How often do your primary school pupils have the opportunity to engage in open-ended, sustained pieces of work that offer them choice and control? Do you find that the curriculum restricts openings to provide your pupils with real challenge? Is your school grappling with finding effective ways in which to elicit authentic pupil voice? Children as Researchers in Primary Schools is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children to become ‘real world’ researchers in the primary classroom. It will supply you with the skills and ideas you need to implement a ‘children as researchers’ framework in your school that can be adapted for different ages and abilities. Children in primary schools are accustomed to being set short-term goals and are often unaware of long-term aims or of the connections between the concepts and skills they are learning. In contrast, this book demonstrates that children engaging in the research process have authentic opportunities to apply invaluable personal, learning and thinking skills while managing their own projects, making their ‘voices’ heard and experiencing increased levels of engagement and self-esteem. Based on the author’s 4-year research study exploring the experiences of young researchers and teachers in primary schools, and on her considerable experience of training young researchers, this book also contains: the history and theory behind ‘children as researchers’ initiatives; a model for good practice based on successful real life case studies; questions for reflective practice; practical examples of research in the classroom; photocopiable resources; opportunities for self-evaluation. This comprehensive resource will be appeal to primary teachers, educational practitioners and students on CPD and ITT courses. It will also be of interest to teacher trainers, to academics involved in teaching and research and to all those interested in promoting children’s voices.

How often do your primary school pupils have the opportunity to engage in open-ended, sustained pieces of work that offer them choice and control? Do you find that the curriculum restricts openings to provide your pupils with real challenge? Is your school grappling with finding effective ways in which to elicit authentic pupil voice? Children as Researchers in Primary Schools is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children to become ‘real world’ researchers in the primary classroom. It will supply you with the skills and ideas you need to implement a ‘children as researchers’ framework in your school that can be adapted for different ages and abilities. Children in primary schools are accustomed to being set short-term goals and are often unaware of long-term aims or of the connections between the concepts and skills they are learning. In contrast, this book demonstrates that children engaging in the research process have authentic opportunities to apply invaluable personal, learning and thinking skills while managing their own projects, making their ‘voices’ heard and experiencing increased levels of engagement and self-esteem. Based on the author’s 4-year research study exploring the experiences of young researchers and teachers in primary schools, and on her considerable experience of training young researchers, this book also contains: the history and theory behind ‘children as researchers’ initiatives; a model for good practice based on successful real life case studies; questions for reflective practice; practical examples of research in the classroom; photocopiable resources; opportunities for self-evaluation. This comprehensive resource will be appeal to primary teachers, educational practitioners and students on CPD and ITT courses. It will also be of interest to teacher trainers, to academics involved in teaching and research and to all those interested in promoting children’s voices.

This is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children to become 'real world' researchers in the primary classroom. It will supply you with the skills and ideas you need to implement a 'Children as Researchers' framework in your school that can be adapted for different ages and abilities.

Education.

Small-scale Research in Primary Schools provides guidance and inspiration for students and practitioners undertaking practical investigations and workplace enquiry in the primary school. The 30 chapters are carefully selected to illustrate a range of approaches to educational enquiry, and are particularly relevant to the range of practitioners who may carry out school-based research as part of a course of study: teachers, trainee- and newly-qualified teachers, teaching assistants, learning mentors and staff who support children with individual needs. Research topics addressed in chapters include children’s learning in the core curriculum subjects as well as themes central to teaching and learning. Important concepts and terminology are highlighted throughout. More specifically, areas of research explored include: Play Special Educational Needs Working with parents and families English as an Additional Language Creativity Language development Learning environments Small-scale Research in Primary Schools provides a straightforward, highly accessible introduction to enquiry approaches and research methodologies, and the questions and challenges adults in schools encounter about children’s learning. It shows how small-scale research in primary education can impact on professional thinking and learning. It aims to provide constructive support for students and practitioners in extending their knowledge and understanding through workplace enquiry.

This book presents research on the learning of foreign languages by children aged 6-12 years old in primary school settings. The collection provides a significant and important contribution to this often overlooked domain and aims to provide research-based evidence that might help to inform and develop pedagogical practice. Topics covered in the chapters include the influence of learner characteristics on word retrieval; explicit second language learning and language awareness; meaning construction; narrative oral development; conversational interaction and how it relates to individual variables; first language use; feedback on written production; intercultural awareness raising and feedback on diagnostic assessment. It will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, teachers and stakeholders who are interested in research on how children learn a second language at primary school.

With an increasing emphasis on the role of evidence in education, primary school teachers need to find meaningful ways to engage in research. Teachers and Young Researchers in Action supports teachers and children in carrying out meaningful classroom research that can transform practice. An accessible guide, it shows the different ways in which children and teachers can go about their research, the problems they may meet on the way and the tried and tested methods to meet those challenges. Illustrated with rich real-life examples of research projects – exploring rewards and sanctions, values education, school structures and reading for pleasure – it shows how we can celebrate the importance of the voice of the child in school life, benefitting individual children, teachers and schools alike. This accessible book outlines the benefits of children’s research for individual children, teachers and schools as well as providing case studies that demonstrate how young children’s research projects can be successful. Written for teachers by teachers, this go-to resource will be of interest to anyone working with children as researchers looking to improve their practice and in need of guidance and support.