The Foundation Stage Teacher in Action

Teaching 3, 4 and 5 year olds

Margaret Edgington

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN: 9780761944195, 9780761944188
• eBook ISBN: 9781446237984
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

`The book takes a deeper insight into the role of the practitioner and provides invaluable information? – Nursery Education

`I think the book would be good value for money for anyone working within a foundation stage team? - Foundation Stage File

`The Foundation Stage Teacher in Action is one of the definitive texts on the foundation stage, in which Margaret Edgington deals with the realities of practice based on theory and early years principles. It is immensely practical and easy to read, and while it deserves to be read from cover to cover, this New Edition is particularly accessible for those who want to dip in or who need to refer to a specific chapter? - Early Education

`If you are new to the Foundation Stage, have been working in the Early Years for a few years, or for longer than you care to remember, if you have responsibility for employing staff for the Foundation Stage within your setting or if you work in a different key stage but have co-ordinator responsibility for the Foundation Stage, you should buy this book!? - National Campaign for Nursery Education Newsletter

?This is classic in the world of nursery education and this Third Edition, with its new title reflecting the changes in that world, is as exciting and challenging as earlier versions. Margaret Edgington?s campaigning zeal is undiminished as she asserts the prime need for specialist teachers to work with young children in the Foundation Stage and backs this claim with authoritative research references.

This is a strong, passionate authoritative text and I shall keep it close to hand for my own work? - Marian Whitehead, Nursery World

`This is the third generation of books dealing with the pedagogy of the early years from Margaret Edgington, the first two being her editions of The Nursery Teacher in Action, originally published under the name Margaret Lally. The changes that have come about in early years education - notably the introduction of the Foundation Stage with its accompanying curriculum guidance and assessment requirements - meant that many early years books have needed updating. This Third Edition is more than an update; it represents some very hard thinking about what practitioners now need to know to be effective, and presents this by revisiting the original book?s themes? - Escalate

`Paul Chapman Publishing and Margaret Edgington have pulled off a real gem of a book, with updated sections (thank you for the Forest school stuff, for example!) and fresh insights. The hard work has really paid off - thanks so much? - Nick Swarbrick, Oxford Brookes University

`This Third Edition brings a broader perspective to the early years world. Margaret?s years of experience as a practitioner and consultant in the field are evident and she manages to blend good practice, policy and theoretical aspects, bringing an astute yet sensitive approach to the early years practitioners? varied experiences and qualifications.

The book reaches not only those who are starting on their careers as early years practitioners, but also those who have been there a long time and witnessed many, often bewildering changes, where their beliefs and practice have been challenged. The new edition should be essential reading not only for those working in the field, whatever stage in their careers, but also for anyone who seeks to understand small children and support them in the best way possible? - Angela D Nurse, Head of Department of Childhood Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University

This is a fully revised and updated edition of the author?s best selling book The Nursery Teacher in Action, Second Edition.

This book now includes an extended section on leadership, on managing the foundation stage and involving the team in monitoring and evaluating foundation stage practice. Curriculum, planning and assessment now reflect the new statutory guidance on the Foundation Stage Curriculum and Profile. The author reviews the implementation of the Foundation Stage and the Profile - positive developments and areas which are still proving challenging.

New material is included on the broadening role of the foundation stage teacher in integrated, multi-disciplinary services and providing support in other settings. The book has been updated to include recent findings from Effective Pedagogy projects and other research on learning styles.

The Foundation Stage Teacher is essential reading for all early years students and practitioners; early years course tutors, and teachers new to working with 3-5 year olds and also primary headteachers.

1

The specialist early years teacher: some key characteristics

This book is based on a strong view that young children need specialist teachers. In later chapters it sets out in considerable detail what being an early years specialist involves. This chapter highlights briefly some of the essential characteristics, which are consistently displayed by the most effective and inspiring early years teachers. Some of these can be learnt or acquired, but some need to be within the individual. During the many years I have been privileged to work with early years practitioners, I have become increasingly convinced that some people are simply not suited to working with young children, and that others could be, if they received some further training. It is intended that this chapter will help prospective early years teachers to decide whether this is the field they want/are suited to enter, and existing early years specialists to evaluate their own strengths and areas for development. It should also help those employing teachers to work with 3–5-year-olds to think carefully about whether prospective candidates have at least some of the essential characteristics – particularly those which are not easily learnt.

Why do we need specialists?

In most European countries the curriculum and approach to learning and teaching are different for 3–6 or 7-year-olds than for older children. In England, where most children now start primary school at 4 years of age, there has, for some years, been an ongoing campaign to retain the distinctive character of early years education. The introduction of the Foundation Stage and its Curriculum Guidance (QCA/DfES, 2000) in September 2000 was welcomed because it was seen to be reclaiming important pedagogical principles and highlighting the implications of these for practice. In 2002, when the Foundation Stage became a statutory key stage in its own right, teachers working in nursery and reception classes were actually required by the government to work in ways which were fundamentally different from the approach then being promoted for Key Stages 1 and 2. Teachers who had previously only worked with older children, and had been moved into nursery or reception classes following the introduction of the Foundation Stage, found they were on unfamiliar territory. Strategies which had worked with Year 2 or 3 children, were completely ineffective with younger learners. Some of these teachers have been able to adapt their teaching style, but others have not. Those who have not been able to adapt have found the Foundation Stage a miserable place to be – and so, inevitably, have their colleagues and the children. Pamela Hope, a former OFSTED inspector, sums this situation up very well when she asserts:

It is not unusual for a teacher who has always worked with say, eight- or nine-year olds to be drafted in by the head teacher to teach four- and five-year olds. An untrained, unqualified classroom assistant, working alongside a teacher who is inexperienced in working with young children, can also pick up what can only be regarded as impatient, inappropriate and often bullying teaching methods. (Nursery World, 2001, p. 11)

Headteachers, particularly Key Stage 2 specialists, have found during the last few years that they have been less confident when monitoring practice in their nursery and reception classes. Some admit that they feel uncomfortable with the Foundation Stage because they do not understand it and are not sure whether what is happening in their school is actually of a high quality. The introduction of the Foundation Stage in England has therefore been instrumental in raising awareness of the need for specialist expertise. In Wales the Foundation Stage has been extended into Key Stage 1 in recognition of the very similar needs of 5–7-year-olds.

Young children are vulnerable and need adults who are sensitive to their needs and concerns. They need adults who can combine their knowledge of child development and how young children learn most effectively, with their knowledge of the curriculum content to be covered (Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2002). This involves:

• identifying each child as an individual with unique needs, life experience, personality, interests and learning styles;
• identifying the learning approaches and contexts which are most likely to motivate the child and promote positive dispositions; and
• identifying the appropriately challenging yet achievable curriculum content for each learner.

According to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA/DfES, 2000), teaching in the Foundation Stage is ‘a complex process’, which ‘has many aspects, including planning and creating a learning environment, organising time and material resources, interacting, questioning, responding to questions, working with and observing children, assessing and recording children’s progress and sharing knowledge gained with other practitioners and parents’ (p. 22). It is certainly not simply about delivering curriculum content. Few would now disagree that all teachers working with 3, 4 and 5-year-olds require at least some specialist training.

Some essential characteristics of the early years specialist

In the rest of this chapter some core characteristics and skills are briefly highlighted. These must be developed by early years teachers if they are to become specialists in their field.

Some of the characteristics probably need to be within the person to begin with (at least to some extent), although it is also possible that they can be developed and/or strengthened as a result of ongoing training and experience. For example, when practitioners understand how and what children learn through play they become less afraid of its somewhat random, unpredictable nature. Other characteristics can only be acquired through professional development opportunities and experience. These characteristics permeate and are developed further throughout the rest of this book.

Essential characteristics include all of the following:

Warmth and empathy

It is an inadequate cliché to suggest that early years specialists need to ‘like children’. In Chapter 2 the wide range of people who make up the early years team is described. Early years specialists need to be able to respond in a consistently friendly and genuine manner to a wide range of colleagues, parents and children from all sections of the community. This demands high-level, professionally developed communication skills. It is essential that they are able to adopt an inclusive and non-judgemental approach (especially with those people who are not instantly likeable) and are able to see the best in all children and adults. Early years specialists must build strong partnerships with parents, including those with cultures and languages different from their own, (QCA/DfES, 2000). This requires an ability to see the world through the eyes of others and to develop a range of strategies to cater for different needs. There is no place for the teacher who dismisses some parents as being ones ‘who don’t care about their children’. The specialist knows that all parents care about their children in their own way and recognizes that it is up to her to develop a range of strategies that enables all parents to engage with their child’s development and learning. She also knows that it is essential that she is seen to be treating all parents, children and colleagues fairly, and not seeming to favour some over others. Because she looks for the abilities of others rather than their faults or lack of competence, she is able to be a supportive, respectful enabler of others, empowering them to try new things and develop new skills. Interviews with parents, using the services of integrated centres, show genuine transformation of the lives of both adults and children (Bertram and Pascal, 1999).

Spontaneity and flexibility

Work with young children is unpredictable and the best laid plans have a habit of going entirely awry! This is because young children are busy making their own sense of their world and are not always able to see things in the way that adults do (Holt, 1989). They therefore interact with experiences, materials and people in ways which are not always expected. One deputy headteacher (experienced in working in Key Stage 1), when explaining why she hated covering for the nursery teacher said, ‘It’s the anarchy I can’t stand’! To an early years specialist it is the apparent anarchy that makes the job such a joy and a challenge. But, if control and predictability are what make a person feel comfortable, it is likely that they will find working in the early years threatening. The specialist is able to be flexible and abandon plans when they are not working, to follow the children’s lead. She is able to respond enthusiastically to spontaneous events or interests and see these as offering some of the most powerful learning opportunities. In other words, she thrives on uncertainty because she is not afraid of it. She knows that she can account for the spontaneous decisions she has made.

Skills of reflection and analysis

Early years teaching is not just concerned with practice or what has to be done. It is also concerned with thinking about, and continuing to learn about, its complexity. It requires teachers to raise questions, gather evidence, draw some tentative conclusions and plan for development. Teachers educated to degree level should be able to reflect on and analyse their practice, but not all can, or want to, go on learning in this way. For some teachers, teaching needs to be simple and clear cut and appear to be under their control. Some of the most recently trained teachers have been disadvantaged by their training, because they have been given the impression that there must be a rigid plan or strategy to follow. These teachers are not comfortable with ‘why’ questions, preferring to talk about what they do rather than why they do it. However, early years specialists are required to talk about their practice with a wide range of people. They must be able to explain and provide strong justifications for their practice. They are only able to do this if they are reflective and analytical, and can understand what lies behind opposing views.

Clear principles underpinning practice

The most effective early years teachers are highly principled individuals who are unwilling to compromise on certain strongly held beliefs. This is why they gain the respect of those who come into contact with them. They have almost certainly been strongly influenced by professional development opportunities, and many acknowledge that highly principled college tutors, course leaders or authors have inspired them. However, there also seems to be a personality trait which gives some early years teachers the courage to stand up for their convictions, whilst others, who appear to be similarly principled when working with like-minded colleagues, buckle at the first sign of external pressure. As mentioned above and in Chapter 3, early years specialists have to be articulate advocates and protectors of Foundation Stage practice – often in a hostile climate. They cannot do this if they are afraid to stand their ground. Many early years teachers feel passionate about their profession and their practice. They passionately defend and hold onto their practice because they know it works for children and their families. To these teachers it is actually upsetting to be asked or told to do things which they know are not appropriate for very young children, and strong emotions are not always easy to control. However, if they are to avoid being dismissed as being ‘too emotional’, they also need to be able to rationalize these feelings. Principles without reasons are vulnerable to pressure and this is why many practitioners pay lip service to the principles in Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (QCA/DfES, 2000, pp. 11–12). They have read them and say they believe them, but they do not understand why they believe them so they cannot defend them against opposing views.

Ability to communicate with a wide range of people

It is clear that the characteristics described above depend on the early years specialist having well-developed communication skills. These involve non-verbal and verbal communication skills, and include the ability to speak and write clearly as well as to listen to and hear what others are saying. Thompson (1996, pp. 84–5) emphasizes that listening is an active process and involves:

• acknowledging feelings
• appropriate use of body language
• resisting the temptation to interrupt
• paying careful attention to what is being said, to avoid misunderstanding
• avoiding jumping to conclusions or relying on stereotypes
• reflecting back key points of what has been said, to confirm understanding.

An ability to take the lead

Teachers have to lead their teams and take overall responsibility. They are required to maintain an overview of everything that happens during the day and oversee the work of other team members. They need to motivate and direct less experienced members of staff when necessary. When teachers are not employed, or are ineffective, it is usually this overview and sense of direction that is lost – no one takes overall responsibility and practice deteriorates over time. Teachers have to be able to lead the evaluation process and engage their team in action planning. Aspects of the leadership role are developed further in the next two chapters.

An ability to be playful and make learning fun

Early years specialists are expected to offer children access to the curriculum through play and through motivating first-hand experiences ‘which are mostly based on real life situations’ (QCA/DfES, 2000, p. 15). This involves them in setting up high-quality play contexts and planning exciting and relevant practical experiences indoors and outside. If they are to support children’s learning within play-based contexts, they need to be able to join in as a play partner and to resist the urge to direct the play. Some adults have simply forgotten how to play and are therefore unable to participate in ways which children welcome. ‘Children do not make a distinction between play and work’ (QCA/DfES, 2000, p. 11) and it is vital that early years specialists are able to maintain an ethos and approach which ensures that all children ‘continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn’ (QCA/DfES, 2000, p. 32). Teachers need to be able to put aside any inhibitions they may have. They need to be child-like and get involved as an equal participant in play – for example, taking on the role of the customer in shop play or the patient in hospital play. This aspect of the teacher’s role is explained further in Chapter 7.

Imagination and creativity

The best early years specialists do not allow lack of money or resources to become an excuse for inaction or poor quality provision. They beg, borrow, fund-raise and scavenge skips and scrap projects to find the human and material resources they need to enrich the children’s experience. Resources are important of course, but inventive and resourceful adults can provide high-quality experiences on a shoestring – at least in the short term. Some of the case studies which appear later in this book are written by teachers who were working in underresourced settings. They show that, with vision, ingenuity and persistence, anything can be made to happen. Early years teachers in England have demonstrated all kinds of creativity and imagination in finding ways of working with the pressures of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. They have not allowed rigid strategies to have a negative impact on the children’s experience. Imagination and creativity of this kind derive from a highly principled approach to practice development.

In-depth understanding of child development and effective learning

This characteristic can obviously only be gained from training, reading and observation. In highlighting these elements and omitting subject knowledge, I am acknowledging that this is what is absent when a teacher is not a specialist. Non-specialists focus on curriculum content and learning objectives, but are unable to see which content is relevant to the stage of development or how to introduce the content in ways likely to engage the children. In other words, they deliver curriculum content with little regard for the learner. Specialists use observation to get to know children, and act on this information to plan a relevant curriculum. Both Department of Education and Skills (DfES)-funded Effective Pedagogy projects highlight the importance of practitioners having knowledge of child development and how children learn, as well as knowledge of the relevant areas of learning (Moyles, Adams and Musgrove, 2002; Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2002).

Conscientious record-keeping

In recent years many early years specialists inspired, at least in part, by the work of colleagues in Reggio Emilia (Abbott and Nutbrown, 2001) and New Zealand (C...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface to the Third Edition
• Introduction
• 1 The specialist early years teacher: some key characteristics
• 2 Leading the Foundation Stage team
• 3 Co-ordinating early years practice
• 4 Helping children feel ‘at home’
• 5 Helping children to ‘branch out’
• 6 Keeping records: planning and assessment
• 7 Learning with children
• 8 Managing complexity: looking outwards, looking inwards
• 9 Supporting other practitioners
• 10 Developing the Foundation Stage: some issues and priorities
• References
• Author Index
• Subject Index