Episode 18 | Building Skills in Early Years Curriculum with Ruth Swailes
Aug 15, 2024
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Ruth Swailes, an award-winning Early Years specialist, joins Alistair Bryce-Clegg to dive into effective skill-building in early education. They highlight the importance of continuous provision for independent learning and adapting curricula to suit individual settings. The conversation sheds light on the learning environment as a 'third teacher' and the pitfalls of rigid frameworks. Ruth emphasizes child-led learning and the necessity of collaboration among educators to truly enrich children's experiences.
Quality continuous provision is essential for skill development, creating environments that allow children to engage with knowledge independently.
An enabling environment functions as a 'third teacher', prompting educators to collaboratively define and optimize learning spaces for better engagement.
Deep dives
The Balance of Skills and Knowledge
An effective curriculum in early education requires a balanced focus on both skill development and knowledge acquisition. Practitioners often face pressure to prioritize knowledge delivery, but skill development is equally, if not more, crucial as it enables children to engage with and gather knowledge effectively. Quality continuous provision plays a significant role, where real learning happens outside of direct adult instruction, emphasizing the importance of creating environments that facilitate skill growth. It is essential to recognize that both elements must coexist in a well-rounded educational approach.
Understanding the Enabling Environment
The concept of an enabling environment is vital to early education, as it serves as a 'third teacher' alongside adults and peers. However, there often exists confusion about what constitutes an enabling environment, leading to inconsistent application across different settings. Practitioners are encouraged to engage in discussions about what an enabling environment means to each team and to use 'narrated visits' to better understand how their spaces function as learning tools. By exploring these environments collaboratively, educators can better recognize gaps and optimize resources to enhance children's engagement and learning.
Enhancements versus Continuous Provision
There is a distinction between continuous provision and enhancements in early childhood settings that practitioners must navigate carefully. Continuous provision refers to resources that are thoughtfully selected and consistently available, allowing children to make independent choices, while enhancements are often adult-led and can disrupt child-led exploration. Effective early learning environments should prioritize providing rich, engaging resources without over-scripting experiences, which might limit children's natural curiosity. Educators are encouraged to focus on authentic dialogue and interactions within the environment, fostering deeper engagement rather than adhering rigidly to predetermined objectives.
In this episode, Alistair Bryce-Clegg is joined once again by Ruth Swailes, award-winning Early Years specialist, to discuss building skills in the Early Years curriculum. They emphasise that skill development stems from quality continuous provision and offer tips for crafting a curriculum tailored to specific school settings.
Ruth and Alistair delve into the essential areas for practitioners to consider when building curriculum, from questions about your individual staff and children, to the impact of furniture and timetables. They stress that everything done in the classroom should benefit the children and highlight the role of adults as facilitators of learning rather than rigid enforcers of curriculum. The conversation also underscores the importance of child-led learning in fostering development.
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(The views expressed throughout this podcast are the speakers' own, and TTS does not take responsibility for the views and guidance highlighted as part of this recording.)
Please note: When referencing the speakers views, theory and work for development of your own materials, please ensure academic reference of the speaker is cited.
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