Early Years

In conversation with Professor Carlina Rinaldi, Professor Tina Bruce and Dr Christine Stephen

Photograph of delegates applauding after a speech

The first in a series of early years seminars organised by Learning and Teaching Scotland took place on Saturday 21 May at the Burrell Collection, Glasgow. It was attended by around 180 delegates from across Scotland.

The event was supported by the new early years discussion paper 'Let's Talk about Pedagogy: towards a shared understanding for early years education in Scotland'.

Keynote speeches

The keynote speeches addressed pedagogy from three different perspectives. After the keynotes, members of the audience were given the opportunity to pose questions and provide their views on points being raised by others.

The facilitators for the day were: Helen Fraser (Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh); Anne Hughes from Strathclyde University; Linda Kinney, Head of Child Services at Stirling Council; and Kate Cherry of HMIE.

Colour photograph of Carlina Rinaldi

Carlina Rinaldi

Professor Carlina Rinaldi from the Modena-Reggio University in Italy started the day off by addressing pedagogy from an international perspective. Professor Rinaldi is recognised around the world for her work on the 'Pedagogy of Listening'.

This document contains a summary of delegates' responses to Carlina Rinaldi's presentation.

MS word logoWord file: Summary of 'key points' from Carlina Rinaldi's speech (25 KB)

Colour photograph of Christine Stephen

Christine Stephen

Dr Christine Stephen is a researcher at the University of Stirling's Institute of Education. Her presentation looked at the role played by early years staff in supporting children's learning. It included references to her work (with colleagues on the Stirling University-based Interplay project) on guided interaction.

Image file: MS PowerPoint iconPowerPoint file: Making Sense of Pedagogy: An evolving conversation (82 KB)

Colour photograph of Tina Bruce

Tina Bruce

The final speaker was Professor Tina Bruce from the Early Childhood Research Centre at the University of Roehampton. Professor Bruce spoke on the 'small circles', or events, that have transformed her practice and helped her develop her understanding of pedagogy. A particular influence on her work and thinking was the philosophy of Friedrich Froebel.

MS word logoWord file: Talking about pedagogy: a personal perspective in 2005 (68 KB)

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