Your roundup of all things going on at CREC.
CREC - Centre for Research in Early Childhood
Working towards improving early years provision.
Master's Degree in Education with Early Years Focus
Our part time MA programme, accredited by Birmingham City University, is designed specifically for practitioners working in the early years sector and can be studied alongside and in support of your day-to-day role.
The course draws upon CREC's research expertise and enables students to work within a community of practice. ?
Our next drop in information session is Friday 14th June 12-1pm please register here to attend this event.?
Teacher Training- School Centred
CREC Teacher Training?offers a one year full-time school-based route to becoming a primary teacher with an early years (3 - 7 yrs) specialism and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
I have found CREC so supportive on this journey.?They make sure you are seen as an individual, recognising your background and guiding you towards new knowledge. The experience I have had has been an excellent start to my teaching adventure.?(L.?Philips, 2023-present)?
Applications for September 2024 are open and need to be made through the DfE ‘Apply’ portal using our course code 2MZV. ?
The closing date for applications is 1st July
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If you still have questions then attend the last information session online on Thursday 13th June 2024 4pm-5pm.?
However, upon request, we can arrange a one-to-one conversation with a tutor and offer an opportunity for prospective applicants to speak to current trainees and/or visit one of our placement schools. Contact us to set this up.?
BECERA 2025 | Birmingham | 17 Feb
Encouraging Ethical Encounters with Young Children
Ethics’, suggested Aristotle, may be understood as the personal and moral desire to do good and to act in a socially beneficial way. Given BECERA’s emphasis on ethics in our encounters and engagement with young children and those close to them, what well intentioned dispositions and characteristics most accurately describe our engagements? As policy and decision makers, managers, practitioners, tutors, researchers, students or parents, how might we explore and encourage ethical approaches to interacting with children, their families and their educator’s/carers, to better understand their perspectives and listen to their voices.
This year, following a decade of new technologies, new methods during a time of economic, political and ecological upheavals world-wide, the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal has updated its Ethical Code to include the range of innovative and developing techniques to create forums for, and listen to the voices of children and their educators/carers.
In her meta-analysis of articles, in 10 international and scholarly Early Years journals over a 3 year period, Fiona Maine demonstrated how much research focused on young children neglects to consider ethics or even obtain the child’s consent (Maine, 2014), let alone their ongoing assent.
Being included in decisions about their lives, researching ‘with’ rather than ‘a done to approach’, seems a reasonable and ethical position for all who interact with young children, and BECERA 2025 provides a platform for sharing and discussing those ideas and considering ways in which children’s perspectives and voices can be more ethically included. This is not without tension as we diversify methods and make use of the increasing technologies available. There is even the potential for tension within our policy as the UNCRC balances an adult view through best interests (article 3) with listening directly to the children (article 12).
Save the date to join us on Monday 17th February at the Studio in central Birmingham to network, present your own research and discuss alternative views, issues and ideas within our community of research and practice.
Sign?up to our dedicated newsletter to receive more information as and when it becomes available, including updates on invited keynote speakers and?when the call for papers opens.
Victoria’s CME Journey ? I had been working with a friend running art and music classes for under 5s, and then was asked to work in a nursery running music sessions for all rooms from babies to preschool aged children.? I began reading more about music in early years and although I felt able to deliver these sessions, I decided to look for a course/qualification that would help develop my skills and deepen my understanding to support my work.? I had been reading about the Certificate for Music Educators (CME) and was contemplating that course when I saw that there was a new CME course specifically for Early Childhood Music (CME:EC). I knew that that was the course for me and I formed part of the first cohort for the course. ? The CME:EC, run through the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) in Birmingham, was fantastic and very informative.? Designed and taught by experienced and knowledgeable early years music specialists, the CME:EC is a practical course exploring resources,? planning and approaches to music sessions but which also explores different pedagogies and musical play in early childhood.? The course gave me what I was looking for and so much more.? ? ?
The course has had a huge impact on my work.? As well as highlighting what good quality music practice can look like, it showed me the importance of providing children with positive music experiences and also giving children the chance to play freely with music. The course was also a catalyst for extending my knowledge and understanding of this area and so I then enrolled on the MA in Education: Early Years Music also run by CREC. ? Following the CME:EC, I was asked to become a Director of Note Weavers CIC in North West England which has opened up other opportunities for me to work with others, build networks and deliver training/CPD, as well as working on different early years music projects.? In September 2023, I was appointed as a Mentor on the CME:EC, mentoring and supporting students as they study for the qualification.? My journey is not over, and new doors are opening all the time, however, I would not be where I am today without the CME:EC which supported and inspired me down this path. ?
Victoria Holmes (MA, BA Hons) CME:EC Mentor Director Note Weavers CIC
Learning Circle The CREC Learning Circle has met regularly since 2003 for presentations or discussions on early childhood issues, and includes students, policy makers, local authority leaders and visiting academics.
From this learning community will come the future leaders, tutors and thinkers for this key area of social, educational, health and economic policy.
Wednesday 26th June– Hartlebury, Worcestershire, 4pm - late “Walk & Talk" Please email [email protected] if you wish to attend.
领英推荐
2024/2025 Schedule:
Monday 23rd September -online via Zoom, 5pm-6pm
Monday 7th October-face to face at CREC 4pm-6pm
Thursday 14th November -online via Zoom, 5pm-6pm
Tuesday 10th December -face to face at CREC 4pm-6pm
Wednesday 15th January -online via Zoom, 5pm-6pm
Monday 17th February -face to face at BECERA Conference 4pm-6pm
Tuesday 4th March -online via Zoom, 5pm-6pm
Monday 7th April -face to face at CREC 4pm-6pm
Monday 12th May -Hybrid, time TBC
Thursday 26th June- Hartlebury, Worcestershire, 4pm - late “Walk & Talk”
Professional identity: empowering the early years workforce
with Dr Karen Williams & Dr Jackie Musgrave
Early Education Midlands Branch and the University of Wolverhampton would like to invite you to join us for our Early Years conference on the22nd June 2024on Professional identity - empowering the early years workforce.For more information please visit the event webpage
The CREC Summer?Sunflower competition…the results so far!
Back in April, CREC?officially launched our team sunflower growing competition. With ethics discussed and seeds kindly provided by Dr Tony Bertram the challenge was set.? We have been keeping a track and sharing our valuable sunflower tips. Watch this space!
Shifting the conversation?
Our previous research into wider public attitudes to early education and childcare showed that those who are most likely to prioritise the issue at the next election are those with children who are still using some form of childcare.
As the people who are using and paying for early years services, and as the target of early education and childcare policies aimed at boosting economic activity, parents have a major stake in the debate. They are also the people who act as advocates for their children, so it’s essential that we understand them and their concerns, and bring their voices into the discussion.
These guides are focused on parents’ attitudes, but also, importantly, on how the debate can include the needs of children themselves. They share insights from the Early Education and Childcare Coalition’s research and are underpinned by the Common Outcomes Framework for Children, developed by Kindred Squared and For Baby’s Sake. The framing in these guides was developed by exploring and testing parents’ attitudes towards this framework and how early education can best support their children to thrive. Shifting the conversation guide A guide for MPs and Policy makers A guide for journalists
National Week of Play: Magic moments –?a celebration of childhood
We all know just how important the first five years of life are to a child's later outcomes –?but how can we ensure that we are also celebrating what makes this period such a unique time in life itself?
Childhood isn't just a runway to take off to adulthood; it's a magical time in and of itself. That's why the Alliance's National Week of Play 2024 will focus on savouring those magic early moments and celebrating a child's right to just be, without the pressure to become.
Through a variety of free resources and ideas, they?will encourage both early years providers and families to find the magic in each moment. They?will share low-cost and no-cost ideas on how you and the children you care for and educate can enjoy play not only as a development opportunity, but for the wondrous moments in time that it so often offers.?
This year, as you're teaching your children how to navigate the world, let them also teach you how to enjoy and savour every moment.