Aims of the research

1. 5

2. ‘Always suffering from death by power point’; preferred teaching and learning strategies for Early Years student teachers. An exploration of Early Years student teachers’ responses to the co-creation of module content and whether this reflected preferred teaching and learning strategies.

3. Aims of the research • This study is seeking to understand perceptions of Early Years student teachers in the context of a post 1992 university. In particular this case study attempts to address: • How students felt about being involved in the planning of module content. • Which preferred teaching and learning strategies would be reflected in the content and delivery of the module.

4. Introduction • A wealth of research Nutbrown (2012), Sinclair (2007) Siraj-Blatchford et al (2002) highlights the impact a well-educated early years workforce can have on outcomes for young children particularly in the current climate where credible research is being ignored by those in positions of power. • Certainly many writers ( Giovacco-Johnson,2005; Haggis, 2006; Vartuli and Rohs, 2009; Taylor, 2008; Sambell, 2010) discuss how programme content should be examined carefully to consider the opportunities it offers for students to develop as critical thinkers. • NUS (2008) Student Experience Report “found that 88% of students wanted to be involved in shaping the content of their course” p1 Burns (2009) in Campbell et al (2009).

5. The original focus of this study was to identify which aspects of teaching and learning Early Years students found supportive in developing their understanding of their own learning and subsequently using this to support the learning and development of young children. • Findings indicated there was a preference for activity based social learning contexts in seminars and while on placement.

6. Relevant background literature Research suggests key characteristics of HE that promote critical thinking and meaningful independent learning: • Learner centred teaching (Wingate, 2007) • Imbedded subject specific approaches (Wingate, 2007) • Tutor support enabling student development of an understanding of commonly used language in HE (Haggis, 2006)

7. Relevant background literature • Learning experiences provided to support students’ ability to become more aware of the process of learning and to reflect upon their thinking and development. This to be accomplished in tandem with the creation of a supportive enabling environment where quality time is available for metacognition(Yorke, 2000). • McMillan (2010) drawing on self-regulated learning theory (Green &Azevedo 2007 & Pintrich 2004) argued that the facilitating role of the environment needs to be addressed when considering student learning behaviour. • Student involvement in directing their own learning Zimmerman (2002) and Hoffman et al (2008).

8. Methods In light of the findings of the initial exploration of students’ perceptions of effective teaching and learning, a small group was selected in order to explore further which strategies of teaching and learning were preferred. The group reflected on which teaching and learning strategies they preferred and what were their views about being involved in the planning and co-creation of the module’s curriculum content. The group was asked to collaboratively plan a Year 3 module International Perspectives on the Education of Young Children(Level 5) using university planning documents (MDF) with tutor support as necessary. The group planned for: • Group presentations on a range of international Early Years pioneers as well as a group selected range of international Early Years approaches • Individual students (and tutor) to each find, read and then share their views on a journal article dealing with international Early Years issues • Group collaborative design of a questionnaire to be distributed to a small group of international exchange students at the university to access their views of their experience of Early Years education. The responses would then be discussed and analysed by the whole group • The tutor to organise and manage the provision of guest speakers including student speakers who had recent international teaching experience.

9. Naturalistic data was gathered from: • Reflective diaries completed at the end of each session • Questionnaires • Extracts from assignments submitted as part of the assessment requirement for the module.

10. Responses Students’ responses were characterised by: • Anxiety - “ Once I started to think about it I became nervous that we might do it wrong….and that might make us fail the module.” • Shock – “ I was shocked when (the tutor) said we were going to have a say in what we learnt.” • Excitement – “…once we began to discuss what we wanted to learn I became excited to learn and wanted to engage in the module.” • Increased engagement – “The freedom we got to choose what we wanted to learn made me feel involved and more eager to learn and engage.” • More explicit awareness of own learning and development and increasingly ability to critically reflect on this – “It was interesting and helpful to take the learning outcomes and devise a plan of how to teach/learn about it.” “ I found it a good way of working as I feel the sessions were more interesting.”

11. Findings Themes identified centred on reference to: • Reflection on thinking and learning – “ Overall I believe my practice has been greatly informed by this module and my ability to be critically reflective of myself and others has improved as a result.” • Social learning – “ There have been parts (of the module) that I have found difficult, but working together as groups meant that the problems were easily solved.” • Learning in the workplace (placement context) – “I believe that my professional practice will be more focused ….and will help to reinforce a positive and enriching environment for the children within my teaching care.” • Role of the environment – “ When classrooms are set out in an informal way where we can communicate with each other supports my learning.” • Role of the tutor – “ Tutors allow us to move the tables so we feel more comfortable working in a big group.” “ The tutor needs to inspire and motivate us to learn as well as having passion and commitment to the module.”

12. What was interesting was the groups’ perception of the role of the environment and in particular the role of the tutor in ensuring the provision of an enabling environment. • Although the role of the tutor appears to be a strong theme there existed differences in perception of the tutor role between the students and their tutor. • The tutor perceived their role to be central to the provision of a climate that supported the planning/co-creation of the module as well as the subsequent teaching and learning, however, the students appeared to not be aware of this enabling role or if they were did not express such awareness in an explicit manner. “We also read an article on education and at first when I read it I didn’t think there was anything to discuss but as (the tutor) started to question us I realised that I actually had strong views about it.”

13. The “invisible” tutor • Awareness of the role of the tutor was communicated implicitly rather than explicitly by the students which gave rise to the idea of the “invisible” tutor. • Could this be considered good practice in that the tutor role all be it invisible to the students is nevertheless important in the establishment of an enabling environment to support student involvement in directing their own learning and so providing preferred meaningful learning experiences for themselves, as well as providing a climate in which students can become more aware of their opinions in relation to educational issues?

14. Implications to date The planning the students produced, as this study found, appeared to reflect a preference for working in specific social contexts e.g. small groups, listening to peer guest speakers. It could be that it is these contexts which provide meaningful, challenging tasks where peers scaffold learning for each other in a safe emotional and intellectual environment. (Nichol, 2009; Bloxham and Campbell, 2010). “This way of learning is good because we are teaching ourselves and our class peers…” “I feel that I could learn from her (student guest speaker)in improving my confidence when speaking in a presentation”. Maybe the way forward is to provide more opportunities for students to engage in authentic, meaningful planning opportunities in order to ensure provision of preferred teaching and learning strategies. For meaningful constructive involvement in students’ own education we need to establish a genuine ongoing dialogue rather than invite students to react to one off interventions. Campbell et al (2009).

15. Implications to date There may be a need to address power differentials between students and tutors to prevent students feeling inhibited during discussion/planning opportunities and move away from a passive approach indicated by some of the language used by some students in this study e.g. “…I was allowed to think of ways to cover the module content…” Trust on both parts could be viewed as a key component to ensure successful collaborative co-creation of module content and subsequent teaching & learning experience. The group in this study was small and very well known to the tutors/researchers so a positive rapport had previously been established. “My PAT tutor is very nurturing….gives me feedback to help boost confidence and marks.” Maybe a shift in university culture needs to be achieved in order for this way of working to become common practice? Campbell et al (2009).

16. Challenges for tutor consideration “ I felt nervous at first about not meeting the criteria but I was assured by the tutor that the criteria will be met throughout the sessions and in the final presentation.” (which was assessed). There is a need on the part of the tutor to ensure that students fulfil the requirements of the assessment and achieve the learning outcomes as Smith (2008, p. 717) states: ‘if I encourage students to pursue their own interests, it is my (tutor) responsibility to make sure that they won’t be punished… in assessments’.

17. Further research or action • Share practice with colleagues, access and record their views. • Introduce practice to other modules with the students used in this study and continue to gather data on their views. • Introduce this way of working to other students and collect data. • Note of caution; it may be tempting to cherry pick “user friendly” student groups to work in this manner and while the issue of positive rapport and trust cannot be ignored we also have to consider the need for inclusion. • Maybe it is the “challenging” student groups who would benefit most from this way of working?

18. Final thoughts… “…this was a good way to all work together to decide how we would all prefer to learn….we all have our own way in which we learn.” “ Having a voice in the module content helped me to engage with the module sooner and made me have a deeper understanding of the assessment requirements… this is a good skill to have for when we do this in our own classroom.”

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