Rhiannon Packer is a currently a senior lecturer in Additional Learning Needs and teaches on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She worked for nine years as a secondary school teacher and was a Head of Year for five years before moving into Higher Education. Her research interests include transition for learners with Special Educational Needs, the learner journey for quiet, shy and anxious children, supporting learners with Specific Learning Difficulties and bilingualism.
Education for Sustainability and Global Citizenship is a module currently taught to final year students studying for an undergraduate Early Years degree at the University of South Wales. Initially the module focused on giving information about Welsh Government policy on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC) and similar policies from across the developing world. The focus was academic with some attention given to practical links between government policy and practice. The module has evolved to include greater understanding of ESDGC as a key element in fostering and promoting 21st century skills to Early Years students; such as problem solving, thinking skills and effective communication. This was achieved through links with Zelyn Academy, a school in the Kibera Slums of Nairobi and participation workshops. ESDGC is to be a key component of a new B.A. (Hons) Early Years Education and Practice degree at the university. It will continue to develop links between the school in Nairobi and a local high school, and will be taught through dynamic use of Information Technology, strategies from the 'flipped classroom' and participatory workshops. At its heart is a commitment to the fundamental importance of ESDGC not only as an ethos, but as a core practice.
The authors delivered and facilitated a panel discussion at the London International Conference on Education (LICE-2017) based on a recently published book [1]. It is recognised that high-quality early years education is of prime importance in enabling our youngest children to develop and learn to their full potential. To achieve this, they require high quality early years practitioners to support their learning and development. Early years practitioners need to integrate theory, the 'why', with practice, the 'how', across all areas of the curriculum. This paper provides a discussion on selected curriculum areas: Literacy, Mathematics and Science alongside a discussion on current policy and the importance of play and playfulness. It includes reference to current research and case study material to demonstrate how the integration of 'why' and 'how' might be achieved during the training of early years students and practitioners. In addition, it reports recent feedback from a short survey undertaken with early years students using the book and these materials in their training. Students reported greater understanding of concepts and theories and how they could incorporate this within their practice as well as feeling they were receiving extra in-class time from having a text written by their tutors.
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