Primary First Issue 30 by Synergy

Issue 30 £5.00

‘Dreams’ by Ruby Clunie-Wicks aged 13

Primary First

The Journal for Primary Schools

Arguably, what will be all too apparent on the return of all children, will be the observed divisions within children in the same class or year group within a school. 2

Editorial As I pen this editorial, teachers, parents and carers and children are preparing to return to face-toface education, albeit it in a phased fashion from March 8th. It is undoubtedly going to be a period of recovery that will have significant ramifications for all concerned in terms of learning, socialisation, routine, mental and physical health, and division. I wrote in the editorial for issue 28, during the previous lockdown, that teachers should be hailed as ‘heroes’ and arguably more appreciated in the arena of home schooling as they receive children from weary parents back into the classroom. This return is different. Learning has not been ‘lost’ during online sessions because children have only lost learning against the syllabus; children are always learning, of course at home, which is the beauty of the hidden curriculum. The challenge for teachers will be in determining how the syllabus is to be reprioritized – will some subjects miss out? Will extra learning be created at the expense of break and lunch times? Will homework increase or even weekend provision be instigated? Then there is the issue of how children will learn to learn with each other. I write an article in this edition exploring how behaviourism has naturally emerged as the only but dominant form of pedagogy, will this be maintained in the teaching of lessons or will children have to be taught how to learn in a socialized and collaborative context? The question of children’s health, both physical and mental, is arguably more of a concern for teachers and external agencies attached to schools. The Covid19 pandemic has cruelly exposed how health inequalities have risen to the fore in a G7 member nation. The disease has disproportionately affected people of colour, families of front-line workers, families in poverty and families in poor housing. Therefore, it is not difficult to assume that living in such conditions has only worsened the capability and motivation of children to learn. Some children were without laptops and wi-fi access for too long despite government promises of a quick hardware distribution; some children had to share technology,

or waiting time for a laptop to be free; who gets priority, for example, in a two-sibling household – the GCSE student or the year 5 pupil? It may be a challenge for teachers to deal with children who are in poorer health on the return from this third lockdown as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs makes a painful theoretical recall. The NSPCC warns of the dangers of rising mental health problems and its website has excellent guidance of how schools can identify and deal with signs of depression and anxiety in children. Arguably, what will be all too apparent on the return of all children, will be the observed divisions within children in the same class or year group within a school. Covid19 has been brutal in exposing inequality, yet aside from current and future government policy (now the recent budget will be implemented), it will take time to make a difference to children; teachers you will be picking up the pieces immediately. Those pieces will probably and tragically be issues of safeguarding as lockdown as increased domestic issues. Those pieces will be the responsibility of implementing the logistics of mass testing and reporting. Those pieces will be a re-examination of pedagogy as lessons face to face learning resumes. This is what issue 30 of Primary First seeks to explore, coping with a post Covid recovery. Divisions will manifest itself – the haves, the have nots and I think this will influence curriculum design and restructuring of learning and the recovery procedures for all children. Time is not on our side.

Dr Robert Morgan Editor

Rosemary Evans

Bequest Award Are you a recently qualified early years or primary teacher (QTS gained since June 2019)? Are you keen to reflect on your professional development as a classroom practitioner? Are you keen to get something published in an educational journal and add it to your CV? If so, we hope you will be interested in the Rosemary Evans Bequest Award to be given on an annual basis to the best article received for publication in Primary First from a recently qualified teacher (who is currently in their first or second year of teaching). The award is for £400 and EITHER the theme can be selected from one of the following: The highlights and challenges of taking on your own class What do you see as the key principles and/or values which inform your approach to learning and teaching? How can teacher retention be improved? The global teacher for the 21st century. OR you can identify your own issue for exploration which draws directly on your experience of teaching in the classroom and your developing professional awareness as a primary practitioner. This could, for example, relate to an area of responsibility you are taking on or might be linked to a masters level unit or might simply be an issue about which you feel passionate. The article should be between 1500 and 2000 words and you are encouraged to select your own focus and title, irrespective of whether you select one of the above themes or opt for something different. The article should both critically explore aspects of your own experience and identity as a recently qualified teacher and be informed, if and where appropriate, by relevant literature. The final date for submission for this academic year is 1 August 2021. It is to be submitted electronically in PDF format to Robert Young, NAPE General Secretary at rmyoung1942@yahoo.co.uk. The Primary First Editorial Board will judge the submissions and it is anticipated that more than one submission may well be considered for inclusion in the journal, although not in receipt of the Award itself. Further details about the Award can be requested from Robert Young.

About us Editorial Dr Robert Morgan Editorial Board Peter Cansell Stuart Swann Robert Young Primary First journal is published three times per year by the National Association for Primary Education. Primary First 57 Britannia Way Lichfield Staffordshire WS14 9UY t 01543 257257 e r.a.morgan@gre.ac.uk ©Primary First 2021 Spring Issue No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the publisher. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the editorial content the publisher cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Produced by Synergy

Contents The evolution of one-to-one mentoring to virtual tuition due to a Global Pandemic

Remote Control?

Learning from Lockdown arrangements – Managing transition and Behaviour

A Teacher’s Reflection of the Remote Learning Experience During the COVID-19 Forced School Closures

Has COVID19 enhanced the status of behaviourism as a learning theory?

A child’s best friend?

Today’s Learning Environments, The Future of Work and the LEGO® Education Learning Approach

Book review

Would you like to write an article for Primary First?

The evolution of one-to-one mentoring to virtual tuition due to a Global Pandemic Cassandra Rollett-May

This article is a personal reflection on how the pandemic has affected educational provision, focusing on my personal experiences of having to adapt my teaching methods to become a virtual educator. To contextualise the education I provide, my background over the past twenty years is in the Primary Education sector which led me to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) education. I would describe myself as neurodiverse (my learning needs do not just fit in one specific category) with a Dyslexia diagnosis - this provides a unique understanding of the workings and differences of the brain and how these impact learning. My own early diagnosis, learning journey and teaching experiences have shown me that understanding, owning and positively explaining your SEND to others leads to the identification of unique skill sets. Therefore, my goal is to support learners in adapting their negative mindsets into positive self-awareness. Currently, I am an independent practitioner; consulting on SEND education and providing one-to-one (1:1) mentoring to support students from Primary to Secondary, who find learning challenging. Fundamentally, a learner needs to know their struggles are not their fault and with Dyslexia, for example, know it is due to a genetic, neurological difference.

I feel that our education system does not always suit the learning styles and developmental needs of learners who are neurodiverse. My belief on formal education is that it should be engaging, pupil led and delivered in a way that supports all learning styles. I feel that our education system does not always suit the learning styles and developmental needs of learners who are neurodiverse. There have been major developments in understanding and teaching, but this does not always filter through into the mainstream education sector for a number of reasons, including finance and lack of training – learners are not always being taught in a way that supports their learning style or fosters achievement, their self-belief can be irreparably damaged. Therefore, my approach involves creating a multi-sensory, small stepped, cumulative method to teaching school subjects, in conjunction with developing metacognition to build confidence and awareness of self. The lessons I deliver are usually carried out in the learner’s home or school environment, mostly as 1:1’s, scheduled around the needs and attention capabilities of the learner, generally an hour in length. The structure aids attention and focus through short learning tasks with direct teaching using practical resources,

interspersed with ‘brain break’ activities, that to the learner appear more like a game, but in actuality continue to build skills, all be it through a more relaxed medium. Favourites include: the card game ‘Swap’ and ‘Nessy’ apps for phonics development, ‘Car Factory’ app for spelling, ‘Stile’ books and trays for maths and English. In addition, learners often compile toolkits where prompts are creatively recorded to aid memory in spelling, English or maths - for other skills like organisation, metacognition or emotional understanding a personalised journal is often collated. A termly plan based on assessments, discussions with the learner, their adults and often school, leads to lesson outlines (with supporting resources), however, these can be quickly adapted if I determine that the learner is struggling with a different concept or emotional response. I always fine-tune my practice to meet requirements from settings and the needs of my students; they all grow in confidence and make progress. This is how my provision had been working successfully for over 7 years, then March 2020 arrived… Due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown seeing students within a setting was not viable anymore. Initially I was sceptical about how to move my work online as the success of my business could be attributed to it being tailored to each learner, working side-by-side, helping them with their focus, demonstrating practically and

creatively to aid understanding. Crucially, being able to read emotional responses, judge moods and tailor sessions accordingly would be more challenging. How could this style of teaching and learning become virtual, (particularly as I was not overly technologically minded)? The adaptation began by looking at a platform that was accessible to all my students and would work with my teaching style. This was a relatively easy transition, although all my technology needed updating -- a new laptop and internet booster became a priority to increase speed and connectivity (I live in a very rural location, so appreciate the ability to shop online with home delivery). Resources were audited and categorised to consider their viability for working online, new online programmes were also identified. During the first lockdown, initial contact with parents about taking lessons online had two main responses either: “that’s so helpful – we all need support” or “my child is struggling to cope with interactions online, so no more lessons for now” (no one was expecting it to last for long, so most said, “see you in a few weeks!”). Between April and September my register fluctuated, as sadly, some students could not be supported via an online platform, yet new students were gained as other families requiring support made contact.

Home-education is usually a parental choice, made after a lot of research, time and effort is put into the decision to home-school, including identifying the right approach and resources. From March 2020 home-schooling was not a choice, but a necessity. Therefore, I feel it should have been titled ‘school-distance’ learning, as many families felt lost, knowing they were not teachers - wording can be powerful and the terms used, home-education or home-schooling, made some families feel that they were not doing a good enough job at supporting their child’s development. In its infancy schools had to determine how to educate the majority of students at home in a swift and innovative way. Some sent home or created downloadable packs of activities and worksheets, this made some parents anxious, with many questions; as to how long it should take, level of independence of the learners and if they had to complete it all, in addition they were at odds with their own understanding and the methods their children had been taught to use, particularly in maths. Other establishments very quickly utilised technology (a steep learning curve not only for the families but for teachers too) however, complications arose with regard to internet access, the requirement for multiple devices (when multi-child households were required to be online at the same time) and children finding it challenging to adapt to using technology or communicating with their teachers and class via a screen. By the end of summer 2020 many teething problems had been overcome, lessons had been learnt and effective ways forward were being developed – and there was the hope of no further lockdowns. However, as I write this article we are in another extensive lockdown period (learning at home for all, except keyworkers), schooldistanced learning in some form may be likely for the foreseeable future. Over the past year, locally, schools have been open solely for keyworkers or with managed partial schooling, as lockdowns were eased (in line with government guidelines,

initially this was for specific age groups), throughout this time, schools have developed a number of ways to engage learners at home, using a variety of online platforms. From conversations with parents and fellow teachers things are different this time round - a greater awareness of the constraints and access to technology; families balancing work and learning from home and most importantly a shared consciousness and understanding of our children’s mental health and capabilities during these unprecedented times. However, for the families I support the pandemic has compounded or generated a range of emotional responses from guilt and frustration, anger and concern to an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. They often feel misunderstood or unsupported by the educational system, they are concerned about their child’s academic progress but are more fearful for their emotional wellbeing. For all learners, but especially those with SEND, working online can bring about a change to routine, which is unsettling and difficult to master, using technology all day and communicating in a different form is exhausting and requires another level of skills. An inability to interpret a teacher’s body language and words via a screen increases stress levels and decreases understanding. Although parents are grateful for online learning, as it reduces their level of input, it comes with another set of complications – some of which are very difficult to overcome. Accessing support, having assessments or appointments with professionals also has new challenges. Some students do enjoy the online learning and find working from home without whole class distractions beneficial, those who love technology and interacting via a screen have at times excelled, however some have found the independent tasks or lack of teacher support taxing and distressing. For example; one of my students has found viewing her school work online more accessible, using a USB pen to annotate her work makes recording easier and she also commented on her ability to concentrate

more due to muting all other online participants, except the speaker, creating a quieter working environment. Whereas, one of my slightly younger learners has found the whole process of online learning immensely challenging, he struggles with processing, with fewer examples and minimal practical tasks, he is quickly lost and then becomes extremely anxious that he is not participating and is falling behind his peers.

respond is vital as we move forward. I strongly believe this has provided us with an opportunity to reimagine the education system, its structure and ethos. It is imperative that the initial focus of schooling teaches our children about resilience, tolerance and personal awareness in their learning journey in order to build understanding of not only themselves, but to have increased empathy towards others.

There are no easy solutions to the current situation. Progress and adaptability continues to take place, however, the pandemic has highlighted the inequalities within society and the education system. Therefore, as educators it is our role to be mindful of these challenges and continue to learn from these experiences, amending provision and accessibility for all. This global pandemic has impacted on us all differently and to varying degrees, as it still continues there is hope and light at the end of this year’s long tunnel, but the ramifications will be felt throughout society from: health, especially mental health; economic and social wellbeing to education and our professions for the foreseeable future. We must endeavour to be mindful of all young people and the way we

A key focus should be on learners owning their own life story, developing their narrative, for example; those with Dyslexia may experience difficulty with reading, writing, remembering and organisation (which can all be subdivided into more specific areas of need) at varying degrees, but if they create a narrative, having selfawareness of themselves as learners - achievement and progress can be fostered. A narrative can be recorded in numerous ways and formats, building on similar ideas to the Early Years Learning Journey or a SEND One Plan, including themes of: an appropriate definition of learning needs; strengths and talents; learning style strategies; support mechanisms and goals.

Returning to my pandemic teaching experience, over the last ten months my provision continues to be adapted, responding to the needs and requirements of the families I support. As predicted it can be challenging to decipher the more subtle body language tells of anxiety, but I am generally able to read a student’s responses and react effectively. One downside to virtual learning is when students need to move around to stay focused, it is not the moving that is troublesome, normally I encourage this; it is because they become inaudible the further they are from the device. Another difficulty is when lessons buffer or connection is lost, it can be a challenge for my students to refocus. However, lessons are only thirty minutes long - enabling students to remain on task and maintain enjoyment (I do believe that working virtually creates more fatigue). I have maintained contact with all my learners over the past year, a high proportion continue to have weekly sessions, whilst a number have dipped in and out of my provision as lockdown and schooling have altered. Several of those who found it difficult to work virtually, continue to find it a challenge, especially now that some school provision is online for the whole school day, therefore, I have reduced my time with them to create more balance in their routine. Others have joined for a few sessions to be supported with a specific learning target, whereas some have required no additional support. The emphasis of my sessions is working on developing strategies and memory hooks to support their school work or building on the basic foundations in English and maths, this is achieved through an interactive whiteboard, worksheet style tasks, games and activities. To enable success for the learner, whether it is virtual or within the home or school setting I have found the following to be extremely beneficial: • Consider the outcome of the task – what needs to be achieved (big picture thinking). Break this down into manageable steps (make

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it bitesize, it might seem like more work but the results and the confidence boost are amazing). If these are recorded the steps can be crossed off when completed or reviewed. Make learning into a journey - one step at a time – choose ways that work towards a learner’s strengths. Foster an encouraging, pragmatic atmosphere – enabling learners to develop strategies to overcome challenges, enabling progress. Use different senses in the learning process – make it fun, colourful, practical and active. Repetition, using a range of activities to cement the concept is key. Encourage making links, creating clues or memory hooks. For example: the English language term personification needs to be identified and used from the end of Key Stage One, but for some learners remembering such terms is challenging. So, think PERSONification. For all learners (especially as learning is predominantly via a screen for a considerable length of time) create breaks, space out tasks, provide extra time as learning can be tiring.

I conclude with a personal reflection regarding the future, post pandemic. I have long held the viewpoint that we are shaped by our past and upbringing; our experiences and our education and as a result we all interpret things differently - this pandemic has highlighted how resourceful, determined and compassionate we can be - so whatever we have been through, we can use the testing times as our testimony; building optimism and ownership of our differences, enabling the future generation to be more confident in their uniqueness and find their future passions, niches and even careers. I intend to continue mentoring virtually for the foreseeable future, it has become viable, there are some amazing online resources and interactions with my students are positive and progress is being made. I believe we are always learning, and I strive to find ways to make a greater difference

in building awareness and understanding within SEND. The pandemic has provided me with the opportunity to reach a wider audience through online and social media, using continued professional development to build a greater business presence, including developing resources for learners and teachers and especially for parents/carers. Therefore, I have created a free Facebook group, its symbol is a lighthouse as this represents safety, enabling navigation through illumination, offering guidance through steadfast endurance (a symbol for our current times and that of people searching to understand SEND) the group, all be it in its infancy, is a community, a place to transform views into more encouraging thoughts and actions – a platform available to share concerns, whilst encouraging strategies for positive outcomes to build confidence. This has been my journey so far through the Covid-19 pandemic, reworking tangible 1:1 coaching to virtual tuition, continuing to offer support (including advising parents who found themselves as home-educators) and enriching learning, predominantly to those who find

learning a challenge, locally and now nationally. I close with grateful acknowledgement and the upmost respect for all frontline and keyworkers for their continued hard work above and beyond normal expectations, we are indebted and to all those in the educational sector and all parents/ carers for their overwhelming effort and skills in adapting the learning experience for our future generations during a global pandemic.

Cassandra Rollett-May is a well-respected educator of twenty years (mostly in SEND) seeking to make a difference in a student’s learning journey, over the last seven years through her business Rollett-Ed. Having a Dyslexia diagnosis and teaching degree she has a unique perspective on education. She lives in rural Essex, enjoying the countryside with her husband and young son. www.rollett-ed.co.uk admin@rollett-ed.co.uk Facebook group: Lighthouse on Dyslexia

Remote Control? Andy Clunie-Wicks

When the country first went into lockdown in March 2020, many schools scrambled around to try and provide any kind of remote education at all, let alone any that was effective. My own school was quite lucky because we were already using an online communication platform that parents were very engaged with, which meant it was relatively easy to set up online learning for our children and monitor the level of engagement fairly easily. We could set up work online for children and see they were engaged in it. Many other schools in our trust, however, had to suddenly switch to using unfamiliar tools very quickly and at short notice: to say it was a steep learning curve was a massive understatement! In my role of Computing Champion for the Trust, I was the first port of call to help sort out technical and other issues for children, parents and teachers. After the initial panicky couple of weeks, the number of help requests dropped off dramatically and we could focus on the level of engagement in this strange new world of online learning.

Remote learning Phase 1: March - July 2020 This first phase of online learning used Google Classroom to set assignments and tasks. Teachers also recorded videos to explain the lessons to the children and uploaded them to Class Dojo (our

school’s main communication platform). The main issue for teachers was finding a balance between providing enough material for children to work on at home and making it interesting, engaging and relevant to the curriculum. We also had to provide work for key worker and vulnerable children who were still in school, so teachers soon settled into a daily routine of providing online work that children would complete either in school or at home depending on their circumstances. During this first phase, feedback from parents and some children was very positive. Some teachers thrived on having to find new ways of teaching their subjects at arm’s length, while other staff members enjoyed improving their computing skills. As time moved on, though, it soon became very clear that some children were not taking part in every lesson, while a significant proportion were not engaging in any online learning at all. Through monitoring, feedback and contacting parents we realized there were a few barriers to engagement. The first, and most common barrier, was a lack of devices for home use. We surveyed our children prior to lockdown to assess whether they had technology at home to join in remote learning, loaned Chromebooks to families that told us they had nothing and arranged training for parents to help them support their children. As the days passed, it became clearer that a lot of our children

were using an unsuitable device which made it hard for them to take part. Either the screen was too small, or they had to share it with siblings, or it was not available because it was being used by a parent. We ended up loaning more laptops until we ran out. Learning environments also contributed to the drop-off in engagement. Some families could not provide a quiet location where a child could concentrate for an hour or two per lesson. In serious cases, we classed the child as vulnerable and offered them a place in school for the duration. After a month or so the numbers taking part had stabilized. We were seeing between 50% - 75% engagement with online lessons, with a general downward trend in participation. Once we excluded technology and environment, we concluded that some children struggled to motivate themselves to learn independently or did not have access to adequate adult support at home to help when they required support. On a positive note, parental engagement was at an all-time high. Most classes now had over 90% of parents linked to the online platform (in our case, Class Dojo) and some had more.

Bubbles and live remote lessons When schools reopened fully in September 2020, we were ready to implement some of the ideas we had learned from the first tranche of remote learning. We had, for example, built up a bank of useful online resources that we were able to use in the classroom. Covid safety measures meant that we could not meet in person for training sessions, so we continued to use Google Meet to stay in touch with colleagues and for our own professional development. When the ability to record meetings was added it made this more flexible because we could time shift a meeting that otherwise would have been missed. Heading towards Christmas saw the exponential rise in cases and, despite all our efforts, children, staff and even whole classes started having to isolate themselves. When I was asked to work from home for two weeks because of a case in one of my classes, I agreed to trial running a live lesson from home for children in school. Up until this point, we had only held short ‘check-in’ meetings with children. Now I was attempting to teach a whole lesson online from my sofa! Would the wifi hold up? Would the class be able to see the slides? Would they be able to take part in my planned activities? And would showing them my cat sleeping on the other end of the sofa be engaging or distracting?

It was a bit like being an NQT again! It was all new and unfamiliar! Suddenly, I had to think really carefully about how I was going to teach because it was all at arm’s length and involved more detailed preparation than would normally be the case. Plus, the class in school was supported by an adult and this had also to be taken into consideration and prepared for (I normally teach my lessons solo and thus do not plan for another adult in the room). But the difference in engagement was tremendous! The lessons from those first few online live classes were going to be put into good use sooner than I thought….

Remote learning Phase 2: January - March 2021 Skipping over the spectacular U-turn debacle we were now faced with another period of remote learning. What could we do to improve our teaching? We took a decision to teach regular live lessons every day to supplement the remote learning we had begun with initially. To use the current jargon, we were balancing synchronous teaching over asynchronous learning, which seemed to be supported by research*. In my role as Computing Lead for our school, I worked with teachers to find the best tips and tricks for live lessons and shared them on the Trust intranet. In the first two weeks of phasing in live lessons we had to iron out issues of safeguarding (such as how to prevent children from joining their own Google Meet without an adult), sharing screens effectively, recording attendance online and using interactive resources efficiently, amongst other things. The impact on engagement was clear: live lessons were more popular than non-live lessons. After the initial flurry of excitement, and after we had established clear rules on muting mics and using chat appropriately, live lessons settled down into a routine much like class lessons. In fact, live lessons in our school included children in class as well as children at home. 14

This shift to live lessons has also allowed us to innovate on what online resources we use in lessons. We have experimented with a variety of different apps, tools and websites and have definitely come away with some great ideas for the future. We were lucky enough to obtain many new Chromebooks which were loaned to families. We staggered our live lessons so that siblings in the same household were not online at the same time. We created a more detailed register so that staff could record who attended online and in school for each live lesson. Consequently, this time round the number of children not participating was much lower than phase one. We have been able to focus attention on contacting those families and offering support to help them keep up with their learning.

Back to life At the time of writing, we are a week away from reopening the school to all pupils. As a staff body we are determined to make the most of what we have learned. We will use technology in lessons more frequently - especially now we have an abundance of devices. Some of the online resources we have pioneered in lockdown are great for in-class use too and we were keen not to lose those advantages. We are going to use Google Meet to collaborate with other schools in the Trust (and elsewhere in the world), to link children and classes together in meaningful and exciting ways. We are thinking in particular about how technology can affect learning for SEN children to improve their life chances as much as their learning. As we catch our breath, there will be more developments that will arise out of this (literally) life-changing experience. And I, for one, am looking forward to never having to say ‘Please mute your mic’ again...

Bloopers - when live lessons go wrong Some of the perils of live lessons include: • Technology issues - Wi-Fi dropouts, frozen computers, broken cameras • Environment issues - cats appearing at a window, children wandering past, doorbells going off. This is an edited WhatsApp message from a colleague which sums it up:

Andy Clunie Wicks is a Computing Champion at the Maritime Academy Trust and a Computing Teacher, Nightingale Primary School, Woolwich. Computing Champion, Maritime Academy Trust Computing Teacher, Nightingale Primary School *https://educationendowmentfoundation. org.uk/covid-19-resources/best-evidenceon-supporting-students-to-learn-remotely/

My grandparents phoned my house phone halfway through the lesson, kids were messing around on Jamboard, sound in year 6 kept going, my toddler was crying and climbing on me. He then proceeded to press buttons on my laptop so my mic is now broken! We will shelve that recording!!

Learning from Lockdown arrangements – Managing transition and Behaviour In her latest piece for NAPE, Michelle Prosser Haywood, SEND Lead at the University of Wolverhampton Multi Academy Trust, discusses transition plans and the ABC of behaviour management in the context of returning from national and local lockdown arrangements and what we can learn from this in the context of learners with SEND.

During all the national lockdowns, learners with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), who had an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) were considered vulnerable and were able to attend school, if their parent/ carer wished them to. In some cases similar arrangements were also made for learners receiving School SEND support and for learners awaiting external agency support who were in receipt of a draft EHCP, where provision had yet to be identified. Some of this group of learners stayed at home, whereas others attended school, usually in a bubble of mixed aged pupils, but for all of them, different arrangements may have been made depending on individual circumstances. There is no doubt that because of these differing practices which we have adopted over the last year, to meet this range of learners, the way that we work with our learners who are identified as having Special Educational Need and Disability (SEND), may encourage us to think differently.

During lockdown one, we started to see some of these initial changes, through temporary changes to legislation, and evaluate what the impact of these changes may be after lockdown ended. These first changes mostly centred around using reasonable endeavours and the production of risk assessments. ‘Reasonable’ is a word which is used within the SEND Code of Practice (2014), in terms of both endeavours and adjustments, but the production of risk assessments as a concept is not commonly associated and used within the context of learners with SEND.

Transition Plans The process of using risk assessments has encouraged schools to ‘anticipate’ a learner’s response on return to school and develop a transition plan. Although risk assessments are no longer required, through statutory guidance, during the Autumn term many schools continued

to use them as good practice. Where there have been subsequent lockdowns, this has been required again to assist a learner’s reintegration back to school following a prolonged absence. After establishing medical concerns and levels of vulnerability, where questions were raised, such as, ‘is a learner exempt from wearing a mask?’ individual plans may have included a staggered school start and a shorter day to support a learner with the new routine. Other learners may have needed shorter days for alternative reasons. Working at home, for example, may have been preferable for some rather than attending school, where there may be less sensory interaction and unpredictability.

ABC Transition plans taking the format of an ‘anticipatory’ element can be continued to be used, when learners move between key stages or to new schools and settings and they could be

tied to an ABC model of behaviour (Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequence). The Antecedent is the trigger, and when returning from the lockdowns, these have been anticipated to some extent for us, as learners have more than likely experienced learning loss and lack of routine, which have to be re-established. The antecedent, however, can be unexpected and can arise in any situation, for example, even whilst setting out the layout of the classroom which includes where desks are placed, where learners are seated and what displays look like. These can all be triggers of negative behaviour. For many learners with SEND, the biggest impact on returning from a lockdown has been this loss of routine and structure, and the familiarity of their own homes, where they feel safe. More broadly, this could be considered true of any transition from class to class, key stage to key stage or school to school, where a learner is in an unfamiliar setting.

Once a learner has shown a negative behaviour, we have to be careful that it does not become a habit, so the consequence is just as important as the antecedent. If a learner receives a ‘reward’ for their behaviour, whether it is positive or negative, this still provides some gratification and they may try and repeat the behaviour to receive the same response. Common examples are learners being asked to leave a lesson, when they have been finding learning difficult and standing in the corridor is a reprieve from this. The development and confidence of delivering online learning and teaching may have taken away some of these stresses, as learning has been more tailored to the individual circumstances. Many learners will have individual learning plans or calendars, which may include some monitored interventions, such as Lexia or Flash Academy. Most schools will now have up to a year’s worth of online learning opportunities which can be used in class, to differentiate and group pupils. Many lessons have been recorded so these can be paused and replayed. There are also more laptops in schools, so more monitored interventions can take place.

Examples We must remember though, that we cannot always predict what might happen, and we may need undertake further evaluation, to understand the ‘ABC’, whereby we assess a situation on a day-by-day basis. Ruhella, for example, was always late for school, and when she arrived, she was cross and angry, so she provoked arguments with teachers. An Early Help Assessment, found that her family could not adjust to the everyday rhythm of getting up at the same time, accommodating other family members and leaving the house at the same time every day and her Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) identified that she had sequencing difficulties, although provided with several targets for telling the time.

Her lateness and struggle with a new routine had been anticipated but her behaviour was not. It was her daily outburst when she arrived, which she then struggled to calm down from, which was causing her and staff managing her behaviour a problem. Ruhella’s sequencing difficulties had an affect on her recall, and she was unable to articulate coherently, why she was cross, but with the help of a social story, she and her parent started to understand her routine in the morning and the steps they all had to take to get ready to school. Like Ruhella, Bart was also been struggling with the return to school but he did not want to leave his mum and brother, clinging tightly to them and when he did eventually go into school, he often ran around the school rather than going into his classroom. In his classroom he was unsettled and frequently ran out crossing bubbles as he did so. After a discussion with Mum, it appeared that some of the behaviour could be anxiety driven, as there were signs at home, such as difficulty sleeping, bad dreams and bed wetting. The initial behaviour was rectified by a transition toy, helping Bart to feel safe and secure in his new class with a new teacher, which was brought into school and swapped with a tangle toy. He would then keep the tangle toy in his pocket and take it out when he needed it and at the end of the day the tangle toy was swapped back, so he could take his own toy home. Often behaviour will take time to unravel and assess the trigger. This can be compounded by additional needs such as Speech and Language difficulties and Autism, so we should ensure that our good practice around behaviour includes space for informal learning, flexibility, and there is time to be responsive to our learners throughout the school day.

Some suggestions for managing behaviour for learners with identified SEND • Consider factors outside the school, including family and friends and develop good relationships with parent/carers. Parents/carers know what works for their child at home and similar strategies may aid transition and help establish a sense of safety within the school environment • Develop ways to help learners articulate their behaviour and how change can be supported. Younger learners will need tools such as social stories and comic strip conversations and older learners may be able to respond within scaffolded conversations, identify the causes of their behaviour and work on targets to change it • Remind learners of the rules, and consider that some learners may need more reminders to correct their behaviour and different ways to remember them. Can visuals as well as written rules be used around the school? Can a film be made of the behaviour expected, and be posted on the school website? • Keep any rules positive, ‘Remember to wear your face mask’ is better than ‘Anyone seen not wearing a face mask will get detention at lunch time’ • Recognise in learners when their behaviour might change and in which locations. Can an adjustment made in the school corridor, if a learner’s behaviour changes when they walk to another location in the school? • Has enough transition work been completed? Do learners know the new routines, are teachers and other learners in the class unfamiliar to the children? • Continue to ‘Assess, Plan, Do’ and review, daily if required, less often if the behaviour is changing

If a learner receives a ‘reward’ for their behaviour, whether it is positive or negative, this still provides some gratification and they may try and repeat the behaviour to receive the same response. Common examples are learners being asked to leave a lesson, when they have been finding learning difficult and standing in the corridor is a reprieve from this.

A Teacher’s Reflection of the Remote Learning Experience During the COVID-19 Forced School Closures Melissa Clarke

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a substantial amount of uncertainty in the day-to-day lives of children, their families, schools and all school staff. The short notice announcement of a second national lockdown and school closures surprised my colleagues and I, considering the insistence from government that schools were safe to remain open and that the impact on children’s progress far outweighed the risk to public health. With the increasing COVID-19 case numbers after the Autumn half term the debate around schools re-emerged, and it was evident that school life could be impacted once more by the pandemic. This reflection will discuss the impact on learning from the first school closure, the objectives that were put in place to facilitate learning in the second school closure and highlight challenges that emerged as a result of remote learning. In preparation for schools reopening in September 2020, each member of staff evaluated the impact of remote learning on their individual practice. This involved reflecting on practice and analysing strategies that were most effective during the school closure, in preparation for any future closures. A significant effort was made in planning for the ‘recovery curriculum’ to be delivered from September, to facilitate overcoming the gaps in learning caused by missing school hours in the previous school year. Shortly into the new term it was evident that

there was an effect on progress, which led to an emphasis on strengthening core curriculum knowledge to the detriment of some foundation subjects. An initial challenge was attempting to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum, whilst the demands of the ‘catch up’ in learning. There was also a consensus amongst the staff that there was a lack of support and guidance during the first school closure. As a school, we benefitted from having an online learning platform already in use for homework and in-class collaborative projects. However, as these were used sparingly there was a disparity in teachers’ ability and knowledge on how best to utilise them, and in the children’s ability to use them for full time remote learning. There were some challenges in adapting to the new way of learning and ensuring that the learning was still engaging. Our aim was to emulate the classroom in an online capacity, however there were certain limitations that created difficulty in achieving this. To be ready for possible future disruptions to schooling, our school set out expectations for remote learning in the event of any bubble closures. Children’s wellbeing and comfort in their learning was seen as paramount; keeping routine and minimizing change where possible was viewed with great importance. Another priority was delivering engaging lessons in order to ensure progress was not inhibited. At the start of the second school closure these

expectations were clearly communicated to both children and their caregivers. Contact with caregivers was a priority as there was empathy in the additional role they were forced to play in their children’s lives, alongside their own work and care commitments. A culture of strong support from the class teachers and an open line of communication via phone and email proved beneficial to the learning. Where parental involvement was consistent the levels of engagement and submission of work was of good quality, as would be expected in the classroom. As the level of involvement decreased there was a clear disconnect in engagement in the work. Reaching out to these parents was not a case of being critical but offering additional guidance and support where needed. In telephone conversations with caregivers of less-engaged pupils, it became clear that it was not a case of avoiding the work set, more the ability to access the online platforms. This could be as a result of lack of device, or one device being shared between several siblings. This was reflected in the time of day that some children’s work was submitted, and as teachers, we had to adjust to this more flexible schedule and understand the individual circumstances of each child, and subsequently impacted my own working hours. Access to the technology has been the most challenging aspect of the school closures. As a school there are a number of children on roll classified as eligible for the government laptop scheme. However, delivery of these devices did not occur until the second lockdown. Prior to this there was an additional challenge of attempting to set work equitably to all children in order to not disadvantage any child. Unfortunately, resources available meant that work packs were created to provide some form of education at home for those in need. Yet being unable to mark, provide feedback and reliance on the parents to monitor the work being completed meant that these children were indeed at some disadvantage. I would speak to these children over the phone to maintain the teacher-pupil dialogue

and to gauge their understanding of the work set to monitor progress. Engagement in tasks in any capacity was the aim, however the situation with the COVID-19 closures exposed inequalities in access to learning that were difficult to overcome, which in turn challenged my personal ethos. The challenges presented to me as a class teacher with regard to engagement and enjoyment in learning forced quick responses in my personal approach to lesson delivery. As a school we are invested in using set schemes of work. Yet as teachers we had to use our creativity to transform the schemes into engaging and suitable exercises that would enable effective learning to occur in the home, whilst still achieving curriculum objectives. To deliver the tasks at face value would have resulted in a repetitive daily routine. Having experience with using the online learning platform and through collaboration within computing subject leader network meetings, I proposed a number of solutions to deliver engaging and varied content. This came in the form of using programs that allowed collaboration and group work and providing children with the flexibility to submit work in various media forms - for example video, voice notes and presentations. Giving children the choice on how to approach their work created a sense of enthusiasm for the content and resulted in a markedly improved standard of cognition of the topics. The approaches deemed successful were communicated between the teaching and support staff to apply and explore with their own classes. However, for all the successes in engagement there are still a number of children we evaluated as needing the structure of the classroom environment in order to achieve their best work. Through conversations with the parents of these children it was clear that separating home and school life was essential as there were too many distractions at home and the parent may not have been able to provide the full attention due to their own commitments.

At present it is unclear what the long-term impact of the COVID-19 school closures will be on the children at my school. In an unprecedented situation, I would prefer to concentrate on the immediate next steps to provide quality education for my class. For all the difficulties and challenges we have faced in the last year, one benefit is that school closures have exposed areas of concern that need particular focus moving forward. In non-pandemic times these may have remained hidden. The level of inequality in access to learning technology outside of the school is a particular area of concern. As a school that encourages a cross-curricular approach

with technology and with future designs of our pupils using it more, both in and out of school, we need more support for most in need. Also, the pandemic has presented a necessity in clear, concise and collaborative communication between all stakeholders – children, caregivers, teachers, support staff, school leaders, governors and the government – in order to enhance future opportunities and put children’s education first. It is my belief that only in the event of open and collaborative working that recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children will be possible.

Melissa Clark has been employed as a Class Teacher at a primary school in Dagenham since 2015. She currently holds the dual role of subject leader in Computing and Science. She trained at Wilfried Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, and emigrated to England to teach in 2014.

Access to the technology has been the most challenging aspect of the school closures. As a school there are a number of children on roll classified as eligible for the government laptop scheme. However, delivery of these devices did not occur until the second lockdown.

Has COVID19 enhanced the status of behaviourism as a learning theory? Robert Morgan

The transformation of children’s learning during the three lockdowns has led educators to reflect on the efficacy of online learning when learning theory is considered. Teachers have had little option but to use remote learning, via technology platforms, for example, TEAMs or Zoom, but what does it mean from a pedagogical perspective? In this article, I shall attempt to argue that behaviourism, as a learning theory is as valid as any other but for the lockdown period it has equal merit and demerit as the only option available (for most children who could not attend as vulnerable learners or children of key workers). First though a summary of the three main learning theories that most teachers will be familiar with.

Behaviourism Behaviourism is the pedagogical theory that learning is ‘acquired from a stimulus-response relationship’ (Grigg, 2010) which translates into the teachers being the transmitters of learning. It is characterised by learners sitting in rows facing the teacher because the learner is ‘cast in a passive role’ (Pollard et al., 2019). This didactic role gives power to the teacher who can control the teaching and assessing of learning (Pollard et al., 2019). The difficulty is in assessing the learners’ progress, but its strength lies in the efficiency of transmission of knowledge and subject

expertise (Pollard et al., 2019). Such a theory of teaching is known as ‘traditional teaching methods’ (Pollard et al., 2019; Eaude, 2011). Prominent behaviourist theorists, notably Skinner (1953), believe that learning involves learning by association. Curtis and Pettigrew (2010) write that such learning does not motivate learners and inhibits curiosity and favours an approach that prioritises the transmission of knowledge. This has the effect of learners being conditioned by qualities namely passivity and studying for external rewards rather than for the sake of learning.

Constructivism Constructivism opposes the dominance of the teacher by allowing learners the possibility to ‘explore their understanding’ and make sense of their learning (Grigg, 2010) by assimilating it into a new experience. It does, according to Pollard et al., (2019), allow the learner to be active and independent, with a learningcentred approach to their interests and abilities culminating in a focus on skills and concepts. The criticism it receives is that much energy and teacher focus are directed at organisation and classroom management (Pollard et al., 2019) rather than time spent directly receiving instruction. Children are exploring rather than acquiring knowledge. The prominent theorist of

constructivism was Piaget (2001) who developed his theory that children developed cognitively in distinct stages according to their ages of maturation (Walkup, 2011). In the classroom this means that teachers design learning activities for children that are suitable for their ability so that they can construct meaning actively (Walkup, 2011). This theory was highlighted in the Plowden Report (Central Advisory Council for Education, 1967).

Social Constructivism Social constructivism, as the term implies, uses the interaction of others, whether that be a teacher or a child. It is this theory that has ‘influenced the development of the curriculum’ (Grigg, 2010) and its most influential theorist was Lev Vygotsky .Vygotsky (1978) described how ‘adult guidance’ would further children’s development and although he did not specify any adult other than the teacher. He did write how learning would happen when a learning environment takes language development and problem solving into account: ‘Using imitation [internalised learning], children are capable of doing much more in collective activity or under the guidance of adults’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p.88). Walkup (2011) summarises Vygotsky’s thoughts

as teachers needing to scaffold learning opportunities in task setting according to the children’s current ability but the quotation calls for collective activity, in other words children learning together and with adult support. It is social constructivism which requires a teacher to design and develop a ‘learning-oriented classroom climate’ (Pollard et al., 2019). Therefore, it calls on teachers to draw more widely on pedagogical knowledge and repertoire and, in order to be successful in teaching requires a good level of skill and judgement.

Behaviourism in lockdown Therefore, from the three brief descriptions of the considered learning theories behaviourism is the only option that can take place without direct collaboration with a teacher during lockdown teaching and learning. The interaction a teacher has with her children is through the technology platform in directing them. Talk opportunities are limited which negates social constructivism, and content needs to be delivered which cannot allow for the children to be involved primarily with investigative or exploratory activities. The advantage of behaviourism is that it enables one teacher to teach (or even to use a behaviourist phrase ‘deliver’) one taught session to as many children as the platform will accommodate in one set period. The curriculum is still being taught

in the existing timeframe available to it. The children need to engage otherwise they will miss content and miss the opportunity to use that content in summative assessments at the end of the learning. Therefore, children are bound to the technology and the teacher and therein lies the draw of this pedagogy. Children are also required to set up the learning conditions at home, equip themselves with resources which frees the school from various costs. The disadvantage of behaviourism, during lockdown, is that it supposes equality on two fronts. Behaviourism assumes that children will have the means to access the technology (in terms of having a decent computer or waiting to share one with siblings), which for some children has not been the case, despite government promising laptops to all children. Behaviourism has assumed that there is an equality of support at home; this could be from parents who are able to be physically present to assist with learning (key stage 2 algebra anyone?), or have access to surrounding resources within the home, for example books or art materials. This opportunity of equality can also be viewed from the routine that parents have created at home where learning is deemed to be important and children have that ‘learning behaviour’ or the motivation to attend and engage beyond the mere signing in and hiding behind a circle of their initials. This is what Bourdieu (1984) meant by ‘capital’ – some parents have more capital than others and have already invested it in their children’s education. Behaviourism has exposed this. From the teachers’ perspective behaviourism may be efficient in resource, cost, time and money but pedagogically, and arguably from a true vocational perspective, it is poor in terms of formative assessment. Owing to the speed of online learning formative assessment is slow and cumbersome – it takes time to assess children’s learning especially where break out rooms are difficult, children may not feel comfortable speaking in front of others, or that they may not type quick enough in the commentary/chat

function. Assessment may rely on those confident children to decide they understand and are ready to proceed with the remaining content. This makes it difficult for differentiation, provision for children who otherwise would have support from a teaching assistant or specialised resources and for those who feel unwell and miss a session. It is likely that a post-covid return to the classroom may open up a vast difference in those who coped with behaviourist provision and those who did not or could not. What will this mean for teachers on their return to face-to-face teaching, in the Spring term? It will mean many things. For this article, I would be referring to the gaps in children’s learning, but in reality, it is likely to be a consideration of mental health issues, deepening poverty, clothing and food, and how to reintegrate children with socialisation strategies. Perhaps the learning will take a close second in priority. Whether teachers dispense with behaviourist induced teaching or evaluate their pre-covid teaching and associated learning theory is down to that teacher and school. Of course, behaviourism is not to blame, it is merely a pedagogical approach that works well when selected appropriately. Yet behaviourism may have reminded the teaching profession to the reality of social and learning divisions, which will need schools to reach out for assistance. Behaviourism has its place, it had to occur when schools were mostly closed to children but there are other alternatives available that can make use of heavy human input and warm interaction.

It is likely that a post-covid return to the classroom may open up a vast difference in those who coped with behaviourist provision and those who did not or could not.

References Bourdieu, P. (1984) Distinction. Abingdon: Routledge. Central Advisory Council for Education (CACE) (1967) Children and their primary schools (Volume 1: Report) Available at: http://www. educationengland.org.uk/documents/plowden/plowden1967-1.html Curtis, W. and Pettigrew, A. (2010) Education studies. Exeter: Learning Matters. Eaude, T. (2011) Thinking through pedagogy for primary and early years. Exeter: Learning Matters. Grigg, R. (2010) Becoming an outstanding primary school teacher. London: Routledge. Piaget, J. (2001) The Language and thought of the child. London: Routledge. Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G., Dudley, P., Cliff Hodges, G., Higgins, S., James, M., Linklater, H., Swaffield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M. and Wolpert, M. (2019) Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th edn.) London: Bloomsbury. Skinner, B. (1953) Science and human behavior. Collier Macmillan. Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in society. London: Harvard. Walkup, V. (2011) ‘The psychology of learning and education’, in Walkup, V. (2011) Exploring education studies. Harlow: Pearson Education, pp. 101131.

A child’s best friend? Ecotherapy and the role of Animal assisted intervention (AAI) in the primary school Poppy Gibson and Delia Silver

Introduction We have all heard about the use of outdoor learning environments for primary age children, or the integration of therapy dogs into the classroom, but what is the evidence behind such concepts? Ecotherapy ‘uses nature consciously to support wellbeing and recovery’ (Busby, 2020: 1) and this encompasses the use of outdoor spaces, activities such as gardening, care farming, animal assisted interventions (AAI) and wilderness therapy. During the COVID19 pandemic, there has been a rise in anxiety in primary age children, and many schools have been exploring how ecotherapy can help. Ecotherapy is a form of psychotherapeutic technique based on explicit environmental or ecological interventions (Chaudhury and Banerjee, 2020). Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI), composing of animal assisted therapy and animal assisted activities, was initiated in the late eighteenth century by the incorporation of animals in mental health institutions to help encourage socialisation among patients (O’Haire et al., 2015). Pet ownership can be beneficial to physical, social and psychological wellbeing (Royal College of Nursing, 2021); even just stroking a pet can reduce blood pressure. AAI can refer to any intervention that involves an animal within the process, ranging from targeted therapeutic interventions, enrichment activities,

During the COVID19 pandemic, there has been a rise in anxiety in primary age children, and many schools have been exploring how ecotherapy can help. or the support of Service or Assistance animals to help people with daily life (O’Haire, 2017). A view that people have an emotional desire to connect with animals is also widely supported, known as the ‘biophilia’ hypothesis. But why do we as humans find the company of animals such a comfort? And why do we have this desire to connect? There is a theory known as Human-Animal Interaction (HAI), which suggests that animals can provide a support that is non judgemental, whilst still proving social interaction, and thus these dynamic relationships between human and pet can nurture wellbeing through the companionship and engagement that let us feel we are not alone. Knowing a pet can listen without prejudice or argument can provide a great social interaction, especially for isolated individuals or those who find human interaction threatening. This article will present a brief overview of AAI, with a focus on the use of therapy dogs and therapy chickens to support the wellbeing and academic development of primary age pupils.

The science behind the therapeutic effect of animals Over the last ten years it has been accepted that animal assistance therapy is being more widely used in society and education owing to the positive effects this has (Kazdin, 2017; Gee et al., 2017). Throughout literature, the benefits of human animal interactions on humans of all ages is a reoccurring factor. Beetz et al. (2012) proposed that by the Oxytocin system being activated, this plays a pivotal role within some of the positive effects of human animal interaction; increased empathy, improved social interaction, decreased depression, reduced anxiety, increased trust and positive thinking can be among the important effects of Oxytocin. The use of AAI has been related to promising outcomes in a number of populations, including increased social interaction among children with autism spectrum disorder (O’Haire, 2013), to support people who have experienced trauma, increased social behaviours and reduced agitation and aggression among persons with dementia, reduction in symptoms among patients with depression, and increased emotional well-being such as reduced anxiety and fear. Children may have exposure to animals other than a pet in their home, as they may have been to a nature reserve, zoo or an aquarium.

The media is saturated with animal figures in stories, picture books, toys and games, such as Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh and Beatrix Potter, reflecting the affinity many children have with animals. Furthermore, in line with ecotherapy, educational pioneers Isaacs, Montessori and Steiner have discussed how animals have an ability to allow children to get in touch with the natural world around them creating a sense of calm. Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing is increasingly seen as a vital role of schools and can be achieved by developing the whole school approach to tackling these issues (DfE, 2018). The Department for Education and the Department for Health (2017) reported that one in ten children have been diagnosed with a mental health condition. A meta-analysis by Nimer and Lundahl (2017) has shown an increase in well-being, reduced blood pressure and heart rate as positive effects from interactions with dogs. Additionally, Crossman et al. (2018) believe human animal intervention is crucial as a means of reducing the children’s mental health crisis and any strategy that helps reduce this is beneficial, with animal-assisted activities as a suitable intervention. Crossman et al. (2015) explain that encouraging the use of such activities to reduce mental health problems is the way forward as it is pleasurable, engaging and easy to implement.

Use of therapy dogs in schools Sir Anthony Seldon (2019), speaking at a recent wellbeing conference advocating ‘school dogs’, states they are an inexpensive way of improving children’s mental health within the schooling system. Damian Hinds, UK education secretary, reinforced this concept as a positive way to enhance children’s well-being (Gallard, 2019) indicating this could be a strategy to help make school’s happier and more calming places, compared to the competitive, performance driven, accountable and stressed places they have become. The presence of an animal in the home automatically increases well-being according to Aubrey Fine (2015), a renowned expert in animal-assisted therapy, so this could be a useful means of de-stressing the school environment.

Reading to dogs The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows that the United Kingdom (UK) over the last decade dropped from seventh place to outside the top twenty countries in test results. As education evolves, comprehension and strong communication skills are dependent on having a solid understanding of literacy and is fundamental to succeeding today

(NLT, 2013). If children are struggling with their reading their confidence can be affected and motivation is lost and anxieties surface (Kirnan et al. 2018). Noble and Holt (2018) believe the long-term impact of poor literacy can contribute to the ‘cycle of poverty’. Enabling children to be successful readers is significant in terms of improving their chances in life, and achieving greater academic success, reflecting the findings of the report Reading for Pleasure (DfE, 2012). Sorin et al. (2015) discuss the popularity of dog literacy programs in countries, such as the United States, Australia, Italy, Finland, South Africa and the United Kingdom and notes that dogs are a valuable tool with helping children to read more effectively. Not only do dogs support literacy but they promote an enthusiasm for reading and increase motivation to learn. An innovative way to increase positive attitudes and instil confidence with reading is by introducing the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) scheme. Founded in America in 1999, Intermountain Therapy Animals have funded the scheme with the aim of improving children’s literacy. The rationale behind READ’s success is to encourage children to believe in themselves by allowing them a ‘quiet non-judgemental audience to read to’ (Friesen, 2009, pg. 116).

Knowing a pet can listen without prejudice or argument can provide a great social interaction, especially for isolated individuals or those who find human interaction threatening.

Therapy chickens You may have heard of therapy dogs, but how about therapy chickens? Chicken therapy has been used as a popular intervention for children with autism, supporting the trust building between human and animal. Chickens have also proven to be therapeutic for those who may be suffering from anxiety or depression, or feeling isolated or lonely. Without the possible allergic reactions some individuals may have to dogs and dog fur, chickens can provide a calm and engaging social environment. Indeed, during the three lockdowns in England due to COVID-19, sales of chickens and chicken coops have been higher than ever before. Many care settings, such as Littlebrook Hospital in Dartford, have shared their experiences of how chickens can provide comfort and support good mental wellbeing (Delaney, 2020: 1) In Haringey, London, chickens were brought to school to help children who have been affected

by the pandemic. These ‘therapy chickens’ are an integral part of this ecotherapeutic ‘recovery’ curriculum, aiming to support the mental wellbeing of pupils who have been distressed due to COVID19. Charlton Park Academy rehomed some rescue hens from the British Hen welfare Trust, allowing students insight into the conditions of battery farms in the UK whilst allowing for ecotherapy in the form of caring for the rescued chickens, and collecting the eggs, reconnecting young people with their environment and the role of animals in our food system. The authors of this article, therefore, encourage teachers and Senior Leadership members to consider how bringing animals into the school environment may allow for this ecotherapeutic approach to help promote children’s wellbeing, providing non-judgement social support that clearly can develop confidence and inspire motivation in young learners.

Conclusion Overall, this article has identified a myriad of benefits that primary school children will experience from the implementation of school dogs or therapy chickens. The evidence is clear there are positive benefits both from a resident school dog and from having a scheme where a dog visits the school setting even if only weekly, therefore, by assimilating the history of humananimal interactions has shown how prevalent the connection between humans and animals are. An influx of media coverage reveals why so many primary schools are using dogs as strategies to improve literacy, mental health and development. The gap in the knowledge is presented as we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic due to the coronavirus COVID19, where anxiety levels are higher than ever, and the possible treatment of anxiety through AAI should be considered and explored. The two national lockdowns in the United Kingdom last year, and our third lockdown this year due to the pandemic, have seen vastly increased pet sales, with key drivers behind this possibly being loneliness and as a method to reduce anxiety in adults. The authors of this article urge for further research around AAI in schools to be conducted to help provide further insight into the support for wellbeing and academic success that therapy animals, such as dogs and chickens, can provide. Poppy Gibson and Delia Silver. Poppy Gibson is a senior lecturer at the University of Greenwich, head of the two year accelerated degree in primary Education. She has co-edited a book that was published in February 2021 called ‘Inspiring Primary Learners’. Delia Silver is a primary school teacher at Earl’s Hall primary school in Essex. Her key research interests are animal assisted intervention. In particular, she is passionate about having dogs in schools. Delia’s school has a dog named Mabel.

References BBC (2020) Chickens helping Haringey pupils affected by Covid-19 https://www.bbc. co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-54254553 Beetz, A., Uvnas-Moberg, K., Julius, H., and Kotrschal, K. (2012) ‘The Psychosocial and psychophysiological effects of human-animal interactions: the possible role of oxytocin’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 3, no. 234, pp. 1-15. Busby, E. (2020) State school hires ecotherapist to garden with pupils to tackle mental health issues https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/educationnews/ecotherapist-school-mental-health-pupils-gardening-loseley-fieldssurrey-a9372726.html [accessed 12/02/2020] Cesare, A. (2020) The Use of Animal-Assisted Therapeutic Interventions in the Hospital Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Missouri State University, available at https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3551/ [accessed 12/02/2020] Chaudhury, P. and Banerjee, D. (2020) “Recovering with Nature”: A Review of Ecotherapy and Implications for the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 8. available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7758313/ [accessed 12/02/2020] Crossman, M., Kazdin, A., and Knudson, K. (2015) ‘Brief Unstructured Interaction with a Dog Reduces Distress’, Anthrozoos, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 649-659. Delaney, S. (2020) Mental Health Awareness Week: Therapy chickens help to calm psychiatric patients and staff at Littlebrook Hospital in Dartford https://www. kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/chickens-help-combat-anxiety-at-mental-healthhospital-227631/ Department for Education (2012) Research evidence on reading for pleasure Education standards research team. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service. gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284286/reading_ for_pleasure.pdf (Accessed: 2nd May 2019). Department for Education (2018) Mental health and behaviour in schools. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/755135/Mental_health_and_behaviour_in_schools__.pdf (Accessed: 12th May 2019). Department for Education/ Department of Health (2017) Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: A Green Paper. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office. Friesen, L. (2009) ‘How a Therapy Dog may Inspire Student Literacy Engagement in the Elementary Language Arts Classroom’, Learning Landscapes, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 105-122. Gallard, D. (2019) Dogs in the classroom – coming to a school near you soon. Available at: https://theconversation.com/dogs-in-the-classroom-coming-to-aschool-near-you-soon-114392 (Accessed: 21st May 2019). Kazdin, A. (2017) ‘Strategies to improve the evidence base of animal-assisted interventions’, Applied Developmental Science, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 150-164. Nimer, Janelle & Lundahl, Brad. (2007). Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Meta-Analysis. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals. 20. 225-238. 10.2752/089279307X224773. NLT (2013) Children and young people’s reading. Available at: https://literacytrust. org.uk/research-services/research-reports/childrens-and-young-peoplesreading-2013/ (Accessed 20th May 2019). Noble, O., and Holt, N. (2018) ‘A Study into the Impact of the Reading Education Assistance Dogs scheme on reading engagement and motivation to read among Early Years Foundation- Stage children’, International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 277-290. O’Haire, M. E. (2013) Animal-assisted intervention for autism spectrum disorder: A systematic literature review. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 43(7), 1606-1622. O’Haire, M. E., Guérin, N. A., & Kirkham, A. C. (2015) Animal-assisted intervention for trauma: A systematic literature review. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1121, available at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01121/full [accessed 12/02/2020] O’Haire M. (2017). Research on animal-assisted intervention and autism spectrum disorder, 2012-2015. Applied developmental science, 21(3), 200–216. https://doi.or g/10.1080/10888691.2016.1243988 [accessed 12/02/2020] Sorin, R., Brooks, T., and Lloyd, J. (2015) ‘The Impact of the Classroom Canines Program on Children’s Reading, Social and Emotional Skills, and Motivation to Attend School’, The International Journal of Literacies, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 23-35.

Today’s Learning Environments, The Future of Work and the LEGO® Education Learning Approach Stuart Swann

“Children learn best when they are actively engaged in constructing something that has a personal meaning to them - be it a poem, a robot, a sandcastle or a computer program”

If this vision of society in a not too distant future is to become a reality, we need to ask ourselves as an educational community a very serious question: what is the purpose of education?

Here, educationalist Seymour Papert talks about personalisation and hands-on learning - central ideals in his learning theory of Constructionism. This is a theme that will run through this article as we consider the future of work, the way education has operated over the past 12 months and how LEGO Education has responded to the challenges both of these subjects pose.

I don’t think we can progress this argument without really thinking about this question. If we are to re-imagine society and how human beings interact, work and live, then surely we should question how and what we teach and how, and what our young people learn?

I’ve been a LEGO Education Academy certified trainer for 10 years now, and during that time, I’ve been very fortunate to work with teachers and children from all over the world, facilitating hands-on learning experiences and thinking about how this can be used as a transformational tool through the medium of LEGO® and LEGO Education resources. I’ve also been a teacher for the past 25 years, and have spent much of that time observing and challenging how we educate and how children learn. Never have these themes been more pertinent, as we reflect on the past year and consider what the future holds. Society 5.0: “A human-centred society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space.” Cabinet Office, Government of Japan 34

My contention is that the world is changing at a rapid rate, and that education, on the whole, is being left behind, stuck in a 19th century paradigm. So is the purpose of education what is illustrated in fig.1 - where students are fed information in order to pass exams? It’s certainly a model that has been accepted for over a century. Or is it something more holistic? Something more human? Something that addresses selfrealisation, lifelong learning and learning to learn? Is this a model that’s more suited to learners in the 21st century? John Dewey said: “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.” “Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.”

Dewey talks here about “doing” - the physical process of making, of learning, of embodying a thought, a feeling or an idea, and this chimes with the words of Seymour Papert. Learning through making and learning through doing leads to personalisation and individualisation - things that cannot necessarily be measured through standardised testing. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not necessarily anti exam, but perhaps the system by which we test and assess needs to be rethought in the light of Society 5.0 and the way in which we’ve been educating this past year during the pandemic. Looking at the LEGO Education mission statement, it reads: “To inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow, enabling every student to succeed.” This really aligns much more with the words of John Dewey than with a model of standardised testing. The builders of tomorrow will be the ones that can think, learn and relearn. Every student succeeding means providing, in abundance, rich, engaging, playful learning opportunities that meet the needs of all learners, not only those who have a predilection for knowledge recall. So why are trends such as STEAM learning so important? One key reason I can see is that the workplace is changing. Consider this: In a report

Fig.1

My contention is that the world is changing at a rapid rate, and that education, on the whole, is being left behind, stuck in a 19th century paradigm. 35

from the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation looking at megatrends in the workplace over the next 20 years, researchers predict that we will see an even bigger change in the types of jobs to be filled and the needs of employers than we have seen already. The anticipated changes will come as a response to the progression of technology.

The World Economic Forum predict that by 2022, we expect; active learning, learning strategies, creativity, originality and initiative, along with technology, design and programming to move up the “skills chart”.

Among the shifts, we will see today’s jobs becoming even more automated as we enter what the World Economic Forum is calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This is backed up in the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report”, and while we all know that change is inevitable, future destinations are not.

It’s not only the work itself that will be impacted by automation. Automation also will prompt big changes in the types of roles for which employers are hiring.

“The future is unwritten” Joe Strummer

Complexity will increase, and different skills will be demanded across the workplace and across industry. Many jobs today - and many more in the near future - will require what the World Bank call “specific skills”: a combination of technological know-how, problem-solving, and critical thinking, as well as ‘soft’ - or what I prefer to call - essential skills such as perseverance, collaboration, and empathy. In other words, emotional intelligence. A report from the World Bank underscores the importance of preparing workers with these skills, noting that the days of staying in one job with one company for decades are waning. In the gig economy, workers will likely have many jobs over the course of their careers, which means they will have to be lifelong learners (and we are back to Dewey). Innovation will continue to accelerate, and societies will need to take rapid action to ensure they can compete in the economy of the future. They will have to invest in their people with a fierce sense of urgency, especially in health and education, which are the building blocks of human capital, to harness the benefits of technology and to curb its worst disruptions.

So how, exactly, we will get from ‘here’ to ‘there’? What skills might someone need if, for example, they find the idea of making a career change and becoming a remote-control drone pilot exciting? These are the things that we who are passionate about education need to think about. How do we prepare our young people with the skills that are needed for the types of jobs that we’re discussing? The types of jobs that don’t yet exist? Equipping the workers of the future with the skills they need will require education systems around the world to adapt and change. The World Economic Forum predict that by 2022, we expect; active learning, learning strategies, creativity, originality and initiative, along with technology, design and programming to move up the “skills chart”. LEGO Education, with the support of the LEGO Foundation, study these trends and seek to understand how to best support students and educators to thrive. The Fourth Industrial Revolution: “the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology. Large-scale machineto-machine communication (M2M) and the internet of things (IoT) are integrated for increased

automation, improved communication and selfmonitoring”. Wikipedia So if we now think again about society 5.0, and we bring into the mix the Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterised by, amongst other things, artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles and machine learning, we can see that the two are very much aligned. I would argue that all of this points to the fact that the way we educate needs to be thought about very carefully. If we continue to teach in ways that only prepare our students to compete with machines, we’ve already lost. We’re educating for a world that no longer exists and it’s a race to the bottom. The jobs of the future will be the ones that the machines can’t do; the ones that require human characteristics and different thought processes. So therefore we have to come back to fig.1 and ask ourselves very seriously, is this now obsolete? And, just to reemphasise, I’m not anti-testing, but I am arguing that the systems by which we test and assess need to be rethought in the light of these arguments and the way we’ve been educating this past year, because if we don’t, we are in danger of having a generation of learners who will only be fit for what is satirically illustrated in fig.2.

Speaking at DAVOS 2018, Jack Ma, the entrepreneur and founder of Ali Baba, agrees: “Education is a big challenge now. If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now we will be in trouble. Because the way we teach - the things we teach our kids - are the things from the past 200 years. It is knowledge-based. And we cannot teach our kids to compete with machines - they are smarter. We have to teach something unique, so that a machine can never catch up with us.” Ma’s words echo those of our friend John Dewey: “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” These are not new ideas. They’re not new concepts. John Dewey wrote The Child and the Curriculum in 1902. That’s nearly a hundred years ago. The ideals of LEGO Education and their methods of Constructionism are not new either. So perhaps we need to start listening to these ideas instead of marginalising them. However, there is still a challenge with student confidence. Confirming this are the results from a “confidence in learning” poll that was conducted by Harris Insights and Analytics - a global poll of teachers, parents, and middle-school students focused on students’ confidence in learning. This poll showed that overall, students worldwide are lacking in confidence in themselves when it comes to STEAM learning - something that’s characterised by project-based, openended, collaborative and personalised hands-on experiences. So all the educational ideals spoken about previously in this paper - the words of Papert, Dewey, et al, seem to be nullified by student confidence in these ways of learning. Some of the key findings from that report are as follows: three out of four educators say anxiety and lack of confidence hinder learning; fewer than one in five students are ‘very’ confident when it comes to STEAM learning; half of students say trying new things at school makes them nervous.

Fig.2

However, if we look at other statistics from the poll, it is clear that the very skills and concepts that students and teachers are uneasy about and struggle with are the very ones that they see as important. For example: 95% of educators believe the number one way their students can build confidence in STEAM is by working hands on hands-on projects with others; 89% of students say that learning hands-on helps them learn new things and thus makes them more confident in learning new things. So, there’s a disconnect here; a juxtaposition, and I would suggest that initial teacher training and education systems globally are somehow misaligned with what influential reports, teachers, students and their parents deem important. So how do we get over this? How do we overcome this disconnect? One company who are seeking to do this is LEGO Education. LEGO Education believe that a playful learning approach is key. Many products and resources from their product line address STEAM learning, but they are situated in playful experiences that foster and grow those essential - or, if you like 21st century, skills mentioned earlier. If you search the Internet for a definition of the word play, this is what you get from Google Dictionary.: play /plei/ verb 1. engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. I know that LEGO Education do not accept this definition, and nor do I. Engaging in activity for enjoyment and recreation, yes. But at the expense of a serious or practical purpose? I don’t think so. So, the LEGO Foundation have developed a more meaningful definition of play. They conclude that play is indeed joyful, but it’s also meaningful. Yes, it’s engaging, but it’s

also iterative - we can try things, fail and try again. Lastly, play is socially interactive. When learning is playful, qualities and competencies such as critical thinking, collaboration, emotional intelligence and creativity - those essential skills really do flourish. And again, education systems seem juxtaposed with the idea of play as a serious learning proposition, as Leo Buscaglia said: “It’s paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.” LEGO Education say that they deliver on their mission by: “Creating an irresistible playful environment where students are inspired and engaged; setting students up for success along the continuum of early, primary and secondary learning; providing everything schools need to bring STEAM and playful learning to life in the curriculum, safely and sustainably, for our students and our planet”. LEGO Education products are organised into three developmental levels: early, primary and secondary learning. As students progress from one level to the next, there is a continuous connection to the science and engineering concepts that they learn. They begin with learning simple structures and go on to explore the operations of gears, levers and pulleys and, eventually, to basic and more advanced programming. Reinforcement and continuity help students understand that the design engineering process is an iterative one that includes trials and errors. The resources are cross-curricular and the activities open-ended and project-based, supporting students at varying levels and encouraging collaboration and critical thinking, and they do all this through a combination of what they call ‘hard facts and soft skills’. So the knowledge acquisition is still there, but they’ve thought very carefully about how that knowledge is actually acquired - through a playful atmosphere, which of course is a holistic approach to learning, characterised by physical,

creative. social, emotional, and cognitive qualities. But if we think about today’s learning environments and how young people are learning right now, and have been for the past year, there’s a challenge. How do we maintain a holistic, playful, hands-on learning environment when students and teachers are not necessarily in a synchronous physical space? LEGO Education is addressing this too.

When learning is playful, qualities and competencies such as critical thinking, collaboration, emotional intelligence and creativity - those essential skills - really do flourish.

We know that COVID-19 has brought rapid, unexpected change to teaching and learning, but we also know that schools are committed to providing the very best education they can in the circumstances with which they’ve been dealt. We know it’s been difficult.

The massive investment in technology at national, district and school level has allowed greater access to learning from home, but many students have suffered from lack of engagement and motivation. Technology has, it could be argued in some cases, been used to reinforce traditional methods as opposed to disrupting them. The concern here is that technology is seen as the great problem-solver. The other worrying trend has been a focus on purely core academic subjects, as schools and systems feel the need to “catch up”. To who? To what? It would appear that the opportunity to rethink education is in danger of being squandered. Instead of thinking of strategies to ‘catch-up’, I would suggest that Governments and education systems instead respond to the needs and wants of students; to seek greater opportunities for hands-on learning, and for them to continue to interact with their own environments and the real world. So there are challenges. Hands-on learning with dedicated resources becomes difficult to implement at home. Children and teachers are feeling disconnected and isolated. Teachers are juggling the facilitation of synchronous and asynchronous learning at once. Add to this the management of emotional wellbeing of both their learners and themselves and things become very, very difficult indeed. The LEGO Education approach to learning recognises and addresses CASELs core competencies (fig.3) and they are thinking about how their resources can fit into different ways of learning and teaching. The LEGO Education website now includes resources and guidance for teachers, students and parents to ensure that their core learning ideals can still be followed whether in school, at home or a combination of the two. They have adapted many of their resources for hybrid learning, including those for SPIKE Prime and the new BricQ Motion. They’ve issued guides for adapting some of their lessons for hybrid

Fig.3

learning, which align more with student’s home environments and surroundings. There are also virtual learning resources and links to robotics simulations and resources for parents who have found themselves in the unenviable position of part-time teacher. BrickQ Motion, the latest resource from LEGO Education, which addresses science principles, has hybrid learning at its heart. Not only are there in-school resources, but schools have an option to purchase personal learning kits. These can be used for home learning or an extension to learning alongside the classroom. They’re inexpensive, and they compliment the in-school sets. This allows for all students to take their learning home with them, either for extended learning or so that they can be as hands-on as their classmates in school. Education globally has been forced into rethinking what can and should be taught, and more importantly, how; and technology has undoubtably played a significant role in this. Those schools who have succeeded are the ones who have adapted and used technology in smart, innovative and accessible ways to foster creative and engaging hands-on learning opportunities.

“Online or not, if we apply 21st century technologies to 20th century paradigms we end up with a system where learners, after reading a book and watching YouTube, could pass a written test about swimming without ever getting wet”. Those who have not have perhaps used technology simply as a delivery mechanism to reinforce existing and old methodologies. Technology is just one key to the transformation of education, whether in school or at home. Increased investment is great but we need to be careful about over-reliance.

Stuart Swann is a director of IE Solutions Ltd., an education consultancy helping schools in all aspects of their computing curriculum. He is an accomplished learning designer, LEGO Education Academy certified trainer and Apple Professional Learning Specialist. He supports LEGO Education through writing curriculum content, and has been a teacher since 1995. He is a former advisory teacher for ICT and City Learning Centre Manager, and a former Vice Chair of NAPE www.ies.london Twitter @stuartswann

LEGO Education has recognised the need to reimagine learning to something more suited to learners in the 21st century, and use a combination of technology and hands-on resources as we look towards the 4th Industrial Revolution and Society 5.0. Discovery, play, engagement, excitement and looking after social-emotional needs have never been more prevalent as the conversation around the future of work and education, and the global health crisis have collided in a perfect storm.

References LEGO Education https://education.lego.com/en-gb/ Japan Cabinet Office: Council for Science, Technology and Innovation https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/english/index.html

We now have to be very careful how we move forwards and, in some cases, back to whatever “normal” is, to not squander what we have all learned, and to continue to offer our learners the educational opportunities they both need and want to transition into the world of work and for them to help shape a rapidly and continually changing world.

Tomorrow’s Digitally Enabled Workforce: Megatrends and scenarios for jobs and employment in Australia over the coming twenty years https://publications.csiro.au/rprdownload?pid=csiro:EP161054&dsid=DS1

I will leave you with the words of Graham Brown-Martin: “Online or not, if we apply 21st century technologies to 20th century paradigms we end up with a system where learners, after reading a book and watching YouTube, could pass a written test about swimming without ever getting wet”.

LEGO Foundation Play Well Report 2018 https://www.legofoundation.com/en/learn-how/knowledge-base/legoplay-well-report-2018/

Future of Jobs Report 2018 - World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018 World Bank Development Report 2016 https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2016 John Dewey - The Child and the Curriculum 1902 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29259 Casel https://casel.org

Harris Confidence in Learning poll https://theharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/WE-Lego-ExecSummary-4.1.19-1.pdf Why Don’t You Design A School - Graham Brown-Martin 2020 https://medium.com/regenerative-global/why-dont-you-design-a-school19409e6316db

Climate Justice Leah Duffy

Teach the Future is an inclusive, well organised and persistent campaign by secondary and tertiary education students to greatly improve education on the climate emergency and ecological crisis in the UK. They are campaigning for change across the whole of the UK, but education in the UK is a devolved matter, meaning there are different education ministers and education laws in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A lot of their work is relevant across the UK, but they also have specific campaign branches in Scotland, Wales and England. Teach the Future wishes to educate students about climate change. They exist to make students aware of the climate emergency and ecological crisis: how they are caused, what can be done to mitigate them and what future lives and jobs are going to look like. Sustainability and these crises should become key content in all subject areas. Educators need to be trained in how to teach about these difficult topics in a way that empowers students, and they need funding and resources to do this.

You may have even heard the phrase “Climate Justice = Social Justice”, but what does “Climate Justice” really mean anyway? Climate justice is a term used to frame the climate crisis as not just an environmental issue but as an ethical and political issue. It means relating the causes and effects of the climate crisis to ideas of social justices. In order to achieve Climate Justice we must first acknowledge that the devastating effects of the climate crisis will not be fairly or equally distributed. Already, millions of people are suffering due to the climate crisis on a daily basis. Those are the poorest communities and minorities in some of the least developed places in the world, not the businesses and governments who make masses of money from the fossil fuel industry.

In this article, Leah Duffy explains the importance of climate justice https://www. teachthefuture.uk/blog/what-is-climate-justiceand-why-is-it-so-important

Richer places like the UK and North America make hundreds of millions from the oil industry every year and often experience climate change as hotter summers and beach days. The poorer and less developed places, on the other hand, who are significantly less responsible for the climate crisis, are experiencing drought after drought as well as unstable weather patterns which are making it increasingly difficult to grow crops, fish or make money.

You may have heard the term “Climate Justice” being thrown around before in many scenarios.

Unequal effects of the climate crisis are also commonly seen when looking at other social

inequalities and minorities such as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) and LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and “plus,”) communities, as well as many others. These are the groups more likely to be living in poverty or less developed areas, as a result of discrimination, and so they are more vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis than other richer and more privileged groups. All in all, it is clear that climate justice could not be more important as it not only means climate action but also means social equality and justice. The unfair adverse effects of the climate crisis towards minorities show that it has deep roots in social inequalities. In order to prevent further climate catastrophe we must not only acknowledge these social inequalities, but see complete social justice: Climate Justice = Social Justice.

buildings used for education become net-zero by 2030. To support our aims we have also released a spending review and a costings for our net zero buildings objective. This is just a draft bill, and has not actually been submitted in Parliament, we hope the government will listen to us and implement the bill.

All in all, it is clear that climate justice could not be more important as it not only means climate action but also means social equality and justice.

Teach the Future is also campaigning for an English Climate Emergency Education Bill and this second article briefly explains their rationale for it. The English Climate emergency education bill is the first bill in the UK written by students and sets an expectation for all education providers to teach about the climate emergency. It would require resources and training to be provided by schools and teachers taking broader social justice objectives. The bill will also require that all

Climate Emergency Education Bill Current and future generations of students are growing up in a world shaped by the climate crisis and ecological emergency. Young people need to be taught about this emergency so that they are prepared to mitigate, abate, and end the climate emergency and ecological crisis. Students must be equipped with the skills to live and lead sustainably so we can limit the climate and ecological breakdown as much as possible and create a more just and sustainable future. Problem • Only 4% of students feel that they know a lot about climate change; • 68% of students want to learn more about the environment; • 75% of teachers feel they haven’t received adequate training to educate students about climate change.

Solution • All students should learn about the climate and ecological emergency regardless of the subjects they choose. Sustainability should be treated as a key principle in education (like Equality), woven throughout all subject areas. Learning about the climate emergency should be liberated from its current subject siloes (e.g. optional Geography and a small bit in science at GCSE); • A learning pathway should be created by the DfE so that students build up knowledge, understanding, and skills on these topics through the course of their primary and secondary education, seeing sustainability as a golden thread throughout education; • Students learn from their environment, so education buildings should be environmentally friendly, with students engaged in the changes that are made to their buildings; • Vocational courses in colleges should be overhauled to reskill the workforce so as to deliver the transition to a low carbon economy.

The Climate Emergency Education Bill calls for: • All education providers to teach the truth about the climate and ecological emergency; • Teachers and lecturers to be retrained to do so; • Help for educators in supporting pupils suffering from eco-anxiety; • Increased outdoor education for students; • Funding for youth-led climate and environmental social action and youth voice; • Creation of more green vocational training; • Retrofitting of all educational buildings to netzero emissions by 2030. Bill, full summary, costings, and research available at teachthefuture.uk/asks-eng

All students should learn about the climate and ecological emergency regardless of the subjects they choose. Sustainability should be treated as a key principle in education (like Equality), woven throughout all subject areas.

Book review

Inspired Primary Learners The new must-read for any trainee teacher or primary practitioner! This bipartite book examines teaching across the entire primary curriculum, looking at creative and effective practice in all curricular subjects when teaching the 5-11 age range to broaden experiences. The first part of the book has chapters for each of the primary curriculum subjects, whilst the second half looks at wider issues and aspects to primary teaching such as outdoor learning, the need for imagination, and reading for pleasure. This unique book draws together detailed insights from schools in the form of case studies and vignettes from practicing teachers together with an academic evaluative voice supporting the reader to make connections and develop their own practice through a shared experience. Student teachers on PGCE, BA, School Direct, Apprenticeship or SCITT routes into teaching are often confined to the teaching practice schools assigned by their provider. In addition, NQTs and practicing teachers, on average stay in one school for a period of 5 years (https:// nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/analysis/2005sa08.asp). There are many benefits of this book, but one limitation currently is the ability to discover insights into other excellent practice. This book provides, not only the insights, but a guided analysis and evaluation of the insights through the narrative provided. Arguably, with an increase in the objective led curriculum and the focus on testing (Phonics

check, KS1 SATs, Times Table check and KS2 SATs) there has been an identified shift in pedagogy from creativity to conformity (Teresa Cremin). This book directly addresses this shift through the innovative way in which the insights into excellence are provided across the curriculum for the reader to see a range of practices from other schools in the UK. Feedback from students regarding academic texts used on Initial Teacher Education programmes is that often these books are very theoretically driven, and they struggle to make the connections with what they read and how this relates to practice and their experiences. A key, unique feature of this text is that the book starts from the practice which is underpinned by the theory. The emphasis in this text is on practitioner voice; woven throughout each chapter in a variety of modes including: • Interviews • Reflection on practice • Thought pieces; • Case studies; There is, as ever, a need to ensure that ITE includes an element of criticality. This book presents this in an accessible way (as is needed). Teacher Educators can be confident that the text encourages student teachers to engage in the debates in education and not just ‘learn the ropes’.

Would you like to write an article for Primary First? Primary First is the triannual published journal of the National Association for Primary Education (NAPE), which brings together everyone who has a concern for the learning of children from birth to 13 years. Members and affiliated schools work to improve education through the Early, Primary and Middle Years. Articles would be warmly considered covering broad ranging themes and topics within education, birth to 13, from children, parents, teachers, teacher trainers, policy makers, governors, in fact anyone who has an interest and passion for primary education. If you wish to submit an article, please read the following guidance: • Articles are not to have been published elsewhere (unless with permission) • Articles to be typed on Microsoft word document • Type – size 12 • Font - Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri • Line spacing 1.5 • Standard English to be used (unless for a specific purpose within an article). Although articles will be received written in Welsh, Gaelic, Scots or Cornish • Acronyms to follow introduced terms • Contracted words, for example, ‘don’t’ to be written as ‘do not’ • URLs may be used if extant • Tables and figures, if used, to be labelled

• References are to be used but may be either Harvard or foot note • First or third person may be used • Numbers fewer than 100 to be written in words • Photographs are welcome – if consent of the subject is given • The minimum word count is 1,000; maximum word count is 4,000 • Shorter pieces, fewer than 1,000 words, are also welcomed, for example, opinion pieces, book reviews, poetry or originally drawn cartoons If this would be your first contribution you can have your article developed by one of the editorial team who can advise you and support you prior to publication. Please email any article to Robert Morgan r.a.morgan@gre. ac.uk . Issue 31 is to be published in June 2021 and is likely to cover the theme of the wider curriculum Issue 32 is to be published in November 2021 and is likely to cover the theme of LGBTQ+ within education. If you would like to advertise a commercial product or service in Primary First, the cost would be £400 per page; £200 per half page or in discussion with the editor.

Primary First Issue 30

Articles inside

Would you like to write an article for Primary First?

Remote Control?

Learning from Lockdown arrangements – Managing transition and Behaviour

Book review

Has COVID19 enhanced the status of behaviourism as a learning theory?

The evolution of one-to-one mentoring to virtual tuition due to a Global Pandemic