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ERIC Number: EJ1164430
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1359 6748
EISSN: N/A
Learning Is Like a Lava Lamp: The Student Journey to Critical Thinking
Walker, Rosie
Research in Post-Compulsory Education, v22 n4 p495-512 2017
This article explores the ways in which a university Foundation Degree programme supports undergraduate Early Years students to develop critical thinking, mindfulness and self-actualisation through their lived personal and professional experiences. It considers the impact of this on graduates employed within the Early Years sector. Findings inform future design of a university Foundation Degree programme situated within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). As undergraduates, students engage in higher-level learning aligned to their practice within the workplace. An interpretive participatory qualitative research methodology is used to gather the views of six alumni who completed their studies in 2014. They participated in the research freely within ethical parameters approved by a university ethics committee. Findings revealed that the development of critical thinking is empowered by having a personal or professional impetus, which in the case of Early Years is the child as being at the heart of values-based practice. This, with the inclusion of mindfulness, drives students to a sustainable deeper layer of thinking to achieve self-actualisation. The acquisition of critical thinking has assisted students in being able to subsequently take up positions of authority within the Early Years workforce.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A