So far, so good – what more, what next?

1. So far, so good – what more, what next? Christine Stephen University of Stirling, Scotland

2. So far – where are we now? • Two years of part-time preschool (3-5 years) education – extending from 475 hours to 600 and to some 2-year olds • 95% of 3-year olds and 98% of 4-year olds make use of government-funded, part-time place • 0-3s predominantly private & voluntary sector provision • Playgroups, childminders and community childminding schemes • Heritage language preschool provision (Gaelic) • Varied training routes for practitioners

3. So far – where are we now? • Curriculum for Excellence, ages 3-18 with early level 3-6 years • Pedagogy in the early level – ‘active learning’, experiential, predominantly child-initiated • Assessment and profiling – local initiatives, growing interest in ‘documentation’ • Pre-birth to Three: Positive Outcomes for Scotland’s Children and Families

4. So far – where are we now? • Government priorities: • Work-force development • Access to a teacher in preschool • Early intervention • Integrated services – Getting it Right for Every Child • National Parenting Strategy • Provision in scattered and remote communities • Gaelic-medium provision

5. So good – policies and practices? • Concern with evidence-based practices and policies • Wide consultation • Active, play-based pedagogy • Funding early intervention • Increasing investment • Improving qualification levels • What kind of evidence – appropriate, valid, reliable? • Who is listened to? • Conceptual clarity? Rhetoric? • Normalizing? • Purpose of investment, measuring change • Who decides what is needed?

6. Could do better • Respectful interactions • Confident staff acting on professional judgement • Inspiring physical environment and resources • Responsive planning • Time for conversations • Evaluation as an everyday practice

7. So good? • Talking about quality • What are the characteristics of high quality early education and childcare and to what extent is good quality different for children under 3, 3- to 5-year olds in preschool and children in primary 1? • Different stakeholders have particular expectations about the outcomes from early years provision and what counts as quality so how can we acknowledge and reconcile these different judgements? • What measures of quality should we adopt? • What does good quality look like from the perspectives of children? • Some factors associated with high quality, like staff qualifications and adult/child ratios, can be regulated but how can we ensure that equally important aspects like relationships and interactions create excellent education and care experiences?

8. What next ? • Understanding/taking account of family contexts and learning at home – ‘funds of knowledge’ – ‘habitus and capital’ – ‘social situation’ • Articulating/debating ways construct children and childhood and value alternative purposes and outcomes • Identifying/considering normalizing practices and guidance

9. What next ? • Challenging/defining concepts and evidence base • Talking about pedagogy • developing intersubjectivity • talking about ‘technique’ and ‘manner’ • extending authenticity and personal meaning • exploring meta-cognitive strategies • Examining children’s perspectives • respectful and appropriate engagement • gathering multimodal responses • identifying values and preferences • Exploring alternative forms of provision

10. What next? • Articulating relationships with users of research • Debating questions, justifying methods, warranting findings • Synthesising, theorising, generalising • Exploring, intervening, problematising,