Early Years Pioneers: Ferre Laevers

Who is Ferre Laevers?

Occasionally you meet someone who has a profound impact on you, and changes the way you think and act at a deep level. My meeting with Ferre Laevers back in 1990 at an early years conference in Alkmaar, Netherlands, had such an affect. Three of us - Ferre, Tony Bertram and myself - began a conversation over dinner that continues to this day.

Laevers was born in the Belgian Congo, Africa. When he was ten his family moved back to Belgium. As a student in Leuven he became interested in the idea of emancipatory pedagogy within early years practice, seeing it as a means to combat the 'alienation' which often results from authoritarian approaches to education. In 1973 he was appointed assistant at the university to support research and training in early years.

While studying for his PhD he became influenced by Sir Herbert Read's emphasis on the importance of expression through art and his world view that saw freedom as a context in which the inner power in humans can shape life and give it order and structure. Carl Rogers' client-centred, experiential approach was also an early influence, along with Jean Piaget.

In 1976, 12 Flemish pre-school teachers, assisted by Laevers and another educational consultant, started sessions to reflect critically upon their practice. Their approach was 'experiential': the intention was to make a close, moment-by-moment description of what it means to a young child to take part in the educational setting. This careful observation and 'reconstruction' of the child's experiences highlighted a series of unsatisfactory conditions. Too many opportunities to sustain children's development remained unused. A new educational model for pre-school was born: Experiential Education (EXE).

What did he achieve?

EXE offered a conceptual basis that proved to be useful in other contexts such as childcare, special education, secondary education, teacher training and any kind of setting where learning and professional development should take place.

The establishment of the Centre for Experiential Education at the University of Leuven added impetus to the approach's growth. Now it is one of the most influential educational models in elementary education.

Internationally, the co-founding of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association with Tony Bertram and myself in 1992 put in place an important forum for sharing early childhood research, policy and practice across Europe and beyond.

Laevers develops his work with many new projects, such as supporting the development of talented children, the development of self-assessment by children and students, and looking at the long-term effects of education on children. He travels extensively, influencing policy makers to develop more creative and effective approaches to early childhood education.

What are his key messages?

The Experiential approach The foundation of EXE is the experiential attitude of the practitioner - the intention to take the experience of the child as a point of reference. Three principles guide practical decisions:

1 The stimulation of child initiative, including setting rules that guarantee a smooth-running class organisation and a maximum of freedom for every child (not only the 'fittest')

2 The enrichment of the educational environment by bringing in materials and activities, offering opportunities to explore reality and functioning as a mediator of the culture

3 Intensive interactions between teacher and children, which is crucial to building good relations, to support emotional feelings and to the stimulation of action. This requires sensitivity to the emotional and developmental needs of the child.

The result of an experiential education is an emancipated person. This final goal entails emotional health and authenticity, a strong exploratory attitude, openness to the outer and inner world, a sense of linkedness and, based on this, a strong motivation to contribute to the quality of life and the universal process of creation.

Well-being and involvement

The EXE model puts a great emphasis on two criteria Laevers believes are conclusive indicators of the quality of education: 'emotional wellbeing' and 'involvement'. The degree of wellbeing shows us how much the educational environment succeeds in helping the child to feel at home, be himself and have emotional needs (attention, recognition, competence) fulfilled. The involved person finds himself in a special state characterised by concentration, intense experience, intrinsic motivation, a flow of energy and a high level of satisfaction connected with the fulfilment of the exploratory drive. Involvement is an excellent indicator for developmental processes.

Deep level learning

In looking at education outcomes Laevers distinguishes between superficial learning and fundamental or 'deep level' learning. He has found in children strong forces that seem to orient them towards the kinds of experiences that engender development.

'Linkedness'

Within the EXE project the concept of 'linkedness' is the expression of deep concern for the development of a positive orientation towards reality. As 'de-linquency' means 'the lack of being linked', the sense of 'connectedness' can be seen as the cornerstone of prevention of criminal behavior or any action that brings damage to things and people.

What are the main impacts of his work on practice today?

The key impacts of the EXE project have been:

• the introduction of a flexible organisation in which children get more room for initiative
• the development of an adult style where taking the child's perspective is central
• the recognition of the influence of the group climate
• the recognition of the importance of social-emotional aspects, self-management and resilience
• the use of process-oriented monitoring systems focusing on 'how children are doing within the setting'
• the ability of practitioners to see the difference between easily obtained superficial outcomes and deep level learning.

For me, Ferre's major contributions have been the challenging of mechanistic and dehumanising agendas within our early years and schooling systems and his insistence on acknowledging the social, emotional, intellectual and creative potential in children and early years practitioners.

Professor Christine Pascal is director of the Centre for Research in Early Childhood at University College, Worcester

Suggested reading

• Laevers, F (1994). 'The innovative project Experiential Education and the definition of quality in education'. In: Laevers F (ed.), Defining and assessing quality in early childhood education. Studia Paedagogica, Leuven University Press, pp. 159-172
• Laevers, F (1998). 'Understanding the world of objects and of people: Intuition as the core element of deep level learning'. International Journal of Educational Research, 29 (1), 69-85
• Laevers, F (2000). 'Forward to basics! Deep-level-learning and the experiential approach'. Early Years, Spring 2000.
• Laevers, F (2005). 'The curriculum as means to raise the quality of ECE: Implications for policy'. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 13 (1), 17-30.