The impact of the U.K. National Curriculum on pre-school practice: Some “top-down” processes at work

Sylva, Κathy; Blatchford, Iram Siraj; Johnson, Serena

doi:10.1007/bf03174160

Cited by 25 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…She highlighted all the possible learning outcomes from the recordkeeping sheets in a range of subjects. Sylva et al (1992) endorse this need for selectivity in deciding what is appropriate for young children. As the children undertake the activities the teacher is able to record children's achievements by referring to her previously detailed planning.…”

Section: Planning the Curriculummentioning

confidence: 86%

Subjects in the early years curriculum?

Rodger

1995

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

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Separate subject knowledge and its place within the curriculum for young children is now a major feature in the practice of early years teachers in England and Wales following the implementation of the National Curriculum in 1989. This paper aims to offer a contribution to the debate current in the early years field as to whether subjects should be integrated into the curriculum for young children and, if so, how. A theoretical justification is proffered for attention to learning outcomes and consideration of the role of the adult as extender of children's learning. The importance of foundation subjects as a vehicle for the acquisition and development of basic skills in literacy and numeracy is a major finding of the research, which through a case study describes and analyses a range of learning outcomes gained by five year old children from a geography-based activity. RESUMF:Le savoir segmental en disciplines distinctes et la place de celles-ci au sein du curriculum pour les jeunes enfants est actuellement un trait dominant dans la pratique dducative des enseignants du prdscolaire en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles, depuis la mise en place du Curriculum national de 1989. L'objectif de ce texte est de constituer une contribution au ddbat actuel relatif il 1 'organisation de l'education prdscolaire a fin de savoir si les diffdrentes disciplines devraient ~tre intdgrdes dans le curriculum pour les jeunes enfants et si oui, comment. Est ddveloppde une justification th~orique relative ?~ la prise en considdration des rdsults de l'apprentissage et du r61e des adultes en tant qu'aide ?~ l'apprentissage du jeune enfant. L'importance des disciplines fondamentales en tant que mddiateur des acquisitions et du ddvelopement des compdtences du base en langue et en calcul est un des rdsultats importants de cette recherche qui, grace ?~ des dtudes de cas, ddcrit et analyse une varidtd de rdsultats d'apprentissage obtenus par des enfants de 5 arts ?t partir d'une activitd geographique. ZUSAMMENFASS UNG In RESUMENEl conocimiento de un asignatura independiente y su lugar dentro de la educaci6n de ni~ios pequetios es actualmente una importante caracteristfca en la prdctica de los profesores de pdrvulos Ingleses y Galeses despues de la implementaci6n de un currfculo nacional en 1989. Este documento tiene como meta ofrecer una contribucidn al debate actual en el campo de los primeros a~os sobre si las asignaturas deberdn integrarse en el currfculo de ni~os peque~os y, si es asi, c6mo. Se prefiere una justificaci6n tedrica para los resultados de la ense~ianza y consideraci6n del papel del adulto como una extensi6n del aprendizaje de ni~ios peque~os. La importancia de las asignaturas base como vehfculo de adquisici6n y desarrollo de habilidades bdsicas en el conocimiento de tetras y ndmeros es uno de los resuttados de aprendizaje logrado por nitios de cinco mios, con una base de actividad en geograffa.

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Section: Planning the Curriculummentioning

confidence: 86%

Subjects in the early years curriculum?

Rodger

1995

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

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“…As one practitioner from Kent put it: "too little time is given to early years workers on INSET courses which always seem to 'drift' towards the teaching of older children", while a head teacher from Nottingham declared "there should be less subject-based training". Furthermore, research by Sylva et al (1992) highlight the general lack of professional development opportunities for early years workers, particularly non-teachers; a situation that has been worsened by the elimination of GEST funding for the under fives.…”

Section: The Political Context Of the Early Yearsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Breaking through the barriers: professional development, action research and the early years

Burgess-Macey

Rose

1997

Educational Action Research

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This article is based on a paper delivered at the CARN Conference, 1995. The authors, who are both early-years professionals, have worked as research associates on the 'Principles into Practice' project based at Goldsmiths' College, London. This is an important national project involving practitioner action research in a number of local authorities. The authors examine the current context of early-years education and reflect on the increasingly marginalised and de-professionalised status of early-years practitioners working with the 0-8 years age range. They examine the impact of recent government policies on the early years field and present case-studies which demonstrate how action research in their own workplace helped practitioners, in a wide range of settings, break through barriers, and develop a renewed sense of professional identity and prestige. They consider the tension between professional re-empowerment and institutional power, and argue that action research can contribute to a knowledge and power base on which to build policies and practices on which all early-years practitioners can agree.

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“…In its 1989 report, the House of Commons Select Committee on Pre-school experience is recognised as a factor which can affect children's attainments and attitudes (Woodhead, 1985;West & Varlaam, 1990). There is also a body of research on the effects of day care local authority provision on children's learning and later development (Osborn & Milbank, 1987;Howe, 1990;Sylva, 1991;Sylva et al, 1992). The results of these studies point clearly to the importance of service quality in determining the impact of day care on children's development: good quality provision can enhance development, poor quality provision does not.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Effects of Pre‐School Experience on Reading Attainment: a four year cross‐sectional study

Davies¹,

Brember²

1997

Educational Psychology

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This paper examines the reading attainments of a sample of Year 2 children who had one of three types of preschool experience. The results of a 4-year cross-sectional study of a sample of all Year 2 children (n = 834) from six randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority (LEA) are presented. The children had attended nursery or playgroup or experienced no preschool provision outside the home: they were not matched for social background. Pupils' scores on The Primary Reading Test (PRT) [France, N. (1981) The Primary Reading Test (Windsor, NFER/Nelson] are compared over the 4 years, as are the reading Standardised Assessment Task (SAT) scores of the last two cohorts. Results are not clear cut. For 3 of the 4 years, the group with no-preschool experience performed significantly less well than at least one of the other two groups with some type of preschool experience on the PRT. The SAT levels of nursery children were significantly higher than those of the other two groups. Conclusions, based on such a small study, are tentative. It appears that preschool provision has an effect on children's reading attainments and that this is still significant in Year 2. The validity of the SAT is considered as a factor in the relative reading attainments of the three groups.

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The impact of the U.K. National Curriculum on pre-school practice: Some “top-down” processes at work

Cited by 25 publications

References 3 publications

Subjects in the early years curriculum?

Subjects in the early years curriculum?

Breaking through the barriers: professional development, action research and the early years

The Effects of Pre‐School Experience on Reading Attainment: a four year cross‐sectional study

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