and time to relfect in grouops and alone on what sustained shared thinking feels like, and how, within our own ways of communicating, each of us can develop the skills.

To this end, the Communicating Matters pack comes close to a programme designed to improve communication between EY practitioners and their children, but begs the question as to whether we are, at heart, asking for a specific technique we can name Sustained Shared Thinking, or whether the term covers a broad spectrum of high-quality practices in relating to and listening to young children.

Quality Interactions and Sustained Shared Thinking. Some first thoughts.

Or maybe just a moan and some links.

I can’t help feeling that the EYFS cards that deal with play – for example, 4.1 , or card 4.3 which specifically is on critical thinking are a bit lightweight. This, for example, is what card 4.3 has to say about SST:

The most effective settings practitioners support and challenge children’s thinking by getting involved in the thinking process with them.

Sustained shared thinking involves the adult being aware of the children’s interests and understandings and the adult and children working together to develop an idea or skill.

Sustained shared thinking can only happen when there are responsive trusting relationships between adults and children.

The adult shows genuine interest, offers encouragement, clarifies ideas and asks open questions. This supports and extends the children’s thinking and helps children to make connections in learning.

Yes, there is a link in the electronic version of the card to the REPEY project and I do understand that the cards are meant for all practitioners, not just those who have FDs or BAs but I’m not sure what being aware of the children’s interests and understanding and genuine interest are beyond good, but standard, everyday practice.

EYFS II: Structure and (some) thoughts on content

Structure:

For curriculum exploration, the central document must be the Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage:

This sets out the four guiding themes of the new framework:

1. A Unique Child: every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

2. Positive Relationships: children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.

3. Enabling Environments “ the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.

4. Learning and Development: children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected.

These four themes underpin the Principles into Practice Cards such as the Section 4 (Learning and Development) cards that cover not only “subjects” such as Physical Development (Card 4.9) but which also have guidance on the learning environment (Card 3.3), Parents as Partners (2.2) and Inclusive Practice (1.2)

Message:

In linking the current Foundation Stage with the Birth to Three Matters Framework, and in particular by giving the B-3 format such prominence, I think we are intended to see a unity in ‘pre-school’ practice, and, although this is far from the fusion that we might like, there is still an increased emphasis on good practice in Early Years across all sectors:

  • An increased awareness of what is appropriate for a child
  • “Delivering” personalised learning,
  • Presenting positive attitudes to diversity
  • Clear statements on the central role of Play in early learning

The message in terms of quality is still (as it has been since OfSTED Technical paper 11 in the first handbook) that the ethos of Early Years remains distinct, based on developmental principles and using play.

Having said that, Appendix 2 of the Practice Guidance (pp 22-114) takes a longer view of the progression children make – from birth! – to goals that are, for the most part, identical to the Early Learning Goals currently in use.

 

These, for example, are some of the statements for the 40 – 60+ month age range for some of Knowledge and Understanding of the World:

  • Notice and comment on patterns.
  • Show an awareness of change.
  • Explain own knowledge and understanding, and ask appropriate questions of others.
  • Investigate objects and materials by using all of their senses as appropriate.
  • Find out about, and identify, some features of living things, objects and events they observe.
  • Look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change.
  • Ask questions about why things happen and how things work

The integration of the work of the Rose review is likely to be the subject of further communication, but it is interesting that the Linking Sounds and Letters section of the Practice Guidance now notes in the Effective Practice column that When children are ready (usually by the age of five) [the practitioners should] provide systematic regular phonics sessions. These should be multisensory in order to capture their interests, sustain motivation and reinforce learning.

First post on a new venture: The EYFS

There are a lot of separate documents to be accessed, and I don’t intend to work my way through them. This link goes to the page of the Standards Site which presents all the different documents as pdfs.

So my first lengthy quotation (because it’s central to the play project that most of this blog is really about) comes from the Practice Guidance (The Early Years Foundation Stage Practice Guidance 00012-2007 BKT-EN 07 © Crown copyright 2007 )
Play (Principles into Practice cards 3.3 and 4.1 )
1.16 Play underpins the delivery of all the EYFS. Children must have opportunities to play indoors and outdoors. All early years providers must have access to an outdoor play area which can benefit the children. If a setting does not have direct access to an outdoor play area then they must make arrangements for daily opportunities for outdoor play in an appropriate nearby location.
The EYFS CD-ROM also contains information suggesting innovative ways to engage children in outdoor play.
1.17 Play underpins all development and learning for young children. Most children play spontaneously, although some may need adult support, and it is through play that they develop intellectually, creatively, physically, socially and emotionally.
1.18 Providing well-planned experiences based on children’s spontaneous play, both indoors and outdoors, is an important way in which practitioners support young children to learn with enjoyment and challenge. In playing, children behave in different ways: sometimes their play will be responsive or boisterous, sometimes they may describe and discuss what they are doing, sometimes they will be quiet and reflective as they play.
1.19 The role of the practitioner is crucial in:

  • observing and reflecting on children’s spontaneous play;
  • building on this by planning and resourcing a challenging environment which:
  • supports and extends specific areas of children’s learning;
  • extends and develops children’s language and communication in their play.

1.20 Through play, in a secure but challenging environment with effective adult support, children can:

  • explore, develop and represent learning experiences that help them to make sense of the world;
  • practise and build up ideas, concepts and skills;
  • learn how to understand the need for rules;
  • take risks and make mistakes;
  • think creatively and imaginatively;
  • communicate with others as they investigate or solve problems.

Digest of HMI 2610, The Foundation Stage A survey of 144 settings

This is an interesting report. Here’s the text.

And here are some brief thoughts:

The context: is to provide a baseline for the introduction of the new Early Years Foundation Stage, publication of which is imminent. The report also links to the DfES guidance on “Improving Outcomes in the Foundation Stage,” which is linked here.

Main findings:

The report comes out strongly in favour of play, with statements such as:

There was a clear link between communication skills and the development of creativity. Creativity flourished where practitioners supported and valued language development and children’s imaginative play.

It will doubtless be reported as being more about statements such as:

Most children achieved well in the majority of the early learning goals.
However, achievement was lower in calculation, early reading and writing, a sense of time and place, an understanding of culture and beliefs, and imaginative play because practitioners gave these too little attention. Girls achieved better than boys and reached higher standards.

But note how much priority there is given to play! This ties in with OfSTED’s reporting on a cross-national comparative study of EY in England Denmark and Finland and with the report on Transition.

Page 4 gives the clearest indication of the thinking: Not all settings were aware enough of the impact of girls’ and boys’ different choices of play activity on their progress in other areas of learning. Something that could do with further study from trainee teachers as well as managers and practitioners?
There was a clear link between communication skills and the development
of creativity. Creativity flourished where practitioners supported and
valued language development and children’s imaginative play. And if this might seem self-evident to many, its inclusion is itself significant.

UNICEF

It’s interesting to note that the UNICEF research paper (it seems odd to call something 52 pages long a “report card”) lacks a clear Early Years focus. While it talks in Dimension 3 about Beyond Basic Skills and Transition to Employment it also admits, a little further down that, while “childcare must be regarded as a major factor in children’s educational well-being,” it goes on to say that “adequate and comparable data are not available to permit the quality and availability of child care in different countries to be included in this overview.”

I wonder why they overlooked reports such as the Early Years and Childcare International Evidence Project (a series of reports of which this link is just to one and this link is to the summary)?

A front page

This is a picture of me in Port Meadow, Oxford, perhaps an ambiguous choice of picture for a web-based resource, since (as technology stands at present) for most people reading this is an inside activity

.Nick at port meadow

And as a web-based activity, I ought to point out the links to the side here; they will lead to things as diverse as the Play Council and the Rule of St Benedict. Is this the only site that has them both? Until I write the book, it may be… Some of them are there as a way of “bookmarking” them – but really, I suppose, to show the kinds of things I look at on the computer when I’m not working and when I am.

winter 04 eldertrunk.jpg