EECERA 2007 Working within the ZPD? Exploring interpretations of projects

1. EECERA 2007Working within the ZPD? Exploring interpretations of projects Sarah Chicken, University of the West of England Professor Trisha Maynard, Swansea University

2. Aims • To explore how Reggio pedagogues appear to interpret ‘working withinthe ZPD’ through an exploration of projects. • To investigate how Welsh teachers interpreted Reggio projects and to consider what this might tell us about their construction of teaching and learning and how these teachers might interpret ‘working within the ZPD’.

3. Context – Foundation Phase for Wales – play-based curriculum for all 3-7 year olds by 2010 Why? • 1960s/1970s: A child-centred approach? • 1970s/ 1980s: Concerns expressed about the lack of engagement with subjects; perceived over-complexity and informality of pedagogy • 1988: A National Curriculum for England and Wales • 2000+: Concerns expressed about an over-emphasis on subjects; perceived over-formality of pedagogy

4. What are projects? Hadow (1931), Plowden (1967), Katz and Chard (1989): • Groups of children engaged in problem solving; • Context dependent upon the interests of children; • Projects run along side other parts of the curriculum; • ‘Systematic instruction’ of basic skills. Reggio • Organic nature – no pre-determined curriculum – all knowledge is open to question; • Focus upon the process of learning; • ‘Authentic contexts’; • May have a fantastical nature –e.g. how to catch a shadow. • Socio-constructivist or socio-constructionist – a reinterpretation?

5. What is the ZPD? • Different interpretations lead to different practice (Wells 1999) • ‘It is treated as an attribute, not of the student alone, but of the student in relation to the specifics of a particular activity setting.  In other words, the zone of proximal development is created in the interaction between the student and the co-participants in an activity, including the available tools and the selected practices, and depends on the nature and quality of that interaction as much as on the upper limit of the learner's capability.’ (Wells, 1999) • ZPD as an ‘interactive space’ ?

6. Reggio interpretations of elements of the ZPD displayed through projects

7. Research Methods • Research team - Seven teachers and two researchers • Socio cultural approaches - Action Research • Seminars - Supporting reflective practice but also input about Reggio philosophy • Observations and interviews • Interviews and recordings of seminars transcribed and analysed • Field notes of observations, seminars, internet and telephone conversations analysed • Documentary evidence: photographs, final reports and reflective journals analysed

8. Findings (1)-How were projects interpreted?

9. Findings (2)

10. What might interpretations of projects indicate about constructions of teaching and learning?

12. Concluding thoughts • While Reggio teachers appeared to interpret the ZPD as an ‘interactive space’, the teachers in the Welsh study appeared to interpret it as the distance between one pre-determined subject goal (knowledge and skills) and the next. (Progress was linear – movement through a series of targets and goals.) • In this way the Welsh teachers had a different and possibly a more simplistic view of the ZPD than the Reggio pedagogues. This is not surprising given the cultural and contextual differences. • It is interesting to note that the educational context in England and Wales shifted in the latter part of 20thCentury towards a focus on subjects and an attempt to simplify conceptions of the learning process. • How might the Foundation Phase be interpreted?

13. References(1) • Central Advisory Council for Education (1967) Children and their Primary schools ( The Plowden Report). London: HMSO. • Consultative Committee on Education (1931) The Primary School, (The 1931 Hadow Report) London: HMSO. • Dahlberg, G., Moss, P. & Pence, A. (1999) Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care, Routledge: London. • Edwards, C. (1998) “Partner, Nurturer, and Guide: The Role of the Teacher.” in Edwards,C., Gandini, L. & Forman,G. The Hundred Languages of Children. The Reggio Emilia Approach – AdvancedReflections, (2nd edition). London: Ablex Publishing Corporation. • Katz L.G. & Chard S.C. (1989). Engaging children’s minds: The project Approach Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation

14. References (2) • Malaguzzi, L. (1998) History, Ideas, and Basic Philosophy. An Interview with Lella Gandini in Edwards, C., Gandini, L., Forman, G. The Hundred Languages of Children. The Reggio Emilia Approach - Advanced Reflections, (1st edition). London: Ablex Publishing Corporation. • Rinaldi, C. (1993) The Emergent Curriculum and Social Constructivism,in Edwards, C., Gandini, L., Forman, G. The Hundred Languages of Children. The Reggio Emilia Approach - Advanced Reflections, (1st edition). London: Ablex Publishing Corporation. • Wells, C. G, (1999) Dialogic Teaching: towards a socio- cultural practice and theory of education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Wood E. & Attfield J. (1996) Play, learning and Early Childhood Paul Chapman Publishing, London. • Wood, D., Bruner, J. & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 17, 89-100.