The arts have a profound impact on children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development enabling them to flourish in their learning and development. Expressive Arts and Design (EAD) also play a pivotal role in early years and primary education, fostering creative and critical thinking, self-expression, and communication in ‘more-than-words’ through active engagement with media and materials.
Children have a fundamental right to participate in cultural and artistic life (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 31) and
evidence indicates that the expressive arts and design plays an important role in supporting children’s learning across a range of areas, including PSED (Pascal C, Bertram T & Rouse L, (2019). We also know that quality engagement in the arts with knowledgeable educators cultivates children’s well-being; restores mental health and enables their self-regulation (Magsamen & Ross, 2023).
Yet research underscores how educators, confidence, and self-efficacy in art and creativity greatly affects the quality of interactions with children in their learning and development in this area (Denee R, Lindsay G, Probine S, 2024).
This professional learning day with international artist-educator Debi Keyte-Hartland is designed to support all EYFS and Key Stage 1 educators to deepen their understanding and enhance their practice to cultivate a rich learning environment where children can explore, imagine, enquire and create with confidence through the expressive arts connected to wider learning across the curriculum. With the increasing emphasis on the arts and creativity within the government curriculum and assessment review, it is essential that all educators are well-equipped with contemporary pedagogical strategies, practical resources, and confidence to deliver inspiring arts and cultural experiences connected to wider learning. This professional learning day seeks to address gaps in educators professional knowledge and understanding and provide a collaborative thinking space together with practical engagement in which to explore innovative approaches and resources that support creativity, imagination, enquiry and communication.
Session objectives are to:
Deepen teachers’ understanding of the Expressive Arts and Design curriculum in EYFS and Key Stage 1.
Develop practical skills for integrating EAD into daily teaching and learning across the curriculum.
Explore innovative approaches and resources that support creativity, imagination, enquiry and self-expression in children’s learning.
Foster collaboration and reflective practice among teachers and educators.
Enhance teachers’ confidence and knowledge in assessing and designing for children’s achievements in EAD linked to other curriculum areas.
Improve quality and variety of creative experiences offered to children.
About the tutor
Debi Keyte-Hartland is an independent early childhood consultant working extensively across the UK and internationally. She specialises in expressive arts and design and the creative and reflective pedagogies which support young children’s thinking, enquiry and flourishing. She is an associate consultant with Early Education and worked as part of the collaborative team developing Birth to Five Matters. She is currently part of the research team on an ESRC funded project researching participatory pedagogies as part of the Children's Participation in Schools project in Wales and is a pedagogical coach-mentor on SPACE to Flourish -
Supporting Pedagogy in Art and Creativity in Early Years - funded by the Mercers’ Company. She undertook her Masters degree in Early Childhood Education researching young children’s approaches to graphicacy. She has written about art and ecological research with young children.
