parental involvement in the educational process, by taking the time to share their curriculum,
pedagogical strategies and educational aims with parents. They offered advice on how parents
could complement this within the home learning environment and how this impacted on young
children’s development.
Pedagogy
Whilst this section describes the pedagogy in a limited number of Foundation Stage settings,
more detailed information on reception class practices, childminders and the Foundation Stage
curriculum is reported in the Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY)
Project report (see Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2002).
Knowledge of the curriculum and child development
The analysis has shown that practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of the particular
curriculum area that is being addressed are vital. A good grasp of the appropriate ‘pedagogical
content knowledge’ is a vital component of pedagogy and is just as important in the early years
as at any stage of education. The research found that, even in these ‘good’ and ‘excellent’
settings, there were examples of inadequate knowledge and understanding of curriculum areas,
especially in the teaching of phonological skills. Our study shows that early years staff may need
support in developing their ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ in the domains of the Early Learning
Goals stated in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (QCA/DfES 2000). Educators
who demonstrate good ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ display a firm understanding of
curriculum content. Moreover we found, crucially, that the most ‘effective’ educators also
demonstrated a knowledge and understanding of what part of that content was most relevant to
the needs of the children. They were also able to draw upon knowledge of the pedagogical
strategies found to be most effective in teaching any particular content.
In summary effective pedagogy in the early years involves both the kind of interaction
traditionally associated with the term “teaching”, and also the provision of instructive learning play
environments and routines.
The ‘excellent’ settings provided both teacher-initiated group work and freely chosen, yet
potentially instructive play activities. Children’s cognitive outcomes appear to be directly related
to the quantity and quality of the teacher/adult planned and initiated focused group work for
supporting children’s learning. The research findings support the general approach taken in
Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage (QCA/DfEE 2000). The settings that viewed
cognitive and social development as complementary seemed to achieve the best outcomes.
Trained teachers were most effective in their interactions with children, using the most ‘sustained
shared thinking’ interactions.
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