Research Nurseries: A visit to the University of Stirling's psychology kindergarten

Psychology Kindergarten at the University of Stirling is not the average campus provision. Nor the average nursery. Think more along the lines of The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, the Channel 4 documentary where researchers observed children behind one-way mirrors.

Here, slap bang in the middle of the university’s psychology department, is a nursery: one where psychology students come to carry out real-life studies about child development. Research takes places discreetly, behind a one-way mirror, but also face-to-face in the kindergarten or in research rooms that are equipped with hi-tech video-monitoring systems. Students observe children’s play, looking at issues around gender, conflict, how pre-schoolers cope with everyday childhood pain and even how they develop the art of lying. Academics are also funded to lead cutting-edge research and pilot new protocols.

‘It’s unique,’ says nursery manager Danielle Ramsay. ‘We’re essentially a research lab for psychology students, but at the same time, we offer a homely learning environment for children and families.’

DESIGN

On first sight, the interior of the nursery looks like any other: Community Playthings furniture; an environment full of rich, open-ended resources; and a light, airy room. But just as students could be observing children’s play behaviours, a parent might be checking how well their child is settling in.

‘It was designed with observation and research in mind,’ explains senior practitioner Sarah Thornburn, whose own children took part in research when they attended almost 30 years ago.

University researchers come to watch children playing at allocated times and children are taken into video-monitored testing rooms for more in-depth observational studies.

Outdoors is a nursery courtyard with a garden and play equipment. The children also spend a lot of time on the campus, exploring the landscaped grounds and Airthney loch, where they love to watch the swans, moor hens and ducks.

EVERYDAY LIFE

The nursery shares the building with more than 200 psychology students and is positioned in the psychology department’s staff offices. Each day, for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, it is joined by third-year undergraduates in psychology who conduct mini research projects with children in the kindergarten, or outdoors, as part of their development psychology module. Research usually takes place four days a week but typically steps up around October to mid-May, when there could be up to two research projects running at any one time.

Master’s students also complete in-house research as part of their placement allocation, and staff undertake funded academic research or pilot projects in areas such as understanding everyday pain (see box, right).

‘Many groups choose to observe aspects of play, including whether children play alone or with others; if they prefer to play with peers of the same gender or if they share or co-operate with others in their play,’ explains Danielle. ‘They might take part in a computer task or have their behaviour recorded when interacting with different toys or activities. Fun games and novel toys suitable for children are always used, where appropriate.

‘Researching with children offers new opportunities to understand childhood in all its fascinating and complex aspects, by raising questions that might not otherwise have been considered and suggesting ideas to improve children’s wellbeing. It also gives the children a sense of achievement and helps them develop a positive sense of self, as they know they have helped carry out significant research activities through their participation.’

But she adds, ‘The needs of the children always come first, and teaching and research activities are fitted around the kindergarten’s schedule and activities rather than the other way around.’

STRICT PROTOCOL

Children who attend the setting either have parents working at the university or are members of the community. In the 1970s, it was a small playgroup for just teaching staff, but it has evolved into an ‘excellent’ provider of funded term-time care and education, as graded by Scotland’s Care Inspectorate.

Each family has the option to opt in to their child taking part in research on a case-by-case basis – usually with a two-week notice period – or parents are free to opt their children out of all research activities completely. If a child is engrossed in play in the home corner or doesn’t feel like taking part, they can opt out on the day.

‘Parents are typically fascinated by their children participating and are eager to learn about the findings, which we share at open days and in our booklets,’ Danielle explains.

Each student must pass strict safety requirements and obtain a ‘research passport’ before observing or working with children. Practitioners continuously monitor the children and research activities and always accompany them into the video-monitored research rooms.

The Care Inspectorate observed on its visit that children ‘enjoyed these additional activities’ and that they ‘provided them with further variety and supported their progression and achievement’.

ACADEMIC STUDY: EVERYDAY PAIN

Line Caes, associate professor of psychology at the University of Stirling, who also chairs the kindergarten committee, received funding support from the Early Career Research Grant to look at children’s experiences of pain.

She says, ‘We were interested in understanding more about preschoolers’ experience of everyday pain – falls; minor head bumps; knee scrapes or collisions with other children: those short term painful experiences that are not necessarily intense, but are brief stress situations that happen frequently as children learn to find their balance whilst being highly active. We don't actually know exactly how children respond to them or how adults respond to them, or how we should be responding to them in an appropriate way.

‘So, with the children in the kindergarten, we looked at how frequently they happen; if they were more frequent inside or outside; how children reacted to them but also how staff members reacted. We found that boys and girls had the same amount of pain experiences, outside as inside. But what’s interesting is that outside, children’s painful experiences were less intense and quicker to resolve than indoors.  Children didn’t react to each other’s pain, even if they were sitting next to someone who had hurt themselves. They didn’t get a teacher or react in any way, just continued playing.

We also saw that the most common reaction from a practitioner was soothing reassuring – and perhaps rubbing the area or putting a plaster on if needed, but at the same time, saying, ‘It’s fine’ and distracting them or keeping them engaged with an activity.’

PARENT PERSPECTIVE

Five-year-old Conner (name changed) joined the setting in October 2020, following in the footsteps of his older brother. His mum, Kirsty Foote, a primary school teacher, says, ‘We live locally and wanted a small, nurturing kindergarten. The fact that it’s part of the psychology department is a real plus. Children are involved in purposeful investigations and they have access to cutting-edge education, techniques and strategies.

‘The quality of learning is unique and individual, partly, I think, because nursery staff have direct access to the psychology department and they are constantly updated with theories of child psychology and how children learn and think.

‘There’s great communication and we always get an idea of what the researchers are trying to understand through their investigations. I find it fascinating.

‘I’ve used the mirrored room to watch my children during the settling process. It’s so interesting to see how they interact with other children. It’s not intrusive at all and the children don’t even know that you’re there.

‘My eldest son was involved in an intergenerational project working with dementia sufferers. They made music together and went to different parts of the campus doing activities, such as art therapy. Conner says that he just “plays games” with the students, when in fact they’re conducting research in areas such as “fairness” and “being rewarded for being kind”. He sees the games as an extension of his kindergarten day because they take place in the same room. He doesn’t distinguish it as participating in a study.

‘Both my boys love exploring the campus and the woods and they’re so confident in the outdoors. They are inquisitive and are encouraged and supported by the kindergarten staff to question things.’

PSYCHOLOGY KINDERGARTEN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING: FACTS

• Opened in 1969 as a playgroup.
• Now has 16 children a day, aged between two years and nine months.
• Each year, child development students complete placements and conduct studies in the kindergarten, in which they gain hands-on experience interacting with pre-school children, and collect data for their own research projects.
• The kindergarten is set up with several video-monitoring testing rooms, and a one-way mirror observation room.