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Nursery World, 25 (January
2007)
ReFocus Journal (Summer 2006)
Early Years Educator (January 2006)
Nursery Education (November 2005)
Vivian Gussin Paley (July 2005)
Times Educational Supplement, Book of
the Week (June 24 2005)
First hand experience:
what matters to children
Nursery World
25 January 2007
Our recommended choice…
First hand experience:
what matters to children
By Rich, D. Casanova, D. Dixon, A. Drummond, MJ.
Durrant, A. Myer, C.
Reviewed by Wendy Scott, early years consultant
This thought-provoking book is described as an alphabet of real
experiences. It offers a springboard rather than a prescription, designed to
stimulate imagination as much as reflection. It would help parents as much as
practitioners to understand the importance of direct experience for young
children.
The A-Z headings cover a range of interconnected ideas, and it is easy to
‘zig-zag’ through them according to individual interests or priorities. For
example, ‘I’ stands for ‘I’ the active learner at the centre, arguably
including adults as much as children.
Learning stories link practice and principle through personal example of
how adults have developed and expressed their educational philosophy through
paying close attention to what matters to individual children. Insights gained
through careful observation enable them to support, encourage and extend
rather than direct or determine children’s enquiries. Sustained shared
thinking from genuine questions demonstrably leads to higher achievement.
The authors quote Susan Isaacs’ view that children grow through their own
efforts and real experiences, and show how and why this matters. They address
complex issues with admirable directedness, simplicity and examples. Key
points are supported by reference to earlier guidance as well as recent
research, and include relevant reading for children too.
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First hand experience:
what matters to children
ReFocus Journal
Issue three Summer 2006
Refocus is the UK network of early childhood educators, artists and others
influenced in their practice by the preschools of Reggio Emilia.
I was attracted by the title
of this book which puts the child’s experiences firmly at
the centre of their learning but was wary of the alphabetic framework used to
present the real learning experiences recommended. Would there be a risk that
they would become contrived to fit the model? I’m happy to say that the
authors, all experienced educators, have not fallen into that trap. Instead
the reader is taken on an exciting journey of reflective thinking using
innovative approaches and suggesting several potential connections – all with
many different possible pathways. They cover the many things, whether ideas or
experiences, which help children to make sense of their world. The book
resonates strongly with the philosophy of the pre schools of Reggio Emilia in
which both child and educator are considered as co-researchers. Thinking and
learning are ‘made visible’ through observation and listening and much, much
more. For those educators who want to be part of a learning journey with
children, this is your guide.
Each letter of the alphabet has its own section and I particularly liked
the ‘Q is for questions’ section which gives the basis for all learning. My
own trawl of finding any comprehensive literature on this subject had
previously produced poor results. Here, guidance is given on adults
questioning children as well as value to children’s own questions – even those
awkward ones. Annabelle Dixon’s suggestions about keeping a question book are
exciting and her comment, ‘There must be something for children to ask
questions about. If there aren’t any things there won’t be any questions!’
says it all. The section, ‘E is for enemies’ offers us the basis for another
investigative project. Questions such as ‘What makes an enemy?’ and ‘Do
enemies have friends?’, with examples of children’s learning stories as
starting points, are well worth reading to help access this complex subject.
Guidance on the best use of ‘First Hand Experience’ is clearly stated and
all sections are well supported by lists of comprehensive references to
stories, books and music in addition to the questions, connections and ideas.
It is possible to use this book for dipping into for one-off practical (but
not quick fix) ideas, which in turn can grow and develop into new pathways. Or
for those inspired by the values and philosophy of Reggio Emilia, it can be
used for longer, reflective projects to explore abstract concepts and
experiences. The back cover describes the book as ‘a springboard from which
children and educators can launch themselves into the mysterious and physical
world in which we all live.’ I would thoroughly recommend it to all educators
who want to do just that.
Solveig Morris is an independent consultant and ReFocus
board member.
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First
hand experience: what matters to children
A rich learning experience
Review by Jessica Waterhouse
Early Years Educator brings you another batch of
the latest products and books on offer in the early years New Year marketplace
EYE Volume 7 No.9 January 2006
As we early years educators continue to advocate play against the formal,
top down pressures of key stage 1, it is a breath of fresh air to come across
a book like First hand
experience: what matters
to children.
If you would like a boost of inspiration and nourishment for the soul
from a book which asserts that children’s learning must come from their
interests and that it is our jobs to facilitate this - then I wholeheartedly
recommend this book!
The book sets out to help improve children’s opportunities to experience
the world at first hand. Children are referred to as active learners. A
motivating foreword from Tim Smit, chief executive of the Eden Project,
introduces the mantra of ‘observation’ and states that observation is ‘both
the foundation of all good science and also the basis for learning from your
experience.’
The introduction also sets out the theoretical underpinning for the book
and acts as a reminder of those who have gone before, both here and in other
countries, such as the early years educators in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
These theories are related to the Curriculum Guidance for the
Foundation Stage, which recommends that children should be offered
experiences ‘mostly based on real life situations’. Within the book, first
hand experiences are described as ‘handling and using authentic things,
going to places and meeting people, and being out and about.’
The book is laid out in an alphabetic format. Starting from each given
letter are lists, statements and thought provoking quotes relating to ’what
matters to children, questions worth asking, big ideas, books and stories,
things to do and investigate'.
The book suggests so many fabulous starting points - r for rain, w
for windows, n for nothing, and y for yesterday. My favourite –
b
for bags – includes suggestions, such as precious bags (a doctor’s bag, a
princess’s bag, money bags, a wallet) visits to a Royal Mail sorting office,
a sleeping bag factory, a handbag shop – and key questions such as: ‘What
makes a bag a bag?’ ‘What would a witch’s bag look like?’
The section includes great ‘making ideas’, such as making a sleeping bag
for teddy, or making a bag for an umbrella.
The book creates excitement through being innovative and unusual. It does
not have lesson plans (hooray!) and there is not a learning objective in
sight.
It does have learning stories, which are accounts of how educators have
helped children to learn from a first hand experience. Each starting point
gives such a wealth of ideas across every area of the curriculum. Treat your
early years team with this book!
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First
hand experience: what matters to children
Nursery Education November 2005
Professional bookshelf…
First hand experience
First hand experience: what matters to children sets out to
reinstate real-world experiences at the centre of children’s learning. It
takes the form of an A-Z exploration of real experiences, with the aim of
helping young children to blossom into balanced, creative adults. Written by
a team of experienced education researchers and consultants, this
thought-provoking book offers an array of topics under each letter of the
alphabet. The elements on each page include: what matters to children;
things to do and investigate; big ideas; questions worth asking; suggested
books and stories.
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First
hand experience: what matters to children
Vivian Gussin Paley
Author, and former kindergarten and nursery school teacher, primarily at the
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Winner of many awards including the
MacArthur Award and John Dewey Society ‘s Outstanding Achievement Award.
Written shortly after the July 7 2005 bombings in London
‘Reading your new work, as filled with
the optimism that goes along with a love of young children and what they are
really like, it seems we are in a different world than the one depicted in the
newspaper and on TV. But it is our job to concentrate on children and your
‘First hand
experience’ presents a fine and novel
approach to the subject that will certainly capture the attention of educators,
parents, and of all, people who enjoy being with children and are eager to
explore new directions and old certainties.
I applaud you and your colleagues for daring to stop, look around, and begin
at the beginning. Exactly what the children like to do. Your curiosity will
lift all of us to a higher place from which to carry on our own observations.’
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First
hand experience: what matters to children
Times Educational Supplement 24.05.05
Sanity amid the madness
In a world distracted by targets and testing, Sue Palmer urges primary
teachers to renew their faith in real and direct interaction with children.
First Hand Experience :
what matters to children
an alphabet of learning from the real world.
by Diane Rich, Denise Casanova, Annabelle Dixon, Mary Jane Drummond,
Andrea Durrant and Cathy Myer.
Rich Learning Opportunities £25
"Read this book," writes Tim Smit in the foreword. "It may save lives."
When the creator of the Eden Project is that impressed by an educational
tome, it must be worth a look, despite the rather chunky title.
Well, after a very good look, I’ll go further than Mr Smit. If you work
in nursery or primary education, buy this book, read it, enjoy it and
consult it daily until you’ve regained your professional identity. It’s
aimed at those working with children aged between three and eight, but there
are important issues for teachers of older children too. In a world where
tests, targets and curricular objectives have driven us all into a sort of
collective madness, it will at the very least remind you why you came into
the job in the first place, And if enough of us rally to the cause it
represents, it will save lives.
The authors, established authorities on early childhood education, remind
us of the elemental importance for young children of real experiences and
genuine human interaction. For children whose lives out of school are often
spent largely in front of screens, this essential stage in development is
too often neglected. When they come to school, our cock-eyed educational
system forces us to rush them straight into the manipulation of symbolic
information (reading, writing and numbers). God knows what long-term damage
has already been done by this clash between contemporary culture outside
school and our premature start to formal learning, but for the sake of
coming generations we must redress the educational balance. This book is a
wonderful starting point.
There’s an excellent introduction, explaining the theories that underpin
the approach (theory which is almost daily being affirmed by neuroscientific
research). I particularly liked the definition of the role of the educator
‘to provide the curricular food that will nourish and strengthen children’s
powers… to organise children’s enquiries and experiences so that they are
actively and emotionally engaged… and to value the learning that comes from
these activities, using it to plan children’s next steps.’
I’m sure the many thousands of teachers I meet every year would agree
this approach fits the needs of young children much better than the pursuit
of fixed objectives, an over- academicised curriculum and an inflexible
testing regime, which at present creates not only educational failure but
countless behavioural problems. It’s certainly the message from the
Effective Provision of Preschool Education project, which has found that
‘sustained shared thinking’ between children and informed early years
practitioners is the most significant contributor to later educational
success.
The main body of the book is an alphabet of powerful starting points for
practice, from A is for Apples (grow them, cook them, eat them, investigate
them, look at them in art, consider the "big ideas" they trigger; inner and
outer; parts and wholes; classification; naming; growth; transformation and
so on) to Z is for Zigzag, which sums up the book’s holistic – but
nevertheless highly structured- approach to early learning. It all looks
enormous fun. The alphabet pages are interspersed with "learning stories" –
case studies by practitioners who have trialled the ideas with children –
and the pleasure of reading them is considerably enhanced by their design;
inspired use of colour, typeface and layout, creating instant accessibility.
Altogether a remarkable achievement and I can’t recommend First Hand
Experience enough. However I do have one serious quibble. Nowhere does
the book tackle the vexed question of how, alongside this child –centred
approach, we deal with the teaching of literacy skills. There are many
recommendations for good children’s picture books to share alongside
investigations, but the teaching profession knows from bitter experience in
the 1980s and 90s that literacy skills do not emerge from children’s joyous
immersion in books and stories; they have to be carefully taught. In a TV
–dominated culture where many children are no longer tuned into language
through nursery rhymes and songs, the need for specific teaching of
phonological and phonemic awareness is increasingly necessary. And without
structured help in developing the physical skills that underpin handwriting,
then refining the ability to get letters and words down on paper, many
children (especially boys) are seriously disadvantaged.
Personally, I see no conflict between the authors’ holitic, interactive,
child-centred approach to learning in general, and a systematic, teacher
directed but child –friendly approach to the development of the skills
required for reading and writing. The two approaches can run in parallel, as
early years practitioners are well used to such balancing acts. There’s no
reason to inflict a damaging testing regime on the under-eights, as is
demonstrated in successful European countries such as Sweden, Finland and
Switzerland, where the foundation of literacy skills are carefully laid
during the early years. When formal literacy teaching begins in these
countries ( at seven years old) the vast majority of children learn to read
and write easily and painlessly by the time they’re eight.
This splendid alphabet of first-hand experience is essential if children
are to grow into balanced, creative adults, but our pupils also need to
learn how to use the alphabet themselves to decode and encode information
symbolically. Literacy skills must be taught carefully and systematically
during the first eight years. The fact that the book makes no reference to
this leaves it open to attack or – even worse – to contemptuous dismissal by
the powerful people who have locked us into our current, dangerously
unbalanced, system.
A serious quibble then, but it doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm. I believe
early years teachers are perfectly capable of sorting out the balancing act
themselves, and all primary teachers are now ready for a more creative
approach to their craft. Teachers just need the courage of their convictions
and the justification to get on with it. So please buy this book: it can
change your professional life.
Sue Palmer is an independent literacy consultant and co-author of The
Foundations of literacy (Network Press)
First Hand Experience is dedicated to Annabelle Dixon, who died last
month. (TES Primary Forum, June 10)
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