Conference news
“Early years teachers are Words by Sally Gillen Photos by Kois Miah HUNDREDS of early years practitioners gathered at Birkbeck University’s east London campus for one of the biggest conferences in the sector, organised annually by nursery school head teachers. The two-day event, Newham Nursery Schools Learning Without Limits, attracted about 600 educators from maintained nursery schools, private nurseries and nurseries in schools. NEU member Nicola Hayden, an early years teacher of 35 years, head teacher and event organiser, told Educate: “It is really great to see so many here. It is so important that early years is valued.” Lucille Samuel, nursery teacher at Odessa Infant School, added: “This is my third time at the conference. It is a really great way to refresh your thinking.” Fierce spotlight on early years Keynote speaker Jan Dubiel, former nursery, reception and year 1 teacher, and an internationally recognised expert in early years practice, discussed why educators must refine their practice, challenge the many misunderstandings about what they do, and approach research with caution. Early years practitioners have about 1,000 interactions with children every single day, each of which changes a child’s brain architecture, he said. “We often talk about early years teachers being like brain surgeons. The way you change children’s brains in the period in which you work with them is equivalent sometimes to a medical procedure. It’s that dramatic and that important.” He added that the nature of very young children, their learning and the context they learn in is under “a very fierce spotlight in the educational establishment”, which is a good thing for a very misunderstood part of the sector. “Early years is finally getting some of the status it deserves, but it’s obviously a doubleedged sword because if you don’t understand 32
“The way you change children’s brains is equivalent sometimes to a medical procedure. It’s that important.” young children and the nature of early learning that can skew policies,” Jan argued. He pointed to a barrage of national initiatives and reports, particularly those that have been critical of reception practice because the understanding of early years is not what it should be. “Early years, perhaps more than any other sector, is subject to what you could describe as fads and gimmicks,” said Jan. The audience laughed when he went on to say: “I had confidently predicted that Baseline
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assessment would never become a national initiative because it was so unpopular.” Reception Baseline assessment, which has been widely opposed by head teachers and discredited by research (see page 8), will be introduced across England in September. Jan said there was often a kind of folklore – an “assumed approach” – about early years, which practitioners need to challenge. But research, he said, should also be approached with caution. “We are constantly
