Research and the early years practitioner-researcher

This paper challenges the approach that we traditionally take to research (in the realm of Early Childhood) within our colleges and universities. It asks why we have obediently adopted an outmoded and entirely inappropriate approach to research which disempowers and alienates the practitioners that we are working with. This paper calls for Early Childhood tutors to challenge existing regimes in order to introduce students to research that is both meaningful and purposeful for their practice. It embeds purpose and ethicality at the heart of practitioner research.     

Lifelong learning and becoming a mother: evaluation of the Young Parents Program

The purpose of this research was to identify how lifelong learning has the potential to accommodate the changed circumstances and future needs of women who become mothers as teenagers. The research drew on the previously separate theories of lifelong learning and becoming a mother to frame this initial study. A qualitative case study was used to evaluate the Young Parents Program, which was devised to meet the informal learning needs of young mothers aged between 15 and 25 years. A total of eight mothers completed a survey and four of them also participated in a focus group interview to provide more in depth responses. The results indicate that the content of the programme provided relevant information that met the informal learning needs of the participants. The delivery of the programme helped participants to make connections with other young mothers in similar circumstances. The findings imply that informal learning programmes that respond well to the immediate needs of young mothers have the potential to prevent young mothers from becoming socially isolated. Young mothers who become engrossed in their own problems without access to relevant informal learning may fail to undertake formal learning opportunities that might be available in the future.     

‘It didn’t really change my opinion’: exploring what works,what doesn’t and why in a school science,technology, engineering and mathematics careers intervention

Background: It is widely agreed that more needs to be done to improve participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Despite considerable investment in interventions, it has been difficult to discern their effectiveness and/or impact on participation.

Purpose: This paper discusses findings from a six-week pilot STEM careers intervention that was designed and overseen by a teacher from one London girls’ school. We reflect on the challenges for those attempting such interventions and the problems associated with evaluating them.

Sample: Data were collected from Year 9 students (girls aged 13–14 years) at the school.

Design and methods: Pre- and post-intervention surveys of 68 students, classroom observations of intervention activities, three post-intervention discussion groups (five or six girls per group) and a post-intervention interview with the lead teacher were conducted.

Results: Although the intervention did not significantly change students’ aspirations or views of science, it did appear to have a positive effect on broadening students’ understanding of the range of jobs that science can lead to or be useful for.

Conclusions: Student aspirations may be extremely resistant to change and intervention, but students’ understanding of ‘where science can lead’ may be more amenable to intervention. Implications are discussed, including the need to promote the message that science is useful for careers in and beyond science, at degree and technical levels.