Independent Study Proposal

Working Title: Language and policy: an Investigation into the construction of Nursery Provision

Supervisor: Clive McGoun

I look upon my Independent Study as a journey, in which my direction will change through the development of my thoughts and research. In this sense, my aims for the study may alter themselves throughout the process. In these beginning stages, my aims are primarily concerned with the relationship between language and its meaning within a nursery policy document, which ultimately leads onto the relevance of this particular policy, how this document is perceived as well as put into action in a nursery environment.
During the Communication course, I have become increasingly involved with the Human aspect and now want to complete my University experience as a Human Communication graduate. My study refers to the education and understanding amongst nursery school children and this therefore relates to their communication on both an intra and interpersonal level. As Biber considers the “growth of language” within a child is “part of the development of human communication”. (1984: 106) In relation to my Independent Study, if a child’s language and education is growing within a nursery, consequently this is connected with their overall human communication. Not only am I looking at the communication between the people involved in nursery provision, but also the way the language is communicated from policy to action. How the words in a document are communicated into educational activities in a classroom.
The reason for carrying out this study is due to me working in nurseries for the past two years and discovering a world of frameworks, policies and pre-school learning. I was surprised to learn that nurseries have a curriculum to consider when caring for children. In addition to this, simplistic lesson plans and specific tasks are created to develop a child’s understanding and education. I believed a nursery to be considered as a safe environment for a child to be in whilst his/her parents were at work or similar to the opinion of Gilkes, who stated that the nursery was seen as “a helping hand” to those who were “new or struggling” as a parent. (1987: 3) Yet, I had established a new reason, that children may be attending nursery to begin their education and to gain and develop life skills. This led me to read a policy document called ‘Birth to Three Matters’. This document outlines what is expected of both the workers and the children in a nursery environment and how a child’s learning and understanding can begin at such a young age. This got me to thinking about the role of education and play and the relationship between the two within a nursery. My ideas have developed from this personal interest to the questioning behind the making of these policy documents.
In recent years there has been much debate about the benefits that a child may or may not have in attending nurseries. Many believe that a child will more likely adapt to Year 1 at an infant school if they have begun their education at a nursery stage. As outlined in The Importance of pre-school education,

“Two children using a plastic cup to fill a bucket with water may be involved in counting how many cups are required to fill the bucket, in discussing the results with each other and in agreeing to take turns. They may therefore be developing mathematical, language and social learning.” (www.itscotland.org)

These skills having been established in a nursery will then benefit and allow the child to have a head start when they begin at Key Stage One. Whilst others, similar to the article posted on the 30th January 2004 believe that pre-school children “are not receiving the play-based education they are supposed to because of pressure to prepare for more formal learning in later years” (www.literacytrust.org) through researching into the language being used in the documents, it will be interesting to see how much pressure these policies place on nurseries to enhance nursery learning. This therefore leads onto a political interest into how the Foundation Stage Curriculum and ‘Birth to Three Matters’ impacts on a child’s transition into Key Stage One and the conflicting views of professionals and how this theory works in practice.
Much literature has been written about the subject of nurseries and their role in the development of a child’s education. When I first decided upon this particular area of study, I found that there was too much written about the matter, therefore I created a number of themes or specific topic areas which allowed me to devise questions and from here I will be able to discover what I need to read, see Appendix A. I felt this to be more beneficial for my study as it allowed me to confine my ideas on such a broad subject matter. As I have already quoted above there are many opinions and an on-going debate about the framework used within nurseries. Many of the books encourage educational development in a pre-school environment, yet many articles state figures and reports against the curriculum and claim that children are missing out on their chance to play. This literature will be discussed and expanded within the section of my Literature Review of my final Independent Study. In the Appendices, one will be able to see the literature I have read about already and the academic text I want to read throughout the process. I also feel that as I continue on this journey, my questions may change or develop into further questions being asked; in this case my literature will expand to gain additional answers and knowledge.
As stated in my title my Independent Study is an investigation, the purpose of carrying out the project is not to decide whether it is right or wrong to begin a child’s education in nursery, but to discuss and explore the opposing views and to look in further detail at the ‘Birth to Three Matters’ policy document, to see how its framework is beneficial to children. I feel it necessary to emphasise the words how and why, as they are two expressions that will continuously be used throughout my whole Independent Study. Already, I have many questions and I believe as I develop in my project, I may not discover answers but create further questions instead. However, I still consider this to be positive progress as I am ‘investigating into’, not creating a definite answer. Through conducting this research study I am making myself aware of the attitudes and meaning behind Nursery Provision.
After completing this whole process, I believe that the results I will receive from the information I have gained through my research methods will show if my study has achieved its purpose. I am hoping to gain a better understanding of the policy document ‘Birth to Three Matters’. How it is put into practice within a nursery setting and why the policy is considered to be fundamental in a child’s development of education. I do think there will still be questions left unanswered or unexplored at the end of conducting the study. Yet, I do not believe this to be a sign that my study has not achieved its intention. In contrast, I see it as my project has developed and allows for further investigation at a later stage.
My Independent Study takes on both a theoretical as well as an empirical approach. From a theoretical perspective I am exploring into the literature already written around and about the subject matter. I will be taking a section of text from the ‘Birth to Three Matters’ policy document and seeing how the lexis used influences the activities being carried out in the nursery. However, from an empirical viewpoint I am hoping to undergo a type of ethnographic study. According to the opinion of Amy McCleverty,

“Ethnography is a traditional method of sociology and cultural anthropology. It involves the study of people performing activities and interacting in complex social settings in order to obtain a qualitative understanding of these interactions.” (http://pages.cpsc)

In conducting my project, my ethnographic study will involve the undertaking of formal interviews and observation.
As you will see in Appendix C, there is much literature written about the subject of Nursery Provision and by reading through the research I am expanding upon my knowledge as well as investigating and developing my initial questions and ideas. The information I receive will allow me to progress in my journey. The research methods I have chosen to adopt when carrying out my ethnographic study allow me to see how the policy document is transformed from words to action in its social context and how valuable and effective the framework is on a child’s understanding. As McCleverty goes onto say “the objective of completing an ethnographic study is to identify and highlight routine practices, problems and possibilities for development within a given activity or setting.” (http://pages.cpsc) In relation to my study through the use of interviews and observation, I am able to recognise and establish certain routines that the children go through and outline the advantages and disadvantages that arise from the ‘Birth to Three Matters’ framework. An academic book that I will be referring to when conducting my research methods is: Doing a Research Project: A guide for first time researchers in education written by Judith Bell. Bell outlines the importance and gives a specific layout of how research methods such as interviewing can benefit one in carrying out a study. This will be detailed further as set out in the section of my Research Methods in my Independent Study.
The main difficulty I will encounter when embarking upon my Independent Study is the ethical side of being involved and researching amongst children. There are many acts such as the Child Protection and Data Protection Act that could limit my access to both inside a nursery environment and documents concerning children and nurseries. I am at an advantage where I have worked with children and therefore have already access to several nurseries. I am also in possession of an Enhanced Disclosure Form which allows me to enter into a nursery or a school. When carrying out observations on children or in a setting where children may be present, I would have to gain parents consent. This can be done through proposing a letter that could be sent out to parents explaining to them, my reasoning for carrying out work within the nursery and my intention of my Independent Study.
Another problem that could arise is the time constraint that I have on conducting this study. Due to my proposed study being such a vast subject matter, I could continuously create themes and questions around the area. However, through already creating specific topic areas I am giving myself a structured framework and as I have said before, I am not looking to answer all my questions, but rather explore and investigate into the chosen themes in order to further my knowledge about the construction of nursery provision.