In 2019-20, a new postgraduate teacher training programme was created at Akal University in Punjab, India, to develop excellence in teaching in Early Years Education. The programme was designed to improve the provision of education in early years settings in the academies within the Kalgidhar Trust, of which Akal University is a key part. The programme initially ran with 12 female postgraduate trainees, with the intention of supporting these young women to achieve financial independence through studying for a professional qualification. Jo became involved with the programme through the Helga Todd Foundation, an NGO focusing on supporting the development of education in rural India.
Maths education in Early Years is pivotal to the development of good mathematical outcomes in later school performance (Williams, 2022). Ensuring that Early Years teachers understand the early mathematical concepts themselves and that they have strong pedagogical content knowledge to support young learners’ mathematical thinking are significant elements to incorporate into any CPD programme (Shulman, 1987). Therefore, a key part of the training was to help the trainees to understand the role of play and creativity in early years’ maths education (Williams, 2022). As the teaching team, we worked together to design the maths content to be innovative and research-based (Vygotsky, 1986; Williams, 2022), in order to empower these trainee teachers to become agents of change in their schools. In this way, any development in practice would be transformative and self-sustaining, positively impacting practice over time, both for their own teaching and for the schools in which they worked.
We developed the CPD using Fullan et al. (2005) to shape our design, implementing the programme using the following steps:
Development of shared agreement on, and commitment to, the key elements of the CPD, specifically the role of play and the use of a connectionist orientation to the teaching of mathematics (Askew et al., 1997)
Delivery of a sequence of CPD sessions, providing both the subject content knowledge and the pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987)
Inclusion of collaborative practical experience in designing classroom sequences of learning designed to support pupils’ mathematical development (Haylock & Cockburn, 2013)
Delivery of these teaching sequences in school placements, with opportunities for the trainees to reflect upon their own practice and on the pupils’ learning (Gibbs, 1988).
The initial CPD was delivered in November 2019, with plans to deliver a second phase in February 2020. Unfortunately, this was not possible due to Covid. The trainees completed their course and became early career teachers in February 2021. In order to evaluate the extent to which the trainees, now early career teachers, were implementing the key messages from their training, the teaching team conducted follow-up questionnaires and interviews, with the results discussed below. Our specific research questions were:
Which aspects of the maths pedagogy CPD did the trainee teachers implement specifically?
What are their perceptions of how early years pupils learn mathematics effectively?
Is there any evidence of enduring transformation in their own understanding/perceptions of what it means to teach mathematics in early years’ settings?
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the early career teachers, in order to explore any changes in their beliefs or pedagogical understanding relating to teaching/ learning of mathematics as they progressed from pre-service to in-service teachers. The interviews were transcribed, analysed and coded. Thematic analysis on early career teacher’s responses about their perceptions as agents of change in mathematical pedagogy disclosed the following impact of their activities on their pupils:
Engagement in the learning process is increased through the inclusion of play based and drama activities in the mathematics curriculum.
Conceptual understanding of mathematics is deepened by using concrete and real life experiences and when the pupil is provided autonomy in their learning process.
Comprehension and retention of mathematical concepts on the part of the pupils is enhanced when new information is connected to what students already know.
Early career teachers delve deeper into their subject matter when autonomy is granted to them and where they have the freedom to explore the mathematical concepts in ways that resonate with them personally.
Reflective cycles provided scaffolds for early career teachers to use pupil feedback to improve their practice.
Having a shared sense of moral purpose ensured that this project continued to have lasting impact on the early career teachers’ practice, even after the project finished and the impact of Covid had hit. Using Fullan et al. 's (2005) model to structure the CPD training enabled the CPD to be transformative and also provided a structure for the integration of the ongoing post-CPD support. Thus, our advice to others undertaking such a project is to ensure that those involved in the planning and teaching team have a shared vision regarding the aims and the purpose of the CPD. This can be achieved through open discussions at the design stage and adhering to the agreed framework through implementation and follow-up (Fullan et al., 2005). Although this project focused on teacher education, we feel that these principles are applicable to CPD design in any discipline.
Askew, M., Brown, M., Rhodes, V., Wiliam, D., & Johnson, D. (1997). Effective Teachers of Numeracy: Report of a study carried out for the Teacher Training Agency. London: King's College, University of London
Fullan, M., Cuttress, C. & Kilcher, A. (2005) 8 Forces for Leaders of Change JSD 26(4) https://michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/13396067650.pdf
Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Oxford Further Education Unit
Haylock, D. & Cockburn, A. (2013) Understanding Mathematics for Young Children: A Guide for Teachers of Children 3-7. London: SAGE
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.
Williams, H. (2022) Playful Mathematics for children 3-7 London; Corwin
Vygotsky, L. (1986 (1934)) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press