Some quality assurance schemes appear so rigid that early years practitioners feel they must tailor their practice to meet the tick-box requirements - but not Effective Early Learning (EEL) and Baby Effective Early Learning (BEEL).
The sister programmes devised by the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC), Birmingham, support practitioners and settings on a quality journey of professional and organisational development.
EEL focuses on children aged three to six years and BEEL focuses on children from birth to three.
Maureen Saunders, EEL/BEEL programme manager at CREC says with both programmes, 'The framework for evaluation is rigorous but flexible and non-judgemental. The intention is to empower and develop practitioners, not to threaten or judge.'
They are based on methods of observation pioneered by Professor Ferre Laevers of Leuven University, Belgium. He observed how young children regularly become absorbed in what they are doing and believed that an involved child is gaining a deep, motivated, intense and long-term learning experience.
'His theories are based on the understanding that the most productive learning occurs when we are so involved with something that we lose ourselves in it,' says Mrs Saunders.
The child's involvement is observed on a five-point scale ranging from one: absent, passive attitude, with no signs of exploration or interest, to five: the child is continuously absorbed in the activity, showing high motivation, alertness, precision and enjoyment.
Ms Saunders says the strength of the EEL/BEEL approach is that evaluation and improvement are seen as inseparable. 'The process of evaluation and improvement is shared, democratic and collaborative,' she says. 'It promotes equality of opportunity and acknowledges cultural diversity.'
The programmes have been adopted by many local authorities across the UK and Ms Saunders says that children at settings using EEL/BEEL have become more active, empowered and successful learners from birth, while their parents have become more involved in their children's learning.
The practitioners working with them have become more confident and articulate about their practice and staff teams have become more cohesive.
Gill Maddocks, lead professional for Quality Improvement and Quality Assurance in the early years team at Wiltshire County Council, first undertook EEL/BEEL training about ten years ago.
She says, 'I feel that it is the training that has most influenced my professional development. When I go into a setting, the first thing I look for is: are the children involved? They might look actively engaged and seem quite happy, but if you look that bit deeper, are they being engaged cognitively? Is deep level learning going on?
'EEL/BEEL gives you an evidence-based approach to quality improvement. It is not an audit where you can tick boxes and is not a quality assurance scheme that can be completed in the office. It is CPD for the whole setting, empowering practitioners to take ownership for improvement.
'It makes you engage in critical, reflective thinking about your practice. The child involvement and adult engagement observations are absolutely key.'
Further information
http://www.crec.co.uk/Default.aspx?SiteSearchID=825&ID=/ search-results
CASE STUDY: GILL BLOWERS NURSERY SCHOOL, LUTON
EEL observations helped the staff at the Gill Blowers Nursery School, Luton, realise that the boys were not as involved as the girls, and to address the problem and check that all was back on track.
'We started with EEL about nine years ago,' says Deborah Harmon, head of the school, which is a split site setting.
'I went on the course. It was quite daunting at first because it is an intense piece of work. I have just been back for our third accreditation and it is getting easier now. It helps you get the big picture of where everything is and where we need to go in our staff performance, what we offer the children, how we relate to the parents.
'The first time we ran a couple of training days for all the staff so we could look together at the ten dimensions and see where we needed to improve. All the staff were involved in that process and the final report was pulled together by a few key people. We have done that again this time.
'EEL has changed the way we do our observations. It has changed everything we do. We started with BEEL with the younger children when that was introduced a few years ago.
'We use the EEL/BEEL process to inform the way we observe, looking at the levels of involvement. It is how we observe on a daily basis. Similarly, we now use the adult engagement observations to look at staff performance as evidence for performance management. These observations feed into the school plan.
'We noticed a couple of years ago that the boys were not as involved as the girls, and that fed into an action research programme looking at why they were not so involved and putting things into place to involve them. We then used the EEL process to check that this was effective.'
More active equipment and boy-friendly resources were bought to build on the boys' interests, while hero role play was introduced. The nursery also developed the outdoor area.
Ms Harmon adds, 'The staff took ownership of the action research. They made the changes happen, which is much more effective than me telling them we have got to do this or that. The EEL observation gave us the evidence - it was quite clear and together we had to do something about it.'
HOW EEL/BEEL WORK
The process begins with three days of intensive training in the use of the EEL/BEEL techniques in a series of presentations, workshops and group discussions.
Both EEL/BEEL work through a four-phase process involving evaluation, action planning, improvement and reflection.
Evaluation is an extended process of setting-led, self-evaluation, supported by the local authority and CREC. It involves:
- Child tracking noting interactions - child/child, child alone, child/adult and who initiates the interactions
- Zones of initiative on a scale of four: freedom of choice, to one:no choice
- Grouping - whole group, pairs, small group, individual
- Learning experiences in line with EYFS
- Time of day
- Adult observation - this involves observing the child's sensitivity, stimulation and autonomy.
BEEL observations, measured on a scale of one to five, evaluate child/adult engagement looking at:
- Connectedness - the child's sense of location in the world
- Exploration - the child's inner motivation to find out about the world
- Meaning making - the child's ability to try different things
- Child tracking - follows similar pattern to EEL
An evaluation report is compiled from the evidence and it forms the basis of an agreed action plan which settings are supported to implement.
