By Sherry Simpson
What a wholly insightful and interesting afternoon; where likeminded scholars, teachers and students came together to share their research, experience, work and learning allied to Epistemic Insight.
A programme of several interesting papers and discussions were presented; opened by Finley Lawson and Lee Hazeldine, prior to two lightning rounds, with opportunity for Q & A.
Round 1 commenced with two cross-phase discussions, firstly Lee Hazeldine & Caroline Thomas’ Pedagogies for Developing EI with Trainee Teachers, followed by ‘Using small things to explore Big Ideas’ presented by Karl Bentley. Jason Metcalfe explored how character education can address ultimate questions of the good life and contribute to epistemic insight.
In round 2, Lizzie Burton focused on ‘Collaborative Teaching Phase: EI & Secondary ITE’ and her students Faye, Andy and Thomas talked about how insights from multiple disciplines enriched their teaching and how the subject specialism affects answers to Big Questions. Their presentation was followed by Finley Lawson’s students Heidi and Jamie, sharing experience at EI research engaged teaching during alternative learning experience (ALE) placement.
Finally, Georgina Gosden and her students of Year 2 BA SEN & Inclusion discussed how designing and using Discovery Bags helped them to explore Oliver Twist through different lenses ad enabled them to develop knowledge and research skills. Big questions were answered using a broad range of disciplines such as History, Geography, Maths, English, Dance, Art and RE.
It was fascinating to see students confidently and passionately sharing their epistemic insight knowledge and experience and talking how the EI perspective widen their and children’s ability to answer Big Questions. The experience widened their learning and enabled them to come with some revolutionary ideas in their teaching.
A vibrant Keynote by Berry Billingsley and Jonathon Barnes concluded the contributions; exploring cross curricular learning in conjunction with epistemic insight, before closing with a thought-provoking Q & A.
A great opportunity for educationalists and students alike to engage with epistemic insight through collaboration and sharing of their work, research and experiences.