After undertaking the required reading, I was immediately drawn to the Spiral Enquiry approach. For me that’s exactly what this experience has been – a non-linear journey to discover what the ‘gaps’ are, what my ‘itch’ is.
Whilst reading Action Research in Education i was struck by Schon’s view that teacher enquiry is both reflection on action and reflection in action. This notion perfectly sums up my enquiry so far, something which has arisen from reflection of the changes in my current setting and also the daily, weekly, monthly reflections on where we’re at.
I have drawn my own version of the spiral approach with my own adaptations highlighted in green, specifically:
- The tangent of exploration on which we all inevitably go – in my opinion, a necessary step in the entire process in order to ensure that you have thought out the best line of enquiry
- Refining, because that is what i have been constantly doing throughout the time i’m developing my hunch
- And reflecting at the heart of everything – because if we are not constantly reflecting, then how can we even begin to measure the success of the enquiry?
I look forward to seeing other people’s drafts and approaches and to chatting about everyone’s journey at the recall day!
Hi Louise,
It was great catching up on your blog posts and seeing the journey you’ve been on so far.
I’ve always been interested in the gender bias that happens unconsciously (sometimes consciously!) in the early years particularly with expectations, activities and routines. I look forward to seeing how your spiral, reflective approach can measure the impact of your enquiry on pupils’ wellbeing. Good Luck!
An interesting read on Gender Stereotyping in Early Years settings …
https://www.teachearlyyears.com/images/uploads/article/gender-stereotyping-in-the-early-years.pdf
Thanks Louise – that was a really interesting read and gave me a few ideas of how to look at gender in the early years!