Assessing the suitability of individual whiteboards for left-handed writers within the Early Years Foundation Stage

In 1998, when Teachers—meeting the challenge of change was published by the English Department for Education and Skills (DfES), one of the most fundamental reforms of the teaching profession was initiated—performance management. In 2005, all schools became subject to ‘Light Touch Validation’ of their performance management policy and procedures. At this significant time, this investigation seeks to explore the views and experiences of teachers in the first-named author's own school, which is a small special school. The author critically investigates the premise of performance management as promoted by the DfES and notes that the emerging literature on the topic focuses strongly on ‘mainstream’ schools where many of the research investigations have proved to be sceptical about the initiative. In contrast, through a survey and documentary analysis the author investigates the views and experiences of teachers in her own school and discovers a largely positive view and experience of performance management.     

Critical perspectives on cultural diversity in early childhood: building an inclusive curriculum and provision

This paper presents a discussion of the complexities that arise from addressing issues of cultural diversity in the early years context. It explores the challenges of developing an effective early years provision and pedagogy that values cultural difference within the framework of a mandated curriculum, The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England. The discussion presents a critical debate based on the argument that the task of constructing an inclusive early years curriculum remains contentious. This is especially the case as children’s cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds challenge the assumptions of normality and universality that are typically produced within policy rhetoric and curricular guidelines for group provision. The discussion draws on the poststructuralist theoretical framework of Foucault and Derrida to critique notions of diversity and difference. It then provides an analysis of the EYFS as an example of the challenges that arise from attempts to address cultural diversity through the curriculum.     

Changing educational practice in the early years through practitioner-led action research: an Adult-Child Interaction Project

This article reports the development of the first two years of a three-year project that examines the effectiveness of adult–child interactions in the early years, and tracks the development of teachers’ thinking and practice as they engage in practitioner-led action research. The Adult-Child Interaction Project involves practitioners who work with children from six months to six years in one local authority in England as they aim to develop their practice. On the basis of action research cycle, the methods include systematic video observation and stimulated recall; individual, paired and collaborative reflective dialogue; project logs and critical engagement with research. A distinctive feature is continuous engagement with an early years expert as a co-researcher and reflective partner in the processes of change and development. This article focuses on the impact and effectiveness of the project methodology, specifically the strategies that support critical reflection, dialogue and change processes.     

Young Children Talking: An investigation into the personal stories of Key Stage One infants

This is a small-scale piece of research undertaken in two mixed-age infant classrooms in an inner city multicultural primary school with a mixed socio-economic background. The dataset which consisted of 38 recorded stories from 32 children, was collected during a 4-month period. It forms part of a larger study that is still in progress. The research evidence highlights the lack of vivacity in many of the personal stories recounted by the children and possible reasons for this. Analysis of the stories shows some common patterns and reflects on the time given to children, in an increasingly demanding curriculum, for personal storytelling. It concludes that the ability to recount personal history is important for oracy development.     

Contemporary Models of Communicative Practice: Shaky Foundations in the Foundation Stage?

This article outlines a four‐year‐old child's multi‐modal encounters with texts and analyses one of those encounters in the light of a framework for the analysis of such events. It is argued that this analysis leads to the conclusion that the experiences with texts that permeate young children's lives are complex in nature and that this complexity is not sufficiently addressed in relevant curriculum frameworks. Further, it is suggested that young children's encounters with televisual texts need to be identified as emergent techno‐literacy practices which should be supported and extended in ways which correlate to the strategies used with regard to print‐based texts.     

Supporting the development of positive dispositions and learner identities: an action research study into the impact and potential of developing photographic learning stories in the Early Years

This discussion presents the author/classroom teacher's findings during an action research study evaluating the impact of photographic learning stories with young children. This is placed in the context of recent policy documentation that asserts the learner as a unique individual and literature promoting the need to support the development of positive learning dispositions and learner identity. The ethnographic study examines how learning stories can be developed as a tool to promote positive learning dispositions and support the mediation of home and school culture, suggesting that their potential lies in how they create an accessible and mutually constructed document that is accessed by children, parents and the teacher. The discussion supports reservations about the production of a definitive ‘list’ of dispositions and describes tensions between the aim of supporting positive dispositions and the unique learner in an education culture where effectiveness is measured by the statutory assessment of hierarchical goals.     

EHCP Implementation in the Early Years: constrictions and possibilities

In England, Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) created changes for SENCOs, including those working in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years settings. Such SENCOs hold, as a minimum, a relevant Level-3 qualification, with subsequent training and support being optional, varied and sometimes difficult to access. This situation has implications for EHCP implementation and for the roles and responsibilities of SENCOs because effective realisation of the joint working, early identification and intervention prioritised in EHCPS require power, knowledge and skills. SENCOs from one Local Authority in England participated in this mixed-methods research. Identity theory and Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory were applied to analyse the macro through to micro level influences. This revealed seven key influences: information and resources; ethos and support; quality of evidence; relationships; knowledge and skills; purpose and outcomes. This paper presents the manifestation of these in the experience of eight Early Years SENCOs working PVI settings.     

Opening the windows of wonder: a critical investigation into the teaching and learning of poetry at Key Stage Four in Northern Ireland

This article, which investigates the teaching of poetry at Key Stage Four in Northern Ireland, argues that poetry has a radical, and even subversive, role to play in an increasingly examination-driven educational culture. By focusing partly on the views of a number of poets and critics, the article evaluates the, at times, contested nature of poetry and its pedagogy against the background of conflicting ideological and philosophical perspectives. Nevertheless, it strongly argues the case for the power of poetry to enrich and enlarge pupils’ educational and imaginative experience. The second, complementary, part presents and critically evaluates the findings from a questionnaire circulated to the Heads of English in all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. These findings reflect the teachers’ general endorsement of the radical specialness of poetry. Additionally, however, key factors are identified for the best transmission of poetry that focus on the importance of a rich range of methodologies and on provision for different learning styles, the significant advantage of coeducational over single-sex teaching, and the benefits arising from pupils’ developing emotional and intellectual maturity.     

Permeating the social justice ideals of equality and equity within the context of Early Years: challenges for leadership in multi-cultural and mono-cultural primary schools

This paper explores the ideology of social justice through links between equality and equity within Early Years and what remain the challenges for leadership. Questionnaires and interviews in English multi-cultural and mono-cultural schools with Early Years age phases were conducted. The findings showed that the ideology of social justice, equality and equity was interpreted differently in each Early Years setting. The multi-cultural schools used a variety of activities to embed social justice principles that involved their diverse communities more to enrich the curriculum in contrast to the mono-cultural schools. In mono-cultural schools however, leadership had to be more creative in promoting equality and equity, given the smaller proportion of their diverse pupil and staff population. Our conclusions suggest that most schools are struggling initially with implementing the current changes in Early Years, therefore their vision for permeating this curriculum with an equality and equity focus is at the early stages.     

Re-focusing the Teaching of Poetry at Key Stage Two in Northern Ireland: Some Literary-critical and Pedagogical Explorations

This paper argues that there is scope for considerable change and improvement in the way in which Poetry is taught at Key Stage Two in Northern Ireland. In making this case for significant improvement, the paper has three interconnected parts. In the first part, a range of critical ideas highlight the richness of poetry as a literary genre. Secondly, a number of pedagogical ideas are presented, which emphasise the enjoyment of poetry as an end in itself. In the third part, there is firstly a comparative evaluation of the statutory requirements for teaching Key Stage Two poetry in Northern Ireland and England. Secondly, the results of a questionnaire, which was distributed to a reasonably representative selection of Literacy Coordinators in primary schools across Northern Ireland, are evaluated. The results suggest that there is Indeed considerable scope for improvement in the teaching of poetry at Key Stage Two in Northern Ireland.     

固结对填土地基渗透系数影响的试验研究

为了研究土体固结对渗透系数的影响,以某粘土为研究对象,通过改进的渗透试验方法,量测固结发生过程中不同时间的渗透系数,并对单个试件分四段进行渗透试验。提出了前期渗透系数和后期渗透系数的概念。研究发现：前期渗透系数（30d之前）大于后期渗透系数（210d之后）,上段土渗透系数大于下段土的,并且上段土的渗透系数稳定的时间晚于下段土;固结时间长的试件比固结时间短的渗透系数小,后期渗透系数应在平均渗透系数之上进行修正后再应用于工程。     

The development process for the optional teacher assessment materials for English for use in Wales at the end of Key Stage 2

This paper outlines the development process that took place for the production of assessment materials to be used by teachers in Wales now that statutory testing at the end of KS2 has been abolished. The aim was to provide teachers with a free, but rich, optional resource that would allow for assessment of pupils' abilities in a wide range of skills and competencies embedded in the English curriculum and demonstrate how teacher assessments could be used both summatively and formatively.     

民国前期高等教育发展对近代社会转型之影响

社会转型是一项复杂的工程,它包括社会生活的各个方面,尤其是教育文化领域。民国前期,高等教育的变革贯穿着教育发展的全过程,它加快了民国教育的近代化转型进程。同时,高等教育发展进步更是促使了整个近代社会结构的转变,带动了其它社会领域的变化。本文阐述了民国前期高等教育发展演变的历程,探讨了其对经济工业化、政治民主化、文化多元化近代社会转型的重要推动作用。     

Reflective practice in the transition phase from university student to novice graduate: implications for teaching reflective practice

Reflective practice is widely taught within higher education and is regarded as beneficial to developing graduates' ability to practise effectively within professional environments. In spite of widespread acceptance of the merits of reflective practice, a comprehensive understanding of teaching reflective practice remains incomplete and contested. This paper reports on a study undertaken to explore physiotherapy students' experiences and perceptions of learning reflective practice in order to critically and meaningfully inform current teaching practice. The findings identified that students and graduates conceptualised reflective practice in terms of the challenges they faced in the concrete tasks of daily novice practice. They used methods of reflection that were embedded in the context of their daily practice with particular emphasis on using social and collective opportunities for reflection. The preferred methods of reflective practice used by students and graduates contrasted with traditional approaches to teaching reflective practice. This study supports rethinking approaches for teaching reflective practice to incorporate approaches that are embedded within real and daily practice experiences.     

早期学习与发展标准的制订:又一份国家指导性文件的诞生

近年来，在联合国儿童基金会的大力支持与推动下，很多国家包括中国参与了其制订早期儿童学习与发展标准的项目，并取得了实质性进展。文章以文献综述的形式介绍了这些国家制订早期学习与发展标准的背景、进程、遇到的挑战及对后续工作的展望，以让幼教界N4=-对此标准的制订有一个整体了解。     

Reflective Teaching in the Early Years: A Case for Mentoring Diverse Educators

Student diversity in classrooms is on the rise and with it, a need for teachers who recognize the needs of diverse student populations. Teacher retention is a national crisis, with teachers of color at especially high risk for leaving the teaching profession early. This case study describes a collaborative mentoring approach used by a primary grades Latina teacher and two university professors. This approach focused on reflective discussion of classroom events and addressed the challenges of teaching for understanding in an age of accountability and changing demographics. Findings indicate that the beginning teacher’s enthusiasm combined with the expertise of teacher educators benefited the teacher, the students, other teachers in the school, and the participating university professors. Implications of this case study point towards the need to mentor diverse educators in the early years.     

Foundation degree to honours degree: the transition experiences of students on an early years programme

This article focuses on an exploratory study, undertaken in 2009–2012, which explored student transitions from a foundation degree (level 5) into the third year of a BA honours degree (level 6). Direct entry students and staff from an early years programme at a post-1992 British university and second-year foundation degree students and staff from the corresponding foundation degree at nine dual-sector further education colleges took part and completed online questionnaires about their experiences (N = 156). A sample of students and staff (N = 20) was subsequently interviewed about themes that arose from the questionnaires. Three themes emerged: (1) the difference between studying at foundation degree and at honours degree level; (2) student emotions about progression and issues around personal identity (students spoke about ‘not being good enough’, ‘feeling guilty’ ‘not fitting in’ and ‘trying to balance it all’); and (3) ways in which the transition process could be improved upon, including building prior relationships between university staff and students and more information being made available. Our findings on the emotional nature of progression as well as the challenges that face personal identity offer significant contributions to the research literature. Furthermore, we suggest that improving the progression experiences of students is not only important in terms of retention and student experience but also in light of recent changes to student fee structures which may make foundation degrees more attractive to students. This could potentially increase the numbers of students progressing to university for the final year of their degree.     

近十年来我国幼儿科学教育研究进展——基于代表性学术期刊论文的计量分析

通过对学前教育领域具有代表性的四种学术期刊近十年来刊载的有关幼儿科学教育的论文进行计量分析发现,在《幼儿园教育指导纲要(试行)》颁布后,我国幼儿科学教育研究从量上看时有起伏,但总体来说发展态势良好,目前已经形成由较为稳定的核心作者群及尚未形成持续研究兴趣的边沿作者群组成的研究者队伍,且研究方法初步呈现多样化趋势,但研究主题存在分布不均衡现象。未来需加强对当前研究力量较为薄弱的课题的研究,注意理论研究与实践研究的双向沟通,进一步推进研究方法的多元化。     

Policy into practice in Hong Kong pre-primary kindergartens: the impact of a reform agenda viewing early childhood as the foundation for lifelong learning

In this paper we outline the provision of pre-primary education in the Hong Kong SAR and discuss how the educational reform initiatives of 2000 (Learning to Learn) and global imperatives provided the impetus to reshape a new educational approach to early childhood education. We use the example of a half-day pre-primary (kindergarten) programme to illustrate the ways in which policy and guidelines are enacted and how they appear to reflect all the attributes of the reform movement that have adopted contemporary ideas from the international educational arena. We highlight the interpretations and enactments of these new educational imperatives in a system that has a long history of different cultural pedagogical traditions that often do not resonate with western pedagogical approaches.