In this article Marina Postlethwaite Bowler ECYS staff tutor and AL explores kindness and its importance.

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” Henry James.

Sometimes the worst day can be totally changed by a stranger’s smile. The “small, tiny moments” really matter the most. We should all try a little harder to live each day, remembering to spread a little kindness around to others, family, friends, or total strangers.

Unfortunately, this works both ways. It’s never a nice feeling if someone is rude or mean, however much we try to distance ourselves from such things, they always impact our day. When we feel open and spacious it’s easier to be kind to others, but when unsure, tired, frustrated we tend to move away from social contact and connection. So, how about spreading kindness through your day? Treating others as you yourself would like to be treated. If more people tried to live this way, the world would just be that little bit better.

“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time” Morgan Freeman.

So how can we be kinder to ourselves and others?

• It starts with us! –most of us would like to think we are kind to others, but can we be kind to another if we are not able to be kind to ourselves?
• How often do we treat ourselves differently from how we would a friend/loved one?
• Show compassion to yourself and others-research has shown a decrease in bullying, increased feelings of well-being and a rise in the practice of compassionate behaviour to all living beings.
• Say kind things to yourself and others- You might think being kind is soft, it’s maybe even weak, but being kind doesn’t have to be soft, it can be fierce too.
• Small acts of kindness can really affect not only our own mood, but other people’s mood as well- They don’t have to be massive things, maybe you share your snack with someone, help someone to lift something heavy or buy someone a coffee let a mum and her hungry impatient children skip to the front of the queue. The person receiving the kindness feels good, and you feel good too when that person thanks you or smiles back. You have a moment of connection,
• We can show kindness in different ways Loving-kindness meditation (sometimes called “metta” meditation) is a great way to cultivate our propensity for kindness. It involves mentally sending goodwill, kindness, and warmth towards others by silently repeating kind words and thoughts in our mind.
• Be there to listen to others when they need you to.
• Read and research “kindness” For example “The Happy Newspaper” celebrates all that is good in the world: https://thehappynewspaper.com/?v=79cba1185463
• Practise gratitude-people who practise gratitude and notice the things they are thankful for are happier and have a greater sense of wellbeing. Try and think of a few things in the morning or before you got to bed. You could tell someone in your household or write them down. Actively focus on the positives of your day.
• Self-care-keeping healthy routines and rituals are an important way to look after yourself.
• Practise mindfulness- a way of thinking – focusing on the here and now. You can mindfully do almost anything – eat a meal, brush your teeth, or choosing to go for a walk mindfully.
• Taking a breath and distracting yourself-can give you a short break from negative thoughts and a chance to reduce anxiety.
• Become your own coach or cheerleader will help you quiet your inner critic, try to have compassion for yourself like you would for anybody you care about.
• Create community- build a social circle with people who have positive energy. Spending time with positive people encourages you to focus on the good as well.
• Finding your passion-consider giving yourself time to do things that bring YOU joy.

 

The more we practice kindness and compassion, the easier and more natural it becomes, until that energy expands like the tide rising- it’s like a good habit. We feel willing to open the gift of kindness to other people, animals, plants, and our planet.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. Maya Angelou”

 

References

https://www.mediarunsearch.co.uk/10-things-we-learned-from-the-worlds-largest-study-on-kindness/

https://unsplash.com/photos/Fnv_6O4stLg

https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-printer-paper-with-be-kind-text-on-plants-3972441/

It’s World Space Week- and did you know that NASA have said that the first people who will set foot on Mars are already alive, which means they are the children we are working with right now (NASA’s Next Giant Leap | NASA ) We know that our youngest children are creative, curious and ready to be inspired and Space Week gives us an opportunity to focus on providing the STEM activities that will inspire them to reach for the stars. In 2018 the European Journal of STEM Education published a special issue dedicated to STEM in early childhood education and the editorial highlighted the issue that often practitioners are wary of venturing into the field of STEM because ‘explorations quickly become messy and unpredictable, and children can ask questions that are difficult to answer’ (van Keulen, 2018, p. 2).  For some people not knowing the ‘right’ answer cuts across well-established ideas of what being an educator is,  but in early childhood education and care settings child-led learning approaches underpin all elements of best practice so we should embrace the opportunity to get all the children we work with seeing themselves as scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians.

If you are looking for ideas about how to develop more STEM activities in your work there are plenty of free resources available. Dr Joanna Barstow, Lecturer in Astronomy in the School of Physics Sciences at the Open University wrote and illustrated a story about an alien looking for the perfect planet which is available to watch here Alien story – YouTube and the free OU course ‘Living on the Moon’ has lots of experiments and activities to help children find out what they need to know in order to be that first Martian (OLCreate: PUB_3578_1.0 S.T.A.R.S Project Teacher CPD : Living on the Moon (open.edu) ). English LE Landing page | Early years STEM (stemintheearlyyears.com)  has a wide range of free resources that outline activities and show how they relate to different aspects of STEM and identifies children’s books that can help develop learning.

This Space Week why not take a moment to think about what STEM learning you are doing- talking about the weather, using building blocks, videoing activities, looking at autumn leaves and see how you could build on that to get your children closer to getting on that rocket. Let us know your ideas and share your tips and resources in the comments below.

References

Van Keulen, H. (2018) STEM in Early Childhood Education European Journal of STEM Education (PDF) STEM in Early Childhood Education (researchgate.net)

This month’s post is written by Dr Jackie Musgrave, Associate Head of School (ECYS) for Learning and Teaching

A recent tweet from EdPsychEd (@EdPsychEd) has really made me wonder if we are losing sight of the importance of physical activity for very young children? The tweet reminds us that if a child appears to not be listening during lessons, it doesn’t mean that they are being disrespectful.  The tweet goes on to say that children are often sensitive to internal and external influences that can impact on their ability to listen.  Such influences include the possibility that a child may need a toilet break, or something to eat, or their clothes may be itchy, or they may need to get outside and move around.  However, children are increasingly finding themselves in environments that constrict and/or restrict their opportunities and ability to move their bodies. For example, babies can spend a great deal of time in ‘containers’, in buggies, car seats, slings and highchairs.

Every September, many children are starting school for the first time, and in England some children will only just have celebrated their 4^th birthday.  If they have attended a pre-school nursery setting, they will go from an environment where they have relative freedom to move between activities, and in many nurseries, children are given the choice to move freely between the indoor and outdoor areas.  As an Ofsted report stated, ‘We know that in the early years, a crucial part of preparing children for school is developing their muscular strength and dexterity. The best nurseries recognise this and encourage children to be busy and active’.(Ofsted 2018, p 270)

But once they are in ‘big’ school they are expected to sit for prolonged periods of time, either at tables or often for school assemblies, sitting on the floor with their legs crossed.  This experience can be made even more uncomfortable by having to wear an unfamiliar school uniform; in addition, playtime and outdoor access is often limited and regimented.

So how do the changes in children’s lives and these restrictions affect their physical health?  We are all aware of the ‘obesity epidemic’ and in part, this is attributed to reports and concerns about the overall reduction in children’s physical activity.  However, physical activity is important for all areas of babies’ and children’s development and critically, it is also vital for children’s mental health.

The restrictions caused by the pandemic have had an impact on children’s physical activity and their development.  For children who live in housing and within communities that are not conducive to supporting children to move freely, the restrictions have had a negative impact.   Findings from another Ofsted report highlights that the impact has been more profound on children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

It is imperative that we recognise that all adults have a shared responsibility to create environments that facilitate and enable children’s physical movement.

As a response to concerns about the need to support children’s physical development, the Open University, Public Health England and ActiveMatters have produced a free online course aimed at professionals and parents, here is the link https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/supporting-physical-development-early-childhood/2

 

References

Ofsted (2018) The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2017/18. Available from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/761606/29523_Ofsted_Annual_Report_2017-18_041218.pdf

Ofsted (October 2020) COVID-19 series: briefing on early years, October 2020 Evidence from research interviews with 208 registered early years providers and maintained nursery schools between 5 and 16 October. Available from COVID-19 series – briefing on early years – October 2020 (publishing.service.gov.uk) accessed 7 January 2021

 

Happy New Year everyone! This month the post is written by Professor Natalia Kucirkova of The Open University

Good books enable us to better understand others as well as ourselves. Children’s books are the first encounter young readers have in establishing this understanding. Authors use various techniques to engage children in the story-plot and draw them into a fictional story world. Unlike in fiction books for adults, in children’s books, it is both the illustrations and text that influence children’s learning and enjoyment of a story. A technique that engages children in the story but that is not yet fully researched for its learning potential, is personalization. In my projects, I have been exploring the learning value of children’s personalized stories.

Personalized stories and parent-child difference

 In our recent study (Bruheim Jensen, Studsrød & Kucirkova, 2021) with eleven Norwegian families reading personalized books at home, we noticed some differences between children’s and parents’ focus during reading of personalized books. The books the families read together were customized to the individual children with the main story character carrying the child’s name and looking similar to the child in terms of hair and eye colour. The story plot was about the key story character travelling to Alaska and meeting a bear, who later became the children’s best friend and experienced an adventure with them in the mountains. The parents reported that their children were very enthusiastic about seeing themselves in the book and excited to have an unusual character (a bear) as their friend. The adults, on the other hand, were most interested in the learning quality of the story – were the words and story plot good enough to expand their children’s language? While they liked their child being reflected in the story, they commented on the unlikelihood of their child travelling to Alaska. The parents seemed to have preferred to have the story placed in Norway. The findings made us wonder how many elements would need to be personalized and made specifically about the child for parents to engage with a story as much as the children. The study made us think about the importance of parents in bridging children’s understanding of self and others in personalized stories through abstraction.

The importance of abstract talk in reading

Parents play a crucial role in bridging children’s understanding of self and others. Young children tend to think in concrete terms focusing on the immediate images and text of the book, but adults can engage them in abstract thinking. When children share a book together with their parents, the parents can lift the conversation to an abstract level. Indeed, one of the most beneficial features of parents’ talk during reading is the level of abstractness in their speech. Researchers therefore often explore whether the parents ask the child concrete questions like ‘what is happening in the story’, or more abstract questions like ‘why is this happening in the story’? The more parents engage the child’s thinking on an abstract level, the more likely they are to help with the child’s language learning. In research we call it ‘inferencing’ and it occurs when adults connect the book’s content to the world outside the world. Parents can boost children’s understanding of self and others by making a reference to “possible worlds” or imagined places. Such abstract talk takes the child out of their current thinking about what is on the page to what could be on the page. For example parents can ask, ‘why is this character unhappy?’ or ‘do you think bathing in the lake is a good idea, why do you think so?’

Exploring abstract talk in personalized books

In a project funded by ESRC and focused on digital personalized books, we explored the extent to which parents needed to to draw children out to get them to talk more abstractly. In a study with twenty-six British mothers and their three-to-four-year-old children, we analysed both mothers’ and children’s speech that they produced during the reading of the digital books personalized to the child. We found that the children engaged mostly in concrete, self-focused talk using first-person pronouns such as me, I and my. Their mothers, on the other hand, talked mostly about other story characters. Their talk was characterised by some abstraction (inference), but this occurred only as often as talk focused on immediate identification of key characters and happenings in the book. These insights show that personalized books, where the child is the main story character, might not be the best way to support abstract speech during children’s reading, neither for the child nor for the parent reading with them.

Abstraction through interactivity

Another technique that is popular in children’s contemporary reading and that I explored in my follow-up studies, is interactivity. In children’s digital books, interactivity can be a place in a book that the child needs to touch for a story to progress or interactive music. In fictional interactive books, children are provided with the information about the unknown story characters and clues about the characters’ experiences and the world they inhabit. Readers have to imagine the world in their own minds, using their imagination and actively engaging their existing knowledge and schema. In visual representation of stories, such as films, video games and virtual reality, there is less of this active imagination happening than with pure text. This is because multimedia representations do not give clues but directly provide images and sounds. The trend in multimedia development is to increase the input from the producer and reduce the imagination work of the spectator. In the so-called hyper-reality and 5D experiences, which engage all five senses, including smell and touch, spectators have minimal space to bring in their own imagination. They become owned by the story representation that is served to them and are positioned as a more passive than active meaning-maker. This is not beneficial for children’s abstract thinking.

In my current project, I therefore explore how stories that engage children’s visual, haptic and olfactory senses, connect to their abstract thinking. Together with colleagues at the University of Stavanger, we are currently prototyping books that are easy to touch and that emit various scents to engage children at specific points in the story. Whether the presence of scents and getting a concrete sensory clue prompts more or less of abstract talk among the children, is an open question we will explore in the next three years.

References

Bruheim Jensen, I. B., Studsrød, I.m & Kucirkova, N. (2021) Høytlesning av personaliserte bøker for førskolebarn: Foreldres barneperspektiver og opplevelser. Barn.

Kucirkova, N., Gattis, M., Spargo, T. P., de Vega, B. S., & Flewitt, R. (2021). An empirical investigation of parent-child shared reading of digital personalized books. International Journal of Educational Research, 105, 101710.

 

By Dr Sarah Jane Mukherjee (The Open University) and Dr Lucía Bugallo (CONICET-Universidad del Comahue, Argentina)

Research into how children conceive of significant aspects of their lives offers insights into their understanding of the world and importantly the way in which childhoods are experienced.  It has implications for design of pedagogy and how pedagogies are able to engage and expand those experiences.

Research by the Play and Learning Scholars (PALS) aims to understand how young children of 5 and 7 years old conceive of play and its relation to learning in five sites across different countries (Argentina, Denmark, Hong Kong, the UK and US). Understanding young children’s conceptions of their worlds is a challenge: How can we capture the process of constructing and communicating a worldview? What are the ways in which children best express themselves? What kind of tasks can we offer to maintain engagement? What cultural considerations should be made? Sensitive to the aims of the research and our young participants, a playful engagement was developed for the study and employed across the five different sites. This blog outlines the features of the engagement highlighting the decisions made that were intended to offer a social and enjoyable encounter in which the children could be deeply involved and in which they would feel comfortable to think and express themselves.

Card design: Building on previous work by members of the project team, we developed a card sorting activity as the foundation of the first part of the participant engagement. We designed a set of 36 cards with line drawings depicting children (alone and with peers) and adults engaged in different activities, some of which were ‘playful’, such as swinging or hula hooping, and some  ‘everyday’ activities such as laying the table or tying shoelaces.  The team members all agreed the activities represented to ensure that they would be familiar for the children in the different cultural contexts.

Card sorting activity: In the engagement itself we started by explaining to the children that we, as adults, needed their expert help to understand how they think about play, and each child was invited to spread the cards out on a table. Then, the child was asked to sort cards that they thought represented play and not play and separately learning and not learning. Placing the cards in two separate baskets each time, the child sorted the cards four times. The children delighted in this activity, sometimes selecting cards in silence and sometimes articulating their thoughts about the activity depicted on the card and their decision, sometimes changing their minds. After the first sort, excited utterances such as ‘I know what to do’ showed that the children were actively involved in the task, and the familiarity of the task seems to increase their enjoyment of the activity.

Card selecting activity and an invitation to reflect on play: Having enjoyed the card sorting activity, the children were relaxed and engaged, and this was a perfect moment to pose some guided questions. This part of the engagement aimed to probe for details around affective and social factors that may have influenced their choices of activities that were play/ not-play and learning/ not-learning. To do this, the child was invited again to spread out the cards and select the one they thought was most representative taking play, not-play, learning and not-learning in turn. For each we asked the child to justify their selection with an open question and prompts to encourage her/ him to explain the reasons for their choices. Some children offered quite detailed explanations, such as this five-year-old girl from Argentina:

‘Because I love playing with play dough, I want to learn to make the dough, and I love playing with dough at kindergarten. I always play and I have some to make gnocchi, to make a sausage and then cut the gnocchi. Then we make a ball, I press it like this and I put little olives and make a pizza to give to the teacher’.

 

The children reflected on their own and other’ preferences and experiences, like this seven-year-old boy from the UK: ‘Because you can dress-up anything in your imagination and you can pretend you are a monster or a bear or a superhero, and it makes me feel really happy, really, and sets my imagination free’.

Teaching a puppet: Then the fun really started. A complete shift in the engagement surprised the children as they were invited to play teacher. The researcher told the child that they had a friend they’d like them to meet – the puppets Zim and Rikko. As the puppet came from a planet on which they didn’t play/learn, the children were asked to ‘teach’ Zim to play and Rikko to learn. Some children offered instructions of a game, like this 5-year-old from Denmark: ‘Soap bubbles: You just have to blow with force but you have to do it slowly with force’. Some children focused on the attitudes that best favour playing or learning, like this 5-year old boy from US: ‘If you wanna play you have to be nice’, or focused on the affective state that emerges during play: ‘Playing will make you laugh. If you laugh, then it shows that you are happy. When you are happy, you will know that you are playing’ (7-year-old girl, Hong Kong). A 7-year-old from the UK explained to Zim what is play through these words: ‘Playing is where you have to be with somebody else and it’s like a board game or something, or cards, and you can take turns on doing it, and you can get frustrated sometimes, maybe, when people take you over’.

This playful engagement offered the children a way of expressing their own voices allowing them to reflect on their ideas of play and its relation to learning and in so doing, the research team were rewarded with a rich data set.

Sarah Jane Mukherjee and Lucía Bugallo

This project was funded by the LEGO Foundation.

PALS Project Team members [in alphabetical order of RA]: Lucía Bugallo & Nora Scheuer (IPEHCS-CONICET-Universidad del Comahue), Doris Cheng (Tung Wah College),        Sarah Jane Mukherjee & Teresa Cremin (The Open University), Jill Popp (The LEGO Foundation), Marcia Preston & Roberta Golinkoff (University of Delaware).

This month our post is written by Karen Horsley (lecturer, Early Childhood) and Jill Robertson (Associate lecturer, Early Childhood)

 

Picture this, what if your challenge was to create an original recipe for modern childhood. What ingredients would you choose from the modern childhood pantry? Will the mixture be much like your own childhood? Or can you imagine new flavours and ways of mixing things up?

The recipes our students produced:

Like cooking or baking, childhood is so diverse, and there are so many recipes! We asked our students to reflect on their views of modern childhood in our Show & Tell ‘modern childhood’ induction activity. Here’s what they produced, and below are some ‘quotes and common phrases’ they used in their own recipes! As you can see it was full of different fantastic FLAVOURS

• Fruitful discussions: There was a refreshing look at some super examples of the wide range of materials to ‘spark imagination’ and ‘learning’ including the use of ‘loose parts’, and ‘tuff trays’, all current hot topics and flavours!
• Lovely passionfruit: A real passion for children, came across in the recipes including ‘I love’ and a ‘respect for play’ which many recognised as ‘an important way to learn’. This was coupled with the ‘importance of rights, voice and choice.’ All were combined with a ‘belief in the child’ and a commitment to ensuring their ‘health and wellbeing are protected’ and that they ‘reach their potential’.
• Array of exotic tastes: Many were not afraid to bring something unusual to the table. And felt ‘relief’ in the knowledge they could be ‘not afraid to tackle areas such as mental health’ coupled with a keenness to ‘overcome the fear of risky play’.
• Varying blends: Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea! But there were some super variations. For example, ‘a fair bit of worry around too much screen time’ was ‘balanced’ nicely with ‘how important technology can be’ and a clear taste for the ‘many benefits of children using technology’.
• Organic produce: We saw much flavour for ensuring ‘children’s experiences and opinions are at the forefront of their learning environments’. Particularly in reference to the importance of ‘free experiences’ such as “’messy play’ and ‘outdoor experience’ which many recipes included.
• Unbelievable taste: There was an unbelievable taste and ‘excitement for learning’ that came from swapping recipes! Many ‘rethought ideas or reconsidered topics.
• Refreshing palate: There were some new fresh and interesting ingredients this year, including ‘the impact of the pandemic’ and the ‘value of discussing mental health’! Each brought their own exciting new flavours and added depth to the existing range of topics considered with a recognition that ‘ today’s society may be quite challenging for our children’.

You will recognise some of your own ingredients here, we have used your thoughts and voices! As you can see, having viewed these recipes we were delighted with the results. All deserved a mention! And collectively they are just incredible.

The next step: 

If you did not have a chance to join in or want to continue your discussions here is your chance, we would love to hear from you. Please remember that following this recipe will produce your own unique results, and these might differ every time!

With that in mind:

1. What could you produce from this recipe? The end results might amaze you and enhance your skills.
2. Do you have the key ingredients – a little time, bravery, reflection, and an open mind?
3. Remember, sharing your own thoughts, not only ignites your passion for learning it brings a lot to the learning of others too!
4. Can you keep the discussion alive and strive to improve your understanding of childhood?

An Invitation

Most importantly, remember to keep your fire for learning about childhood. Keep exploring innovative ideas and using these super ingredients, we are sure you will continue to surprise yourself. You can start by thinking about:

Who or what has inspired you?

Who would you invite to the conversation and why?

(This could include key people, thinkers, writers, practitioners. What have you read in the media, academic literature?)

Please use the comment box below to tell us more and keep the conversation going!

Sarah Jane Mukherjee, Research Associate

I’ve been at the OU since 2009 as a distance student, doctoral student, research assistant and tutor, and now I am a postdoctoral research associate.  Alongside working on OU modules, my current research revolves around reading for pleasure (RfP) and children’s dialogue.  In particular, I’m interested in investigating children’s language to understand their playful interactions and the opportunities for learning in play.  I have worked on a cross-cultural study into children’s and mothers’ conceptions of play and learning in five different countries, and my PhD explored children’s meaning making and learning in classroom role-play.

My ideal holiday destination is La Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean.  I studied there many years ago, and as a family we go back as often as we can to visit friends, hike in the sunny mountains, enjoy the beautiful waterfalls, relax on the beaches and eat ‘cari’, which is one of the typical dishes.

I have a number of books on the go at any one time.  I recently finished The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (as an audio book), Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones (kindle), Malamander by Thomas Taylor (children’s short novel) and far too many picture books to list, but my recent favourites include Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall; Jerome by Heart by Thomas Scotto and Olivier Tallec; It’s a no money day by Kate Milner.

In my spare time I love to spend time with my husband and our daughter and the rest of my family including my two young nephews and niece.  We have an allotment, on which we have mainly grown weeds this year, but there’s always next year….

 Carolyn Cooke, Academic Staff Tutor (Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport)

I am a Staff Tutor based in the North of Scotland. I have worked in education as a teacher and teacher educator, with my specialism being music education. I am passionate about what the whole education system can learn from Early Years, particularly the role of play in learning and in educational research. This is something I have  explored in my PhD. I have two children who I play and learn with every day.

 Thanks Carolyn. Can you tell us….

• The last book you read: The 91 Storey Treehouse with my son.
• Your ideal holiday destination: Somewhere with a view where I can watch the clouds and light change.
• What you do in your spare time: Growing as much veg as I can without the creepy crawls eating it first!

Dr Claire Saunders, Education Staff Tutor

I am director of PRAXIS (the Scholarship and Innovation Centre in WELS Faculty) and an Education Staff Tutor in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport. I started my career as a primary school teacher, moving into higher education in 2006. I work with Associate Lecturers on two Early Childhood modules, working closely with other members of the module teams to try to ensure students have the best possible learning experience. My teaching and research interests lie mainly in the area of the academic writing practices of both lecturers and students, fuelled by the firm belief that writing is a powerful and creative tool for communicating ideas.

Mrs Eleonora Teszenyi, Lecturer in Early Childhood

I joined The Open University in September 2019 and previously taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees including the Masters programme in Early Years. Before entering Higher Education, I had worked in the early years sector for 19 years as an early years practitioner, early years teacher, Local Authority advisor and children centre teacher in one of the most disadvantaged areas of Leicestershire. Although working in Higher Education, I have remained close to practice: I am still involved with supporting early years practitioners, and my PhD study focuses on early childhood pedagogy and practice.

Thanks Eleonora. Can you tell us….

The last book you read: I always have at least two books on my bedside cabinet (often more), one of which is fiction. A novel I long to read to switch my brain off at the end of the day. But I must admit, at the write-up stage in my PhD, this feels rather like a luxury so often I pour over research books in preparation for the following day’s writing. Before you condemn me to be rather ‘sad’, let me confess to reading an easy-going novel during my summer leave. Nothing high-brow or particularly sophisticated (without wanting to offend the author), just ‘nice’.  It was by Delia Owens and the title is ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ and offered a bit of escapism.

Your ideal holiday destination: I would very much like to hike on the Inca Trail in Peru, starting from Chillca, up to the lost city of Machu Picchu. I am fascinated by ancient civilisations, although I cannot claim to know too much about them. It is more like an enthusiastic interest of a novice. Once I am in that part of the world, I’d like to travel around in South-America.

What you do in your spare time: Anything that is outdoors. Our family holidays are always about adventure and I love it all: sea kayaking, canoeing on white water, hiking, rock climbing, caving or skiing, they are all fun. I must admit, I am not too keen on biking, particularly not mountain biking.  I also love pottering in the garden, growing our food on our allotment, cooking it all in a cauldron on open fire… you get the picture. Wind in my hair, sun on my face, soaked by rain… I don’t mind but love the snow the most!

Dr Joanne Josephidou, Lecturer in Early Childhood

I joined the Open University in September 2019 but before this, I was a primary school teacher for many years before entering Higher Education, as a teaching fellow, in 2009. I taught on Initial Teacher Education programmes at the University of Cumbria before joining the Early Childhood Studies team at Canterbury Christ Church in September 2014.  I have taught on a variety of modules and have a particular interest in supporting students to develop early research skills. My PhD focused on appropriate pedagogies with young children and how practitioner gender may impact on these.  Currently, I am working collaboratively on a piece of research which focuses on babies’ and toddlers’ opportunities to engage with the outdoor environment and nature.

Thanks Jo. Now tell us…

The last book you read: I discovered Helen Dunmore recently and read lots of her books over the summer; I have really enjoyed them all.

Your ideal holiday destination: France or France or France – I just love it!

What you do in your spare time: I love spending time with my family; I have three sons who make me laugh, wind me up and help me to see the world in a different way.

Dr Lucy Rodriguez-Leon

 

 

 

I joined the Early Childhood Team in 2019 and I work on module E109, Exploring perspectives on young children’s lives and learning. As a former OU student at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, I feel particularly connected to The Open University. Before teaching in Higher Education, I worked at a state-maintained nursery school for 16 years. I still miss working with children, so I really enjoy hearing about our students’ experiences in their early childhood settings.

My PhD focused on early childhood literacies; more specifically, the research explored young children’s everyday encounters with written and multimodal texts, and how their experiences shape their understandings of themselves as readers and writers. I’m a member of the UK Literacy Association and co-convener of the Early Years Special Interest Group, where we advocate for broad and balanced approaches to early literacy education.  I am currently co-writing an online course on promoting reading for pleasure in the primary and EY classroom, which will be freely available on Open Learn in the Autumn.

What do you like to do in your time off?

One of my favourite places to visit is Northumberland, where I like to walk in the Cheviot hills and explore the ruins of Roman forts. It can be a bit wet and windy at times, but the wilderness and spectacular views are simply stunning.

What’s the last book you read? 

I’m currently reading ‘How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America’ by Clint Smith. It’s a hard hitting read, telling of the author’s experiences as he travels to plantations, memorials, cemeteries, museums and prisons connected with slavery in the USA.

What do you do in your spare time?

During lockdown, I discovered a love of gardening and now appreciate the phrase, ‘enjoying the garden’! However, I am a complete novice and have a lot to learn. I also enjoy cooking and dining out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this time of year, we like to introduce the team so that you can get to know us a bit better. There have been a few changes since last year….

Professor Jane Payler, Professor of Education (Early Years)

 

My research and publications, recognised internationally, focus on sociocultural perspectives on young children’s interactive learning processes, inter-professional practice, professional development of the early childhood workforce, and children’s positioning in research. I have researched, taught, examined, published and practised in early years education and care for over twenty-five years in three universities and two colleges. I am a former Chair of TACTYC: Association for Professional Development in Early Years and former Co-Director of the Children’s Research Centre at the OU. I have advised governments in the development of standards for graduate leaders in the early years, EYPS and EYT, contributed to numerous government consultations and developed a wide range of curricula for early childhood from vocational courses through to university doctoral level study.

At present, I am researching the experiences of children and young people with a parent in prison. 

 

Interests outside work: Painting, drawing, reading and walking. 

Favourite non-academic books I’ve read this year: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. 

 

Dr Natalie Canning, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood

My research is centred on children’s play, especially how children are empowered in play. I come from a play work and social work background, supporting children to explore personal, social and emotional development through play.  I have published within the field of professional development, children’s play, empowerment and creative spaces and have taught across various EC undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. I am co-convenor of the European EC and Education Special Interest Group in Outdoor Play and on the committee for TACTYC: Association for Professional Development in EY. I am also the co-director of the Children’s Research Centre at the OU.

Thanks Natalie. What do you like to do when you are not working?

My main interest outside of work is horses.  Over the years I have been lucky enough to own quite a few.  When I was a teenager, I tried out for the British Eventing youth team but now I am a lot older I do lower level competitions!  I do a bit of everything, dressage, show jumping and eventing.  In the picture I am at Crown Farm in the Cotswolds doing cross country on Romeo.  I have just bought a young horse called Albert who is very willing to learn.  I think horses are amazing.  They are really the only animal that lets you sit on them and allows you to do all sorts of things that must seem very strange to them.  They are half a ton of animal, yet they put complete trust in you to guide them around a course of jumps or do complicated movements in a relatively small space in a dressage arena.  We put them in vehicles and take them all over the country and usually they have a better wardrobe of rugs and accessories than the average human!

Karen Horsley, Lecturer in Early Childhood

I joined The Open University in 2015 as a Lecturer in Early Childhood. I contributed to the production of the new Early Childhood degree and I am the current Chair of E109. Prior to this I was a Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies (University of East London). I have worked in research and practice in a variety of early years settings. I have written for early childhood publications and presented at the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA). I am currently undertaking a professional doctorate with young children from migrant backgrounds exploring their ‘funds of knowledge’ through participatory documentary photography.

Thanks Karen – can you tell us some fun facts about you?

Last book: Aunt Severe and the toy thieves (read with my daughter)

Holiday: somewhere with some sun, a nice view and something new to do (I was fortunate to swim with dolphins a few years ago!) Anywhere with time with my family (something funny or crazy usually happens!)

Favourite joke: What did one tree say to the other tree? …. Nothing it’s a tree! (Fav joke from my friend Fletcher aged 3)

John Parry, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood

I am a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood and have worked at the Open University since 2010. I have written material for a range of modules for students studying at the OU for both the Early Childhood and Primary qualifications. Before moving into Higher Education, I was a practitioner and teacher who had worked with young children and their families for over 25 years, for much of this time within Portage. The focus of my publications and research has been the inclusion of young children in their local pre-school settings and the early friendships between disabled children and their peers. My most recent work has been with Professor Jonathon Rix developing ‘In the Picture’, an approach to observing young children at play and engaging with their experiences.

 Thanks John. Can you tell us….

• The last book you read: ‘Machines Like Me’ Ian McEwan.
• Your favourite joke: Anything that Stewart Lee says.
• Your ideal holiday destination: Ashton Gate.
• What you do in your spare time: Record Collecting, record playing, record cleaning, record organising, record reviewing, record buying…basically anything involving records.

Thanks all! Join us w/b 13^th September to meet some more members of the Early Childhood  team….