Early intervention: parental involvement,child agency and participation in creative play

Early intervention activities for very young disabled children are frequently linked to developmental targets and goals. A key challenge for parents and practitioners involved in early intervention programmes is to encourage their child to play and develop creatively through enjoyable, everyday childhood experiences. This paper reports on a small-scale ethnographic study involving two young children identified with Down syndrome participating in early intervention programmes and whether and how their creative process was supported through their play and activities with parents and professionals. The ‘in-the-picture’ method used within this ethnographic study was developed from a listening to children paradigm. This article provides examples of the ways in which early intervention that recognises child agency can support children’s play and self-directing ‘little c’ of creativity.     

An investigation into children's developing awareness of time and chronology in story

This study explores how children in English primary schools perceive time and chronology in storybooks-whether the children are aware of the devices used in stories to manipulate time and chronological sequence, and whether their responses demonstrate their own ability to use these devices. Children aged between 3-9 years were involved in conversation about storybooks through the use of open-ended questions. Responses were analysed according to features of the talk that reflected the children's awareness of the time dimension within the stories. The data suggest that children are able to use temporal terms and perceive chronological sequence, or lack of it, at very early ages. If exposed to ideas about time within a meaningful context, young children are capable of surprisingly sophisticated ideas. The implications of this finding for teaching chronology and for the history curriculum are discussed.     

Cultural Constructions of Childhood and Early Literacy

This paper is based on the findings of two research teams, working collaboratively, between 1998 and 2000 in four countries: Australia, Singapore, France and England (see David et al 2000). Taking an ecological stance (Bronfenbrenner 1979), both teams adopted a cross‐cultural approach in order to gain a better understanding of the contexts in which young children become familiar with literacy. The team led by Bridie Raban worked in Singapore and Australia, that led by Tricia David in France and England. Early years practitioners in all four countries responded to questionnaires, were observed in action and interviewed. (Information about their training and about entry to primary school in each of the countries is given in the endnote.) In addition, the research teams carried out document analyses on Governmental, research and training literature and teachers’ plans, and discussed their findings with others in positions to be able to ‘authenticate’– or refute – findings. Further data were obtained through group interviews with parents of children attending selected settings involved in the research. Here we provide some of the evidence about the different views expressed by practitioners, our observational findings and analysis of the different pressures relating to literacy experienced in early childhood education and care settings. In each case the learning experiences practitioners provided for children were influenced by a range of factors, such as the contested role of preschools as preparation for schooling. In some settings this preparation was not explicit and practitioners often emphasised the importance of the ‘here and now’ nature of young children’s experiences. Rosenthal’s (2000) framework for exploring ‘collectivist’ and ‘individualist’ cultures in relation to their valued educational practices was applied to our findings, in order to identify how the cultural assumptions about literacy, learning and young children influenced the teaching approaches selected.     

Children’s lived experiences of ‘ability’ in the Key Stage One classroom: life on the ‘tricky table’

ABSTRACT

Within the wealth of research on ‘ability’ in education, there is a missing perspective: the perspective of the child. Whilst ‘ability’ informed practices such as ‘ability’ grouping are commonplace in the UK, how these are experienced by the young child has previously received only limited attention in research. Using case study evidence, this article demonstrates that children’s lived experiences of ‘ability’ are highly individual and shaped by a broader range of social, structural and pedagogic aspects of classroom life than previously thought. Implications are that a wide range of teaching choices can potentially affect a child’s experience of ‘ability’ and that the impact of these are particularly profound for some children, shaping their perceptions of themselves and others. Children’s perspectives therefore offer a challenge to the hegemonic discourse of ‘ability’ in education and the classroom practices upon which it is based.     

Educating children on the autism spectrum: preconditions for inclusion and notions of ‘best autism practice’ in the early years

This article draws together findings from expert evidence and empirical studies to identify the preconditions for developing inclusive learning environments for young children on the autism spectrum. It concludes that in order to develop ‘best practice’, practitioners need to adapt interventions to the unique needs of the individual child, work in partnership with parents and other professionals, create enabling environments and be informed by a developmental approach to learning. Practitioners need to have knowledge of the autism spectrum and how it impacts on the child. Careful assessment of the individual child is also crucial. Finally, it is important to ensure that these young children receive direct teaching in communication and language, social understanding and skills, as well as learning with and through peers.     

Empowering children to speak up and act on social justice issues: The use of folktales and collaborative storytelling as tools of social imagination

Over the last decade, various organisations, scholars and educators across the globe have been arguing for the need to foster dialogue between and with children regarding the world they want to have, in terms of both justice and sustainability. Research has shown that stories and storytelling have a world-making and world-changing character that may trigger children’s social imagination on social justice issues and help them play a participatory role in society. In this context, the study presented here aimed to empower children to speak up for their beliefs and to become active agents of change in relation to social justice issues. To meet our research goals, we developed workshops around traditional folktales, which we implemented in four schools in Cyprus. During these workshops, we promoted critical dialogue for social justice issues through pertinent collaborative storytelling activities. Collaborative storytelling is a method that can involve participants in critical dialogue, enabling them to produce innovative and creative counter-stories. This can potentially deepen their perceptions about social justice, while also allowing them to communicate the knowledge they have built in engaging and accessible ways. Data collection included observations during workshops, as well as post-implementation interviews with a purposive sample of child participants. Our findings suggest that the children deployed either a ‘we are all different’ or a ‘we are all the same’ discourse to define social justice. Nonetheless, as the project progressed, they seemed to gradually turn to a ‘we need to see injustice to be able to act against it’ discourse. This project aims to contribute to academic discussions on promoting dialogue with children on social justice issues, and cultivating children’s metacognitive skills about societal injustices.     

You Can Ask Me If You Really Want to Know What I Think

Abstract

Recent social policy discourses in Aotearoa New Zealand focus on vulnerable children’s well-being and the detrimental, long-term and costly impacts of child poverty. The discourse pervading much of the policy labels children and young people as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘at risk’ or ‘in crisis’, a view, which we argue, is both disempowering and marginalising. We propose a shift in focus which views children and young people as agentic, capable and competent. Drawing on several small-scale research projects and reports we demonstrate how, when asked, children and young people can participate effectively in discussions about policy matters that concern them (Article 12, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 [UNCROC]). We have much to learn from the insights children share with us when asked, but very often existing structures, at both government and community level, do not include adequate processes to hear their voices, let alone act on what has been communicated.     

Responding to children’s answers: questions embedded in the social context of early childhood education

This article presents analysis of question–answer sequences during problem inquiry between a teacher and two children in an early childhood crèche in New Zealand. Conversation analysis is used to reveal which questions the teacher asks, how children answer the questions, and the teacher’s responses to the child’s answers. Although adults’ ‘effective’ questions were identified and promoted in the REPEY study much less attention has been given to how adults respond to children’s answers. It is imperative to investigate the sequences of talk which follow a question in order to establish how teaching and learning is co-constructed in context, one utterance at a time and as a joint project between teacher and child. The findings suggest that task problems and emotional problems are treated in a similar way during problem inquiry, highlighting the complexity of interactions when teachers are providing both emotional care and educational support for young children.     

Young,free and single? Theorising partner relationships during the first year of university

Recent research into young people’s private social worlds has highlighted the significance of family and friend relationships for students’ experiences of the transition to university. Drawing on data generated through a qualitative longitudinal study with 24 young women undergraduate students, this paper provides an original contribution to this growing body of literature by bringing committed partner relationships into view. The following discussion uses the notion of the ‘moral tale’ in order to reveal the ways in which singleness and commitment to a partner were experienced and articulated by young women undergraduate students at this important juncture. This paper raises important questions about how young women are able to take on ‘traditional’ and ‘authentic’ student identities whilst also remaining connected to important sources of love and support at this time of heightened change     

Curricular quality and day‐to‐day learning activities in pre‐school

The purpose of this paper is to show how curricular quality is related to the day‐to‐day activities experienced by children and the pedagogical activities of staff, both coded through systematic target‐child observations. Data were drawn from the Effective Provision of Pre‐School Education (EPPE) and the Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) studies. Curricular quality was measured by coding the ECERS‐E, an English curricular extension to the well‐known ECERS‐R. In centres scoring high on the ECERS‐E, staff engaged in pedagogical practices that included more ‘sustained shared thinking’ and more ‘direct teaching’ such as questioning or modelling. In high‐scoring centres, children were also observed participating in more activities associated with early reading, emergent writing and active listening. Children in centres assessed as ‘adequate’ spent more time in activities associated with the ‘Physical Development’ and ‘Creative’ curriculum. Thus the ECERS‐E gives higher scores to pedagogical practices and activities where staff take a more active role in children’s learning, including scaffolding young children’s play, especially in the communication and literacy domains of the curriculum.     

Child safeguarding practices in light of the Deserving/Undeserving paradigm: A historical & contemporary analysis

BackgroundContemporary child protection systems in the UK need to be seen in light of the late nineteenth century child rescue movement, at a time of curbs in public spending, shifts in attitudes towards children’s welfare and the development of social work. There are similarities in the social, institutional and legal contexts, between the nineteenth century and today, centralising ‘deservedness’, that determined and determines children’s access to services.ObjectiveThe current article compares historical data and practices of children in care in the UK, encompassing 1881–1918, with contemporary data and practices, through the lens of the deserving/undeserving paradigm, inherited from the Poor Law of 1834.Participants and SettingDrawing on two data sets, namely historic children’s case files (N = 108), 1881–1918 from the Children’s Society (a philanthropic institution) highlighting the perception of custodians, doctors, professionals, as well as children and parents, and current data from interviews with young care leavers and safeguarding practitioners (N = 42), our research focuses on the most disadvantaged children with complex needs and damaging (pre)care experiences.MethodsData is analysed using thematic content analysis, framed within critical realist ontology, taking account of stratified non-linear dynamics of processes at different levels.Results and ConclusionIn both data sets the inability to support certain children is justified by referring to their complex needs and mental health and behavioural problems., Here, the child is held accountable and placed in the ‘undeserving’ category and consequently misses out on help and support, highlighting a need for awareness, and reflective and reflexive practice among practitioners/professionals.     

The Context of Child Care for Toddlers: The “Experience Expectable Environment”

An experience expectable environment in child care classrooms is one in which teachers consistently provide positive and nurturing interactions within daily routines and activities to enhance children’s learning. Growing numbers of children are being enrolled in child care at earlier ages and staying for longer periods of time each day which is heightening the need to attend to the context of child care for very young children. Several large scale studies in social policy, biology, and human development have confirmed the links between children’s early experiences and later outcomes, and recent brain research and research in child care classrooms has highlighted the importance of these consistent, responsive, and respectful patterns of interaction, especially for very young children’s development. Yet, examination of the quality of child care has indicated interactions in these classrooms that may not support optimal development and/or that could be considered harmful. Given toddlers’ need for consistent and nurturing care, coupled with the current substandard quality of care for very young children, discussing the context of child care in terms of an experience expectable environment provides a perspective to understand the context of toddler child care. This perspective underscores the connections of routines and interactions to children’s development of neural pathways, thus setting the foundation for optimizing learning and development.     

Citizenship and inclusion in the early years: understanding and responding to children’s perspectives on ‘belonging’

This paper argues for, and demonstrates the effectiveness of, including young children in commenting on and improving their learning environments. It reports the experiences gathered from of 16 setting‐based, small‐scale, practitioner‐led projects. Taking a view of citizenship as ‘participation’ the paper shows how practitioner‐research can support the evolution of inclusive environments for all children. Following a critical review of the literature on citizenship, young children, and ‘inclusion’ the paper considers the usefulness of the participant methodology of practitioner action research and the concept of ‘voice’ in educational research and report. Examples of practitioner‐research projects involving children aged three to six years identify and illustrate key themes from the data. Thus, they demonstrate: (1) the range of factors which excited or worried the children; and (2) the ways in which children’s concerns and ideas were listened to and action for change was developed. The children’s ideas and extracts from their comments are included alongside the practitioners’ responses in the cases which are discussed. Four main points are considered in conclusion: (1) children’s views can contribute to the development of inclusive practices; (2) children’s voices are central to studies of their perspectives and the methodological challenges of listening to children’s voices in research must be addressed; (3) identity and self esteem are key to the successful promotion of young children’s positive sense of inclusivity and belonging in their early years settings; and (4) supported practitioner‐research can enhance inclusive early years practices. The paper argues that including children in the identification and exploration of issues important to them promotes a positive sense of inclusivity and that such approaches to developing pedagogies of citizenship and belonging constitute a practical enacting of ‘voice’.     

Friendships for wellbeing?: parents’ and practitioners’ positioning of young children’s friendships in the evaluation of wellbeing factors

ABSTRACT

Friendship matters for young children’s development, learning and experience of wellbeing. This paper emphasises the significance of young children’s friendships for their wellbeing, especially in the context of early years settings. Findings are presented from two online questionnaires developed for the project, in which 155 parents/carers and 285 practitioners in England expressed their perceptions of what matters for young children’s wellbeing. Data shows some ambivalence in the views of both parents/carers and practitioners about the importance of friendship in this context. Both groups gave low prioritisation to ‘the company of friends’ for children’s wellbeing. As friendships are of central importance to young children themselves, this could suggests that adults and children may have different priorities, which raises questions about the extent to which young children’s friendships are seen as important by adults. The paper concludes by proposing the need for practitioners in particular, but also parents, to consider their roles and priorities for children’s lives within schools and nurseries, including how they might sensitively support and facilitate children’s friendships in play, activities, transition and everyday life.     

Prisoners of The Method breaking open the child‐centred pedagogy in day care centres

The twentieth century has known many splendid examples of professional care and education for young children. But in spite of that, research shows that the practice often does not coincide with our ideals. In this paper basic concepts and their historical roots, that form the foundations of professional care and education of young children are analysed: could these concepts possibly impede contact between teachers/caregivers and children? The concepts of ‘natural development’, ‘develop‐mentally appropriate curriculum’ and ‘child centredness’ are criticised. The drawbacks of a separate children's world (child care centres) are explored. Based on Vygotsky's sociocultural approach the author pleads for scaffolding by giving learning through social looking and participation in adult‐activities a place in child care centres. Besides that, teachers have to value peer‐relationships and to acknowledge that young children do not only play but also want to work and learn together.     

Children missing from school systems: exploring divergent patterns of disengagement in the narrative accounts of parents,carers, children and young people

The aim of this study was to identify and re‐present the experiences and views of a sample of children who have been ‘missing’ from education, and those of their parents/carers. Access to this hard to reach population has been possible as a result of an innovative interventionist tracking system, responding to pupil mobility, developed by the Education Authority in the fieldwork area. Semistructured interviews were conducted with parents/carers, children and young people with the aim of obtaining a demographic profile of families and eliciting a chronology of factors that participants saw as contributing to a child going missing from school systems. Three distinct life‐course groups emerged from participants' accounts illustrating different degrees of disengagement from external systems. The authors conclude with a discussion of the different challenges each life‐course group presents, for education policy and practice.     

The environmental worldview of children: a cross‐cultural perspective

The authors’ research investigated young people’s environmental worldviews using the revised ‘New Ecological Paradigm’ scale for children. The scale is a widely used measure of people’s shifting worldviews from a human dominant view to an ecological one, with humans as part of nature. However, the scale has not been used with children. By administering the scale to children aged 13–15 in Belgium and Zimbabwe, the authors found statistical differences between the two subgroups in their perspectives on human–environment interactions. Children in Zimbabwe and Belgium display ecological worldviews but differences occur at the human dominance dimension. Respondents in Belgium believe in human–nature equality, whereas Zimbabwean youngsters feel more dominant over nature and emphasize a utilitarian view of the environment.     

Difficulties of Hong Kong teachers’ understanding and implementation of ‘play’ in the curriculum

Play is a characteristic behaviour of young children. It is a vital way through which children reconcile their inner lives with the outside world. It is a central activity in kindergarten and nurseries. ‘Learning through play’ is recommended as the mode of learning and teaching for young children. In Hong Kong, it was documented in an official education report in 1986 and is the key guideline for the implementation of the aims of early childhood education for the next millennium. A case study of two kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong was conducted to investigate the understanding and implementation of play in the kindergarten curriculum. The findings showed immense difficulties in understanding the concept ‘learning through play’ and a gap between the practitioners’ espoused theories and practice. The study reflected the complex nature of learning and teaching and highlighted the core issue for reform, namely, the need for bridging the gap between theory and practice.     

Drawing out the value of the visual: children and young people theorizing time through art and narrative

This article examines the role that drawing can play in enabling children and young people to theorize concepts of time. In two, independent Australian research projects, children aged between 5 and 8 years were asked to respond to the question, ‘What might the future be like?’, while 12–14 year olds were asked, ‘What does history look like?’ There are points of connection and convergence in the analysis of the drawings and the ways in which the children articulate their visual representations of temporality to demonstrate deep and philosophical insights. This research illuminates possibilities for both the value of art practices in learning and the capacity for such approaches in schools. It disrupts narrow visions of neoliberal policy that privileges the teaching of literacy and numeracy in schools and seeks to transform children and youth into particular citizens for the future. We argue that expanding our view of the use and value of visual forms of learning and expression can contribute to a more layered and complex understanding of the capacities of children and young people. Further, this research contributes to better understanding of how students navigate challenging local curriculum and school terrain as they are increasingly posited as global citizens.