Reflections of early childhood studies students on their critical thinking skills

This research is conducted as part of continuous improvements to the education of future Early Years professionals on a BA Early Childhood Studies Programme. Early Years professionals benefit from being able to think critically and creatively to solve the complex problems that arise within early years settings. It is important that they also know how to effectively stimulate the thinking skills of children in their care. Seminar tutors on the BA Programme are in a prime position to model interactions effective for nurturing thinking skills, in particular by using talk to stimulate critical and creative thinking. Reflection and metacognition are established way for improving work practices, and the use of video recordings can aid this process. A literature review is undertaken, and will be presented, to examine pedagogies for nurturing thinking skills in Higher Education students. Additionally, a pilot study is conducted to record tutors-student interactions within seminar classes. Two seminar sessions are recorded. Two students who have verbally engaged with the tutor are identified from the recordings, and are invited by the researcher to take part in follow up unstructured interviews whilst simultaneously viewing the recordings of their interactions. The two tutors also participate in interviews. During the interviews, the researcher encourages reflection. The four sessions are audio-taped. An analysis of the resulting data is used to identify emerging themes. The approach permits the exploration of factors likely to influence thinking skills. An evaluation of the pilot study will determine whether the process can be effectively used in future research and as a training tool