aistear as a unifying mechanism across early years and primary school settings early childhood...
TRANSCRIPT
Aistear as a Unifying Mechanism across
Early Years and Primary School
SettingsEarly Childhood Ireland
Conference16th April, 2015
Siobhán Keegan, Better Start Quality
Development Service**formerly employed by
Dublin Institute of Technology
MethodologyData from the quantitative online survey
Early Years Educators(n=148 ) and Junior Infant teacher (n= 114) perspectives sought after stratified random sampling
Data from child conferencesChildren (n=57) participated in child conferences and
provided drawings outlining their expectations for schoolNarratives transcribed and thematically analysed
Presentation of ResultsEarly Years Educator and Junior Infant
Teacher perspectives on the same topics
Children’s Perspectives on starting school
Perspectives on the importance of play in Free Preschool Year
When children play….
Narrative 1Child perspectives on starting schoolResearcher: What do ye know about big school?Child 1: Well I only know what my Peter [child’s brother]
told me about big school…they only get a tiny bit of playtime
Researcher: Oh you only get a tiny bit of playtime? Who told you that?
Child 1: My PeterResearcher: Your Peter? Is that your brother? Yeah and you
only get a tiny bit of play. What do you think about that? Are you happy or sad about that?
Child 1: Well everybody has to go to big school.
Narrative 2Child perspectives on starting school
Child: I am going to play with the toys Researcher: You are going to play with toys and what else are you going to do? Child: My homework Researcher: That sounds interesting what is homework? Child: You do your numbers Researcher: You do your numbers very interesting and what do you do for your homework besides numbers? Child: You do lots of homework there. Researcher: What do you know what do they tell you about big school your Mummy, your brothers when they are telling you about big school? Child: That I have to do homework.
Narrative 3Child Perspectives on starting schoolChild 1: More workResearcher: More work? What kind of work will ye be doing?Child 2: There’s going to be more workResearcher: More work?Child 3: Boring workResearcher: Boring work? Oh no. What kind of work do you think?Child 4: MathsResearcher: Maths?Child 1: I think I will make more work.
Educators’ familiarity with Aistear
Implementing Aistear
Perspectives on curriculum continuity
Summary of findings IPlay is seen as important by both early years
educators and Junior Infant teachersChildren are more likely to play in the gaps
between other activities in primary schools than in preschools, however
Children look forward to playing in primary school but are aware the opportunities to do this may be curtailed by “work”
Summary of findings IIJunior Infant teachers are significantly less
familiar with Aistear and significantly less likely to report using it
Junior Infant teachers less convinced of the value of curriculum continuity for those 0-6, although many undecided
Either way, results indicate it does not exisitResearch still points to the value of curriculum
continuity for children
Aistear Síolta Practice Guide-a unifying mechanism to ensure continuity
Can be used independently by teachers and early years educators, alike
Translates Síolta and Aistear frameworks into practice by naming indicators of quality which can be utilised by those working with children from 0 to 6
Play is a central Pillar of the Practice GuideOffers educators the chance to self-evaluate at a time and
pace that suits their work demandsResources (videos, tipsheets etc) which reflect Irish
children and Irish early years settings(NCCA, 2015)
RecommendationsAistear should be central to
initial education programmes for primary teachers and early years educators, alike
Prioritising of Aistear and Síolta in the roll-out of CPD for existing early years educators and primary school teachers(including the Practice Guide)
What this would mean for childrenChildren will thrive during the
transition to school (opportunity rather than a wrench)
Children will learn in a way that suits their needs and interests (play-based, fun, building and extending on their experiences and knowledge)
Ready schools not ready childreni.e. System bends to children, not the other way around
“Schoolification” of early years settings is avoided
Research TeamCERAMIC: Dr. Emer
Ring; Dr. Mary Moloney, Deirde Breatnach, Des Carswell, Des McCafferty, Dr. Anne O’Keeffe, Dr. Aisling Leavy and Ruth Madden
Email:[email protected]
CSER: Dr. Máire Mhic Mhathúna, Professor Nóirín Hayes, Patsy Stafford, Siobhán Keegan, Cathy Kelleher and Martina Ozonyia
Email:[email protected]