user
user

Kathy Brodie: Free CPD for Early Years Professionals

Kathy Brodie is an author, Early Years Professional and Trainer specialising in online training and courses. She is the founder and host of the Early Years Summit and Early Years TV, weekly Professional Development for Early Years practitioners and educators.


Navigation
Tagenabling environments
Featured

Articles

Sustained Shared Thinking and your Pedagogy

Posted on March 10, 2014. Listening

Get Our In-Depth Online Course on Sustained Shared Thinking with Kathy Brodie

This course will equip you with practical techniques to transform every interaction into a valuable learning opportunity, engaging children in meaningful dialogues and creating environments that nurture deep thinking.

Get details of this online course here

 
In a previous post on Sustained Shared Thinking I spoke about how important Sustained Shared Thinking is to good practice. Since that post in 2009, the EYFS has been updated and Sustained Shared Thinking now appears on page 7 of Development Matters (2012), the EYFS guidance from Early Education.

Sustained Shared Thinking still appears in the new Teacher’s Standards (Early Years) (Sept. 2013) in Standard 2.4, a replacement for Standard 16 in the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS).

It would seem that Sustained Shared Thinking is here to stay – which I think is really good news. However, that now leaves the question of “How can I ensure Sustained Shared Thinking is  part of my pedagogy?”

Pedagogy, in its simplest form, is the way that we teach, educate or scaffold children’s learning. It is the way that we, as  practitioners, create an environment that encourages children to learn for themselves, to solve problems and extend their own thought processes.

It is more than just what we teach, it is how the idea is embedded into everything that we do, from our own personal approach to the environment.

So how can we ensure that we are both engaging  in Sustained Shared Thinking AND giving children the environment that encourages it?

One way is to make sure that all the practitioners in your setting (whether that is the Teaching Assistant, Childminder’s assistant or your setting manager) are aware of the powerful learning that is taking place when you are talking and actively listening to the children.

There should be areas in the setting where extended conversations are encouraged, for example, quiet, cosy areas; dens; outdoor corners and during small group time. Even simple activities such as nappy change time is an opportunity to chat to your child – to encourage the good eye contact and taking turns in ‘talking’ – that will create masterful conversationalists.

Sustained conversations may take place whilst waiting for snack or lunch or on the carpet after story time. They may happen equally outside, whilst looking for mini-beasts or playing a circle game.

Secondly, wherever, and whenever, these opportunities present themselves, you and your fellow practitioners should grasp them with both hands. You don’t know when, or if, your child will what to explore that particularly idea again.

Carefully observe your children and note when they are the most likely to want to talk, then make sure that you have some time to meet their needs on that occasion. This could mean cutting short a circle time or allowing extra time to get coats on – but Sustained Shared Thinking is so important that these are worthwhile sacrifices.

Finally, and most importantly, make sure that all practitioners value and support conversations with the children, making it a bedrock of your pedagogy.

My new book on Sustained Shared Thinking is now published by David Fulton. Find out more about supportive environments for Sustained Shared Thinking in Chapter 6.

And to read my ultimate guide to Sustained Shared thinking, click here:

» The Ultimate Guide To Sustained Shared Thinking «
 

References

Early Education (2012) Development Matters London: Early Education

Featured

Articles

Putting children at the centre of enabling environments

Posted on July 2, 2012.

I had the great privilege of meeting Julie Cigman when we were judging the Nursery World Awards together this year. She is an incredibly knowledgeable and well published author (check out her website! www.juliecigman.co.uk) and we soon found we had lots to talk about.

One area of common interest is ‘enabling environments’. It is such a fundamental part of any setting, be it a nursery, childminder, Children’s Centre or school, that it is essential to get it right. But what does this mean, what does it look like, how could you describe it?

This blog answers those questions, giving some super examples as well.

Putting children at the centre of enabling environments

Julie Cigman

Walk into any Early Years setting and look around you. How can you tell if the children feel comfortable and valued enough to be able to follow their interests, take the initiative in their learning, take on challenges and be resourceful?
How can you find out if the environment you have provided is truly ‘enabling’, so that every child is ‘like a fish in water’? (Sics-ziko-manual, p.7) I have found the Leuven Well-being and Involvement Scales very useful in evaluating the relationship between the child and their Early Years provision.

What are the Well-being and Involvement scales?

Children who score highly on the Well-being Scales are self-confident and in touch with themselves. The Well-being Scales allow us to see if children are having fun; if they radiate vitality as well as comfortable relaxation; if they are open and receptive to experiences. They have their basic physical needs met, but also their emotional needs, their need for clear boundaries, their need for acceptance and affirmation – and their need to be connected to some greater meaning than their own individual needs.

The Involvement Scales help us to know if children are at the limits of their capabilities – deeply engaged in their play, following their fascinations, sufficiently challenged, with high levels of concentration. This happens in stimulating environments where levels of Well-being are high.

What do high levels of Well-being and involvement look like?

When I visit settings as a consultant, I find myself drawn towards the groups of children displaying the highest involvement levels, as this is where I see the most interesting play and learning.

Tariq and Andrew were in their EYFS school garden, playing by a wooden boat.
“We’re making a boat, not just a boat, we’re making a house.” Tariq walked round the boat with different plastic tools, saying “sparks, sparks, sparks, sparks,” hitting the boat each time he said sparks. “Measure the boat: 45… 28…”
Andrew picked up a sander (it looked like an iron).
“You can’t touch this, it’s hot. See, these ones are very dangerous. Don’t touch these, see? Yow! Yow!”

‘Enabling’ provision

A simple suggestion from a practitioner helped the children take their play on a level while still maintaining their involvement levels. The children knew where to go to get stimulating resources (carefully chosen by practitioners, and made easily accessible) that supported their individual interests and style of play.

Practitioner: “People sometimes wear safety helmets when they’re building.”
Tariq: “Helmets! Let’s get helmets!” He ran off, and came back wearing a builder’s helmet. He tripped over a tool box. “We’re funny builders. Cos we sometimes trip over them.”
Andrew: “We’re off to our next job now. Shall we see you at the next job?” (He picked up his tools).
Practitioner: “Okay, where’s the next job?”
Tariq: “It’s at the house. See you…”
Practitioner: “Have you got a list of all of your jobs?”
Andrew: “Yeh, here…” He pulled an imaginary list out of his pocket and went off talking on a phone (his hand).

In a Year 1 classroom, Jake and Alexi were in the workshop area. Jake was trying to make a model with boxes, but was looking frustrated. Alexi had come to see what he was doing. An adult stepped in briefly to help Jake deal with his frustration, allowing him to maintain his sense of satisfaction and his levels of involvement.

Teacher: “How’s it going?”
Jake: “Not very well.”
Teacher: “Have you got a plan, or are you working it out as you go along?”
Jake: “Aaah, yes… A plan.”
He got a piece of paper and drew a ‘rocket’.
Alexi watched: “Do you want any help?”
Jake: “No.”
Alexi: “What are you making?”
Jake: “A rocket. This is my plan sheet.”
Alexi: “Which bit have you made?”
Jake: “This bit at the bottom. We’re doing this bit. Can you hold the string please?”

The two children worked together, holding the string, cutting, consulting the plan.
Jake: “We’re making cages for trapping the aliens! Look at our rocket! It’s multi-colour!”

What do low levels of Well-being and Involvement look like?

Sadly, there are some settings where the environment is not so enabling – and consequently, where levels of well-being and involvement are low.

Carl is nearly three and a half. He goes to pre-school 5 mornings a week.
Carl wandered around the room then he went into the home corner, where he flopped down onto the carpet. A few minutes later he stood up and wandered across the room, where he ‘play punched’ Troy, making a loud punching sound.
Carl: “You’re dead.”
Both boys started play shooting each other with their fingers, making shooting noises, lying down and jumping up.
Carl rolled a car up the side of the sofa, making car noises, dropped it, rolled on the floor, lay there, then got up. He looked around, went to the home corner and lay on the ground. A few minutes passed then he went and sat on a chair. Mandip walked past, Carl roared at him, Mandip looked startled then walked on.
Carl started play fighting with Troy, using a Sticklebrick ‘gun’.
Carl: “Troy, Troy, Troy, when I shoot you, you have to go down. Troy, Troy, Troy, Troy, Troy, let’s go over there.”
An adult looked over at the two boys from a table where she was leading an activity.
Carl: “Troy, Troy, let’s go over here where no one can see us.”
He went into a hidden corner with Troy and they both lay down on the floor.

When levels of well-being and involvement are low, this tells the setting that they need to look at the relationship between the children and the provision – and adapt the provision – the physical environment and the adult support – accordingly.

The Leuven scales put the child at the centre of the observations, rather than the curriculum. They help us to adapt the environment to the child, rather than expecting very young children to adapt to the environment.

Peer observations using the Leuven Adult Engagement Scales can help practitioners to evaluate levels of sensitivity, stimulation and autonomy in the interactions between staff and children… but that’s another story!

 

Photo: High levels of involvement in two children, absorbed in making magic potions from miniature bottles of shampoo, spices, oils and creams. They made Magic fairy dust, mermaid’s tears, spiders’ and chickens’ toenails, dragon wee, red poisonous hairy worms and more…

 

Further reading:

My article for Teach Early Years on How to provide an enabling environment for your children.

“Well-being and Involvement in Care Settings. A process-oriented self-evaluation instrument for care settings” is a manual produced by the Research Centre for Experiential Education in Leuven, Belgium.
http://www.kindengezin.be/img/sics-ziko-manual.pdf

Julie Cigman Early Years consultant, trainer and writer
Website: www.juliecigman.co.uk
Email: jcigman@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @juliecigman
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/julie-cigman/21/438/469