Eyes on the early years: Professional development conversations in action – interactive reading

In this video, Claire Hawkey, Deputy Manager and Karen Lilley Director, Early Years professionals from The Cabin at Tamar View Nursery, talk about using the Professional development conversation cycle tool to embed ​‘interactive reading’ in their busy setting.

Within the professional development conversation, Claire reflects on her own knowledge, skills and practice. She discusses how she plans to use the EEF’s Early Years Evidence Store as a credible source of evidence to motivate her team behind this new approach.

Karen uses the suggested prompts to facilitate her professional conversations and supports Claire to identify ways to develop practice in the nursery. The tool enables Karen and Claire to think about ways to develop the approach further, whilst considering the context of their setting. It also reminds them to plan in time to review progress, so that they can build upon their successes.

The aim of these new EEF ​‘Eyes on the Early Years’ videos is to capture and share the live ​‘knowledge and understanding’ of early educators. They provide an opportunity to step into a setting, hear about the challenges and see the journey of change. These open, honest discussions focus on educators’ knowledge of the evidence, understanding of pedagogy and their own setting. We hope that they are supportive and offer opportunities to share practice.