Parent perspectives first installment: a good start for life and learning

I was very interested in the perspectives of parents at each of the venues I visited. While in the UK I was often able to meet parents and was even able to ask some to a formal interview. The short duration at each centre in Denmark and the language differences made this a difficulty in Denmark, which was a shame. 

Whenever I got the opportunity I would ask parents why they had chosen this centre for their child's prior to school experience, what were their aspirations for their child and how they expected that this type of learning environment would foster this. I was also interested in their perspectives on schooling and how their children would go as they entered formal education. 

Their insights seemed to fall into four main categories: 

1. Giving their child a good start for life and learning

2. The way of teaching

3. Connecting to nature

4. Concerns regarding the school system

I'll be adding to this over the next few days, but let's start on how parents saw this type of early education as a good start for their child's life and learning. 

1. A GOOD START FOR LIFE AND LEARNING

This was by far the main source of insight that parents communicated to me. They spoke with passion about the types of dispositions they saw nurtured in their children through the learning environments and the style of teaching. 

Many comments referred to children being able to be themselves, to remain as children without the pressures of responsibility bearing down on them too early. Comments such as "What I want for him right now is just to be and he can just be here. I want him to just be a child and not rush into all the responsibility that you have when you start school" clearly indicates this parents desire for her child to enjoy that special time of being four. Another parent followed a similar statement with this "They are lucky to have no responsibilities.  It's such a gift to be able to be spontaneous and free and come up with wild ideas and then just do them" 

Children's confidence was found to be an important factor. Children who may have entered the nursery as shy, withdrawn or unsure were described as developing greatly in confidence and becoming more assured and assertive. The learning environment was seen to promote confidence, as shown in the following; "My child's confidence is ten fold. He's using language much more, his attention span has improved. He's building strong relationships with the staff and other kids. This environment allows him that and he's stronger and more confident for it. This will make him capable for the future". 

Opportunities for decision making were also commented on with great positivity. "He's able to choose and control his own play and experiences. He can come here and get dirty and make it what he wants to make it that day". Parents valued the autonomy that their children were given, seeing it as developing life skills. "They're independence is encouraged and they are given choices. When they are cooking the children are encouraged to say what they think, they're involved. Their opinions are valued. Little by little they've encouraged him to work out what he wants himself whereas before he'd need an adult to tell him". One parent commented on the way children are consulted at every point in the day. "It's not just about being free and just doing what you want, it's about knowing why and how it's going to effect everyone else. Helping them to shape their decision making process instead of a command" 

The natural outdoor environment provides much opportunity for children to be imaginative, curious and exploratory. For parents this was an important aspect. "If he's got a stick it might be a sword, it might be a magic wand, it could be a motor bike or a witches broom. That stick is such a rich object while he's here because he's constantly imagining. He's not being given a toy or an object and being told well this is how you play with it." Parents saw the value in children being imaginative and as an educator I know that it is vital for children to develop these skills as a means of understanding symbolism, as a precursor to formal literacy learning. 

I'll be writing about the other aspects from parent interviews over the next few days. This is enough for me for one sitting, and I imagine it's enough for you too. I'll leave you with this question. If you're an educator, do you know what your parents know about the sorts of dispositions that foster learning? What do you do to make parents aware of this? 

Stickland

10:15. 

We are getting ready to catch the bus. I arrive in the foyer where the children have been gathering what they need for the day and getting dressed in their warm clothing. Teresa, the forest school trained practitioner has also been very busy gathering up all that is required for a happy day in the woods. Snacks, water, spare clothing and the like. As they are waiting for the bus they are singing a song

One two three

Kieran's ready, Kieran's ready

Bag and boots, bag and boots

Waterproof and wellies, waterproof and wellies

Thank you Keiran, thank you Keiran. 

Sung to the tune of Ferra Jacka. 

There is discussion about Stickland as well as singing the song for each of twelve children. Other children have joined in this gathering and are welcomed, although it's not their day to go to the woods. 

10:30 and we are on the bus. There are bags of supplies and a box of food. Children and educators are chatting away, noticing things in the city as we drive towards the woods. Some sit quietly watching out the window. I feel quite sleepy. The city gives way to wider roads and suburbs, with houses rather than tall buildings. 

We arrive at a green space. It's alive with trees, moss, birds and even deer. There is a community area where different groups have structures to support  their 'programs'. There's a tipi that the scouts use, a yurt used by the nursery school, some timber shacks and a fire pit. We stop in the yurt for snack.

11:00

It's time for an adventure. Teresa waits for the children to finish their snack, to be ready to join the group. Some children wander off nearby, others stand with Teresa. It's not until all have decided to join the gathering that they move off together. The first stop is the public toilet. Again children busily investigate the environs nearby while others use the toilet. There's no pressure or stress to be quick or no expectation that they line up or stand waiting. When everyone is ready we move to the next spot, decided by the children. All agree to head to the river. Here we negotiate steep paths, exposed roots, rocks and low branches. We go down a steep incline to the water below. Here we come to a bridge, a bit of timber that has been placed there. It only goes part way across and the children tentatively make their way, carefully placing feet on the wobbly timber, then onto rocks and logs to get across. It doesn't take long for someone to get enough confidence to place their feet in the water, then even less time for them to be splashing and wading. Such fun and some do get wet, but that is their decision and there are cloths to change them into later. If they choose to be cold and wet while on the adventure, so be it. 

The adventure continues. If children choose to stop, we all do. 

I watch Teresa respond to some conflict. One of the children hurt another with a stick. She was immediately there, speaking calmly, comforting the child that had been hurt, drawing the child that did the damage near, gathering all the children together to share in this. She pointed out how much it hurt, suggested what could help, listened to the child crying and was ready to listen to the other. The situation ended in a hug and I observed that child being  very kind to his peer for the rest of the day. 

This child was behind the group and I stayed with her. There was a big gap between us and the rest but we weren't hurried or pressured. She had a great interest in the flowers that grew on the forest floor.

Here are some images of the woodland play space. I played hide and seek in amongst the greenery and watched that little girl roll a flower into a squishy ball. Note the fine motor as her fingers work the gooey mass. Note the language as she says "this is going to be all gooey and mushy now". 

Me in my happy place again.

12:00

Lunch in and around the yurt

12:30 

I watched a small boy laying in a pile of dirt for about an hour. During this trip I've seen a lot of this: children getting as close to the earth as possible, as if they can become part of it. They lie down and soak it up. The earth embraces them. This child spent over an hour making a mound and poking a hole in it, very carefully, then looking through it. It was a work of engineering and a work of art. 

"The silence, only broken very occasionally by a lone bird call, spoke of peace & tranquility & as he lay on the sand, felt the earth reaching up to embrace him, to hold him as its own & to help him exist at that moment in harmony with it and all around him. It's rare to feel this comfortable & this connected" (something a friend wrote to me recently which I think fits well here).

1:30

Some children ran full pelt across the field to a play area. Others stayed near the yurt. 

2:00

Children were called together to reflect on the day, sing a few songs and get ready to board the bus

2:30 

Back on the bus. 

3:00

At the centre the children needed to change and put things up to dry. They then played in their rooms or outside. 

4:00

I met with Lynn at last, who is the head of the centre. We had a fantastic long discussion about her PHD research in transition to school. Lynn has followed the experiences and progress of children from Cowgate to the early years of school. We talked about children's and parents ideas and attitudes towards school. Lynn found that many expected certain things of school and a lot of it has to do with fitting in and conforming, which I thought was really interesting. When parents were asked if they would like their child to be seen as an individual or someone who fitted in, most said fitting in. Again, I could have spent hours discussing this but it was time for me to go and for her to get on with her busy day. 

I came back to the apartment feeling sad and a little lost now that my study tour was finally at an end, and increasingly daunted by the mountain of clothing spilling out of my bag, spreading and cascading like an Edinburgh mist, the result of my not being able to find my camera charger a few days ago. 

So now I have the trip home to face and the job of putting all this into some sort of sense to talk to my colleagues about on Monday at our preschool conference. Who's idea was that? Oh yes, that would have been me. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I have really loved having you all along, knowing that there are people from all over the world interested in this concept and my discoveries. My email is posted on the blog in my profile so please feel free to contact me if you'd like to. 

I may have a few things to share as I make my way home, but if I don't, see ya!

Interview with Jane, a teacher from Cowgate

I woke this morning to my alarm and am sad to say I've regained my habit of pressing (touching) the snooze button. This trip is nearly over and I am tired as well as relaxed enough to do that. I'm completely adjusted to this time zone now, sleeping when all my Aussie friends are up and about. I'm so comfortable in this way of working that I now see coming home is going to be huge adjustment. I feel that I could keep doing this for months. 

Today I'm going to Stickland, which is the outdoor venue in the woods for Cowgate children. They are able to go several times a week, parents sign them up for the experience, and children are also consulted.  It's too far to walk so we will be catching a mini bus. Presently the parents pay for this but the centre is looking at ways to increase the provision to five days a week and cost free to parents. 

8:00. 

My morning began with a meeting with Jane, teacher and outdoor educator

I'm waiting in the cafe where we will share breakfast. She's agreed to meet me to talk about her experiences and perspectives of early childhood education and outdoor learning. She has worked in a regular nursery so I'm keen to find out about the contrasts between that and Cowgate. 

And here she is

Jane told me about their recent experience of inspections. They are rated on thirteen aspects and it takes four days. It's pretty intense and the staff were put under the microscope and grilled. Jane and the other staff were put through extensive meetings and she said she felt like she was speaking a different language. There was no indication that the inspectors understood the way they do things at Cowgate and there was a lot of intense questioning. The focus on the recording of development was particularly problematic, as the staff here feel strongly that there is more to children's learning than developmental milestones and the assessment of these. 

"We were answering questions over and over and trying to do so in different ways but feeling like they didn't get it. We realise now that they were actually trying to understand us, to justify their assessment, but we didn't know that. We thought they were unconvinced and we were expecting a poor result."

They received an unprecedented assessment, the highest possible in all thirteen areas. I'm not surprised, but they were because the experience was so grueling. 

When I asked Jane about her understanding of the nursery system in the UK she said that most don't seem to give children choices as they do here in Cowgate and they are very focused on what the authorities are demanding in terms of assessment of children. Her face became grave as she told me this story.

"A friend who was doing some volunteering in a local nursery, she was reading a story to a child" 

I visualized the women and child together, enjoying a book, heads bent over the illustrations. A quiet and enjoyable moment for them both. 

"A teacher came along, clapping hands and moving children to the mat. My friend was told she needed to stop reading because the little child had to go to the mat to be read a story with all of the children. He had to go and listen in the group so that he could be ticked off the tracker sheet"

Jane shook her head and shrugged her shoulders and we both wondered at a system that not only sees such interruptions to real authentic learning, relationship building and enjoyment as ok, but better. Who is it better for? The child? the teachers? The system?

Jane feels that most nurseries function around adult choices and I think that that is possibly true of Australia, although I see that the Early Years Learning Framework has given us access to different ways and that change towards more child centered learning is becoming more embedded in our everyday practice. Many of our centres are providing for long uninterrupted times for play, free choice between indoor and outdoor play, roving snacks and choices around group participation. There is more creativity and open ended activities provided and I hardly ever see worksheets or stencils these day. I have to say that a month of not seeing this type of Creativity Reducing Adult Product (CRAP) has been extremely refreshing. 

I know that for many this is a challenge, not only to the way things have always been done, but to our belief and value systems. It's interesting that to Jane, to do it any other way seems archaic. There is so much evidence around the benefits to children to give them autonomy and agency, it's a mystery to her that many continue to 'live in the dark ages'. 

"Staff choose what gets laid out, they decide when it's time to toilet, to eat, to learn in a group and what the children get to play with. Activities are prescribed by adults and agency is limited."

"At Cowgate we give children autonomy. It is part of our ethos, an integral part of the way we operate on a daily basis. For instance, when we were developing our garden, the children were invited to do the planning. They designed it and we listened to them. They can see that we listen and that their ideas come to fruition"

Jane and I had lots more to say to each other. She was someone I could chat with all day. Again I was with a person who challenged my thinking and encouraged me to share my ideas. We were able to build each other up and encourage one another's ways of working. As with everyone I've met on this journey I knew I would have so much to learn from her if only given more time, but, Stickland was waiting. At 9:25 we made our way to the nursery, as Jane was needing to start her work day and I was off to the woods. 

 

Day two at Cowgate

I've been spending a bit of time in the outdoor and indoor play spaces this morning. I've met quite a few of the early years practitioners and have been interested in their professional journeys. Two that I met have been here for many years. One for over twenty. I know that Cowgate was a fairly regular nursery back then and I was interested in the impact of the changes that the staff have experienced. Both these ladies described a different educational environment in the past.  It was quite structured and children were directed in their learning and routines by the adults around them. I asked what they preferred and both were emphatic that the way it is now is greatly preferable. These days the children are given choices, listened to and encouraged to have ideas about how they want to spend their day and learning. They spoke of the improvement they have observed to children's learning in general and how pleasant it is for the staff to listen to children's ideas and support children in 'going there'. If something goes wrong, well that is part of the experience. Children are given autonomy, but it doesn't happen without some structures  and routines. These still exist and function, but they are within a policy of choice. Children are invited to join group, and encouraged to take part but if they choose not to then that choice is respected. The other thing that struck me was the ability of these staff members to so confidently articulate what they know about children and learning and what it is that brings about great outcomes. There is only one qualified teacher at the centre, so anyone else I talked to had varying degrees of qualification, yet were very capable of sharing their knowledge and expertise. 

I watched a very small child, about eighteen months or maybe two, experimenting with a puddle. He jumped and splashed and kicked at the water. He was asked if he might need his mackintoshes on, but he kept splashing away. He was asked again and his response was to jump again into the puddle. He was wearing joggers and regular trousers, they were soaked and it was very cold but this wasn't a concern to him, obviously. I liked the way that the early years practitioner respected this choice that he was making. After a while and after some more encouragement he went indoors with a carer to get on the appropriate gear, but it was ultimately his choice. 

Something else that has caught my attention at Cowgate is the development of the outdoor play space. I was shown some photos of the area prior to 2008. It was stark concrete with the addition of a few portable climbing frames that were taken out and in each day. The leader of the centre, Lyn, had a vision and this was realized by her and other staff in the centre. The transformation is nothing short of amazing. What can you do with concrete? It is impossible, isn't it? To create a living space out of something so dead as concrete? 

Well no, it appears that this is not the case. Much can be done. They transported in great mounds of soil, sand and mulch and created a beautiful environment with loose, natural and open ended materials. The addition of garden furniture, potted plants, gardens, cubbies and musical instruments combine to make it a place to explore and investigate. 

I have much more to share about my day but the hour is late so I will take this up tomorrow. 

Bye for now.