How Practitioners Support Children During Small Group Activities

[Guest]

Hi

I am also carrying out a research project based on how practitioners support children during small group activities. I would be grateful for any ideas on this topic, as i have to include why i am interested in this topic, why i had chosen it and the methodology i will be using to carry out my findings. I have already carried out questionaires which i gave to my fellow workers, i am having difficulty analysing those findings.

[HappyMaz]

Hi patience - welcome to the Forum!

 

My immediate reaction is to ask what research you have done in the area: often you get some good ideas about methodology etc. when you read journal articles etc about your chosen topic.

 

Which aspect of children's development are you particularly intersted in? People like Marion Dowling come to mind: she has done lots of work on children's personal social and emotional development, but also on developing children's sustained thinking.

 

I also wonder if a kind moderator might move your post into a thread of its own so it doesn't get lost in the 'food' research project

 

Good luck - let us know more about what your current thoughts are!

 

Maz

[Beau]

Your wish is my command!

[Guest Wolfie]

I too was thinking about looking at it in the light of all the current research and writing about shared, sustained thinking - it cam up as a feature of high quality practice in the EPPE research and is mentioned inthe new EYFS Principles into Practice cards. Early Education publish some training materials written by Marion Dowling on the subject:

 

http://www.early-education.org.uk/ccp51/cg...ions:training+m

 

And Jenni Clark (sister of a forum member if I remember rightly?) has also written a very good book on the subject, published by Featherstone Education:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-...shared+thinking

Edited April 10, 2008 by Wolfie

[Guest]

Hi Patience,

 

I found the book 'Doing your early years research project' by Guy Roberts-Holmes very helpful. It is easy to read too!

[Guest]

Hi patience - welcome to the Forum!

 

My immediate reaction is to ask what research you have done in the area: often you get some good ideas about methodology etc. when you read journal articles etc about your chosen topic.

 

Which aspect of children's development are you particularly intersted in? People like Marion Dowling come to mind: she has done lots of work on children's personal social and emotional development, but also on developing children's sustained thinking.

 

I also wonder if a kind moderator might move your post into a thread of its own so it doesn't get lost in the 'food' research project

 

Good luck - let us know more about what your current thoughts are!

 

Maz

Hiya Maz,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, I have carried out a questionaire on how we support children's participation in the classroom and i got my colleagues to answer them as well as carrying out an observation one of my colleagues to find out whether what she says on the questionaire tallys with how she promotes children's involvement during the activity. It was a time sample and it was carried out every 10 minutes for an hour. The only research i looked out was how thers have carried out their research in my course from previous years. I am now going to analyse the data. Part of the question from the course also asks us to look at the different curriculums, all around the world. For example: Te Wharikiki Curriculum andthe High Scope Curriculum, we are asked to think about how this has influenced the EYFs curriculum.

[Guest]

I too was thinking about looking at it in the light of all the current research and writing about shared, sustained thinking - it cam up as a feature of high quality practice in the EPPE research and is mentioned inthe new EYFS Principles into Practice cards. Early Education publish some training materials written by Marion Dowling on the subject:

 

http://www.early-education.org.uk/ccp51/cg...ions:training+m

 

And Jenni Clark (sister of a forum member if I remember rightly?) has also written a very good book on the subject, published by Featherstone Education:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-...shared+thinking

Thanks for the link, that has really got me thinking obout sustained thinking and i am now about to embark on more research in that area. Essay is due next week.