Chris Athey, who died peacefully on 27 November at the age of 86, had a radical influence on our thinking about young children's learning. Her influence stems from the research she carried out through the Froebel Nursery Research Project, a project that ran from 1973 to 1978 and was documented in her groundbreaking book Extending Thought in Young Children, published in 1990 (see box).
Despite the rigour of her work, Chris was never drawn into traditional academic circles. She was born in South Shields and after leaving school at 13, she worked on her aunt's farm in Devon. She did a variety of jobs until the war, when she worked for four years as an engineer in Croydon.
There, she joined a refugee youth club and was stimulated by the German and Austrian refugees' discussions around philosophy and psychology. This experience opened up a new world for her, prompting her to read voraciously and to consider teaching as a career. As she said, 'If you really want to know something, you cannot let difficulties stand in your way.'
She was accepted on to the Emergency Teacher Training Scheme at Wall Hall (which became the University of Hertfordshire) and subsequently had several posts in what she described as dreadful circumstances. In East Ham, London, she taught a class of 60 five-year-olds, with no equipment. She improvised by finding resources where she could in the local community. She taught eight-year-olds in a deprived area of North Kensington, London, then was headhunted to work in a new school in Hertfordshire before being invited to join the staff of Ibstock Place, the demonstration school linked to the Froebel Educational Institute at Roehampton.
Chris was encouraged by principal Molly Brearley to take the Froebel Trainers' Diploma and went on to join the lecturing staff at the college.
THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
Then followed the publication of the Plowden Report, which stated unequivocally that 'at the heart of the education process lies the child', stressing that 'all education should build on what the child already knows or wants to know'.
For Chris, this was an exciting time as she developed her thinking through debate with colleagues, including practising headteachers. It stimulated her interest in constructivism and the developmental aspect of the theory of knowledge. This was to prove the foundation of her lifelong interest in refining evidence-based theory, which has influenced and inspired generations of early years educators.
When Molly Brearley and Dame Joyce Bishop set up the Froebel Nursery Research Project, Chris was invited to lead the research as a Leverhulme Fellow. She described its main aims in chapter 3 of Extending Thought in Young Children:
1. To produce information on the ways in which knowledge is acquired by young children within home and school situations. This entailed developing a new approach to the description and interpretation of cognitive behaviour. Interpretations were based on Piaget's notion of cognitive structures (schemas). The aim was to search for commonalities and continuities or 'cognitive constants' in spontaneous behaviour and thought. Efforts were made to document the route from sensorimotor action through to 'thought' via figural and action representation.
2. To provide an effective enrichment programme for children from a disadvantaged section of the community. The programme was based on a new kind of collaboration between parents and professionals. The professionals did not deny their own specialised knowledge but made it freely available to parents without fear of loss of status. The approach and concepts referred to under aim number one were central to what was shared. A comparison group was also studied, consisting of advantaged children educated at the Froebel Institute Kindergarten.
3. To document a number of developmental sequences of behaviour from early motor behaviours to 'thought', in sufficient detail to allow professionals to evaluate the data and the usefulness of interpretation. Aspects of theory found useful during analysis are presented in sufficient detail to be useful to teachers and parents who may wish to experiment along similar lines.
PERSISTENT INVESTIGATOR
Chris realised that there was a gap in knowledge of children's cognitive development between the ages of two and five, and the project presented an opportunity to counter the prevailing deficit model. She stressed the importance of valuing what young children can do, rather than seeing them as 'pre' anything.
Her work promotes a view of the child as a persistent investigator, constructing meaning through his or her actions and representations. Empirical evidence from the project, increasingly reinforced by brain research, showed that children have a whole internal repertoire of invariant cognitive structures which are developed through exploration and experiment, motivated by individual interests. These are known as schemas.
Many early years practitioners find that this approach provides a useful analytical tool which reveals that a lot of children's chosen activities are not random, but explorations of perceived patterns, leading to an understanding of functional relationships between things. The implications of this thinking for educators are that they should observe and document the most compelling interests of children, often revealed in play, and use these to provide experiences that will extend their learning.
The Froebel Project team shared their observations with parents, who became engaged in recognising their own child's schematic interests and following them up at home (see box).
Chris disseminated her research widely, working with students, speaking at conferences and seminars and mentoring professionals from abroad as well as within the UK. The project findings have been followed up by, among others, Professor Cathy Nutbrown, Cath Arnold and staff at Pen Green, Pan Yue Juan in Beijing, and Anne Meade and Pam Cubey in New Zealand.
Her work remains highly relevant today, when the need for reflective practitioners has never been greater, especially those who can tune in to the youngest children and their families.
Chris had a huge and infectious zest for life, with friends, food and travel among her priorities. She was an adventurous explorer who relished new experiences in unknown territory, both literally and metaphorically. She had great style; meals in her company combined imaginative delicacies and eclectic conversation - and usually champagne. Her intellectual curiosity and generous thought for others stayed with her to the end, and she remained a powerful advocate for informed, respectful pedagogy, encouraging us all to have the courage of our convictions.
It will be for others to follow up her research on childhood humour, and the relationship between schemas and subject disciplines that she did not have time to complete. There is urgent and timely work to be done to link current priorities with project findings on promoting the cognitive development of disadvantaged children and effective work with parents. Chris Athey has left a rich legacy that will certainly continue to challenge, inform and enlighten early years practice worldwide.
Wendy Scott and Liz de Keller are early years consultants
THE FROEBEL NURSERY RESEARCH PROJECT
By Professor Tina Bruce CBE
In 1972 Molly Brearley CBE and Dame Joyce Bishop, the former principal and chair of governors of the Froebel Educational Institute, fulfilled their dream of a free Froebel kindergarten in the college grounds. They persuaded (with difficulty) Chris Athey, principal lecturer in the Froebel College, to take the post of research fellow, to establish the Froebel Research Nursery School and undertake research within the terms of the funding they had secured from the Froebel Institute, Leverhulme and Gulbenkian Trusts, which should be about the education of children under five years of age from an area of disadvantage.
As head of the Froebel Research Nursery School, I worked with Chris on the project. We began with visits in the area chosen for the research sample - to health visitors, primary schools, none of which had nursery classes, and the one playgroup on the estate. We spent time getting to know the playgroup leaders, who were delighted that we might be able to take some of the waiting list families. We began to meet families, and, using the research criteria to guide us, our sample was gradually gathered.
Chris had a marvellous sense of humour, which was never unkind. She loved the amusing situations that arose. There was also serious discussion about the three strands of emphasis which she intended to use to develop the research. She continually read fascinating research literature, leading to meticulous discussions at a relentless but exhilarating pace.
The first strand was to investigate schemas - the patterns of repeatable and generalisable behaviours of young children, leading to rich development in thought and concepts. The second strand was to develop partnership with the parents and families of the children, so that the children gained educationally. The third strand was to offer the children and families a well thought-through, consistent curriculum. This followed a Froebelian approach to the curriculum, emphasising the individual child learning about nature study, the arts, play and community (see 'All about ... Friedrich Froebel', Nursery World, 6 April 2011).
Chris had a deep understanding of the families, and an immediate rapport with them. She never spoke down to people, and had a knack of helping them to understand difficult ideas. It was amazing to watch her in action. She firmly believed that time spent working with parents, and helping them to observe and understand the learning as it happened before their eyes, was a fundamental part of early childhood education.
Froebelian education and family were of great importance to Chris, but there was real pioneering work in observing and identifying schemas and acting on the observations to educate young children. Schemas were unknown in early childhood education in 1972, and we owe it to Chris for developing our understanding through the work of the Froebel Research Nursery School. Schemas are now embedded in official Government framework documents, training courses and in practice.
Chris Athey will go down in history as one of the great pioneers of early childhood education.
Professor Tina Bruce CBE is Visiting Professor of Early Childhood Studies at Roehampton University
MORE INFORMATION
Chris Athey, 1990, (2nd edition 2009) Extending Thought in Young Children: A Parent Teacher Partnership. Paul Chapman Publishing
FIRST PERSON
If you have anecdotes from your own contact with Chris Athey or comments to make on her work and influence, then contact us at: letter.nw@haymarket.com
