I know I don’t read enough or even pick up a book in the baby room sometimes
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- 3.4. The participants
- 3.5. Main respondent ‘Pen Portraits’
Figure 3.2: Research design
The matrix diagram in Figure 3.2 demonstrates the sequence of events, the methodology employed and the overall process of data analysis. Initially, the whole EYTS GEB Route (68 EYTTs) were offered the opportunity to be involved in this research study. 50/68, subsequently, took part, of which 73% responded, which would be rated as a “very good response” by Mangione (1995, p. 60). This unexpected high return may, in itself, indicate that early reading with under-threes is an area of concern or genuine interest for the practitioners. After the small sample pilot study survey (6 respondents from the previous GEB cohort), I judged that the planned survey questions appeared to be appropriate and did not require any revisions. Findings from the pilot focus group (4 volunteers from the previous GEB cohort), however, led to a restructuring of the age phases in the first question. Feedback from the pilot study focus group suggested that this might make practitioners think deeper and focus more on their provision for under-threes when asked to cover these discrete age ranges, which I considered to be a valuable enhancement to the survey. Given that Bertram et al., (2016) advocate that “researchers must be prepared to reconsider the research process following feedback from participants” (p. viii), therefore I adapted the survey in light of this feedback. 3.4. The participantsThe participants engaged in this research study were all enrolled on the Graduate Employment-Based (GEB) Route of the EYITT Early Years Teacher Status (NCTL, 2015) programme, which is a full-time programme, beginning from September 2015 to July 2016. Although the programme is part-time, the trainees are in full-time employment and this is considered to be their ‘professional practice’. The requirement from NCTL (2015) is that trainees must have experience in at least two settings and gain experience across the age range of birth to five years. As the research study is focused on under-threes and the nature of EYTS training is that these practitioners work predominantly in the PVI sector and are training to be specialists with an essential role in supporting children’s development between birth and the age of five to provide high-quality early education (DfE, 2015), I considered these EYTS GEB practitioners to be best placed to take part in this research. In addition, these participants already have some experience working in settings, within this age range. The majority (94%, 47) of the participants were female. 6% (3) of the participants were male, which is roughly aligned with the early years workforce data relating to gender (DfE, 2013 ‘National ECEC Workforce Census’, DfE, 2016 ‘School Workforce in England’ data). Notably, there were no male participants engaged in any follow up activities after the initial survey. Whilst the issue of males is still a concern for the ECEC workforce, this did not affect the purpose of this particular research study. Participants’ ages ranged from 21 – 45 years, with a range of time spent in an early years setting from 3 years to 24 years of experience of working with very young children from birth to five years old. Statistical data specifics from SPSS analysis on gender, age range, type of degree and employment setting are available in Appendix L. However, I did not use SPSS to analyse the quantitative data as such, just to gather an overview of the participant details. The intention was to gain a sample of views, opinions and accounts that would be illustrative (Denscombe, 2010) of the early years practitioner workforce. It is significant to note that all participants involved in this research study volunteered and, as such, could be considered to already have an interest in early reading with under-threes, hence their voluntary involvement in this research study. The contingency plan, should I have failed to recruit any interest from this cohort, was to send out requests nationally to all EYTS providers for recruitment of participants. This was not necessary as there was, in fact, sufficient interest from this cohort, with experience across a variety of early years settings, as initially proposed. At this point in their training, I was unknown to the participants and intended to remain so, within the constraints of my job role, in an attempt to minimise bias and any conflict of power relationships. I did appreciate that as Head of Department, this could potentially present a power dynamic, yet hoped that encompassing the whole cohort with freedom of choice and anonymity (although my name and job role would in fact be on every programme handbook) may in some way alleviate this. As stated previously in this chapter, I am conscious of my own values and beliefs influencing this research study, which reinforced my decision to remove myself from any commitments to teaching or visiting any EYTS trainees for the duration of this study, which I would have otherwise completed as part of my job role. Further ethical considerations will be discussed in the next section of this chapter. 3.5. Main respondent ‘Pen Portraits’The participants in this study where all female Early Years Teacher Status Trainee Graduate Employed Practitioners (GEB), working across a range of early years settings nationally. This EYTS GEB Route is a 12 month part-time training route designed to support experienced practitioners working with under-fives, to meet the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years, NCTL, 2015) and thus gain Early Years Teacher Status. This is a brief introduction to each of the main respondents (all names used in this study are pseudonyms): Ella currently works in the baby room in a private day nursery as the ‘Room Leader’ and has worked with under-threes in a variety of roles within the PVI sector for approximately 16 years. Ella is aged between 26 – 40 years. Ella completed a BA (Hons) in Early Childhood Studies Degree in 2010. Lucy is a Nursery Manager in a PVI setting and has worked across the 0 – 5 age range in a variety of settings for the past 17 years. Lucy is aged between 41 – 55 years and completed a BA Early Childhood and Education degree in 2013, on a part-time basis. Lily works in a Children’s Centre Nursery and has 10 years of experience working with under-fives. Lily has responsibility for the ‘Stay and Play’ sessions and has a key role in supporting families. Lily is aged between 26 – 40 years and has recently completed a BA (Hons) Early Years Education degree. Maria is the ‘Room Leader’ for the two-year-old-provision in a private day nursery and has worked with the 0-5 age range for the past 17 years. Maria is aged between 26 – 40 years and completed her BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies degree in 2012. Jan is a childminder and has three, under-threes in her own home. Jan has worked with under-fives for 14 years across the state-maintained and independent sector. Jan also completed Zine 3. Jan is aged between 26 – 40 years. Jan has recently completed a BA (Hons) Early Years Practice Degree on a part-time basis. Zine 1 has been completed by a Nursery Nurse who works in a pre-school setting with under-threes, attached to a school, which has a nursery class for 3 – 5 year olds on site. Zine 1 is aged between 41 – 55 years and has worked in a range of early years settings for the past 24 years. Zine 1 has recently achieved a BA (Hons) in Early Years Leadership. Zine 2 has been completed by a practitioner working in a private day nursery as a ‘Room Leader’, with 6 years of experience working with under-fives. Zine 2 is aged between 18 – 25 years and has recently completed a BA (Hons) Education Studies and Early Years. Zine 4 has been completed by a practitioner working in a new private day nursery, with 13 years of experience with under-fives. Zine 4 withdrew after 2 months and agreed to share only the Zine entries presented within this study. Zine 4 is aged between 26 – 40 years and completed a BA Early Childhood and Education in 2009. Zine 5 was completed by a Deputy Manager working in a private day nursery with over 11 years of experience working with under-fives in a variety of other PVI settings. Zine 5 is aged between 41 – 55 years and has completed a BA (Hons) Early Childhood degree in 2007. Directory: 17919 17919 -> Study Guide ~ Physical Features of the United States Atlantic Coastal Plains Download 7.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
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