Training Talk - Masters at CREC

Following a Master’s course in early years education provided by the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC), Acorn Early Years Foundation manager Laura Andrews changed the social enterprise’s approach to nurturing workers. ‘A lot of companies have set targets and mentoring programmes,’ she says. ‘Early years can’t work like that – it must be more open and flexible.’

Ms Andrews has written a dissertation on the subject – the final module of three she must complete to gain the qualification. She started her course in 2014, studying one module a year part-time. CREC requires students to attend five to seven face-to-face study days per module at St Thomas Children’s Centre in Birmingham. Ms Andrews says these days include lectures, discussions and group work with other students. This flexibility, and the range of subjects offered, are why she chose the course.

She is now more aware of the different ways staff develop, and uses various coaching and mentoring techniques. ‘Sometimes you identify an area they need to develop and you sit down to mentor them through that,’ says Ms Andrews. ‘Some mentoring isn’t planned, it’s more about identifying something in their practice, then role-modelling and coaching. Staff have reacted much better to that.’

In her first year, Ms Andrews studied a ‘double research’ module, which required a 10,000-word essay based on primary research. She investigated the benefits of having two key people for a child. Acorn nurseries had already implemented this system, but Ms Andrews felt it could be more effective and robust. Her research revealed parents, carers and children were unaware of having a second key person, and did not understand why they had two. ‘Following the research we worked on improving the system by ensuring that both key persons were introduced to the family, and were part of the settling or transition visits,’ says Ms Andrews.

Ms Andrews’ employer supported her, enabling her to fit in fieldwork, including surveying staff and parents, during work hours as she travelled between Acorn’s 10 settings. She did additional work at weekends. ‘Everything I have done has had, or will have, an impact on our practice,’ she says.

MA in Education (Early Years) www.crec.co.uk/ma-in-education