Slow Pedagogies in the Early Years - A Conversation with Prof. Alison Clark
Jul 9, 2023
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Prof. Alison Clark discusses slow pedagogies, deep learning, cultural influences on education, and the role of play. She explores the challenges of teacher education and the value of play and flow in education, emphasizing the importance of providing open spaces and enough time for students to experience flow.
Slow pedagogy values play, exploration, and deep dives into ideas, fostering a patient and attentive approach to teaching and learning.
Leadership is essential in creating a culture of slow pedagogy, prioritizing unfragmented time, open-ended exploration, and incorporating outdoor and natural spaces for learning.
Deep dives
Understanding Slow Pedagogy and its Impact on Education
Slow pedagogy involves being attentive to the different rhythms of children, adults, and materials in the learning environment. It values play and the present moment, while also considering the longer view and the historical and cultural context that children bring. Slow pedagogy encourages exploration and deep dives into ideas, allowing for ideas to grow over time. It challenges the notion that more is always better and emphasizes the importance of listening to children's perspectives. Slow pedagogy requires leadership that values unfragmented time, allows for open-ended exploration, and prioritizes the quality of the learning experience over quantifiable outcomes. Taking children outside and engaging with the natural environment is also an important aspect of slow pedagogy.
The Connection between Slow Pedagogy and Deep Learning
Slow pedagogy and deep learning are closely connected. Slow pedagogy creates the conditions for deep learning to occur by allowing children to explore ideas and experiences at their own pace, encouraging immersion and flow. It values the importance of diving deep with children, enabling them to explore and express themselves in different expressive languages. By providing unfragmented time and space for exploration, slow pedagogy allows for ideas to develop and for children's learning to reach a deeper level of understanding. Slow pedagogy challenges the shallow approach to education and focuses on creating opportunities for ideas to grow and for meaningful learning to take place.
Cultural Perspectives on Time and Education
Different cultures have varying relationships with time and this can impact the way education is approached. Some cultures prioritize acceleration and the need to do more in less time, which can affect how educators teach and relate to children. Other cultures value a slower approach and recognize the importance of unfragmented time and deeper exploration. Even within cultural contexts that allow for more time, there can still be pressures to accelerate and meet certain expectations. The COVID-19 pandemic has also added to the pressure on educators, further impacting their relationship with time and the need to catch up. In order to create a more slow and patient approach to education, leaders and educators must reflect on their values and the impact of time constraints on children's experiences.
The Role of Leadership in Slow Pedagogy
Leadership plays a crucial role in fostering a culture of slow pedagogy. Leaders need to demonstrate the value of unfragmented time and prioritize open-ended exploration and play-based learning. They should create environments that allow for revisiting and deep dives into ideas, giving children the opportunity to make connections and accumulate knowledge over time. Slow leadership challenges the notion of a fast-paced and outcome-driven education system, and instead encourages a patient and attentive approach to teaching and learning. Slow leaders also consider the impact of the environment on children's experiences, including the incorporation of outdoor and natural spaces for learning and exploration.
Since 1999, Alison has been interested in the theoretical, methodological and ethical aspects of young children’s co-construction of knowledge using visual, participatory methods. This research theme has centred on the development and adaptation of the Mosaic approach with her colleague Professor Peter Moss - a multimethod qualitative research approach for working with participant perspectives that has contributed to a ‘listening to young children discourse’ in the UK and internationally.
Cross-national collaboration and exchange is central to Alison's work. She co-founded the Special Interest Group on Children’s Perspectives, as part of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association in 2004 (with Professor Deborah Harcourt). She has also contributed to the exhibition Remembrance of Swings Past - a collaboration between the University of South-Eastern Norway, early childhood centres in the municipality of Horten, and Preus Museum, the National Photography Museum of Norway.
