A socio-constructivist approach to developing a professional learning intervention for early childhood education and care practitioners in Wales

Abstract

In 16 Flying Start early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings within a Local Authority in Wales, observations of adult-child interactions, using the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing Scale (SSTEW), highlighted that interactions that support children's problem solving, curiosity, concept development, and higher-order thinking were the least well developed aspects of practice. A two-day professional learning intervention 'Talking Science', underpinned by a socio-cultural understanding of science learning in ECEC was designed. The intervention was delivered via a collaborative, socio constructive model of delivery en masse to all 64 practitioners in the 16 Flying Start settings. This qualitative mixed method research project adopted an interpretivist paradigm; the aim was to better understand ECEC practitioners' perceptions of science and how these perceptions both shaped provision and supported children's concept development in their settings. Data collection took the form of scribed notes from group discussions, feedback from practitioners during discussions and evaluation feedback about 'Talking Science'. The experiential professional learning programme with a focus on science in everyday practice appeared to be supportive of practitioners' developing confidence and subsequent engagement with science provision for young children. 'Talking Science' also provides a model which may have wider implications when designing ECEC professional learning.

Exploring the development and maintenance of therapeutic relationships through e-Health support: A narrative analysis of therapist experiences

“…The epistemological position of social constructionism is suited to considering the socio-cultural context of the participants and their experiences, which aligns with the foundations of narrative approaches. 41 , 50 A narrative semi-structured interview method was used as per Fernández-Balboa and González-Calvo. 51 , 52 This method uses open questions while keeping the research topic area in mind and asking questions on this area of interest.…”

Exploring the use of a rating scale to support professional learning in early years pre-school staff: the experience of one local authority in Wales

“…We might understand this response as the respondent holding a view that 'Science', as a defined body of knowledge, is relevant for older children and/or inaccessible to young children. Once 'Science' (capital 'S' Science) was re-framed, in the PL programme, as early and exploratory concept development (small 's' science), enhanced through play and playful talk including metacognitive modelling, it became not only accessible for the practitioners (see Tinney et al 2020) but also -in their eyes -for the children. We conjecture that this shift in perspective about the nature of 'Science'/ science may also have been associated with a shift in the perceived relevance of this activity to the children accessing the settings.…”

Project-based Learning in Early Science Education A Systematic Review

“…A total of 12 studies used integrative research methods, including systematic reviews, narrative reviews and literature reviews, to synthesise the existing literature and identify future research directions ( Howitt et al, 2020;Christenson et al, 2020;Fenrich, 2022). A total of nine studies used a descriptive research design to provide detailed descriptions of PjBL implementation, student experiences and outcomes (Gealy et al, 2022;Jamali et al, 2023). Nine studies used qualitative research methods to explore the experiences and perceptions of students and teachers involved in PjBL through interviews, observations and content analysis (Das, 2020;Kallery et al, 2022;Goos et al, 2023).…”

“…Resource-rich schools are able to provide more diverse project options and deeper exploration opportunities. Studies have shown that children in resource-rich environments perform significantly better in PjBL than resource-poor environments (Howitt et al, 2020;Gealy et al, 2022).…”