What the resource is:
This
Teachers TV video, recorded in a Birmingham primary school, explores the strategies used by the early years practitioners in order to develop an interactive environment that has the aim of enabling the pupils to play an active role in their learning. It is an excellent exemplification of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum in action, because it highlights the pivotal part play and active learning plays in the new framework. Play is central to the new requirements of the EYFS and can provide evidence for all six areas of learning.
It tracks the development of an early years role play area and provides a fascinating insight into the ethos of the school and the beliefs of the school-based practitioners, especially from the perspectives of the school's Foundation Stage coordinator and Professor Chris Pascal from the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (a former pupil of the school).
The aims of the resource:
The resource aims to show that structured play within a happy and secure environment is a powerful vehicle for the development of learning and is pivotal to supporting the challenge of the EYFS curriculum. It reiterates the need for the six areas of the EYFS curriculum to be of equal status in order to create a balanced learning experience, although it is indicated that personal, social and emotional learning should take precedence.
The focus school is situated in an area of urban regeneration (Longbridge) and the practitioner explains that she feels the pupils should be prepared for what may be an uncertain future in terms of their prospects. Chris Pascal implies that the realisation of the stated aims of the EYFS curriculum (where pupils should be equipped with ‘life skills': a sense of ‘self', the confidence to think and act creatively, be able to problem solve and work independently and collaboratively) are shown in the video as the early years department puts theory into practice.
Key findings or focus:
The video outlines the rationale behind the creation of the role play area, shows footage of pupils working and concludes with some of the benefits of its creation.
The rationale maintains that the challenge of the EYFS curriculum is the idea that how we learn is the most important factor, not what we learn, and that child-initiated play is fundamental to this philosophy, leading to the development of higher order thinking skills. The video clearly shows how the practitioners develop a supportive learning environment, through play, so that all pupils feel empowered to offer suggestions about how their role play area should be organised.
The video not only showcases the pupils taking part in interactive activities, but also indicates the importance of having an appropriately designed classroom environment in which to operate.
Also of value to viewers are the ideas outlined by the practitioners for the successful creation of a role play area such as:
- Modelling the types of role play possible in the area that had been created
- The creation of individual areas and associated displays
- Making learning fun
- The need for the element of choice to be incorporated so that pupils may begin to make decisions and think independently
- Enabling the above to occur within a structured framework.
The video concludes with the benefits of using participant observation as an assessment method with the aim of gaining an in-depth insight into the pupils' learning and as a starting point for future planning.
It ends by recognising that the new EYFS framework may challenge existing practice in some settings, but by adopting it the learning experiences of the pupils will move forward from being ‘OK' to a ‘world class service' as suggested by Chris Pascal.
The quality, authority and credibility of the resource from your subject perspective in relation to ITE:
This is a well produced video that illustrates the interactive nature of the EYFS curriculum clearly. The views of the participants are valuable additions to the visual evidence.
The implications for ITE tutors/mentors:
This is an accessible resource for Primary ITE tutors to use with their students, especially those hoping to specialise in early years. It would be a useful adjunct to critical work on the Excellence and Enjoyment, Every Child Matters (ECM) and Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) policies, and it would be a good idea to present this to students before they go out on teaching practice so that they can compare its findings with what they discover in their teaching practice school. In wider terms, it would also be of value by showing how the EYFS curriculum may be embedded in practice.
The relevance to ITE students:
The resource would be useful to students specialising in early years to show how the classroom environment may be designed in order to facilitate interaction between pupils and develop their confidence, decision making and independence. The extent to which the aim of developing ‘life skills' has been achieved could also be reflected upon.
All students would find it useful to reflect upon the recommendations within the policies stated above and discuss how effective this example appears to be in relation to the EYFS curriculum.
Reviewed by:
Carolyn Chalkley