Supporting Quality Teaching & Learning in Early Years: Evidence from Projects EPPE

and REPEY.

Professor Iram Siraj-Blatchford

Institute of Education, University of London

Iram Siraj-Blatchford Institute of Education, University of London

Kathy Sylva University of Oxford

Edward Melhuish Birkbeck, University of London

Pam Sammons Institute of Education, University of London

Brenda Taggart Institute of Education, University of London

Effective Provision of Pre-School EducationE P P E (UK)

Aims of the EPPE research• To establish the impact of pre-school on young children’s intellectual and

social/behavioural development.

• To identify those pre-schools that are more effective than others in promoting children’s development.

• To describe the characteristics of effective pre-school settings.

• To establish the impact of the home and childcare history (before age 3) on children’s intellectual and behavioural development.

• To explore whether pre-school experience can reduce social inequalities.

• Six local authorities

• Pre-school centres randomly selected within the authorities to include: • playgroups• nursery classes• private day nurseries• day care centres run by local authorities• nursery schools • fully integrated centres

• A ‘home’ sample approx 300 who have no group pre-school experience

• Approx 3000 children and 141 centres

Sample

Sources of data• Child assessments over 4 years e.g. cognitive tasks

and social-emotional profile

• Interviews e.g. with parents and heads of centres, and local authority officers

• Systematic rating of ‘quality’ in centres

• Documents e.g. curriculum statements, policy documents etc.

• Qualitative case studies of centres

Plan of Study: an ‘educational effectiveness’ design

25 nursery classes

590 children

34 playgroups

610 children

31 private day nurseries

520 children

20 nursery schools

520 children

7 integrated centres

190 children

24 local authority day care

nurseries 430 children

home

310 children

Pre-school Provision(3+yrs)

Reception Year 1 Year 2

(5 yrs) (6 yrs) (7 yrs)

Bas

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= 3

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Ass

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Ag

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Main Findings• Pre-school experience, compared to none, enhances intellectual and

social development in all children.

• Good quality pre-school experiences support better cognitive and social-behavioural development for children.

• Good quality can be found across all types of early years settings, but the state sector has more good quality.

• For all children learning at home helps cognitive and social development.

• Disadvantaged children in particular can benefit significantly from good quality pre-school experiences.

Quality

Good quality and better cognitive outcomes for children are associated with higher qualifications in staff- especially trained teachers

Home learning before 3 years

reading to children;teaching children songs and nursery rhymes;playing with letters and numbers;painting and drawing;taking children to libraries;(for social outcomes) creating regular opportunities for

play with friends.

What parents and carers do is most important and makes a real difference to development. Activities for parents which help children’s development include:

REPEY Case Studies

• The most effective settings provide both teacher-initiated group work and freely chosen yet potentially instructive play activities

• Excellent settings tend to achieve an equal balance between adult-led and child-initiated interactions and activities

Siraj-Blatchford et al (2002) Researching Effective

Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY), DfES

• Cognitive outcomes relate to teacher/adult planned and initiated focused group work and the amount of sustained shared thinking between adults and children

• Effective pedagogy is both ‘teaching’, and the provision of instructive learning environments and routines

Siraj-Blatchford et al (2002) Researching Effective

Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY), DfES

REPEY Case Studies

Sustained shared thinking: An episode in which two or more individuals “work together” in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate activities, extend a narrative etc. Both parties must contribute to the thinking and it must develop and extend.

Siraj-Blatchford et al (2002) Researching EffectivePedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY), DfES

Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years

0

20

40

60

Good Excellent

% o

f 'te

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Sustained shared thinking Instruction Monitoring

Percentage of pedagogical interactions (cognitive and monitoring) in settings varying

in effectiveness

0

20

40

60

Good Excellent

Pe

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Child initiated Child but adult Adult initiated

Percentage of high cognitive challenge activities within each initiation category in

each setting type

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20

30

40

Literacy Maths Knowledge Phys ical Creative PSE Unclear

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Figure 26a: Curricular areas (proportionally) in which children use computers

Figure 27: Adult/Teacher presence at the computer

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Level 5 NVQ level 2-4 Untrained adult No adult present

Per

cent

age

of t

ime

Figure 28a: Cognitive pedagogical interactions which occurred while children were engaged in computing activities

0

25

50

Shared sustained thinking Direct Teaching Monitoring

Per

cent

age

0

20

40

60

80

Encouragement Behaviour management

Per

cent

age

Figure 29: Social pedagogical interactions when children are engaged in computing

♦ Children use computers primarily without an adult present.

♦ When practitioners are present they are more likely to be fully qualified teachers.

♦ Children are encouraged to discover for themselves, while the adult provides encouragement, questions and management if appropriate.

Information and Communication Technology

Finding outIdentifyingUsing

What does this do?Why do you think it does this?How does this work?

Questions can often be started with ‘I wonder…what, if, why, how, when, where…’

The role of the teacher: Enquiry Questions 3

I don’t know, what do you think?

That’s an interesting idea.

I like what you have done there…what…

Have you seen what X has done…why…

I wondered why you had…

I’ve never thought about that before…

You’ve really made me think…

What would happen if we did…

The role of the teacher: Enquiry Questions 7

Positive questioning

I think… I agree…

I imagine… I disagree…

I like… I don’t like…

I wonder…

The role of the teacher: Enquiry Questions 8

Making sense words

For further information about EPPE visit the EPPE website at:

http://www.ioe.ac.uk/cdl/eppe/

Also at:http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/

RR356.pdf

http://www.parliament.the-stationery- office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmedu

emp/3860062101.htm