As an organisation, ASPE is very active in supporting all kinds of research related to enhancing primary education. This includes funding for research projects with primary schools, to being involved in various primary subject areas that enhance pupil learning, to supporting primary practitioners with a range of strategies to develop their practice through their monthly bulletins and various events (conferences / seminars / workshops) throughout the year (see website for details).
In August 2022, Malini Mistry (University of Bedfordshire) and Bulletins editor from the ASPE Executive Committee was part funded to attend the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) to present some research findings. The research consisted of looking at the role of Early Years leaders across one county in England and one county in Finland, alongside some of the similarities and differences in their day to day roles and the impact of this on teaching and learning for young children. This is the first time a member of the ASPE executive committee has worked with an international colleague on Early Years research after the pandemic.
EECERA is an independent, self-governing, international association which promotes and disseminates multi-disciplinary research on early childhood and its applications to policy and practice. The EECERA annual conference is the largest and most significant early years’ research conference in Europe, regularly attracting more than 900 researcher delegates from all over the world. The EECERA Conference is hosted in a different European city each year by a local university or early years network and to encourage networking and cross-national collaborations.
One of the similarities between ASPE and EECERA is that both organisations promote developing practice to enhance learning for all children. They also offer a range of resources and strategies to support different areas of learning / curriculum. More importantly, they both support research informed practice to develop our critical consciousness with learners.
This year the theme of the EECERA conference was Cultures of Play: Actors, Affordances and Arenas in all aspects of Early Years Education. One of the most interesting aspects of this conference and what was debated in our session is, what constitutes the Early Years age phase and how this is led and managed within local contexts. In England, it is generally assumed to be the 0-5 age phase under the guidance set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. However, this is not as clear with our international colleagues. Especially with Early Years being viewed as 0-7 in Finland and similar ages in other European countries. One of the key findings is that all Early Years leaders want their children to achieve the best possible outcomes. However, the way Early Years is led and managed in different countries was highlighting through the debate in the workshop. This is partly to do with the fact that we in England are regulated by Ofsted, yet in Finland, there is no regulation of their Early Years and therefore their practice varies in different settings which can be perceived as both good and bad.
Naturally, a model from one country cannot be transplanted into another country, but there were important lessons from the findings that all could take away for their practice and dissemination. One example included all leaders being part of the setting teaching team so that they can see the needs of children, staff and setting. Key note speakers opened and closed the conference and were a good mix of local and international experts in relation to Early Years, including speakers from primary schools and Early Years settings. Presentations ranged from the traditional paper presentations, to workshops – which I was fortunate to be part of, to poster presentations, to round table debates.
There was ample opportunity to network with a range of Early Years professionals after sessions to spread the message of ASPE – as most were unfamiliar with this organisation. International colleagues were surprised at huge amount of useful information on the ASPE website, which was their first port of call. The ASPE bulletins were also a huge success and were welcomed at the registration / information desk.
A more detailed outline of the research findings will be presented in an ASPE bulletin on the website in due course.
To what extent can young children express their own views and make independent choices in their education?
This event was held virtually on Friday 18th June 2021. It was attended by over 200 delegates both from the UK and from overseas.
The event was hosted by the team at the
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0-11), UCL Institute of Education, under the leadership of Professor Dominic Wyse. It was a partnership event in association with the Education Learning Trust and the Association for the Study of Primary Education.
The event included keynote talks and practical workshops from experts in education research, practice, and policy, as well as the voices of children themselves.
Please feel free to download from the links below the key note talks beginning with an exclusive interview with Lady Helen Hamlyn:
Click on the above logo to watch video presentations from the keynote speakers on the day. Alternatively click on the pictures of the presenters
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11 Years
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11 Years
Available here: https://youtu.be/G00Zfluvy6I
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11 Years
Available here: https://youtu.be/OMvR8CeqgKs
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11 Years
Available here: https://youtu.be/EljXnolSxbo
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy 0-11 Years
Available here: https://youtu.be/_roebDt38Sc
The Dialogical Teaching research project involved six teachers from five schools in Lewisham and Southwark working together on a school-based enquiry project about dialogic teaching. The project was a joint project between London South Teaching School Alliance (LSTSA) and Rathfern Primary, Lewisham, a Chartered College Hub School. It was funded thanks to a grant from the Association for the Study of Primary Education (ASPE). The project ran with the support of University of Cambridge academics working on the Teacher Scheme for Educational Dialogue Analysis (T-SEDA), which has produced a practical tool kit to support teachers in engaging with enquiry projects around dialogic teaching in their own classrooms. The project was led by the LSTSA Director, an expert in research models of professional development for teachers, who facilitated sessions and supported teachers with their enquiry projects.
Malini Mistry (University of Bedfordshire)
One of the many facets of the Association of the Study of Primary Education (ASPE) is that it recognises and encourages professional development for all those who work in primary education. In that respect, my attendance at the annual International British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) conference 2018 in Windsor, UK was funded by ASPE. Next follows a brief overview of the highlights of this conference, which shares many aims with ASPE.
As an organisation BELMAS supports quality education through effective leadership and management, and the associated ideas and practices. BELMAS members are a mixture of practitioners in a range of settings as well as academics from many universities around the world. This shows both organisations are very similar in their vision and ethos in the way that they both aim to bring together practitioners and academics top share and apply good practice.
This year the theme of the BELMAS conference was education, policy and sustainability through global perspectives in educational leadership at all levels. Key note speakers opened and closed the conference. Perhaps a consideration could be to offer local speakers to offer key note sessions on different aspects of leadership and its application to education. In this way local skills and staff are showcased before international speakers are brought in. In between, there were a range of paper presentations from many presenters locally and from abroad, so there was a truly international feel. International delegates shared the findings of their research within their own global context which was inspiring in terms of seeing similarities alongside differences.
It was uplifting to see some local practitioners from the UK present their findings in relation to school based research. This showed a clear forum for emergent researchers to present their findings as a group. Maybe this could be emphasised more in the future to encourage practitioners to
Another approach for presentation of research findings was through and IGNITE session which I was fortunate to be part of. The aim in this session is a shorter sharper presentation of the impact of research that engages the audience in debating the issues presented. All presenters had 5 mins to showcase key issues from their research before a group debate and discussion took place with all presenters. What was interesting was that most ignite presenters were discussing school based research.
During the conference there was ample opportunity to see and catch up with friends and old faces as well as networking with new colleagues to share ideas and practice. Overall, the 2018 BELMAS conference in Windsor, UK was a wonderful learning opportunity for people in different aspects of educational leadership to come together.
The humanities in primary schools in the UK -where now and where next?
-a report for the Association for the Study of Primary Education
This one day seminar was held on 13th November 2017 in the beautiful surroundings of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. It was sponsored by Oxford Brookes University (OBU) and the Association for the Study of Primary Education (ASPE), following a themed issue of Education 3-13 volume 45, issue 3, on the same theme. The seminar attracted an audience of some 35 people, mostly academics working in teacher education but including several headteachers and others in subject associations and organisations which support schools. Two members of the ASPE Executive, Paul Latham and Michelle Murray were present. Catherine Phipps from Taylor and Francis (the publisher of Education 3-13) was present and offered to provide participants with copies of the themed issue. Some new members of ASPE were also recruited.
The programme broadly followed up issues discussed in the themed issue. After introductions from Paul Latham (Chair of ASPE) and Professor Graham Butt (OBU), there were four fascinating 20 minute presentations on the situation in England (Dr Stephen Scoffham, Canterbury Christ Church University), Northern Ireland (Dr Norman Richardson, Stranmillis University College, Belfast), Scotland (Lynne Robertson and Joe Walker, Education Scotland) and Wales (Sarah Whitehouse, University of the West of England). This highlighted specific issues related to the traditions and culture of the different jurisdictions, for instance the strong emphasis on Welshness in Wales and the difficulties which result from historic religious and cultural identities in Northern Ireland. Although the four jurisdictions have somewhat different curriculum arrangements (in England based on subjects, in the other parts of the UK broader areas of learning), many similar issues about the status of the humanities in primary schools were highlighted. These were then considered in discussion groups. In particular, significant concerns were expressed at the extent to which ‘the humanities’ are marginalised in all the jurisdictions, in a policy context where schools, understandably, concentrate on those aspects of literacy and numeracy which are tested and on which schools are judged.
After an excellent lunch, and the chance for informal discussion, Dr Tony Eaude, Department of Education, University of Oxford, summarised some key issues from other articles in the themed issue. He explained how the editors had originally considered ‘the humanities’ in terms history, geography and Religious Education, but how discussions among themselves and wit authors, and writing his own article, had led them towards a broader conceptualisation, including areas such citizenship, Philosophy for Children, literature and other disciplines. In particular, citing Martha Nussbaum’s work, he emphasised why the humanities are so vital to democracy in a world of complexity and change. This includes their role in addressing complexity and nuance, through developing skills related to critical thinking and understanding oneself and other people, so providing opportunities to become more empathetic and humane, echoing Norman Richardson’s earlier comments. Tony Eaude quoted the final article in which the editors wrote:
‘This leads us to suggest that there is a pressing need for humanities education in an increasingly complex world; and to argue the case for humanities on the grounds of the development of the ‘whole child’. In particular we would advocate for children:
Tony Eaude referred briefly to the other articles which indicate that inspection evidence gives only patchy evidence of the current state of the humanities in primary schools (Catling), discuss the challenges of cross-curricular work (Swift) and consider how values are best learned through guided participation in learning communities (Cox). He highlighted dilemmas related to the use of subject specialists and touched briefly on the importance of teacher education, but the difficulties in Initial Teacher Education especially given a lack of time. He ended by saying:
Following this, groups considered the issues raised to identify key issues emerging from the presentations and discussions. These ideas were then shared and discussed in a session chaired by Professor Simon Catling. The final session, led by Graham Butt, focussed specifically on what might realistically be done, in schools, teacher education and influencing policy, to address the concerns raised. There was strong agreement that those involved in the humanities, broadly interpreted, in subject and primary associations, in schools, teacher education and other group, must work together to follow up the themed issue and the seminar. One idea which gained considerable support was for a manifesto for the primary humanities, on the lines of one prepared by the Geographical Association some years ago.
The editors, who had organised the seminar, agreed to convene a day early in 2018 for those interested with a view to seeing how best this work can be carried forward and to consider which organisations and individuals might be involved and how this can be funded and organised.
The seminar ended with thanks to the organisers for an excellent day, to those who had attended and contributed and to OBU and ASPE for their support, with many participants saying that they intended to go back and discuss the issues raised with their colleagues. If anyone would like further information about the seminar or the proposed follow up work, please contact Dr Tony Eaude on [email protected]
Tony Eaude, Graham Butt, Simon Catling and Peter Vass.
January 2018