Pedagogical Innovation and Leadership in the Early Years: final report

This report presents the findings of an evaluation study of an early years teaching programme delivered through a Teaching School Alliance in East London, and the participants’ experience of professional learning. The study addressed the overall question: “What are participants’ perceived impact of the teaching programme on their professional learning, development and practice?” The main focus is on aspects of professional learning which can potentially lead to benefits for participants’ pedagogy and development, and ultimately for children’s learning. The study drew on a substantive body of research in three inter-related areas: pedagogy, professional learning, and leadership. The research was based on a mainly qualitative design using questionnaires, interviews and online dialogues. The findings offered a nuanced understanding of the early years teaching programme as occurring in a shared learning community, and demonstrated how participants’ engagement in collaboration and knowledge exchange was important in enhancing their understanding of how best to support their own professional learning as well as that of the children. Significantly, the findings showed evidence of participants’ applying their learning to changing and informing their settings’ practices, and for some, how this has resulted in initiating and leading change in key aspects of practice. Five key themes emerged: pedagogical tools to promote and extend children’s learning, shared and purposeful learning, reflective practice, Twitter and virtual learning as an enabler and inhibitor, and perceived impact on practice and leadership. The findings highlighted the agency that was exercised by several practitioners in their development of pedagogical strategies to improve their practice and interactions with the children. Overall, participants were positive about the learning they had gained from being on the programme and appeared to benefit from the impact it had on their practice. The study provided strong evidence for sustaining and potentially scaling up of the early years teaching programme as a model of professional development and learning for nursery and preschool practitioners.