@PLYMIOE NEWS AND VIEWS
May 2015
Successful funding bid for research project on teachers’ perspectives on philosophy for children
Joanna Haynes has been awarded a grant by the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB) for a research project in a group of two secondary and nine primary schools in the Tower Hamlets area of East London, where philosophy for children(P4C) is being introduced as part of a curriculum development project funded by an investment company. Each year thousands of teachers are ‘initiated’ into philosophical practices through training and support in Philosophy for Children. P4C theories and practices are very diverse and there is considerable variation in emphasis and approach to training and support. It is not clear how teachers who experience training and/or set out to put it into practice conceive of ‘philosophy’, ‘philosophical enquiry’, ‘child’ or ‘children as philosophers’. Over three years, Joanna’s research will seek insights through critical dialogues with teachers to explore their experiences and the meanings and values ascribed to philosophical practices in their classrooms.
Anecdotally, many teachers who practise P4C report significant changes in their views of children’s abilities and contributions as thinkers, transformed classroom interactions, as well as a deep and lasting impact on their own thinking as educators. These are often the enthusiasts however, and we know little or nothing about why other teachers radically modify, reject or abandon P4C. There are no research studies that focus on how teaching of P4C influences teacher thinking and practice in a broader sense, let alone teachers’ deeper understandings of philosophical facilitation or their struggles and disagreements with it, particularly when introduced with an element of compulsion, in the context of whole school development and policy. Through the inclusion of teachers’ perspectives and experiences as the P4C project unfolds in each context, and by illuminating obstacles to and conditions for curriculum development, it is hoped that this research make a distinctive contribution to debate about the educational aims and values of P4C, about teacher education and professional development and about philosophy in the curriculum of schools.
O Grade Project visit to Nekemte, Ethiopia in March/April 2015, by Dr Valerie Huggins, Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies
I recently went back to Nekemte in Western Ethiopia to take forward a Project on O Grade education. It is an exciting time for Ethiopian Early Years educators since the Government, responding to one of the new Sustainable Development Goals, is introducing Grade O education for the 8 million children not currently receiving it. There is a huge shortage of qualified EY teachers and the teacher training colleges have to build their expertise to meet this need.
The O Grade Project is addressing this on two fronts. A Project Team of four experienced local O Grade teachers and two teacher educators from Nekemte College of Teacher Education, together with an experienced local Education Project manager, is visiting and working with 20 local O Grade classes, devising and delivering workshops initially on literacy and numeracy but always deriving from local needs and priorities. This work is supported by Exeter Ethiopia Link. My visit was also part-funded by Affinity as the Project has a very substantial element of knowledge exchange – my thanks to them. I saw improvements in provision in many of the settings, showing that building on existing practice in ways that meet the needs of the local community is an effective participatory approach.
The second part of the project is the liaison with the Nekemte College of Teacher Education. Thanks to your generosity, I was again able to take many Early Years books and journals to add to the small library previously provided. We had many interesting discussions about the cultural appropriateness of the materials that I had provided, and the difficulty in sourcing research texts on African educational approaches, let alone Ethiopian ones, a powerful example of knowledge exchange.
Dean TakeleTadesse shared that for the first time his College plans to offer a one year O Grade teacher training certificate course to 300 students, but the course will have to be delivered by his existing staff team who are Grade 1-4 trained. I therefore delivered a presentation on Early Education to all 67 of his staff, making it as active and involving as practicable. It was very well received and I have been invited back to support the new course in the autumn. The teacher educators are very keen to engage with us in knowledge exchange and/or research projects, so much easier with internet now widely available. If you are interested in linking up, please get in touch with me; further information about the work of Exeter Ethiopia Link is available at http://www.exeterethiopialink.org/.
Our Apple Distinguished Educator
Congratulations to our ICT Technical Officer Benji Rogers who has been awarded the highly prestigious title of Apple Distinguished Educator. This award recognises higher education pioneers who use a variety of Apple technologies and products to transform the learning experience in powerful ways.
The Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Programme began in 1994, and has grown into a worldwide community of over 2,000 visionary educators and innovative leaders who are doing amazing things with Apple technology in and out of the classroom. Apple released a statement as follows: “Apple is pleased to welcome Benji Rogers to the ADE Class of 2015.”
Benji said: “I’m genuinely surprised to have been selected and very proud to be able to represent the Institute and University in this capacity.” You can learn more about this group of innovative educators online at: http://www.apple.com/education/apple-distinguished-educator
Gazelle Stem Centre
Julie Anderson was at the Gazelle Stem centre for us recently, a newly developed space within City College Plymouth on Kings Road, Devonport. It opened a couple of months ago and is a resource available to any of us in the city to hire/ use. The contact and centre coordinator is Andy Robinson, who some of you may know from when he worked at the Aquarium. Email arobinson@cityplym.ac.uk.
Erasmus+ Project
Plymouth Institute of Education
Email: sally.thorne@plymouth.ac.uk
Location: Nancy Astor Building, Plymouth University, Plymouth
Phone: 01752 585300
Twitter: @PlymIOEtwittercom