A successful child: early years practitioners' understandings of quality

Alexander, Elise

doi:10.1080/09575146.2010.484798

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The practitioners working in the children's centres in this sample aspired towards responsive, localised services as part of their visions of 'quality'. But these visions and the challenges they faced in achieving them were influenced by practitioners' personal histories and the particular context of their setting as well as the wider political agenda (Alexander 2009, Alexander 2010Cottle and Alexander 2011). The data here suggest that the concept of 'quality' can be elusive and dynamic and that positive relationships, open dialogue and critical reflection are key to developing the shared understandings which enable responsive services for children and families.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

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Understanding and achieving quality in Sure Start Children's Centres: practitioners' perspectives

Cottle¹

2011

International Journal of Early Years Education

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This article focuses on some of the issues that shape understandings of professional practice in the rapidly expanding context of children's centres in England. Drawing on data from an ESRC-funded project exploring practitioners' understandings of quality and success, the perspectives of 115 practitioners working in 11 Sure Start Children's Centres are presented. The findings indicate that the practitioners' definitions of quality and success are influenced by contextual elements, such as the organisational climate in which they work, as well as the wider political agenda and their individual histories. Putting practitioners' understandings of quality into practice presents challenges on a number of levels as they search for new ways of working to provide 'joined up' provision that will work for children and their families as required by current policy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Practitioners' perceptions of 'quality' Practitioners' perceptions were influenced by the particular context of their centre and their individual histories as well as the wider political agenda (Alexander 2009, Alexander 2010Cottle and Alexander 2011). Individual histories influenced practitioners' views on 'quality' in a number of ways.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding and achieving quality in Sure Start Children's Centres: practitioners' perspectives

Cottle¹

2011

International Journal of Early Years Education

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“…Education is and remains a contested concept, the aims of which are difficult to pin down (Desjardins, ). Schools have what Hodkinson and Hodkinson () describe as “secret stories” which make them resistant to official discourses about teaching, and when teachers talk about their work, they offer their own interpretations of their goals and the ways in which they evaluate learners and learning (eg, Alexander, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing ICT in schools in England: Rationale and consequences

Hammond¹

2013

Brit J Educational Tech

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This paper provides a critical perspective on the attempts to promote the use of ICT in teaching and learning in England. It describes the rationale given for the introduction of ICT in terms of its potential to impact on educational standards, to contribute to developing a curriculum which has more vocational / social significance and, more generally, to provide a catalyst for curriculum reform. The introduction of ICT is underpinned by the argument that schools should show a higher degree of correspondence with a wider world in which the use of technology is pervasive. Introducing ICT in schools in England: Rationale and consequencesThis paper provides a critical perspective on the attempts to promote the use of ICT in teaching and learning in England. The first section describes the rationale for the introduction of ICT in particular the claims that ICT can impact on educational standards; carry a vocational / social significance; and provide a catalyst for curriculum reform. The second section shows how each of these goals has been distorted by excessive optimism and a sense of 'inevitability'. The final section of the paper discusses the case for using ICT and argues for a more measured and adaptive policy and practice. The introduction of the ICT into schools in EnglandA feature of the attempt to introduce ICT into schools in England has been the consistent and proactive championing of technology by successive governments (see for example Buckingham, 2007;Twining, 2002;Wellington, 2005).The first 'Computers in the Curriculum Project' was set up in 1973 and was followed by initiatives such as the 1981 'Micros in Schools' scheme; the Microelectronics Education Programme (MEP), (1980 until 1986) and the broader Technical and Vocational Initiative (TVEI). Interactive video was promoted in the 1980s alongside Neris, a teacher resource database available on line. Initiatives in the 1990s included support for the use of Integrated Learning Systems (ILS); multimedia laptops for teachers and the Education Department's Superhighways Initiative (1996 -98). The focus on new technology was strengthened by new Labour Governments (1997Governments ( -2010 (Selwyn, 2008). A National Grid for Learning (NGFL), in its first phase , provided funds for hardware, software and Internet connectivity and this was followed by a raft of further projects and funding schemes. Technology initiative (DfES, 2005) which outlined the case for ICT in teaching and learning and set broad targets in order to reach 'e-maturity'. During all phases of the introduction of ICT, government agencies have been created to mediate between policy and schools: MESU, NCET and Becta, respectively. However much of the proactive support and direction concerning the use of new technology has been reduced by an incoming (2010) coalition government: Becta has been shut down and a more laissez faire approach to educational policy, at least in respect to technology, has been offered, even if ministers have at times continued to make pronouncements in ...

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“…Early years practitioners, working in collaboration with higher education institutions and independent training providers, can seek to strengthen the local, and virtual, networks through which Continuing Professional Development activities are designed and delivered. These can be used to challenge, and expose, any tensions that continue to arise in policy-driven and practitioner conceptions of the 'successful child' (Alexander 2010), thus ensuring that the form and content of CPD continue to meet the needs of practitioner development, and thereby support the well-being and development of the children they work with. There is also likely to be a role here for bodies representing early years practitioners at a local and national level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By taking responsibility for processes of knowledge recontextualisation in the workplace (Evans et al 2010), and committing to greater ownership of the design and delivery of CPD, practitioners can participate more fully in the productive system and ongoing reform. A partial subsumption within the norms of the teaching profession may take place, with potential advantages for professional standing (Nutbrown 2012, 57), but this may be to the detriment of practice diversity and result in increasing dislocation between 'official' and 'practitioner conceptions of a 'successful child' (Alexander 2010). These factors impact on the development of shared professional standards and ethos, and discretion and autonomy as professionals, and by implication, the capacity to work effectively in inter-professional arrangements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A productive system of early years professional development

Hordern

2013

Early Years

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Tel: 01225 384104 Jim Hordern has worked in adult and higher education, learning and development, and in local authorities in England and Wales. He has researched various aspects of education and professional development, including in children and young people's services. Word count: 5230 AbstractThis paper uses the concept of the productive system to identify some of the tensions between the stages of professional development of early years practitioners and the relationships between the various actors within the system of professional formation in England. In the context of the recommendations of the Nutbrown review a series of challenges facing early years professionalism and the design and delivery of continuous professional development are discussed. These include issues that relate to the predominance of external influence on the nature of early years professional knowledge, the significance of the early years setting in supporting practitioner learning and influences on workplace learning processes. Some strategies for strengthening practitioner influence over the productive system are briefly outlined, which relate specifically to how practitioners engage with the challenge of how CPD is organised and located as part of an early years professional identity.

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A successful child: early years practitioners' understandings of quality

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

Understanding and achieving quality in Sure Start Children's Centres: practitioners' perspectives

Understanding and achieving quality in Sure Start Children's Centres: practitioners' perspectives

Introducing ICT in schools in England: Rationale and consequences

A productive system of early years professional development

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