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Start Strong e-newsletter - May 2010 |
Dear colleague,
Welcome to the May issue of our e-newsletter. We have begun our consultation process on a vision for the care and education of young children in Ireland in 2020, with a series of interviews and focus group meetings - and a national consultation meeting planned for the 24th June. We would love to hear your vision of what early childhood education and care should look like in 10 years' time, and what Government policies are needed to get there. Do come along to our national consultation meeting, or send us a written submission. See below for details of how you can take part.
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 In this issue
News from Start Strong
Policy focus: Ireland
Policy focus: international
Research focus
Events
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How you can take part in our consultation process
Start Strong recently began a consultation process on a vision
for the future of children's early care and education in Ireland. We hope the
consultation process will open up a debate about what we want
services and supports for young children and their families to look
like in 2020, and about what Government policies we need over the next 10 years to get there.
In addition to meetings and focus groups with a number of stakeholders, we are holding an open National Consultation Meeting, which all interested individuals and organisations are encouraged to attend. The National Consultation Meeting will be held in Dublin on Thursday 24th June at the Ashling Hotel, near Heuston Station. Registration forms and further information are available here.
The National Consultation Meeting is structured to provide an opportunity for all participants to share their views with us on a vision for the future of early childhood education and care in Ireland. The meeting will include discussion groups on:
- Putting children at the centre of the vision
- Developing a model of services for young children
- Supporting parents and families in the early years
- Ensuring equality of outcomes for all
Prof. Tom Collins of NUI Maynooth will open the day, and the meeting will include an input from Goodbody Economic Consultants.
If you are unable to attend the National Consultation Meeting and are not involved in any of our other consultation meetings, then you can still share your views with us by making an online written submission here (closing date 30th June).
At the end of the consultation process, we hope to have a set of policy
proposals that could form the basis of a 10-year National Plan for Early
Childhood. As part of our campaign for a 10-year plan (which we are
calling Children 2020), we will then present our proposals
to the Government and to opposition political parties in the autumn. We will also subject our
policy proposals to cost-benefit analysis. Further details on the project will be available in future issues of this
e-newsletter and on the Research section of our website.
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Vacancy at Start Strong
Start Strong currently has a vacancy for an Administrator. The closing date for applications is 11th June. Further details on the post and information on how to apply can be found on our website.
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What's the right age to start pre-school (and school)?
Many parents are concerned about an anomaly in the age at which children are eligible for the Free Pre-School Year. Children can join the scheme if they are between 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months on 1st September. So children who turn 3 in July or August this year will not benefit from the scheme this September. However, many of those children will be able to start primary school the following September, at the age of 4, if that is what their parents choose. Such children will miss out entirely on the Free Pre-School Year, which is a universal scheme for all children.
Many TDs have been raising this issue in the Dail in recent months. The response of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in his written answers in the Dail is that the aim of the scheme is 'to make early learning in a formal setting available to all children in the key developmental year before they commence primary school' and that 'targeting the pre-school year at a particular age cohort is, therefore, fundamental to the scheme'. While there is logic in this position, it is somewhat inconsistent with the school starting-age. If a child is ready to begin school at 4 years 1 month - a possibility recognised in primary school regulations - then they may well be ready for the 'key developmental year' of pre-school at 3 years 1 month. Alternatively, maybe we should revisit the question of whether a child is ready to begin school at 4 years?
It could be that there is an unstated aim within the Free Pre-School Year of encouraging parents to keep their children out of primary school until they are a bit older. And, indeed, the scheme may result in more children starting school at 5 years old rather than 4. But, unless this becomes official policy, many parents of children born in July or August will continue to send their children to school at 4, judging that this is in their own child's best interest - and thereby missing out on the Free Pre-School Year.
We need to have a debate around what is best for children. One option is to amend the regulations on the Free Pre-School Year, opening the scheme to all children over 3, so that all children can benefit. A second option is to change the minimum school starting-age to 4 years 3 months. In the longer term, however, there are other options which involve wider policy discussions around the 'right age' for pre-school and school:
- Is there just one 'key developmental year' before school entry? Should we consider more than one year of Government support for pre-school services?
- More radically, should we perhaps start formal school at 6 or even 7 years old, as happens in many European countries, and merge the junior and senior infant years into a much longer period of (well-funded) universal pre-school?
- Or should we try to change the character of the early years of school so that there is a continuum of experience through the early years, with no major transition from pre-school to school, rendering the question of the 'right age to start school' a less significant question? (Does the fact that the Aistear curriculum framework encompasses both the pre-school years and the junior years at school perhaps point in the latter direction?)
These are some of the bigger questions that Start Strong is asking in our consultation process on the future of early childhood education and care - and we're interested in hearing your opinions.Back to the top |
Policy focus: international | UNESCO report on the integration of 'caring' and 'learning'
A new report just published by UNESCO ('Caring and Learning Together', by Yoshie Kaga, John Bennett and Peter Moss) highlights the importance of integrating 'caring' and 'learning' in the governance of early childhood services. It focuses in particular on the current trend to integate responsibility for both sectors within education ministries, and draws on case studies from nine countries around the world (including countries that have not integrated services, such as Belgium and France). New Zealand is highlighted as a particularly important example in the English-speaking world of a country that has integrated its children's services within education.
The report argues that most countries have a long history of 'split systems' of early childhood services, with 'early education' services for children over 3 or 4, and services for younger children seen as 'childcare' to enable parents to work. 'Split systems' are characterised by marked differences in access, regulation and the workforce, with the care side being characterised in some countries by a focus more on welfare/labour market policies than on children, a health-and-hygience approach to regulation, selective provision and the employment of many non-qualified staff.
Since the late 1980s a new trend has emerged internationally of integrating care and education within early childhood services. Countries where this has happened have seen significant progress on many indicators of success. New Zealand, which began a major integration process in the late 1980s, saw significant improvements in participation rates (including for disadvantaged groups), in qualification levels in the workforce, in curriculum development and in resources for the sector. Other countries that are cited as good examples of integration within education include Sweden and Slovenia where, again, marked improvements for children, parents and staff have been noted.
The report argues that integration of early childhood services is most likely to be effective where not only has administrative integration occurred, but also where an integrated concept of care and education has been forged. In this respect, it matters little whether integration occurs within education or another ministry. Finland, for example, has successfully integrated early childhood services within its ministry of social welfare, but the Finnish welfare system is based on a universal model with strong entitlements for children and parents. The report cautions that simply bringing services within one Government department is not sufficient - 'integration' is a new understanding of the sector, with full integration involving wide-ranging reforms.
The Irish experience fits well with the report's conclusions. Ireland has a long history as a 'split system', with infant classes for 4-5 year olds falling within the education system, provided on a universal basis with graduate-level teachers, while Government support for the 'childcare' of under-4s developed as a welfare support targeted at disadvantaged areas and with an often unqualified workforce. More recently, the Free Pre-School Year has extended 'education' provision to (most) 3 year olds, but the split between care and education remains. Indeed, the latest changes to the Community Childcare Subvention scheme make clear that Government support for under-3s is aimed not at children's early learning, but at helping disadvantaged mothers into employment (see Start Strong's analysis of Budget 2010).
The report raises challenging questions for Ireland. The Aistear curriculum framework is a positive example of how the integration of caring and learning can be enhanced within the Irish system. But the report suggests that further progress may require more profound changes in Ireland both in the governance of early childhood services and - perhaps more importantly - in perceptions of what we mean by 'care' and 'education' in the early years. Read the UNESCO report here.
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Good outcomes only achieved if quality above a threshold
New research in the US shows that programmes of early childhood education and care need to be above a quality threshold if they are to lead to positive outcomes for children. Services of low quality - whether measured in terms of 'instructional support' or 'emotional support' - do not benefit children.
The research involved more than 1,100 children from low-income households in 11 states across the US, with observations in 671 'pre-K classrooms' (4-5 year olds). Quality was measured using a standard assessment tool that measures teacher-child interactions in terms of both cognitive and emotional supports, and quality was rated as low, moderate or high. Outcomes were measured by comparing children'd development at the beginning and end of the pre-kindergarten year through tests of language and cognitive skills and through social and behavioural assessments.
The study found that there is a 'threshold for classroom quality' which must be surpassed if children are to benefit. In terms of emotional support, only teacher-child interaction rated as 'high quality' was found to be beneficial for children's social and behavioural development. In terms of 'instructional support', only 'moderate to high quality' supports was found to be of benefit for academic and language skills.
The study provides further evidence that quality is crucial. The findings are very similar to other recent research, including the EPPE (Effective Provision of Pre-School Education) study in the UK. The US study was carried out by a team of researchers (M. Burchinal et al.) linked to the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education. It has just been published in the latest issue of Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and a summary is available here.
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Children in Europe - annual conference
Children in Europe's annual conference will take place on 8th June in Inverness, Scotland. The theme of this year's conference is 'A Sense of Place', and the conference will explore some of the issues arising in the latest issue of the Children in Europe magazine.
Children in Europe is a Europe-wide magazine, published simultaneously in 15 languages, for everyone working with and for children aged 0-10 and those interested in children's issues. Further details on the conference are available here.
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Early Years conference in Newcastle, Co. Down
The Early Years organisation in Northern Ireland will be hosting an international conference on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th June at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle, Co. Down. The theme of the conference will be 'Mathematics and Science with Young Children'.
Events will include a range of optional field visits, short seminars and master classes directed by keynote speakers Professor Ferre Laevers (University of Leuven) and Dr Beth Casey (Boston College). Further information on the conference is available from the Early Years website here.
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Start Strong - open national consultation meeting
Start Strong will be holding a National Consultation Meeting, open to all, on 24th June in Dublin. The meeting is titled 'Children 2020: Developing a Shared Vision for the Future of Children's Early Care and Education in Ireland'.
The event will take place at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin (near Heuston Station) on Thursday 24th June from 10.45am to 4.30pm. Registration, tea and coffee will be from 10.15am. Further details on the consultation meeting - include registration forms - are available here.
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