Research Basis

At Rushcombe First School, we aim to provide each child with the very best educational start in life, equipping them with the skills they need to thrive in the future. In order to do this, we believe it is important that we understand and utilise the most effective teaching approaches to enable our young learners to achieve their potential. The approaches that we utilise at Rushcombe First School are based upon extensive research about how children learn and develop.

The Rushcombe learning ethos is based upon a firm belief that learning happens best when it happens with the child. Traditional models of education from the Victorian times often viewed learning as something which happened to the child, for example, it was seen as a one-way process involving the teacher giving knowledge to a passive recipient child. Our belief as a school however is that the child is the central aspect of the learning process, whose ideas, curiosity, self-awareness and individual responsibility are the starting point for all learning that takes place, and which the teacher has the responsibility to respect and build upon.

The Rushcombe approach builds upon extensive research into the theories of educational theorists and psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner and Lev Vygotsky – all of whose theories are commonly viewed as belonging to a ‘constructivist’ school of thought. The work of Jean Piaget viewed the child as playing an active role in their own learning, emphasising the importance of the child’s explorations, observations and experimentations. Lev Vygotsky’s work focused upon the importance of social interactions within the learning process, exploring how adults help children to move forward with their learning, whilst retaining the child’s own active participation. Meanwhile, Jerome Bruner completed work on the self-awareness of the learner (or ‘learning how to learn’) and carried out significant work into designing effective curricula to enable children to understand complex information. Although each theorist brings different perspectives, they share the commonality that learning should be ‘constructed with the learner’.

Our research into the constructivist theorists has led to us developing a range of strategies to ensure that co-construction between the child and teacher is at the centre of everything we do. High quality discussion, questioning and dialogue is at the heart of interactions between the teacher and the child, helping children to articulate their ideas and thinking. In addition to this, we utilise teaching approaches such as Mantle of the Expert, Philosophy sessions, Reggio approaches and TED which provide scope for children to share their ideas and make decisions about the direction of a particular episode of learning. Embedded within this approach is how teachers look to incorporate children’s emerging ideas and interests within their planning. In addition, each of our taught sessions begins with an exploration phase, which provides children with the opportunity to raise questions and make discoveries as a starting point for their learning. As a result, the child’s voice and perspective within the learning process is fostered, with the teacher utilising their professional expertise to help guide the learning forward.

These approaches are also supplemented by research into other areas of good practice, including the work of Dylan William on the use of assessment, Barack Rosenshine’s work on the principles of effective instruction, a range of research into the role of memory in learning, and other research based findings from the Education Endowment Foundation. By incorporating this range of research-based practices, we aim to provide the very best educational experiences for the children at Rushcombe First School.