Researching self-evaluation in early childhood education: an investigation of a strategy for improving educational practice

This study combines the data from three linked research activities which examined how teachers and other practitioners in the Early Years of education (0-8) can improve their practice through evaluating their own work. The major thesis of the research is that the practitioners' observation and research of children's educational interactions and experiences provide effective data both for judging the appropriateness of the curriculum provided and for developing more appropriate ways of providing for learning.

Starting with an exploratory pilot stage (Phase One), and a second stage of action research undertaken jointly by the researcher and a number of practitioners (Phase Two), the research proceeded to a third stage (Phase Three) in which it formed a part of a national project in practitioner self-evaluation through action research.

Analysis and interpretation of the data from these three research activities highlight aspects of the nature and the requirements of practitioner self-evaluation in the Early Years, and cast light on how educational improvement can be initiated, directed and implemented both by practitioners and by policy makers. In particular, differences between approaches to evaluation are traced to differences in the curriculum model employed, and the important role of observation in self-evaluation and thus in curriculum improvement is shown to be related to the adoption of a developmental approach to the curriculum in the Early Years.

The research thus offers a basis for recommendations for strategies for improving the quality of educational provision for young children.

The action research model used in the three phases of the research is also analysed and its suitability for research and development in Early Years educational settings is explored. In this exploration, of particular interest is a resultant shift in the research focus, as the researcher's own perspectives and development themselves became a further subject of the research.