71 research outputs found
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Chatterbooks: creating a culture of reading for pleasure
Liz Chamberlain, from The Open University, shares the outcomes of a collaborative project focused on reading for pleasure through the creation of reading clubs, which involved four UK universities and The Reading Agency. In each university, small groups of student teachers decided to trial the Chatterbooks resources with their classes whilst on school placements. The lecturers expected to hear that the children had responded favourably to the ideas and texts talked about during the sessions, however, it was the impact on the student teachers that was the most striking
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A review of Link Ethiopia's sponsorship programme: learning from small stories
This report highlights the small stories of nine participants who are part of Link Ethiopia’s sponsorship programme. Link Ethiopia has celebrated 20 years of work in Ethiopia, and it is dedicated to changing lives through education and increasing cultural awareness among young people in Ethiopia and the UK. There are currently over 200 students who are part of the programme that aims to provide resources to children and young people with the aim of reducing potential barriers to learning. The nine children and guardians featured in this report speak highly of the programme and value its contribution in supporting individual educational and career aspirations. The report discusses the children and young people’s perceptions of being part of the programme and the role of Link Ethiopia in supporting their educational ambitions, before outlining potential areas for improvement
Pedagogical choices in primary English
This chapter focuses on the importance of subject leaders developing an awareness and understanding of effective literacy pedagogy in order to articulate and make visible the choices they make as they lead English in their schools. It outlines the characteristics of effective teachers of literacy, many of whom go on to lead English within their schools. The authors know from research that literacy outcomes for pupils can be boosted if they are taught by 'very effective' teachers, in some cases, by as much as a third of an examination grade. However, effective teachers of literacy have always been clear about how they interpret policy and national initiatives by ensuring that they plan for purposeful reading and writing activities. Furthermore, what is essential is an understanding of the interconnectivity of teacher behaviour, teacher subject knowledge and teacher–pupil interaction
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Findings from research: Capturing children and young people's views on rights
In November this year, the Open University’s Children’s Research Centre launched its latest report Representing children’s rights from discussion through to illustration and interpretation. The report presents the findings of research undertaken with Children and Young People (C&YP) across nine project settings in England and Wales to capture their views and understandings about rights, and how books and visual images might represent their rights. This article for practitioners presents some key messages from the report
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Choosing The Write Book
This article outlines the impact of The Write Book, a Year 5 pilot project involving teachers in four different schools across England. The project aimed to improve teachers' practical skills in developing book-based writing projects together with an understanding of how to use a high quality children's text to inspire both reading and writing. The key findings are discussed, alongside the highlighting of the importance of teachers finding just the right book for their pupils
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Learning Assistants in Sierra Leone: model, innovation, and impact
In Sierra Leone, where there are few female educators, over 500 formerly marginalised women are on track to become qualified primary school teachers in rural districts. As ‘Learning Assistants’, the young women follow a combined programme of tertiary college distance study and in-school work experience. Learning Assistants help teachers and children in village primary schools. At the same time, their distance studies guide them on child-friendly practice and subject knowledge.
We will present the LA programme model, its components and participants, its success factors and challenges. In the Global North, unqualified ‘classroom helpers’ or ‘teaching assistants’ are familiar faces in primary schools. This role and route into teaching, and its potential to support lifelong learning and employability, are innovative in the Global South.
We will compare data from March 2019 field research (interviews with Learning Assistants, their mentors, and school headteachers) to findings from field work undertaken in 2016-2017 with the same participants. In particular, we will examine classroom observation data that illustrate how Learning Assistants are taking steps towards effective pedagogies in highly challenging school and classroom contexts.
We will demonstrate how the LA programme is making a sustainable impact on individuals, schools and communities: women who were not in education or employment have gained meaningful work, and confidence and status as paraprofessional learners; male tutors and mentors are supporting female empowerment; headteachers value the support that Learning Assistants provide in large classrooms and note increasing attendance and enrolments; families believe children are safer in schools that have female staff.
We invite colleagues to consider the extent to which the LA programme offers a potential route into employment for young women and how increasing numbers of female teachers into the profession may impact on the quality of primary education
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Supporting Professional Development Through MOOCs: the TESSA Experience
Policy aspirations for education across sub - Saharan Africa are requiring teachers to change from being transmitters of knowledge to facilitators of learning. This means that teacher education needs to change as well. At present, teacher preparation courses are highly theoretical, and many teacher educators have very limited sch ool teaching experience. Teacher Education in sub - Saharan Africa (TESSA), open educational resources (OER) can support teacher educators in developing the practical knowledge needed, yet many see them as resources for teachers rather than themselves. Also, curricula and examination systems may restrict the incorporation of OER into teacher preparation programmes. The TESSA MOOC - Making teacher education relevant for 21 st Century Africa - was designed to support teacher educators in changing their practice and better support teachers in the new curricula being developed. It focused on active teaching approaches, incorporating ICT into classroom learning, and using TESSA materials and other OER. It ran three times, over two years, and nearly 7000 participants , mainly from sub - Saharan Africa (SSA), registered. For many people it was their first experience of online learning. They studied on phones, in environments where electricity and connectivity were erratic, and supported each other in local communities. De spite the challenges, the completion rates for the first two presentations were encouragingly high compared with the norm for MOOCs. This paper analyses data from the pre - and post - course surveys from the first two presentations to understand who took pa rt, how they studied, what they learnt and how it has impacted on their practice
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Supporting the teaching of early reading: An evaluation of the TESSA: Teaching Early Reading with African Storybook Badged Online Course (BOC)
TESSA: Teaching Early Reading with African Storybook is a free, online course designed to support practitioners in developing their knowledge and skills as teachers of Early Reading. It was developed jointly by The Open University, UK and Saide in South Africa, funded by a grant from the David and Elaine Potter Foundation. The course is available online. It can be downloaded on to local devices and studied offline. A certificate is available for those who complete the course successfully but can only be achieved by logging on to complete the assessments. The course is very flexible, involving around 24 hours of study which can be completed over 3 or 4 days of full-time study, over 1 term with 2 hours study a week, and everything in between. The course can be studied by individuals, but the intention is that groups of professionals will study together in their setting and gain the benefits of collaborative learning and discussion as they study.
The course has been adopted by Ntataise – an NGO which supports Early Childhood Education in South Africa – as part of their training programme for practitioners. At the time of writing (April 2020), a total of 366 participants have completed the course, 217 of whom were supported by Ntataise, funded by a grant from the Zoe Carss Education Trust.
The purpose of this evaluation is:
• to test the assumptions on which the design of the course were based;
• to understand how the course is being studied and experienced by participants;
• to evaluate the impact on practice and on learners; and
• on the professional lives of the participants.
It draws on data from the website (pre-and post-course questions) and data collected during a visit to South Africa in November 2019, in which researchers visited 13 Early Childhood Development settings, observed 11 story-telling sessions and interviewed 26 practitioners who had completed the course.
The team found evidence to support the two underlying assumptions – that participating in the course supports professional collaboration, and the resultant small changes in practice can potentially have significant impact on children’s learning – and this evaluation makes a number of recommendations
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Representing children's rights from discussion through to illustration and interpretation
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Understanding boys (dis)engagement with reading for pleasure: Project findings
Why do boys from low-income families appear to read for pleasure far less than other groups of young people? This research project provides new evidence that how reading is taught in schools influences different boys’ orientations to and engagement with reading for pleasure. It offers evidence that boys’ (dis)engagement is not simply a gender issue and that it also involves teacher perceptions of other aspects of boys’ social and learner identities, including ‘ability’, ethnicity and social class. The research was funded by the British Academy and the Leverhulme Foundation
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