Isaacs UK Thinks

Ruth's Blog Has Moved!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:54:00 +0000

Just in case you were wondering where on earth I've been for the last few months, just to let you know that my bog posts are now here: http://www.earlyarts.co.uk/ruths-blog.

You're warmly welcome to join us! Please do pop in, have a look, and leave your comments.

See you there, all the best, Ruth x

The Primary Curriculum is Dead. Long Live the New Primary Curriculum!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:56:00 +0000

I was amazed to discover recently that I could remember some of the words and most of the tunes to the songs in my very first school play in 1975 at Bramcote Hills Primary School. We were doing Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat which was musically quite challenging for a six year old. I can only assume that we must have had an amazing (and ambitious) teacher who understood how to engage us in the music in such a way as to transcend the important worries of life, such as the increasing tightness of my brother's belt holding the rather smelly tea-towel on my head. There was no doubt that this play was a milestone in my life - the music became firmly embedded into my young brain, it made me feel brilliant and happy in my body and soul, and I knew there and then that I wanted to 'do this' (whatever 'this' was) everyday, for the rest of my life.

The point is that it was my teacher who introduced me to this experience, as do several hundreds of excellent teachers, assistants, artists, cultural providers and early years professionals on a daily basis across the country. Settings and schools who engage their children, staff and partners in designing a creative curriculum will find the New Primary Curriculum (NPC) a welcome relief from the more prescriptive framework of old. The NPC promotes an experiential approach to learning in the real world, reflecting not only a raft of skills, competencies and experiences that will prepare our children to be successful* in the future but also those that will re-affirm who our children are now. (* defined here in terms of confidence and well-being as opposed to economic or academic success).

Its a welcome move forward to see 'Understanding of the arts' set as one of the six areas of learning encompassing all cross-curricular approaches from September 2011. This feels like an extremely important battle has at last been won, placing the status of the arts and creative learning on an equally important footing as other 'core subjects' in supporting children's development. Great stuff. Primary Vision, the recent Guardian supplement on the NPC has some good examples of this happening in practice.

Yet there will be settings that struggle with what may appear to be a lack of rigidity around the delivery of the NPC. The thought of a child-oriented, research based, creative curriculum has them reaching for the dictionary. The cause of this lack of confidence? Possibly, probably Initial or Early Years Teacher Training which in some areas remains compliance driven rather than engaging our education professionals in the wider questions of the value and purpose of pedagogy. It teaches them to tick the box and reach the conclusion in the 'right' way rather than investigate (and enjoy) the processes of learning. My mantra has always been that making a significant impact on young children’s learning requires a sea-change in the way we train the adults who teach or care for our children and families.

So, for me, the best thing coming out of the NPC is the understanding that effective learning and teaching stems from an equal focus on professional development, external partnerships and leadership as well as a joined up, more meaningful curriculum.

Earlyarts is a good example of a national professional development network that enables educationalists, practitioners and creative professionals to work together to experience for themselves the more powerful processes of learning. Their experiences help them to engage with their children's ideas in a very real way because they understand (sometimes for the first time) why it works, and are completely engaged in the magic of learning for themselves. Having been a six year old who's experienced this first hand, and now a parent of a six year old who demands and deserves this quality of learning every day, I couldn't ask for a better teacher than that.

See a short guide to the NPC here.

Playtime or Plato?

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:54:00 +0000

Fantatsic intiative to help children think more broadly about philosphical issues reported on today. I just pity the poor educationalists who are stuck with the regimented idea that education is only and all about core subjects, and that these will be enough to provide the resilience that our children need for life.

How wonderful to see an initiative that celebrates the best things about learning, and respects the fact that even our youngest learners have huge capacity and potential to think about big ideas. Posing philosophical questions is a good way of helping children to think more widely, see things from other people's perspectives, find meaning where previously there was none and understand their world better, have their voice and opinions heard and taken seriously, build relationships with others through critical thinking and shared discussion, develop enormous confidence and self esteem, learn to work as part of a team, build speaking and listening skills whilst at the same time developing core skills in world knowledge, numeracy, literacy, creativity and science. Sorry Campaign for Real Education, but what was wrong with this intitiative again?

Primary Review Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:53:00 +0000

Well, I could be falling foul of a little senationalism on the Guardian's part, but am I the only one who is wondering if Jim Rose has ever actually used Twitter in anger? Why on earth is this the next big thing for the primary curriculum? I do have a twitter account which basically helps me and a few chosen friends keep up to speed with the latest developments in working life (or shamelessly use it as an advocacy / PR platform for our products). But generally we are all subscribed to various excellent blogs to develop our really deep thinking. And, frankly, not one of us are remotely interested in what the other one had for tea (unless its a recommendation) or where they got a good deal on six packets of bog roll (three-ply). Which is largely what Twitter enshrines outside of the professional community.

With the immense number of excellent, purposeful, high quality social media platforms available that help children to think creatively, develop knowledge and skills, engage them in learning about other stuff they didnt know they would be interested in, and generally help them achieve and aspire, who on earth thought that Twitter could compare? Are we done with climbing trees, building go-carts and sledges, making baskets, hoarding little treasures, knitting, and running around the woods with cape and dagger? Or perhaps kids could sit up a tree, enter their twitter response to the Victorians on their mobiles, and still be home in time for a healthy tea (six policies fulfilled - result!). Oops, I'll shut up now...

Shoesmith on a shoestring?

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:35:00 +0000

Whatever you think about Sharon Shoesmith, I dont think anyone could say she wasn't an incredibly brave and ballsy person launching a case against Ed Balls for acting outside of his powers, and against her former employers Haringey Council for unfair dismissal, amongst other things. Obviously it must be nice to have had the sort of income to enable such court actions to be launched, although Shoesmith does appear to be claiming poverty now since her dismissal, however the main thing is that she is taking on not just one enormous institution but two, and calling them to answer for their own processes and actions.

On the one hand you could look at this and say, what a waste of public money that will now be subsumed into fighting these court actions. But on the other hand, you could acknowledge that there are very few people with the balls to fight Balls and his team. Bringing the public sector to task on the enormous amount of knee-jerk and reactionary decision making that goes on is a welcome, if onorous move. I have had many positive experiences of public sector processes but there are also massive issues with the dinosaur that doesn't alow for flexibility and change where it is needed in line with the rest of society. And, in my humble opinion, I think this is partly the cause of some of its own problems that it then has to create new services to resolve.

Its hard to believe that a woman who is headhunted at such high levels would choose to remain unemployed in order to fight this case and seek a fairer outcome if she wasn't the sort of person who believed unconditionally in fair treatment, and was prepared to risk a great deal to achieve it. Clearly we can't judge the facts of a case we only know about from the media's perspective, but it does strike me that this constant dismissal of people in high places who seem to have an almost exemplary track record (Sir Ian Blair, Sharon Shoesmith), does not help us bring long term change within the system so that cases like Baby P's do not ever happen again. I understand the need to hold people responsible for bad decision making at all levels, but this constant throwing away of years of expert knowledge, skill and connections in making our children's lives safer - surely there's another way? Have politics got in the way of all sensibility?

Literal Meanings

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:26:00 +0000

7 year old boy: "You know when I was in my Mummy's tummy, she said she could feel me kicking her a lot and I think I was playing football."

His 5 year old sister: "Well, when I was in my Mummy's tummy, I was playing with her butterflies."

Good Childhood Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:55:00 +0000

I was in France recently having a fab time with the kids over half term, and one night we decided to take them out to a beautiful little pizza place we know in the heart of a tiny village - packed every night of the week. Food and Frolics were great but I noticed how the young child on the table next to us was not listened or talked to all evening by her parents, who were there with another couple and their baby. The reason I noticed this was because my experience is usually the opposite in other european countries than our own (markedly different from Britain where eating out is not necessarily considered a family affair), and I began to wonder whether any one country has the perfect inter-generational culture for children.

No matter how much we think the Brits have got it right in cross-agency working or regulating to ensure safety, or the Italians have got creative environments right in early years, or the Spanish have got the festival and community culture sorted for family engagement, or the Scandanavians have got the outdoor nature and woodlands element at the heart of learning... no matter which countries have explored the options most suitable to support children within their own culture, we all still seem to be some way off getting it right.

Anyway, back to our family at the pizzeria. The girl at the next table was more interested in what my daughter was doing, but neither girl spoke the others' language. That didnt stop them communicating however, as they made each other laugh through face-pulling and the like. I still wondered why the parents were not engaging with her, until I read Lord Northbourne's response to the Good Childhood Enquiry here where he talked about the importance of including children in adult conversation and culture, not necesarily having everything geared towards their own particular interests. Didn't answer all my questions but made me think about it from a different angle. The whole House of Lords debate is an extremely useful read in fact - great to see our esteemed leaders having such a meaningful discussion. The comments from members of the public make a pretty interesting read as well!

Review of the Review of the Review

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:03:00 +0000

Don't get me wrong, there's lot of good things coming out of the debate around the primary reviews, not least the increased focus on play, curiosity and creativity. However, I dont know about you guys but I find there's something a little worrying about the ongoing attempts to fit quarts into pint pots.

Just a quick recap in case you're lost before we begin: The government commissioned an officially 'independent' Review of the Primary Curriculum by Sir Jim Rose. Then a group of esteemed researchers and academics commissioned the Cambridge Primary Review which was really truly independent, led by Professor Robin Alexander. There's also the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee Inquiry into the National Curriculum. Then there's the Open Eye campaign who brought together a community of concerned professionals to voice their opinions on the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, and as such have plenty of insight into these reviews with an additional swathe of independence. Confused? Yep, me too.

What worries me is this: all review groups seem to have the child at the heart, and all want to ensure that a playful and creative learning environment is provided for all children in terms of the skills, resources and training that underpins early learning. That's great. However, one talks about 3 core values, 6 areas of learning linked to sets of key skills and cross-curriculum study areas, the other proposes 12 educational aims and eight areas of knowledge, skills and enquiry. It strikes me that, as with the EYFS, the attempt to integrate, simplify, cross-reference and 'flex' the structure will eventually overshadow the quality of the content.

If we all have the same aims at heart, do we really have to maintain this constant battle with bureacracy to make everything 'fit'? I'm not decrying the immense amount of skill and knowledge behind these reviews, and I thoroughly welcome values based or cross-curricular approaches, but I'm pretty sure there must be a simpler, more humane and more purposeful way (look at Scandanavia - not perfect but much more integrated and responsive). Otherwise we will continue to perpetuate this assessment based / standards led approach to learning which can never in a million years be based on an individual child's needs or desires, nevermind supporting their teachers, practitioners, carers and families.

Creative Flow with the Unlimited Freelancer

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:55:00 +0000

Managing the workload is an ongoing battle, my ultimate life vision being to have so much more time off with my kids, flying in the mountains, yadayadayada. You've heard it all before, I know! But don't despair. I have recently become an accredited Relational Dynamics coach, which qualifies me to offer leadership coaching (coming soon as an executive Earlyarts service for senior managers in Children's Services).

However, more importantly, the process involves a significant amount of being coached over a period of months, which enabled me to take a really good look at the creative flow in my working life and tidy up a few of those chaotic underwear drawers. I'm getting our Earlyarts underwear sorted now - getting the systems right, our teams in place, our breathing steady, and our heads a little more balanced.

Which is why I have to recommend this little gem of a book which has helped enormously in that process: The Unlimited Freelancer

Essentially, this book has a wealth of easy-to-use resources to help build a network of supportive people that share both the workload and the vision for what you are (jointly) trying to achieve, as do you with them. Its always been a passion of mine to work in partnership with our key friends to bring a real depth and breadth to our horizons, and support each other's work. Only sometimes we miss the trick of doing this in a way which doesn't overburden each other - hence this being such an enjoyable and well-timed read.

If you click here and buy it through this link, a little commission goes to Earlyarts to make our creative learning resources even more accessible! Thanks to all who do so - its very much appreciated.

Children Good, Parents Bad?

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:26:00 +0000

The Good Childhood Enquiry launched today by the Children's Society (CS) had some incredibly interesting recommendations on how our parenting and teaching styles here in the UK could really do with a hose down and a brush up. Their main premise was that we have been encouraging in our school and home lives a competitive culture which centres around the success of 'my' life. The CS calls for more of a culture of caring for each other, centering around the expansion of the role of family at the heart of our life support machines rather than jobs / money / career / etc.

During their interviews, 70% of children felt that having parents who got on and were friends was the most important thing to have in their lives, compared with only 30% of the adults interviewed. Essentially, it calls for a return to a moral foundation beneath all our education, learning and upbringing. However, the CS doesn't imply that this sense of moral value should be inextricably linked to a (usually Christian) religion as has been the weakness of previous reports in this vein, but that it should recognise people's inate spirituality - an altogether different and stronger argument.

The recommendations are a wonderful read, starting off with key core values of friendship, committment, love, respect and spirituality. They make fundamental statements about what the role of each adult in a child's life should be, finishing off with the crucial statement that 'All Society should take a more positive attitude to children, welcome them into society and help them.' Can you imagine if these were the five outcomes in Every Child Matters?...

Whatever our role as artists and creative practitioners, this should challenge the core of what all of us have to offer, and make us step back and ask why we are offering it, when working with young children. Nice one Children's Society.

Obama going Balmy

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:30:00 +0000

You definitely can't ignore the transformational power of Obama in terms of his impact not only on the Americans but worldwide. His running-for-president acceptance speech was one of the most impressive I have heard in along time and of course had resonances of Luther King's Dream speech so well documented since way back when. The power, for me, comes in his honesty, integrity and belief in human potential to work together to achieve great things. His acknowledgement of the role of the arts and creative practices in this only strengthens my view of his office since it affirms what we have been experiencing for zillions of years in terms of re-engaging children and young people with a sense of identity, a 'fit' in the bigger picture, and a thirst for life again. So, its incredibly disappointing to see him publishing a private letter to his daughters and using it as a platform for politicking - or was it ever intended to be private? If not, it just smacks of the same old spin doctoring we have been subject to in the UK for so long now. Such as shame as his rhetoric actively targets intelligent communities who can, believe it or not, work out for themselves how Machiavellian this piece actually is - several brownie points lost!

Jack the Dinosaur 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Just found a lovely video in fact of the said drawing of dinosaur which shows a little more understanding of how characters and stories are built through imaginative ideas that evolve as the images become real on paper (or in this case, tissue).

Jack the Dinosaur 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:12:00 +0000

It might look like I have inserted this back to front, but no! This was a picture I found recently of a dinosaur drawn by my daughter Chia when she was 3. I was struck by how accurate the representation was for someone with such a wild imagination (I was expecting several more legs than this!) and how intuitive to see it in profile rather than face on, as per usual with figures and faces at this age. She was experimenting with letters already, and her backwards spelling of her name was always finished off with a lovely 'a', as she always knew this letter went at the end, no matter where the other letters had landed up. I took it all for granted at the time but now I think its incredible.

Thinking starts here...

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth Churchill Dower) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:32:00 +0000

Hi there, been thinking about starting a blog for a while now but have been distracted by reading so many great blogs out there, voicing my responses on all sorts of issues, and forgetting to actually put pen to paper, so to speak. Well, its finally happened, and I now have the opportunity to really bore for england more so than usual (joke). (i think).

Its potentially a powerful medium and needs to be handled carefully, so I will try to be careful in sharing my thinking, succinct (honestly!) and really genuinely honest. That does, however, mean I might sometimes be a bit rude. Perhaps even very irreverant. But not disrespectful in any way I hope. My ethics are firmly grounded in respect for ones-self and others, and I would certainly never intend to undermine this. However, there is something strangely exposing about a blog as it is a chance to reflect your inner thoughts, responses form the soul, and know not who is watching... Ah well, happy reading - I hope this serves to entertain as much as bore. What did I say about succinct?