Sue Robson

Job Title: Principal Lecturer, Subject Leader - Early Childhood Studies Telephone: +44 (0)20 8392 3313 Email Address: S.Robson@roehampton.ac.uk

Sue Robson is a Principal Lecturer in Education at Roehampton University, and is Subject Leader for Early Childhood Studies. She works on the BA and MA Early Childhood Studies programmes, and the Primary PGCE programme, and on a range of professional development activities. Sue is a National Teaching Fellow, and a Roehampton University Teaching Fellow.

Sue has worked in infant and nursery schools in West London, including as deputy head of an infant and nursery school, and running a 104-place nursery. She is currently the Chair of Hounslow Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership. Her other interests include consultancy and collaborative work with children's publishers and multimedia providers, of books, CD-rom materials, and DVDs.

Research interests:

Sue is currently conducting research funded by the Froebel Research Committee, on 'The Voice of the Child: Ownership and Autonomy in Early Learning'. This project is directed by Professor David Hargreaves, and co-researchers are Dr Hiroko Fumoto and Sue Greenfield. The current phases of this project are looking at young children's creative thinking.

Sue is also currently working on a TDA-funded research project with Dr Fengling Tang, on the use of e-portfolios in support of initial teacher trainees.

Sue's other research interests include children's voice and children's perspectives, parent-professional relationships in early childhood settings, and transition and transfer in the early years. She is a member of the 'Transitions in Early Childhood' Research website hosted by the University of Melbourne. She has also been a member of a Review team conducting a TTA-funded Systematic Review on meeting individual training needs of trainee teachers (see publications).

Sue is also interested in the development of teaching and learning in higher education, and was a member of the Steering Group for a HEFCE-funded FDTL5 project, 'MEDAL'
(Making a Difference: Educational Development to enhance Academic Literacy).

Publications:

See list below

Research Interests & Expertise

1 The development of young children's thinking.
2 Children's Voice and children's perspectives.
3 Transitions in the early years.
4 Parent-professional relationships in early years settings.
5 Teaching and learning in higher education.

Research Projects Undertaken

1 'The Voice of the Child: Ownership and Autonomy in Early Learning', funded by the Froebel Research Committee (2003-).
2 Parent-professional partnerships in early childhood settings (2002), funded by Roehampton University.
3 The Role of the E-portfolio in Promoting the Quality of Learning and Teaching: a Pilot Study of Intitial Teacher Training (ITT) BA Primary Education Early Childhood Studies Subject Specialism,(2008-9) with Dr Fengling Tang, funded by the TDA.

Publications

Robson, S & Fumoto, H (2009) Practitioners' experiences of personal ownership and autonomy in their support for young children's thinking, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(1), 43-54.

Robson, S (2009) Producing and using video data with young children: a case study of ethical questions and practical consequences, 19th European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference, Strasbourg.

Robson, S (2009) Producing and using video data: ethical questions and practical consequences in research with young children, British Education Research Association Conference, University of Manchester.

Robson, S (2009) The Physical Environment, Supporting Children’s Learning in the Early Years, Open University Press (2nd ed).

Robson, S (2008) Self-regulation and metacognition in young children: the role of Reflective Dialogues, 3rd International Froebel Society Conference, Wheelock College, Boston, MA..

Robson, S (2008) Self-regulation and metacognition in young children: the role of reflective dialogues, 18th European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference, University of Stavanger, Norway. .

Robson, S & Alexander, E (2008) Student Authored Books, Roehampton University Learning and Teaching Conference.

Robson, S & Alexander, E (2008) Student Authored Books as a tool for Learning Enhancement, Higher Education Academy Annual Conference, Harrogate.

Robson, S (2007) Children’s Perspectives on Creative Activity and Thinking in Early Childhood Settings, British Educational Research Association Conference, London, September 2007.

Robson, S and Greenfield, S (2007) How do social relationships in early childhood settings support and influence children’s creative thinking? , 17th European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference, Prague, 29 August - 1 September 2007.

Robson, S. (2007) My Ideal Space, The MEDAL Casebook, MEDAL Consortium.

Graham-Matheson L, Connolly T, Robson S, Stow W (2006) A systematic map into approaches to making initial teacher training flexible and responsive to the needs of trainee teachers. Technical report., Research evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Robson, S (2006) 'Children’s Perspectives: Observing, Describing and Documenting Creative Activity and Thinking' , part of Symposium Autonomy, creativity and social relationships in early learning, Roehampton Research Conference in Education (ROERCE), Roehampton, December 14 2006.

Robson, S. (2006) Developing Thinking and Understanding in Young Children. , London: Routledge, 210pp.

Fumoto, H and Robson, S (2006) Early Childhood Professionals’ Experience of Time to Facilitate Children’s Thinking, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal , 14(2), 97-111.

Robson, S. (2006) How Old?: Looking at Young Children’s Development, The MEDAL Casebook, MEDAL Consortium.

Robson, S (2006) Parent perspectives on services and relationships in two English early years centres. , Early Child Development and Care , 176(5), 443-60.

Robson, S (2006) Supporting children’s thinking in the foundation stage: practitioners’ views on the role of initial training and continuing professional development. , Journal of In-service Education , 32(3) , 341-57.

Robson, S and Fumoto, H (2006) Supporting children’s thinking: ownership and autonomy in early learning. , European Early Childhood Education Research Association: 16th Annual Conference. Reykjavik, Iceland, 1.9.06.

Fumoto, H and Robson, S (2005) Adults' Experiences of Extending Children's Thinking in the Foundation Stage, 15th European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference 31 August-3 September 2005.

Fumoto, H. and Robson, S. (2005) Making Time to Extend Children’s Thinking. , Roehampton Research Conference in Education (ROERCE). 15.12.05..

Robson, S (2005) The Use of a Glossary as a Learning and Assessment Tool, The MEDAL Casebook, MEDAL Consortium.

Robson, S. & Terzi, L. (2005) Using a Virtual Learning Environment as an Assessment Tool, The MEDAL Casebook, MEDAL Consortium.

Robson, S and Hargreaves, D.J. (2005) 'What do Early Childhood Practitioners Think About Young Children's Thinking?', European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 13:1, 81-96.

Robson, S (2004) Teacher's Thinking About Children's Thinking, Roehampton Educational Research Conference, Roehampton University December 16 2004.

Robson, S (2004) 'The Physical Environment', Supporting Children's Learning in the Early Years, L.Miller & J. Devereux (eds), 205-16.

Robson, S and Fumoto, H. (2004) Who owns children's thinking?, First International Froebel Society, University of Surrey Roehampton July 1-3 2004.

Robson, S and Smedley, S (1996) Education in Early Childhood: First Things First. London: David Fulton, .

Membership of Professional Bodies

1 Member of TACTYC.
2 Member of BERA
3 Fellow, Higher Education Academy.
4 Trustee, National Froebel Foundation.
5 Member of the 'Transitions in Early Childhood' webgroup, hosted by Melbourne University.

Teaching Expertise

Principal Lecturer in Education, on the BA Early Childhood Studies, the Primary PGCE, MA Early Childhood Studies programmes and Professional Development courses.
Roehampton University Teaching Fellow (2007-)

Examining Experience

External Examiner for Cambridge University Primary and Early Years PGCE Programme (2009-)

Consultancy Expertise

1 Early Childhood Studies academic text publishers.

2 Various children's literature, fiction and non-fiction, publishers.

3 Multimedia producers for children, including CDrom, DVD and television.

Consultancies Undertaken

1 Children's literature publishing.
2 Children's multimedia publishing, including CDrom, DVD and television.
3 Thinking skill development in young children.

Undergraduate courses taught at Roehampton:

Early Childhood Studies [BA/BSc]

Postgraduate courses taught at Roehampton:

Early Childhood Studies [MA/PGDip]
PGCE Primary Full-time [PGCE]