LECTURE 2
The Characteristics of Effective Cross-cultural Professional Development for Early Childhood Educators: Using RCT Cases from NSW Australia and Shenzhen China
Speaker: Professor Iram Siraj
University of Oxford
The lecture will look at professional development (PD) research that has been influential in improving educator practice while also enhancing child learning. Professor Siraj will draw on the RCT intervention Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) study undertaken in NSW Australia and it’s adapted version undertaken in Shenzhen China to demonstrate how evidence-based PD - alongside practice development support tools - can support educators to enhance quality, democratise assessment and improve child outcomes while developing a systematic way of improving educator practice at their own pace. During the session she will identify some important characteristics of effective PD.
About the speaker
Professor Iram Siraj
University of Oxford
Professor Iram Siraj (OBE) has held positions at the Universities of Warwick, London and Oxford. Professor Siraj has an international reputation and expertise for longitudinal research and policy. She has co-directed a number of world-first influential studies, including:
• the Effective Provision of Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE, DfE, 1997-2015)
• the transformative Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY, DfE, 2002)
• Effective Leadership in the Early Years Sector (ELEYS).
She has also co-investigated Effective Early Educational Experiences in Australia (E4Kids, Australian Research Council and Victoria and Queensland Governments. 2009-2015).
Her recent studies focus on professional development (PD) interventions looking at the impact of evidence-based PD e.g. in 90 centres in New South Wales Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL, 2018); Researching Effective Environments for Learning in 70 centres in Victoria (REEL, 2019); and Using Research tools to Promote Language in the Early Years in 120 primary schools in England (2020). Recent studies include leadership in early education in LMICs (World Bank); an RCT using MOVERS (40 centres, Victorian Govt), Adult-child Interactions using IT apps (ARC); a British Academy Grant to study the development of refugee pre-schoolers in Malaysia (2019-2021) and an EEF maths intervention in 106 primary schools to improve maths for 4-6 year olds in the UK.
She was Technical Advisor to the OECD IELS international pilot study (and the NFER England study) advising on child measures. She has over 250 publications including three widely-used quality rating scales in the cognitive (ECERS-E 4th Ed. 2010), social-emotional (SSTEW, 2015) and physical (MOVERS, 2017) domains, they’re currently being used in many countries to enhance PD of staff. Her most recent book (Siraj et al 2019) is Teaching in Effective Primary Schools: Research into Pedagogy and Children's Learning by UCL-IOE Press.
Discussion panel
Professor Kerry Lee, Professor, EdUHK
Dr Bautista Alfredo, Associate Professor, EdUHK
Dr Sun Jin, Assistant Professor, EdUHK
Ms Mary Wong, Community Services Manager, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (Early Childhood Services)