Navigating ‘the bumpy road’ from research to practice: Improving the impact of research on spatial reasoning practice with young children

Abstract

Ensuring that knowledge generated through research has impact in early childhood education practice is a familiar and complex challenge. This article reports on an attempt to bridge the research-practice divide in one area of mathematics, early spatial reasoning, through the development of a practitioner toolkit to aid professional learning. The approach was to research practitioner perspectives on what is needed to support practice in this important and often under-recognised area of mathematics. We conducted questionnaires and focus groups. These showed that practitioners in England desire support in all areas of spatial reasoning, having received little or no training previously, and that multiple professional learning resources are required for a diverse sector. We argue that research dissemination, which is inclusive of the breadth of the early education sector, should provide age-range specific, accessible, practice-focussed, multi-modal resources.

Translating Research to Practice: Practitioner Use of the Spatial Reasoning Toolkit

“…For example, there is a thriving local heritage centre that children access to complete arts and humanities projects. A senior leader from the school participated in the consultative research process to develop the SRT (Gripton et al, 2024). The lead practitioner had therefore already identified the value of the SRT and was enthused about the change it could bring about in practice.…”