EV681 Sue Lynch

CREATING A POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Today •O

bservation practice

•Planning

• Planning for an inclusive Environment

3

EE (2014) P3EE (2014) P3

Observations and planning•S

hare your observations with your neighbour

•Outline

•the child –

• their needs –

• what you noticed,

•your analysis

• and

•What needs to happen next to support their development and learning

•Complete adult intended learning plan for the two children– think about an adult led activity

•Devise a new plan to incorporate all the children

Early Years Foundation Stage

“The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning”

Role of adult‘The environment is the mechanism by which the early childhood educator brings the child and the different aspects of knowledge together’ (Bruce 2005)

What does an enabling environment look like? Discuss in groups

An enabling environment is a place where; individual needs are met and all are included learning is through play and exploration. independent learning and autonomy are fosteredopportunities for children to learn indoors and outdoors are

provided. children feel emotionally and physically safe. Children have a voice• a holistic approach to learning is promoted .

Gammage, P. and Meighan, J. (1993) (eds)

The environment consists of

•What does your placement ‘say’ to you/parents/children/visitors?

•Entrances how are parents/carers, children, visitors and staff welcomed into your setting?

Physical -appearance•D

isplays - Who are they for?

•Parents information

•Children's work

•Pictures that inspire discussion and reflection, motivates,

•Pictures/artefacts which stimulate senses, but do not overstimulate

•Reflect diversity and equality

•Contribute to aesthetics

•How is work presented?

Celebrate and motivate

Floor space•F

urniture – size appropriate•S

pace for free movement/access•Q

uiet spaces•M

essy spaces•D

oes the arrangement support children’s play? •D

oes the arrangement create barriers to communication?

http://www.communityplaythings.co.uk

/

Elizabeth Jarman communication friendly spaces

http://www.elizabethjarmantraining.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2:elizabeth-jarman-training-communication-friendly-spaces&catid=3&Itemid=5

Divide into regions and zones

Lay out activity areas

Continuous provision•C

learly defined areas?•W

ater/sand/malleable•G

raphics•R

ole play•C

onstruction•Q

uiet areas•R

eading areas•e

tc•C

an children access all resources/materials at all times? Is this desirable? Issues?

•Flexibility to respond to children’s interests/needs abilities

outdoors•A

ll settings are now required to provide children with access to the outdoors

•Discuss in your groups

•Why this is important

•How does your placement provide access to the outdoors

•Freeflow?

Outdoor•G

ross motor skills – indoor activities on a larger scale- indoors outside?•N

atural environment- stimulation of senses (Piaget)- Froebel bringing the outdoors in

•Interactions

•Wellbeing/dispositions

•Risk taking? Physical?

•Brain development

•http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-gb/Resources/Item/97757/early-years-the-outdoor-environment#.T0UORoGetmw ( EY advisors)

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJO-LKZp2Aw&list=PL7914115EB65911A5&index=12&feature=plpp_video

•(reception class)

•Properties of materials

•Problem solving

•Acoustics

•Physicality

•Sense of space – proprioceptive sense

The Emotional EnvironmentL

ove and security enables children to;

•Thrive emotionally in an atmosphere of warmth

•Feel self worth through praise and affirmation

•Establish a locus of control – allowed to make choices

The Emotional Environment

•What are the key factors in developing and sustaining an environment which promotes children’s emotional well-being?

•Discuss in groups.

The Emotional Environment

Key features include:

•Relationships of trust

•Predictability through daily routines

•The rules democratically and consistently applied

•High expectations

All of this requires the adult to establish this environment

Relationships•Adult - key Person role – transitions, attachment, home-learning (EPPE) - self esteem

•Peers – how are children supported with communication with and empathy for others?

•http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-gb/Resources/Item/102639/sweden-early-years#.T0UPGIGetmw (sweden)

routines•A

llows prolonged periods of uninterrupted play?•C

hildren choose their playmates?•A

re children able to bring resources from outside in? inside, out?•I

s there room for children to negotiate changes to routines? •A

re children allowed to initiate play?- autonomy, confidence - Is it valued?

•Opportunities for staff to observe?

•Includes tidy up time?

•Includes time for children to meet in groups and share news etc?

•Includes time to allow parents/carers to talk with staff when picking up and dropping off?

•Allows staff to reflect, evaluate and plan?

•Allows time for staff to update children’s learning journals?

Quality environment- What does it mean?

•What constitutes quality?

•How do we ensure it?

•How do we measure it?

•Reflection : Walsh and Gardner (2005)

“Children who experience high quality early years

provision are well placed to achieve better outcomes in schools and beyond and develop better social,

emotional and cognitive abilities necessary for life-long learning. Poor quality provision, however, adds no value

in the long term.”(

DCSF EYQISP p.6)

A contentious term•N

ot all practitioners are comfortable with the processes and services which accompany the idea of quality (Jones, 2010)

•A term that needs to be critically discussed (Dahlberg et al 1999)

•Do you believe it to be necessary?

•What may be the problems associated with it?

theory•O

bjectivist

•Relativist

objectivist•I

ntervention impacts on outcomes – pupil premium?

•Education Endowment Foundation?/Dyson

•Top down model (Walsh and Gardner 1999)

•Provides a standardised tool with which to compare provision across settings/time

relativists•A

re all settings same? Addressing the same issues? Values? Communities? (Alexander 2010)

•Some cultures value social and emotional and spiritual above cognitive, some value cognition and adopt the behaviourist model of instruction (formal).

•Moral and spiritual/ Steiner

•‘Quality’ has become synonymous with ‘effective’

•Current focus of quality is linked to targets and outcomes as opposed to children’s engagement and well being (Walsh and Gardner 1999).

•Therefore current means of measuring e.g. Ofsted are worthless

• all stakeholders need to be involved (Index)

•Mitchell et al (1997) Who has the power?

•Without national standards how would effective and quality provision be ensured?

•Are there quality practices taking place that are not currently measured ?

EPPE, Key findings: Pre-school experience, compared to none, enhances

all-round development in children.Duration of attendance (in months) is important; an earlier

start (under age 3 years) is related to better intellectual development. ( cortisol levels of fulltime day care?)

Full time attendance led to no better gains for children than part-time provision.

Disadvantaged children benefit significantly from good quality pre-school experiences, especially where they are with a mixture of children from different social backgrounds.

Good quality can be found across all types of early years settings; however quality was higher overall in settings integrating care and education and in nursery schools.

Importance of quality home learning environment (HLE)

What quality looks like Settings – what are the key elements of high quality provision?

Content &Environment

Workforce Practice

Clear educational

goals

Sustained shared thinking

Meeting every individual child’s

needs

Warm responsive relationships

between adults/children

Parents supported in

involvement in children’s learningSafe &

stimulating physical

environmentEYFS challenging & play-

based content

EYFS staff : children

ratios

Graduate leading practice, setting vision, leading learning

cultureLevel 3 as standard

for group care & basis for

progression to higher levels

CPD – opportunities

for staff to gain higher

qualifications & improve skills

35Back/Themes Next/Conclusion

Teachers’ Standard 5•A

dapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils

•know when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which enable pupils to be taught effectively

•have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these

•demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development

• have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

Learning ObjectivesSetting suitable learning challengesAccess

Overcoming potential barriers to learning

Teaching Approaches

Responding to children’s diverse needs

Inclusion

Creating an Enabling Environment

•Learning objective – what do we want the child to learn?

•Access – how is the child going to access this learning? (child’s next steps)

•Teaching style – how can I adapt my pedagogy to support the child’s learning?

National Curriculum Inclusion statement

Setting suitable challenges

•4.1 Teachers should set high expectations for every pupil. They should plan stretching work for pupils whose attainment is significantly above the expected standard. They have an even greater obligation to plan lessons for pupils who have low levels of prior attainment or come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious.

Responding to pupils’ needs and overcoming potential barriers for individuals and groups of pupils

•4.2 Teachers should take account of their duties under equal opportunities legislation that covers race, disability, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-primary-curriculum p8

Early Years Foundation Stage (2012)

“Children have a right, spelled out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to

provision which enables them to develop their personalities, talents and abilities irrespective of

ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties,

disabilities or gender.” (Development Matters, 2012, p1)

Differentiation •C

ompensatory or complementary •T

wo underpinning principles:• grounded in the child’s skills and aptitudes, not ability• the learning process, not the product is the teaching focus

•4 types (in Eaude, 2011, p148)• task• outcome• support• questioning

P scales•P

rovide a map of attainment below level 1 in the National Curriculum

•Provide a way of assessing pupils’ achievement below level 1 of the National Curriculum

•Used once or twice a year to decide on a pupil’s next steps in learning

http://www.edu.dudley.gov.uk/primary/Stepinto/addsupport/pscalesmaths.pdf

‘We will remove the bias towards inclusion and propose to strengthen parental choice by improving the range and diversity of schools from which parents can choose, making sure they are aware of the options available to them and by changing statutory guidance for local authorities’.

Source: DfE (2011) Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability, [Online] Address: http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Green-Paper-SEN.pdf

•Single category of SEN•Single assessment process•Education, Health and Care plan (statutory protection)•More transparency for parents•Personal budgets for parents (2014)•Improve the range and diversity of schools from which parents can choose

The new Education and Health Care Plan

• replaces the statement It looks like it will be more of an education plan as there is a question mark over the statutory responsibility of health professionals to be involved.

• No time frame for when the EHCP should be completed as there was with the statement.

• Applies only to children with SEN not to children with disabilities!

• What is stated in the EHCP is not legally binding!

• There will be no equivalent of School Action or School Action Plus

references•G

ammage, P. & Meighan, J. (Eds) (1993) Early Childhood education: Taking stock

•Hundred Languages of Children, edited by C. Edwards, L. Gandini, and G. Forman, Ablex Publishing Corporation, London, 1998

•Bruce ,T, (1987) Early childhood education, London: Hodder Stoughton

•Further reading:

•Hodkinson, A. (2010) ‘Inclusive and special education in the English educational system’ in British Journal of Special education Vol. 37, no.2 NASEN

•Liasidou, A (2012) ‘Perspectives on Inclusion’ in Inclusive Education, Politics and Policymaking, Continuum Publishing