Research in the Early Years

A step-by-step guide

Pam Jarvis, Jane George, Wendy Holland, Stephen Newman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781138142503
• eBook ISBN: 9781317861133
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This new text is the only resource out there to address the needs of todays early years students/trainees and support them through every stage of the early years research process.

Research in the Early Years contains case study material in the form of four fictional students experiences, which run through the book. Readers follow these example students through their dissertation module as they address common problems, issues and pitfalls.

Clear explanations and a step-by-step approach are balanced with sufficient depth and rigour to challenge those on undergraduate courses or following graduate programmes such as EYPS.

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Chapter 1

Planning and preparation: your Early Years research project

Pam Jarvis, Wendy Holland and Jane George

Introduction

This chapter will introduce the concept of research in Early Years settings and the way that this book intends to support those who work within schools, nurseries and other Early Years care and education settings through their undergraduate research modules. It will cover:

Choosing and refining a topic

The concept of ‘reflective practice’reflective practice’reflective practice’reflective practice’reflective practice’reflective practice’

Basic introductions to:

Reliability

Validity

Representativeness

Objectivity

Research ethics

Current debates arising from the increasing number of practitioner research projects in Early Years settings

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If you are reading this book it is likely that you are either looking forward to starting, or have just started a dissertation or practitioner research project. Writing between five and ten thousand words on a topic that you are expected to select for yourself can be a daunting prospect, and we hope that we can help you to hone your abilities to manage yourself through this experience, and emerge with a positive result.

First of all, remember that this is a project that you have to undertake in small steps. When students first look at the prospect of researching and writing a dissertation, it often seems that there are so many things to think about it will never get done, but if you take it in small ‘chunks’ you will find it less overwhelming. As the old saying proposes: ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’

You will need to set goals, organise, schedule and prioritise so you can complete your project within the time available; this book will help you in this respect.

Introducing …

We have constructed four example students, who are composites of people we have all known over our collective years of working with students completing dissertations and practitioner research projects. They will begin their research module in this chapter and then we will follow them through the book as they move through their projects meeting a range of problems and solutions, and pitfalls and triumphs.

Ellie

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… is a final year BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies student embarking upon a 30 credit, level 6 dissertation module. She is 37 years old and has worked in childcare since achieving her NNEB when she was 18. She has approached her degree via part-time study along the Foundation Degree route, obtaining day release from her work. She is currently deputy manager in a private day-care setting, and is married with two daughters aged 7 and 10. She has really taken the idea of reflection to heart, but suffers from ‘analysis paralysis’! She is beginning to question everything in her employment environment, and has attempted to set into action a spiral of improvements; however, she finds it difficult to identify stages of action and ‘rest’ points. She will submit a 6000-word dissertation.

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Nick

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… is a Graduate Teacher Training Programme (GTP) student embarking upon a 40 credit, level 6 dissertation module. He was made redundant from his job in financial services three years ago. He is 45 years old, and lives with his partner. Their children are currently at university. He has been employed in a primary school (reception class) as a non-qualified teacher with a view to working towards taking on the role of maths co-ordinator when he completes his training. His colleagues and mentors think highly of him, but he lacks confidence in his own ability. He was a very high achiever in his previous career and found working through the process of redundancy very difficult. He sets very high standards for himself and others. Nick will submit a 10,000-word dissertation.

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Florentyna

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… is now in the final year of her Foundation Degree in Early Years, embarking on a 30 credit, level 5 practitioner research module. She is 30 years old, and was brought up in Eastern Europe; her nation is now part of the European Union. She speaks English as an additional language, and obtained a sociology and law degree in her native country. She came to the UK three years ago, learning to speak and write English through a programme of college courses. She has now settled down with her English partner and plans to stay in the UK. She started her Foundation Degree in Early Years when she was given paid employment by her local children’s centre, after a short period as a volunteer language support worker. Florentyna wishes to move on into a full BA top-up once she has finished her FD, and is aiming for an overall distinction. Practitioner research is a double module, so her grade for this is pivotal within her overall performance. Florentyna will submit a 5000-word practitioner research assignment.

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Sunil

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… is 25 years old and currently enrolled on the Registered Teacher Training Programme (RTP) at his local university, in which he will be taking a 20 credit, level 6 practitioner research module. He is working in a nursery/reception classroom as a language support mentor. He is currently single, and has taken a circuitous employment route to his current studies that has involved a period spent in youth work (during which time he obtained a Foundation Degree in Child and Youth Studies), a part-time, temporary job supervising the breakfast club in the school where he currently works, followed by full-time employment as a language support learning mentor. Last year, Sunil completed a Higher Level Teaching Assistant Qualification. His employers now want him to obtain full Qualified Teacher Status, so he has enrolled on the ‘top-up’ year of the BA in Education Studies with QTS at his local university. Sunil thoroughly enjoys working with the children in the classroom, but he does not enjoy academic study at all. He disliked the volume of essay and report writing that he was required to complete for his Foundation Degree, and is looking forward to finishing with the least amount of additional stress. He is aiming for a bare pass on his 4000-word practitioner research assignment.

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Choosing and refining a topic

There is, occasionally, a misconception among students, even among those who are Early Years subject specialists, that Early Years is an ‘easy’ arena for a dissertation focus. It is not uncommon for a dissertation tutorial to begin with a student presenting their research question as: ‘What are the benefits of play in Early Years?’, or: ‘What significance does gender have in the Early Years?’ or: ‘What is the importance of language in young children’s thinking?’ These are just a few examples of conceptually huge research questions that students have expected to address within a three-month research period and a six thousand word dissertation!

When subsequently asked to define terms such as ‘play’, ‘gender’ or ‘language’ in relation to children’s ‘thinking’, students begin to realise that although a young child has a limited history in terms of years and experience it does not automatically mean that the ‘story of their journey so far’ lacks a level of real complexity. Any attempt to unravel or interpret such young human behaviour in terms of its ‘significance’ or ‘meaning’ demands a depth of academic integrity which both challenges and rewards those who try.

Finding the right question(s) to ask is the starting point for any research journey. This in itself, however, can be fraught with difficulties, for it demands of the researcher the kind of honest reflection that some might find uncomfortable. What has triggered the student’s interest in a particular focus? How does it reflect on them as an individual? Does it show significant bias for a particular viewpoint or the pressure of school/setting politics? Has the choice been made for more mundane, practical reasons such as time constraints and the need to meet course work deadlines? What might be the benefits and barriers to carrying out a piece of research on this topic in the relevant setting?

Sunil

… had misgivings about the recent changes in his work-place. It wasn’t the school management as a whole that concerned him; the head teacher was fantastic, so full of energy and ideas; very committed to successive governments’ drives on child poverty. When the inspectors had come to visit, he’d taken them on a tour of the local estate before they’d set foot inside the school! This year he was trialling a more ‘creative’ approach to the curriculum,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Foreword
• About the authors
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1. Planning and preparation: your Early Years research project
• Chapter 2. Reading for research: efficient use of your access to an academic library
• Chapter 3. The literature review and sectioning the project write-up
• Chapter 4. Introduction to methodology
• Chapter 5. Observation-based research in the Early Years
• Chapter 6. Putting research methods into action
• Chapter 7. Presenting your data
• Chapter 8. Discussing and concluding: placing your findings within the frame of Early Years research
• Chapter 9. Presentation of report: gaining marks for ‘readability’
• Index