Prof. Iram Siraj Institute of Education, University of London Leaders of ECE Conference, Sweden March 2014

Teacher initiating activity: “…effective pedagogues model appropriate language, values and practices, encourage socio- dramatic play, praise, encourage, ask questions, and interact verbally with children. Excellent settings tended to achieve an equal balance between teacher-led and child-initiated interactions, play and activities” (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002) Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Teacher’s extending activities : “…a particular form of teacher initiation that may also be applied in cases where initially the child initiated. The most effective settings were found to provide both teacher-initiated group work and freely chosen yet potentially instructive play activities. ‘Extension’ was included in the definition of ‘sustained shared thinking” (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002) Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Percentage of high cognitive challenge activities within each initiation category in each setting type percentage REPEY Study Findings

Differentiation and Formative Assessment : “…effective pedagogues assess children’s performance to ensure the provision of challenging yet achievable experiences (i.e. within the ZPD) and provide formative feedback. The most effective settings have shared educational aims with parents supported by regular communication”. (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002) Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Attention to the relationships between children : “Effective settings view cognitive and social development as complementary and they support children in rationalising and talking through their conflicts” (i.e. another context for SST). (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002) Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London  Sustained shared thinking: An episode in which two or more individuals “work together” in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate activities, extend a narrative etc. Both parties must contribute to the thinking and it must develop and extend.  Open-ended questions feature; and  Playful learning, building on the child’s interests. The above are difficult to assess as outcomes but are essential to achieving good outcomes! Necessary but not sufficient, we still require good content. (Siraj-Blatchford et al., REPEY, DfES 2002)

From: Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2009) ‘Early Childhood Education’ in; Maynard, T. & Thomas, N. (Eds.) An Introduction to Early Childhood Studies, (2nd Edition) London: Sage Publications (in press) Table 1: OECD Curriculum Outlines Teacher’s initiating activities Teacher’s extending activities Differentiation and Formative Assessment Relationships and conflict between children Sustained Shared Thinking EEL [1] “Introducing new activities” “Enriching interventions” “Observe children” “Work out sustaining relations” “Engagement” High Scope“Sharing Control”“Participation as partners” “Plan - Do - Review” “Adopt a problem solving approach” “Authentic dialogue” Reggio Emilia “Development of short and long- term projects” “Sustaining the cognitive and social dynamics” “Teachers first listen don’t talk” “Warm reciprocal relationships” “Reciprocity of interactions” EPPE/ REPEY Correlations found with effective practice

Proportion of adult cognitive pedagogical interactions in settings varying in effectiveness REPEY Study Findings

Time spent by children in different social groupings across settings of varying effectiveness REPEY Study Findings

the child initially manipulates symbols/signs in their emotional communications with adults and peers and engages in significant gestures they begin using symbols and signs in pretend play pretend role play and object substitution become internalised as imagination the child is first able to be another to herself, develops the capability of ‘interacting with pretend others (increasingly acknowledging ‘their’ perspective), and then ‘switches’ freely between roles in play. Play-Learning: The major features of progression are: Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

socio-dramatic play becomes more collaborative as partners at first share symbols and then reciprocally negotiate roles conceptual knowledge and understanding of the ‘other’, and of the ‘self’, develop further and learning ‘dispositions’ become more significant most children become oriented more towards more formal learning and school subjects and disciplines (communities of practice) (Cont.) Play-Learning: The major features of progression are: Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Curriculum – Most broadly the term refers to the formal and informal (overt and hidden) collection of experiences that socialise the individual into citizenship (however narrowly or broadly this is defined). Pedagogy - maybe broadly defined as any behaviour applied by an individual that supports the learning of another. In professional terms it has been defined as the; ‘science of the art of teaching’ (Gage,1985) All learning has content as well as form, and whenever learning takes place we can say that a curriculum and some form of pedagogy is involved (however implicit or hidden it might be). Understanding Sustained Shared Thinking: Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

All cognitive development emerges in the process of an internalisation of external social experiences in the process of socialization. There are two independent original sources for this: Vygotsky ( ) Developmental Psychology G.H. Mead ( ) Social Psychology The Social Nature of Human cognition: Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Play in the development of ‘self’ — ooooooooooo— improvised play with partners — ooooooooooooooooooooooo— improvised collaboration — oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo — disciplined collaboration Curriculum Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Pedagogy (..the “collection of experiences”)

development of ‘self’ — Curriculum “Significant gestures” The creative process: ‘Smile’ from adult ‘objectified’ Child recontextualises adult behaviour that leads to smile Child creatively makes = eye contact eye contact to produce adult smile Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London A cyclical creative process of: ‘progressive continuous re-contextualisation’ (van Oers, 1998) Pedagogy

ooooooooooo— improvised play with partners — Curriculum Play is increasingly reciprocal and collaborative Sharing symbolic representations: The symbol must be ‘second hand’ for one partner – but they creatively reconstruct it for this particular collaborative play context. Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Pedagogy

ooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooo— improvised collaboration — Curriculum Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Constructing an understanding of the ‘other’: “…the child’s position towards the external world changes…and the ability to co-ordinate his point of view with other possible points of view develops” (Elkonin, 1978, p282).. Play becomes even more collaborative Play partners provide scaffolding: …Within the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (Vygotsky) – that extends beyond what the partner can do on their own to include those activities that they can do successfully with the support of their peer. Pedagogy

Whenever play partners communicate they do so from their own historically constructed perspective, which includes their understanding of the perspective of themselves constructed by the other participant in the communication: “…the child’s position towards the external world changes…and the ability to co-ordinate his point of view with other possible points of view develops” (Elkonin, 1978, p282). The development of these sophisticated levels of abstraction (and metaconciousness) also facilitate the development of a wider metacognition. This metacognition required in learning to learn, also develops as the child finds it necessary to describe, explain and justify their thinking about different aspects of the world to others. Metacognition Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

ooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooo— more structured collaborations — Curriculum Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London “…when children consciously reflect upon the relationship between their ‘pretend’ signs and ‘real’ meanings in play they are engaged in a form of semiotic activity that is a valuable precursor to new learning activities” (van Oers, 1999, p278). The transition to ‘learning activity’ Pedagogy

development of ‘self’ — ooooooooooo— improvised play with partners — ooooooooooooooooooooooo— improvised collaboration — oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo— disciplined collaboration Curriculum “Learning Activity” (van Oers) “Socio-dramatic play” (Lieontiev) “Object-centred joint activity” (Elkonin) “Emotional communication with caregivers” (Lisina) Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London “emotional communication with caregivers” (Lisina) “Object-centred joint activity” (Elkonin) “Socio-dramatic play (Lieontiev) Learning Activity (van Oers) Learning Activities: Pedagogy

Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Pedagogy Curriculum Weakly Classified Curriculum Strongly Classified Co-construction

Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Pedagogy Weakly Framed Curriculum Weakly Classified Curriculum Strongly Classified

Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Curriculum Strongly Classified Curriculum Weakly Classified Pedagogy Weakly Framed Pedagogy Strongly Framed

Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Curriculum Strongly Classified Curriculum Weakly Classified Pedagogy Weakly Framed Pedagogy Strongly Framed Child-centred Free Play approach Open Framework approach Programmed Learning approach Thematic Topic Work School Subject teaching Discovery Learning

Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London Curriculum Strongly Classified Curriculum Weakly Classified Pedagogy Weakly Framed Pedagogy Strongly Framed Child-centred Free Play approach Open Framework approach Programmed Learning approach Baby Transition To School

Providing progressively more experience, knowledge, and stimulus (through the provision of challenging play environments and guided or direct intervention (Within the Zone of Proximal Development [ZPD]) They can also scaffold the creative ‘cycles’ by progressively encouraging more sophisticated Sustained Shared Thinking (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002) (within the ZPD). The implications for Early Childhood Education: Iram Siraj, Institute of Education, University of London

Playful learning for children is based on some of the following ideas:  Building on and extending the child’s interests  The child is usually active physically, socially and intellectually  The learning is exploratory without necessarily fixed outcomes in mind  Playful learning motivates children to try more challenging learning  Children use, apply and extend their knowledge, skills and understanding through active exploration  In social contexts children develop their capacities for cooperation and collaboration and can often explore complex ideas Characteristics of Playful Learning

Supporting playful learning involves the use of a suite of strategies including:  Creating well resourced environments with rich materials  Being involved and interacting with children as they play and explore  Maintaining a purposeful focus on the child’s learning and development  Modelling expressive language and consciously extending children’s vocabulary  Constructively engaging with children to scaffold and extend learning  Using sustained shared thinking strategies to build on child- initiated activity to extend knowledge, skills and understanding Prof. Iram Siraj Playful Learning