tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca-fr/topics/early-years-education-9782/articlesEarly years education – La Conversation2024-02-01T12:42:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219012024-02-01T12:42:39Z2024-02-01T12:42:39ZSupervised toothbrushing in schools and nurseries is a good idea – it’s proven to reduce tooth decay<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572161/original/file-20240130-23-ilrc2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5734%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-beautiful-african-girl-brushing-teeth-379214593">didesign021/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly a quarter of five-year-old children in England have tooth decay. In deprived areas of the country the proportion is even higher. And it isn’t just one problematic tooth – children with decay have, on average, three or four <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oral-health-survey-of-5-year-old-children-2022">affected teeth</a>. It’s the <a href="https://www.bda.org/news-and-opinion/news/child-hospital-admissions-caused-by-decay-going-unchallenged/">most common reason</a> why young children aged from five to ten years are admitted to hospital. </p>
<p>When Labour leader Keir Starmer announced the party’s intention to expand <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/10/keir-starmer-announces-plan-for-supervised-toothbrushing-in-schools">toothbrushing programmes</a> in nurseries and schools, he <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/keir-starmer-schools-toothbrush-dentists-b2476479.html">faced criticism</a> for planning to take away responsibility from parents and place further burden on schools. </p>
<p>But supervised toothbrushing for young children already takes place. It has been rolled out <a href="https://www.childsmile.nhs.scot/professionals/childsmile-toothbrushing/">in Scotland</a> and for <a href="https://www.gov.wales/designed-smile-improving-childrens-dental-health">deprived areas in Wales</a> and takes place in some areas in England. It is effective in reducing tooth decay, especially for children in deprived areas. It is not meant to replace brushing teeth at home, but strengthens good oral health practices.</p>
<p>As experts in dental health, we know all too well the impact poor oral health has on the lives of children and families. We are <a href="https://www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/">leading a project</a> to improve toothbrushing programmes in nurseries and schools in England, and have recently developed an <a href="https://www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/">online toolkit</a> to help schools, nurseries and parents as well as the NHS and local government.</p>
<h2>Painful – and preventable</h2>
<p>Tooth decay causes pain and suffering. It affects children’s daily lives, including what they eat, their speech and their self-esteem. It stops them from doing things they enjoy and can cause disrupted sleep. And tooth decay has an impact on school readiness and attendance. Children have to take time off school due to toothache and to attend <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-child-dental-health/health-matters-child-dental-health">dental appointments</a>. </p>
<p>While going to hospital for dental extractions under general anaesthetic reduces the impact of decay on children’s lives, the event itself can be worrying for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2014.331">children and their parents</a>. And poor oral health in childhood has lifelong consequences. Children with decay in their primary teeth are four times more likely to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28571506">develop decay</a> in their adult teeth. </p>
<p>In England, treatment of decay in children and teenagers <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2022/hospital-tooth-extractions-in-0-to-19-year-olds-2022">cost the NHS</a> over £50 million in the financial year 2021-22. </p>
<p>Toothbrushing at school and nursery with a <a href="https://www.cochrane.org/CD007868/ORAL_fluoride-toothpastes-different-strengths-preventing-tooth-decay">fluoride toothpaste</a> for young children is a way to tackle this issue. </p>
<h2>On the curriculum</h2>
<p>Supervised toothbrushing involves children brushing their own teeth as a group during the day, overseen by nursery and preschool staff or teaching assistants. It typically takes between five and ten minutes. </p>
<p>In Scotland, the <a href="https://www.childsmile.nhs.scot/professionals/childsmile-toothbrushing/">Childsmile Toothbrushing Programme</a> is offered to all children aged three and four at nursery and to some younger nursery children as well to some older school children. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022034512470690">Research analysing the programme</a> has found it to be effective in reducing tooth decay, especially in children at greatest risk, such as those living in areas of <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/11/e038116.full.pdf">social deprivation</a>. In England, though, uptake of toothbrushing programmes is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-023-6182-1">currently fragmented</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl brushes giant model teeth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571198/original/file-20240124-17-217af0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Learning about brushing teeth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoe Marshman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, oral health is already part of children’s learning at nurseries and schools in England. The topic is included in <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62cea352e90e071e789ea9bf/Relationships_Education_RSE_and_Health_Education.pdf">statutory guidance</a> for primary and secondary schools. Similarly, promoting oral health is included in the <a href="https://www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/_files/ugd/b03681_311d9c3dcf6c43de9dbc05336733f105.pdf">statutory framework</a> for early years settings such as nurseries. </p>
<p>Running a supervised toothbrushing scheme is one way early years settings can demonstrate they have met the requirement about oral health. </p>
<p>Supervised toothbrushing in nurseries and schools does not replace toothbrushing at home. It serves to complement home toothbrushing to help young children learn and practice good oral hygiene.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Marshman, via the BRUSH project receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations South West Peninsula and Yorkshire and Humber through the Children’s Health and Maternity National Priority Programme, supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR ARC YH) NIHR200166 <a href="https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk">https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk</a>
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kara Gray-Burrows, via the BRUSH project receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations South West Peninsula and Yorkshire and Humber through the Children’s Health and Maternity National Priority Programme, supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR ARC YH) NIHR200166 <a href="https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk">https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk</a> The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Day, via the BRUSH project receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaborations South West Peninsula and Yorkshire and Humber through the Children’s Health and Maternity National Priority Programme, supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations Yorkshire and Humber (NIHR ARC YH) NIHR200166 <a href="https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk">https://www.arc-yh.nihr.ac.uk</a> The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care.</span></em></p>Tooth decay is the most common reason why young children aged from five to ten are admitted to hospital.Zoe Marshman, Professor/Honorary Consultant of Dental Public Health, University of SheffieldKara Gray-Burrows, Lecturer in Behavioural Sciences & Complex Intervention Methodology, University of LeedsPeter Day, Professor of Children's Oral Health and Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2154982023-10-16T15:50:09Z2023-10-16T15:50:09ZLabour’s plan to focus on early maths is solid – gaps in achievement start even before primary school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554005/original/file-20231016-17-smaari.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C6689%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-girl-learning-numbers-shapes-play-1059608915">NadyaEugene/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Politicians in the UK have maths on the mind. The Conservatives intend to extend compulsory maths education for young people until 18. </p>
<p>And at the Labour party conference, shadow education secretary <a href="https://www.bridgetphillipson.com/speeches/2023/10/11/bridget-phillipsons-speech-at-the-labour-partys-2023-conference/">Bridget Phillipson announced</a> the opposition’s plans to improve maths skills across the country: a focus on primary school and pre-school education rather than post-16, with an emphasis on children learning the maths they will need for everyday life. </p>
<p>Paying attention to young children’s maths is a good idea. Evidence from the UK and beyond shows that children start primary school with <a href="https://repec-cepeo.ucl.ac.uk/cepeow/cepeowp22-06.pdf">varying levels</a> of mathematical skills – and disadvantage gaps are already evident at this point, meaning that children from poorer backgrounds may not have skills at the same level as their more well-off peers. </p>
<p>The differences between children’s maths skills then remain remarkably <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2281">stable over time</a>. Children who start primary school with mathematical abilities behind the level of their peers will typically remain behind their peers throughout school. </p>
<p>To reduce these gaps, we need to act early. But positive change won’t be achieved simply by adding more content to the primary or early years mathematics curriculums. Neither is it helpful to push children to learn more complex mathematics earlier. These approaches might lead to children learning maths in a superficial and rote manner, rather than understanding the underlying ideas.</p>
<h2>Primary focus</h2>
<p>Labour has <a href="https://labour.org.uk/updates/press-releases/labour-to-unveil-real-world-primary-maths-teaching-to-encourage-stronger-lifelong-numeracy/">raised the prospect</a> of creating a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/10/labour-announces-phonics-for-maths-scheme-in-planned-curriculum-review">phonics for maths</a>”. Phonics is a <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/10/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-phonics-in-schools/">method of learning to read</a> that teaches children the sounds that letters and combinations of letters make. It is required in primary schools, and pupils take a phonics screening check in year one to assess their progress. </p>
<p>Although not universally supported, phonics has been linked to improvements in reading levels among children in <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156633/PIRLS_2021_-_national_report_for_England__May_2023.pdf">England</a>. </p>
<p>However, phonics is a specific technique for teaching word reading, while mathematics is incredibly broad. It involves multiple skills as well as different types of knowledge and understanding. </p>
<p>Even in early primary school, mathematics is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218231175325">complex</a>. Children need to understand quantities and their relationships, to recognise digits and understand place value, to carry out arithmetic procedures, to identify patterns in numbers and shapes, and much more. It is unlikely that a single technique, as phonics is, can underpin this breadth of knowledge and understanding. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1711978621751947728"}"></div></p>
<p>But in another sense, the parallel with phonics is encouraging. The phonics revolution was informed by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618772271">research</a> and developed from a better understanding of how children learn to read. This can and should be emulated for mathematics. Research evidence on the early stages of learning maths can help build a solid approach to teaching mathematical skills to young children.</p>
<p>Another feature of Labour’s plans is their aim to “<a href="https://www.bridgetphillipson.com/speeches/2023/10/11/bridget-phillipsons-speech-at-the-labour-partys-2023-conference/">bring maths to life</a>” by using <a href="https://labour.org.uk/updates/press-releases/labour-to-unveil-real-world-primary-maths-teaching-to-encourage-stronger-lifelong-numeracy/">real-world examples</a>: budgeting, exchange rates, sports league tables. </p>
<p>A desire to give meaning to numbers and mathematics by building on children’s experiences is a good ambition. This can be achieved through play-based and hands-on activities, which involve children manipulating objects such as counters and cards to better understand mathematical ideas and relationships. It is also important to help children see numbers and mathematical patterns in the world around them: the number of red cars on the street or the shapes of windows and doors, for instance.</p>
<p>These approaches may provide a <a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/evidence-reviews/early-years-and-key-stage-1-mathematics-teaching">stronger foundation</a> for future learning than focusing on using written digits or learning mathematical facts (such as 2 + 3 = 5) too early.</p>
<h2>Taking care</h2>
<p>But care is needed to ensure that bringing maths to life truly reflects children’s experiences and doesn’t become a gimmick. It could even increase disadvantage gaps due to differences in children’s experiences, for example, for children from families who lack access to bank accounts or have never had the experience of travelling abroad and using different currency. </p>
<p>There are already good examples out there of how to teach in this way – such as the <a href="https://www.ncetm.org.uk/maths-hubs-projects/mastering-number-at-reception-and-ks1/">Mastering Number programme</a>. Any curriculum changes need to be properly funded and developed in collaboration with experts in the field.</p>
<p>Giving children better mathematical foundations through engaging and meaningful activities can set them up for success throughout school and beyond. This would not only positively affect children’s achievement but could also change attitudes to mathematics for the better. </p>
<p>Changing attitudes to mathematics from the foundations upwards can help children and young people feel confident and engaged with the subject and see its value in their life, leading to more wanting to study the subject.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camilla Gilmore receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and Research England. </span></em></p>Changing attitudes to maths from the start of education can lead to more success later on.Camilla Gilmore, Professor of Mathematical Cognition, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050822023-05-18T16:36:02Z2023-05-18T16:36:02ZShould your summer-born child start school later? Here’s what the research says<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526544/original/file-20230516-23718-kxz9ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4985%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/parent-take-child-school-pupil-primary-1131281738">Sharomka/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have a child born in the summer, the prospect of starting school can pose a conundrum. In <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/summer-born-children-starting-school-advice-for-parents">England</a>, for example, children typically start school in the September after they turn four, which for some can mean just a few months, weeks or even days later.</p>
<p>But if your child was born between April and August, you have the option to delay entry until year one, in line with compulsory school starting age of five. However, this means that they would miss the first formal year of education (reception). </p>
<p>You can also apply to your local authority for your child to enter school a year after their peer group – meaning your child will enter reception class the September after they turn five, and will be taught out of their <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/summer-born-children-starting-school-advice-for-parents">peer group</a>. A government survey of 62 local authorities found that 88% of requests to delay from 2018 to 2019 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904411/Delayed_school_admissions_for_summer_born_pupils_Research_report_September_2019.pdf">were granted</a>.</p>
<p>So how do you know whether your child should start school at four, or delay entry? One thing to consider is what research tells us about the experience of summer-born children. For example, much evidence points to the advantages of summer-born children starting reception when they are five. </p>
<p>However, it’s also important to remember that every child and their family have different circumstances, and later entry may not be the most suitable approach for your child’s experiences and potential.</p>
<p><a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/when-you-are-born-matters-evidence-england">We know</a> that summer-born children are less likely to do well academically, socially and emotionally, especially in the first few years of school. </p>
<p>There are also issues related to the fact that curriculum for the early years of primary school in England has seen an increased “schoolification” in recent years. This means that there is a greater emphasis on formal styles of teaching and assessment. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1476041/1/baseline-assessment--final-10404.pdf">reception baseline assessment</a>, made statutory in 2021, is an example of this: children are tested in maths and English during the first six weeks of reception class. Due to this timing, summer-born children are very young when they are assessed and so could be put at a disadvantage for reasons we’ll explain.</p>
<h2>Time to mature</h2>
<p>Putting back your child’s entry into school so they enter reception at five may have several advantages. This could mean children have more time to mature and develop to the same level as older peers. This in turn could result in a better transition into reception, a more positive learning experience during reception, and more successful developmental and assessment outcomes in the first year of school. </p>
<p>Research has shown that summer-born children who enter school shortly after they turn four often have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277724901_Younger_children_experience_lower_levels_of_language_competence_and_academic_progress_in_the_first_year_of_school_Evidence_from_a_population_study">lower levels</a> of language and behavioural development. These lower levels may then be mismatched with the curriculum and social demands of the classroom. </p>
<p><a href="https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/berj.3771">Research has found</a> that in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1109972/Early_Years_Foundation_Stage_profile_2023_handbook.pdf">early years foundation stage profile</a> (an assessment of children’s development carried out by teachers at the end of the reception year), August-born children were on average 30% less likely to be attributed a “good level of development” compared to children born in September.</p>
<p>Because summer-born children are held to the same academic expectations as their classmates, teachers may compare them with older, more developed peers. This could lead to summer-born children’s <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322640437_A_small-scale_exploratory_study_of_educator%27s_perceptions_and_expectations_of_summer-born_children_in_the_reception_classes_of_three_English_primary_academies_and_the_strategies_used_to_support_them">ability being underestimated</a>, which may also influence the assessment outcomes they receive during the reception year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children in uniform walking away from camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526546/original/file-20230516-27-klsz1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Summer-born children may be at a disadvantage when compared to older children in the same year group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-diverse-kindergarten-students-walking-together-659275150">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>However, there are also a number of drawbacks to putting back entry into reception by a year. Childcare is often one of the most important factors here. Although summer-born children are entitled to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare">30 hours of free childcare</a> until they turn five, you will still need to organise and often pay for childcare arrangements for the time they are <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904411/Delayed_school_admissions_for_summer_born_pupils_Research_report_September_2019.pdf">not in school</a>.</p>
<p>There is also evidence to suggest that younger children who enter reception at four, may benefit from learning in a <a href="https://lubotsky.people.uic.edu/uploads/2/3/1/7/23178366/elder_lubotsky.pdf">classroom setting</a> and learn quicker in a formal setting than children who had been held back in pre-school.</p>
<h2>Ready for school?</h2>
<p>Decisions to delay school entry are often based on a child being “school ready”. This concept is rooted in the idea that there is a threshold of cognitive and social development milestones that a child must reach before they can learn effectively in school. Teaching professionals, early years settings, and parents aim to prepare children to engage and access <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355427250_%27What_works%27_and_for_whom_Bold_Beginnings_and_the_construction_of_the_school_ready_child">formal education</a>. </p>
<p>The access to and the quality of child’s pre-school education, as well as the nature of their home environment, play a major role in a child’s school readiness and <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10005308/1/EPPE12Sylva2004Effective.pdf">their educational attainment</a>. However, high quality learning experiences in both early years settings and home environment may not be accessible to all families and <a href="https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18189/2/SSU-SF-2004-01.pdf">children</a>. </p>
<p>An important way to support your child’s school readiness is to give them the opportunity to engage in independent, child-centred, and open-ended <a href="https://www.importanceofplay.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Dr-David-Whitebread-The-importance-of-play-final.pdf">play-based</a> early learning experiences. For example, unstructured outdoor play, where children can choose what resources or games to play without direction from an adult. </p>
<p>These experiences allow children to develop the appropriate social, emotional, and language skills to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/455670/RB455_Effective_pre-school_primary_and_secondary_education_project.pdf.pdf">thrive in school</a>. These skills are the building blocks for a child’s successful transition to formal learning, their ability to self-regulate behaviour in the classroom, and their engagement with the curriculum. </p>
<p>Every child has a unique set of early learning experiences and different levels of cognitive and social development by the time they enter school. They will therefore have a different level of perceived school readiness. </p>
<p>As their parent, you know your child best. A decision to put a summer-born child’s entry to reception back by a year should be based on when you believe your child is school ready, alongside considerations of whether school may be a better environment and a more practical alternative. </p>
<p><em>This article has been amended to avoid confusion with the practice of starting reception later in the school year than September, often known in England as “deferred entry”. It has also been amended to clarify that the figure of 88% of granted requests to start reception at age five refers to requests to the 62 local authorities who took part in a government survey.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxime Perrott studies and works for University of Bristol. She receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ioanna Bakopoulou receives funding from ESRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Washbrook is an academic at the University of Bristol. Her research has been funded by a variety of non-governmental associations interested in social equity, such as the ESRC, Save the Children and the Resolution Foundation. </span></em></p>The advantages and disadvantages of summer-born children entering school outside their peer group.Maxime Perrott, PhD Researcher and Graduate Teacher in Education, University of BristolIoanna Bakopoulou, Senior Lecturer in Psychology in Education, University of BristolLiz Washbrook, Associate Professor in Quantitative Methods, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2013092023-03-16T17:00:20Z2023-03-16T17:00:20ZSpring budget 2023: free early years places extended – but needs of children and staff must not be forgotten<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515828/original/file-20230316-28-bv0f2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5160%2C3453&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-teacher-giving-lesson-nursery-students-447567064">DGLimages/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The centrepiece of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spring-budget-2023-speech">spring 2023 budget</a> was the provision of funded early years places for children of working parents. This will be expanded to cover children from nine months old until they start school, and will be rolled out in stages between April 2024 and September 2025. </p>
<p>It is notable, however, that the budget’s approach to the early years sector has prioritised “free childcare”, focusing on providing parents with a route into employment rather than on the needs of children. This has been met by concerns that children are not <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-64831837?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6411d7b8f7ce9556ed0748dc%26%27Children%20are%20not%20being%20put%20at%20the%20centre%20of%20this%27%262023-03-15T14%3A44%3A21.276Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:55e7dc70-3aa2-4d92-b771-98aa97e60c81&pinned_post_asset_id=6411d7b8f7ce9556ed0748dc&pinned_post_type=share">prioritised in policy making</a>.</p>
<p>The language matters. Many in the sector have called for the term <a href="https://www.pacey.org.uk/Pacey/media/Website-files/Non-PACEY%20documents%20(PDFs)/a-workforce-in-crisis-saving-our-early-years.pdf">“early childhood education”</a> to be adopted, rather than “childcare”. This would centre the child and recognise the foundational nature of early learning and the important work of early educators. Policies which started from children’s rights and focused on improving their experiences and outcomes would have looked very different.</p>
<h2>Questions over funding</h2>
<p>The extension of free early years places has <a href="https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/why-yesterdays-childcare-announcement-is-worth-celebrating/">been welcomed</a> by some parents and campaigners as recognition of the high cost and limited availability of early years places, which has kept many parents – especially women – out of employment. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/budget-2023-nurseries-warn-they-need-to-see-the-sums-as-government-plans-major-expansion-in-childcare-for-one-and-two-year-olds?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=LinkedIn#Echobox=1678891036">there is concern</a> from the early years sector that the level of funding allocated for the policy will be insufficient. Research from business membership organisation the Confederation of British Industry estimates that fully funding the existing schemes for three- to four-year-olds and expanding the scheme to one- and two-year-olds <a href="https://www.cbi.org.uk/media/utccayj5/cbi-budget-submission-2023.pdf">would cost £8.9bn</a>.</p>
<p>This policy will drive up the demand in early years settings and it is not clear how the government intends to ensure an adequate supply of places. According to <a href="https://www.coram.org.uk/news/coram-survey-finds-childcare-shortages-nationwide-most-disadvantaged-children-missing-out">recent research</a> by charity <a href="https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/">Coram Family and Childcare</a>, only half of local authorities say they have sufficient early years places for children under two. An allocation of funds to build appropriate spaces and develop a well-qualified workforce will be crucial if the policy is to be successful. </p>
<p>Rather than a universal entitlement to places, the access to these funded places in nursery or other early years provision is linked to parental employment. Adults in the household must work for at least 16 hours a week. </p>
<p>This means that – as with the existing policy for funded places for three- and four-year-olds – children from non-working families will miss out, further entrenching disadvantage by limiting <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/fairstart/">access to funded hours</a>. Analysis by thinktank the Resolution Foundation shows that the <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2023/03/Were-going-on-a-growth-hunt.pdf">changes to early years places</a> in the budget disproportionately benefit middle income and higher income households. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1636127633456115712"}"></div></p>
<p>After years of <a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/freedom-information-investigation-findings#:%7E:text=In%20December%202018%2C%20the%20Early%20Years%20Alliance%20filed,finally%20made%20this%20information%20available%20to%20the%20Alliance.">underfunding</a> and extensive lobbying by the early years sector, the budget promises an increase in the funding paid to early years settings currently providing funded places. This will rise by £204m from September 2023, going to £288 million next year. </p>
<p>However, membership network the <a href="https://wbg.org.uk/analysis/uk-policy-briefings/spring-budget-2023-gender-and-early-education-and-childcare/#:%7E:text=The%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Budget%20Group%20is%20urgently%20calling%20for%3A,and%20uprated%20in%20line%20with%20current%20childcare%20costs.">Women’s Budget Group</a> estimates that the shortfall for the existing entitlement offers (for three- and four-year-olds as well as disadvantaged two-year-olds) is around £1.82bn.</p>
<p>The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64959611">reported</a> that the treasury has indicated that the amount paid to early years settings for two-year-olds is going up from £6 to £8 for each hour of funded education and care, and that the amount for three- and four-year-olds is going up from £5.29 to £5.50 an hour. For three- and four-year-olds, this is only around a 4% increase.</p>
<h2>Staff and children</h2>
<p>Despite <a href="https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/615623">significant opposition</a>, the government has pushed ahead with changing minimum staffing ratios for two-year-olds from one adult to four children to one to five. However, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1143005/Findings_from_the_early_years_staff-child_ratio_consultation_survey.pdf">government-commissioned research</a> shows that 70% of group settings with two-year-olds said they would be unlikely or very unlikely to change their provision of staff to children if ratio requirements were relaxed. The most common reason given was that they “believed relaxing ratios would compromise their quality of care”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/englands-early-years-educators-are-underpaid-and-undervalued-only-government-investment-can-improve-this-194308">England's early years educators are underpaid and undervalued – only government investment can improve this</a>
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<p>Given recent reports on the <a href="https://fairnessfoundation.com/critical-days">low pay</a> and <a href="https://childcare-during-covid.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CDC-19-Final-report.pdf">undervaluing</a> of early years educators, it was concerning that the budget contained no mention of developing a well-skilled and appropriately remunerated workforce. The planned expansion of places appears to be divorced from the current recruitment crisis. </p>
<p>A commitment to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/englands-early-years-educators-are-underpaid-and-undervalued-only-government-investment-can-improve-this-194308">longer-term workforce strategy</a> is needed, one which centres the child and their early education, develops the early years workforce and responds to the needs of working families.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Archer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Policies which focused on improving children’s experiences while developing the early years workforce may have looked very different.Nathan Archer, Director International Montessori Institute, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1940482022-11-15T19:08:22Z2022-11-15T19:08:22ZNew study finds Australia’s preschool expansion ‘has not better prepared’ kids for school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494556/original/file-20221110-24-p3x2ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C38%2C5063%2C3370&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Hunt/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since 2008, Australia has spent more than <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/australian-investment-in-education-ecec-report-mitchell-institute.pdf">A$11 billion dollars</a> over ten years to expand government-funded preschool (or kinder in Victoria) for four-year-olds to better prepare children for school. </p>
<p>But as <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4367735/Melbourne-Institute-Compendium-2022-Chapter-9.pdf">our new study</a> finds, to date, there is no rigorous evidence to suggest this investment was warranted in the first place or that it has paid off. </p>
<h2>The case for preschool funding</h2>
<p>Almost every <a href="https://www.thefrontproject.org.au/images/downloads/ECO%20ANALYSIS%20Full%20Report.pdf">policy report</a> arguing for expansion of early childhood education cites the <a href="https://highscope.org/perry-preschool-project/">Perry Preschool Project</a>.</p>
<p>This study was a randomised controlled trial in the 1960s that provided high-quality preschool education to 123 (a small sample) low-income, three- and four-year olds at risk for school failure in Michigan in the United States. </p>
<p>A randomised controlled trial randomly assigns participants into an experimental group that receives a treatment or intervention or a control group that does not. Randomisation balances participant characteristics between the groups, so any differences in outcomes can be attributed to the study intervention.</p>
<p>Randomised controlled trials are considered the gold standard for policy evaluation because they provide direct, causal evidence of the effectiveness of a policy. </p>
<p>The Perry Preschool Project found that by age five, 67% of those who attended the program had an IQ above 90, compared to 28% in the non-program group. Almost 80% of the program group graduated from high school, compared to 60% in the non-program group. The program group also performed better on income at age 40. </p>
<p>While the returns to Perry are impressive, it remains unclear how generalisable these returns are to other contexts and populations. </p>
<h2>Preschool in Australia</h2>
<p>The federal government <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1314/QG/ChildhoodEducatAccess">expanded</a> preschool funding for four-year-olds in 2008 to <a href="https://federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/sites/federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/files/2021-01/early_childhood_education_np_2009.pdf">improve the supply</a> of early childhood services to all children. Since then, it has also billed the program as <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-package/preschool">better preparing</a> children for school.</p>
<p>Victoria is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/16/what-the-new-year-of-preschool-education-means-for-parents-and-children">currently rolling out</a> funded preschool to three-year-olds under the argument that “two years are better than one”.</p>
<p>Recently, New South Wales and Victoria announced government-funded preschool would extend to 30 hours a week (from the current 15) for four-year-olds. More than <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/kindergarten-to-get-a-9b-overhaul-with-more-places-and-longer-hours-20220615-p5atzl.html">$9 billion is committed</a> over the next decade in Victoria for early childhood education, and NSW has committed <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-game-changer-nsw-to-introduce-an-extra-year-of-education-20220615-p5au02.html">$5.8 billion</a> to expand four-year-old education.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/greatest-transformation-of-early-education-in-a-generation-well-that-depends-on-qualified-supported-and-thriving-staff-185210">'Greatest transformation of early education in a generation'? Well, that depends on qualified, supported and thriving staff</a>
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<p>But this has not been accompanied by randomised evaluations of these universal programs. </p>
<p>A common approach to evaluate programs is to conduct a “before and after” evaluation that relies on statistical methods. These methods compare those who chose to be in a program to those who did not and make statistical adjustments.</p>
<p>This approach is second best because the methods are not designed to provide causal evidence of a program’s effectiveness.</p>
<h2>Our study</h2>
<p>Despite the large investment, and significant increase in preschool enrolment, school readiness scores have remained flat for more than a decade. </p>
<p>Just over half (55%) of Australian children are developmentally on track to start school, based on the most recent <a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/early-childhood/findings-from-the-aedc">Australian Early Development Census</a> of five-year-olds entering school. In 2009, 51% of children were on track. </p>
<p>Being <a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/about-the-aedc/about-the-aedc-domains">on track</a> means a child has met development milestones across five important areas of early childhood development. These are:</p>
<ul>
<li>physical health and wellbeing (such as motor skills and energy levels)</li>
<li>social competence (getting along with other children and adults)</li>
<li>emotional maturity (being kind to others, not having tantrums)</li>
<li>language and cognitive skills (interested in books, recognising numbers)</li>
<li>communication skills and general knowledge (can tell a story and have knowledge for that age, such as knowing dogs bark or apple is fruit).</li>
</ul>
<iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/11765792/embed" title="Interactive or visual content" class="flourish-embed-iframe" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%;height:400px;" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div style="width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/11765792/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/11765792" target="_top"><img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg"> </a></div>
<p>To understand this issue further, we conducted a <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/4367735/Melbourne-Institute-Compendium-2022-Chapter-9.pdf">population-level analysis</a> of preschool expansion for four-year-olds on measures of child development. That is, we looked at changes in school readiness as four-year-old preschool/kinder enrolment increased. </p>
<p>We used Australian census data on preschool enrolment and Australian Early Development Census data on the five development outcomes, and mapped them to local government areas.</p>
<p>The goal was to see if there is any evidence areas in which preschool has expanded also has improved school readiness. The analysis is not causal, but it illustrates associations at the population level for children who did and did not attend preschool. Plus, it accounts for differences across regions. </p>
<h2>Our findings</h2>
<p>We found there are no, or negative, effects of preschool on child outcomes.</p>
<p>Areas which had increased preschool enrolment by ten percentage points saw a decrease in school readiness by half-a-percentage point. This implies billions spent with no evidence children are better prepared for school.</p>
<iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/11765590/embed" title="Interactive or visual content" class="flourish-embed-iframe" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%;height:400px;" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div style="width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/11765590/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/11765590" target="_top"><img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg"> </a></div>
<p>If we only look at areas outside of Victoria and NSW, the results are worse. The decline in school readiness doubled to a decrease of one percentage point.</p>
<p>Of course, this analysis cannot speak to how school readiness would have evolved without preschool expansion. We do not observe this. The analysis cannot say if children would have been less, similarly or better prepared without investment in preschool. </p>
<p>What we can say is that areas that saw an increase in preschool enrolment did not see a corresponding increase in school readiness, which you would assume from the level of investment. Preschool expansion, as it happened in Australia, has not better prepared kids for school. </p>
<p>More research is needed to determine whether and how to expand preschool offerings.</p>
<h2>More evidence needed</h2>
<p>We are not arguing governments should not invest in children or their early education. </p>
<p>On the contrary. Evidence exists that high-quality preschools delivered at small scale to targeted groups can have positive returns to <a href="https://hceconomics.uchicago.edu/research/working-paper/early-childhood-education">child development</a>.</p>
<p>Preschool might have other benefits – such as more affordable childcare or workforce participation for families. But we have found universal preschool, rolled out to everyone, does not necessarily pay off for development.</p>
<p>Investment should be made based on scientific evidence and take into account how programs will be affected as they are scaled up.</p>
<p>Without rigorous evidence from randomised controlled trials, money may be spent unwittingly on programs for Australian children that have no effect on development when the money could have been spent on alternative programs that yield positive results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite a huge investment in preschool funding, school readiness scores have remained flat for more than a decade.Ragan Petrie, Professor, Texas A&M University; Professorial Fellow, The University of MelbourneMarco Castillo, Professor, Texas A&M University; Professorial Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1757592022-02-16T10:40:26Z2022-02-16T10:40:26ZLarge for-profit nursery groups are becoming more common – with negative consequences for parents and the sector<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445669/original/file-20220210-17-ej6rk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C72%2C5395%2C3513&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-children-painting-their-palms-table-744762241">Africa Studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>High-quality early education and childcare can have a positive impact on children’s wellbeing and <a href="https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/858qv">life chances</a>. The ability to combine work and care can benefit the whole family. But, for many parents, <a href="https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/sites/default/files/Resource%20Library/Childcare%20Survey%202021_Coram%20Family%20and%20Childcare.pdf">childcare costs</a> are a significant drain on household income, and <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/14990">COVID-19</a> made childcare problems for families worse. </p>
<p>Between April 1 2020 and July 31 2021, <a href="https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/">5% of all registered providers</a> in England closed permanently.</p>
<p>In this difficult atmosphere, many day nurseries changed hands. The COVID-19 crisis encouraged rather than deterred the buying and selling of nurseries. According to property specialist <a href="https://www.christie.com/news-resources/business-outlook/2022/">Christie & Co</a>, <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/phenomenal-buyer-demand-in-2021-drives-up-nursery-market-values">transactions increased</a> by 21% between 2020 and 2021. <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142357/7/Childcare%20Main%20Report%20010222.pdf">Our research</a> shows that, in many cases, nurseries have been bought up by large private for-profit groups.</p>
<p>Our research has investigated the consequences of these private for-profit groups moving into the childcare sector. They include increased financial risk for day nursery groups, threatening childcare availability for parents and children.</p>
<h2>Financial risk</h2>
<p>This pattern of large private-for-profit groups acquiring nurseries is relatively new. However, in the <a href="https://chpi.org.uk/papers/reports/plugging-the-leaks-in-the-uk-care-home-industry/">care home market</a> it is a <a href="https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/59258/predatory-financial-practices-and-the-adult-social-care-sector">well-established trend</a> known as “<a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/opinion/article/is-financialisation-putting-childcare-provision-in-england-at-risk">financialisation</a>”. </p>
<p>The precarity of the care home market has been demonstrated in recent years by the <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/corporate-care-homes/#:%7E:text=In%202011%20Southern%20Cross%2C%20the,after%2031%2C000%20residents%20went%20bust.&text=In%20late%20April%202019%2C%20Four,to%20thousands%20of%20older%20people.">collapse of several chains</a>, such as Four Seasons and Southern Cross. These groups were unable to repay the debts they owed to the private equity companies whose investments had enabled them to expand their business.</p>
<p>Together with colleagues, we <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142357/7/Childcare%20Main%20Report%20010222.pdf">conducted research</a> funded by the <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/">Nuffield Foundation</a> on the growing volatility of the English private childcare market over the past two decades. We found that the market reach of for-profit group-based provision in England is considerable. In 2021 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1039675/Main_summary_survey_of_childcare_and_early_years_providers_2021.pdf">70% of all group-based day nursery places</a> were in the for-profit sector.</p>
<p>Using <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142358/">forensic accounting methods</a>, we found evidence that smaller nursery chains and single nurseries are increasingly being bought up by large companies seeking to make profits with the help of private equity funding. </p>
<p>This enables such companies to continually expand their provision, while seriously in debt to their investors and needing to pay their shareholders dividends. As a result they have low to no financial reserves, placing them <a href="https://thesociologicalreview.org/magazine/february-2022/covid-refigurations/nurture-versus-capitalism/">at risk of collapse</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children playing with blocks on floor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445671/original/file-20220210-40669-vnva06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The private childcare market is becoming increasingly volatile.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-playing-nursery-school-1935667462">maroke/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shortly after we completed the analysis of the accounts of one of our report’s five medium to large for-profit case study companies, it was <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/just-childcare-bought-by-largest-dutch-nursery-group">bought out</a> by a Dutch childcare chain. We found that complex financial structures involving foreign investors and shareholders, alongside public funding, enable these companies to increase their share of the childcare market. </p>
<p>The borrowing of money to enable for-profit childcare companies to buy additional nurseries has so far not led to a substantial increase in childcare places, as our analysis of <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1039675/Main_summary_survey_of_childcare_and_early_years_providers_2021.pdf">Ofsted data</a> showed. </p>
<p>We found that private for-profit companies in England were charging high fees relative to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (<a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/OECD-Is-Childcare-Affordable.pdf">OECD</a>) member states. </p>
<p>While for-profit childcare companies market themselves as providing quality care and child-centred practice, the research uncovered a lack of explicit reference to care for vulnerable or disadvantaged children. </p>
<p>For-profit is only one way that childcare provision is delivered in England. Alternative not-for-profit models include charitable and social enterprises.</p>
<h2>Keeping childcare sustainable</h2>
<p>Our team also carried out <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10142358/">financial analysis</a> on a sample of six not-for-profit childcare groups. The latter, where registered as charities, must submit highly transparent accounts to the Charity Commission. They also need to have operating reserves, are limited as to the amount of debt they can carry and must reinvest any surplus into the childcare business. Other not-for-profit organisations have shared ownership structures which safeguard a sale of a company until all trustees agree to it. </p>
<p>The governance of social enterprises, cooperatives and employee – rather than investor-owned organisations – makes them accountable to trustees, staff, and parents, who may also be members of trustee boards. Their operations must make clear how they pursue their social aims. </p>
<p>These features put them at much lower risk of financial collapse than for-profit companies.</p>
<p>The scale of <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/uploads/R183-2020-annual-report-on-education-spending-in-England%20%281%29.pdf">public funding</a> invested in the sector in England, through funded early education hours and parental childcare subsidies amounted to some £5.6 billion in 2019. This money is meant to support a childcare system that is of high quality and equally accessible and affordable for all families with young children. </p>
<p>Instead, we have <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/publications/early-childhood-education-care-shaping-life-chances">a dysfunctional market</a> characterised by deep structural problems. </p>
<p>These include the increasingly dominant role of highly indebted childcare companies, putting the system’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-uk-childcare-system-is-at-breaking-point-168151">sustainability at risk</a> and placing childcare out of reach of <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Entitlement-to-free-early-education-and-childcare.pdf">low-income families</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175759/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eva Lloyd has received funding from the British Academy, the Department for Education, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. She is a co-Investigator on the Nuffield Foundation funded Covid-19 and Childcare Study and she recently completed work as a member of an Expert Group advising the Irish Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on a funding model for its early learning and care and school-age childcare system. Eva Lloyd is a trustee and director of Acorn Early Years Foundation, a not-for-profit childcare group operating in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas. . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonia Simon has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Department for Education, and the Nuffield Foundation. She recently led a Nuffield-funded project 'Private Sector Childcare in England: <a href="http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/private-sector-childcare-england">http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/private-sector-childcare-england</a>. </span></em></p>Large for-profit nursery groups may be at increased financial risk.Eva Lloyd, Professor of Early Childhood, School of Education and Communities, University of East LondonAntonia Simon, Associate professor, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1694632021-11-23T18:58:23Z2021-11-23T18:58:23ZA failure at 6? Data-driven assessment isn’t helping young children’s learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432551/original/file-20211118-15-scwi3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5863%2C3896&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children’s <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/veyldframework.pdf">early years</a> from birth to the age of eight are crucial for their social, emotional and intellectual development. However, early years education in Australia is fragmented. It operates across two spaces, the pre-compulsory period, often called early childhood education, and the first three years of compulsory schooling.</p>
<p>In recent times the focus in these three years has been on assessment that produces numerical data. Teachers need to demonstrate children are meeting standards. </p>
<p>In contrast, in the pre-compulsory years the focus is on observing and interacting with the child. Practices are based on the belief that all children have agency and are capable learners.</p>
<p>A chasm has opened up between these <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Early-Childhood-and-Compulsory-Education-Reconceptualising-the-relationship/Moss/p/book/9780415687744">separate education systems</a>. Children go from playing to being tested in the blink of an eye. This abrupt change in young children’s education is problematic.</p>
<h2>What does research tell us about the early years?</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/391647/Dunn356707Accepted.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y">2015 review</a> of research on best practices in the early years identified key factors in successful teaching and learning. The review noted the importance of:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a smooth transition between pre-school education and compulsory school education</p></li>
<li><p>play-based learning</p></li>
<li><p>seeing children as capable and having agency in their learning</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/speakinglistening/Pages/teachingpracdialogic.aspx">dialogic interactions</a> involving <a href="https://earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/earlyYears/Documents/language-dialogic-in-action.pdf">rich discussions</a> between children and between
children and teachers. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Australia has introduced a mandated curriculum and a national assessment program in primary schools. The review noted this meant many early years teachers have adopted a more formalised and narrow approach to learning in schools. It isn’t appropriate for young children. </p>
<p>We can see the resulting <a href="https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/en/publications/where-are-the-early-years-of-school-in-contemporary-early-childho">divide between non-compulsory and compulsory</a> early years education in Victoria. On the one hand, teachers need to acknowledge the needs of children from birth to eight years. On the other hand, for those between the ages of five and 12, the <a href="https://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/">Victorian Curriculum</a> requires teachers to assess and report against curriculum standards. </p>
<p>The focus on formal assessment and numerical data in the early years of schooling means children as young as six can be labelled as failing. In countries like Finland and Singapore, which have been <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/strongperformers/">identified</a> as <a href="http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2016/international-results/pirls/student-achievement/pirls-achievement-results/">high-performing</a>, children do not even <a href="https://expatchild.com/school-starting-ages-around-world/">begin formal schooling</a> before the age of six or seven. </p>
<iframe src="https://data.worldbank.org/share/widget?indicators=SE.PRM.AGES&type=shaded&view=map" width="100%" height="380" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2304/ciec.2014.15.2.185">One study</a> has described the early years in countries like the United Kingdom, America and Australia as being at the mercy of top-down policy development, leading to “a highly prescriptive and assessment-driven early years climate”. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Datafication-of-Primary-and-Early-Years-Education-Playing-with-Numbers/Bradbury-Roberts-Holmes/p/book/9781138242173">UK researchers</a> have identified the “datafication” of early years education and its impacts on children and teachers. And <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/a-sociological-analysis-of-australias-naplan-and-my-school-senate">Australian researchers</a> used the term “adultification” to describe the unrealistic expectations placed on young children.</p>
<h2>So what happens in our schools?</h2>
<p>My doctoral <a href="https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/268186">research</a> found “datafication” and “adultification” defined the early years of schooling in Victoria. I engaged with more than 100 early-years teachers to explore their literacy teaching and assessment practices. The recurring theme was these teachers were expected to frequently assess young children in formal ways that provided numerical data. </p>
<p>Teachers voiced frustration. One described the early years as “death by assessment”. Another lamented that community expectations were unreasonable, saying “people are hung up on data, numbers”. </p>
<p>There was an overwhelming sense that the teachers knew their children best and should be given the agency to assess and plan for literacy teaching rather than being required to use a suite of commercially produced assessment tools. </p>
<p>The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (<a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/veyldframework.pdf">VEYLDF</a>) is designed to support early years teachers working with children and families. Its premise is that children have the greatest opportunities to develop neural pathways for learning and are also most vulnerable to negative experiences from birth to eight years. </p>
<p>The framework is based on research into best practice for children in these years. Rather than formal assessment based on numbers, the VEYLDF advocates for assessment that is authentic and responsive to how all children can best demonstrate their learning and development.</p>
<p>The Victorian Education Department <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/professionals/learning/Pages/veyldf.aspx">encourages</a> teachers in schools to use the framework. However, little is known about how many actually use the framework to inform teaching and learning.</p>
<p>Making it mandatory to report against curriculum standards from the time children begin compulsory schooling sets the boundaries for how many teachers operate. It is hard to have a foot in both camps when reporting against these standards is mandatory and you feel compelled to prepare children for what comes next – which includes <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/">NAPLAN</a>, the national assessment program.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of laughing and smiling children together among trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432555/original/file-20211118-18-1xgrfo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Death by assessment’ threatens the joy young children find in learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Schools can still let children be children</h2>
<p>However, some schools are turning their backs on the relentless measuring of young children’s attainments. <a href="https://www.sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au/">St John’s</a>, a multicultural primary school in Melbourne’s inner west, is one example. You only need to look at the school <a href="https://www.sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au/learning/">website</a> to see its philosophy differs from many others. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“St John’s Horizon [a school community-developed vision] clearly states ‘KIDS AT THE HEART’ which encapsulates our focus and belief in the image of the child – the child who is capable, curious, full of wonder, rich in knowledge, able to construct and co-construct his or her own learning. We believe in JOY – Joy in learning.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A conversation with the then principal, Gemma Goodyear, gave me an insight into these beliefs, which are inspired by teaching and learning in schools in <a href="https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/">Reggio Emilia</a>, Italy. Goodyear said children do not come to school to be “fixed”, and the teachers engage them by providing meaningful, contextualised learning experiences. And, yes, through their focus on rich learning they still get great results without relentless testing.</p>
<p>It is time to revisit the early years of schooling and ensure teachers have the skills and understandings they need to support learners in this phase. These years should be a time when children become engaged and excited about learning, a time of great joy, and a time when children are allowed to be children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martina Tassone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A chasm has opened up between early childhood learning and the first years of compulsory schooling. Kids go from playing to being tested in the blink of an eye, and their learning is poorer for it.Martina Tassone, Early Childhood and Primary Course Coordinator and Language and Literacy Lecturer, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1681512021-09-27T10:49:28Z2021-09-27T10:49:28ZWhy the UK childcare system is at breaking point<p>Over the last ten years, formal childcare in the UK has <a href="https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-survey-2021-0">steadily become unaffordable</a> for <a href="https://www.employersforchildcare.org/news-item/childcare-cost-survey-2017/">most parents</a>. Recent reports on a UK web-based <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/sep/12/uk-failing-on-childcare-finds-survey-of-over-20000-working-parents">parent survey</a> undertaken this summer by <a href="https://www.mumsnet.com/news/mega-survey-of-uk-parents-shows-that-childcare-is-failing-families">Mumsnet</a> (in partnership with other parenting and campaigning organisations) have honed in on some startling figures. </p>
<p>Of the 2,047 respondents Mumsnet surveyed – most of whom were female, with a child under 18 – all expressed frustration at the perceived lack of government support with childcare costs and availability and its impact on their lives and livelihoods. For 38% of single parents, and 47% of black parents, childcare costs exceeded those of their rent or mortgage, while 10% of single parents had had to use foodbanks. </p>
<p>The survey data Mumsnet has published so far does not mention specific impacts of the pandemic on childcare costs and availability. But emerging findings from an ongoing research <a href="https://childcare-covid.org/">project</a> I am <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/covid-19-childcare-local-impacts-across-england">involved</a> in suggest that the last 18 months have seen the UK childcare system reach a <a href="https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/sites/default/files/Covid%20and%20Childcare%20-%20the%20role%20of%20local%20authorities.pdf">tipping point</a>. Early-years specialists <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4827/call-for-extra-funding-for-early-years-care">highlight</a> the urgent need for early years education and nursery provision to be considered amid government <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-early-years-education-must-be-prioritised-in-pandemic-recovery-plans-163342">recovery plans</a>. </p>
<p>None of this comes as a surprise. As I have <a href="https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/128464">previously argued</a>, improving public funding and regulation of the childcare system and recognising the latter as a vital part of the UK’s economic and social infrastructure is crucial. </p>
<p>What are the barriers to making that happen?</p>
<h2>Market complexity</h2>
<p>Currently, three- and four-year-old children in England are offered 15 hours of free childcare and early education weekly during term time. Certain two-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds also qualify. And in 2017 the government added <a href="https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare">an additional 15 hours</a> for children whose parents work at least 16 hours per week at the minimum wage.</p>
<p>This money does not go directly to parents. Rather, the government funds <a href="https://theconversation.com/business-of-childcare-will-fail-so-long-as-toddlers-are-the-cash-cows-96770">private</a> and not-for-profit nurseries, preschools, nursery classes in state primary schools, state and independent nursery schools and childminders to deliver them. The resulting system is a mixed market of private and public providers in which for-profit companies deliver <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/private-sector-childcare-in-england">the majority of places</a>. </p>
<p>Parents are not the only ones to complain about costs within this market. Providers too <a href="https://theconversation.com/underpaid-and-undervalued-the-reality-of-childcare-work-in-the-uk-87413">argue</a> the government doesn’t give them enough to provide the care required by parents. In June 2021, a two-year freedom of information investigation by the Early Years Alliance <a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/news/2021/06/new-data-shows-ministers-knew-early-years-was-underfunded">revealed</a> that the Department for Education is well aware this subsidy does not cover providers’ costs.</p>
<p>This creates <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/opinion/ensuring-fairer-access-early-years-provision-after-covid-19-lockdown">a perverse incentive</a> for nurseries and other childcare providers who cater for younger children and babies as well as children aged over three to capitalise on parents’ need for extra hours. In practice, providers often raise fees and charge extra for things like lunches and outings; a practice condemned by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman <a href="https://www.workingmums.co.uk/ombudsman-rules-on-top-up-fees-for-30-hours-childcare/">earlier this year</a>. </p>
<h2>Financial support for parents</h2>
<p>Through the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare">tax-free childcare</a> programme, also introduced in 2017, and the childcare element of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-childcare/universal-credit-childcare-guide">universal credit</a>, the government also makes a parent subsidy available to help with additional childcare costs. </p>
<p>Since its introduction in 2017, though, there has been a low uptake of the government’s tax-free childcare programme. There are 4.6 million UK households with working parents and dependent children under 16, half of which have at least <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronavirusandemploymentforparentsintheuk/octobertodecember2019">one child aged five or under</a>. And yet, in March 2021, only <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-march-2021/tax-free-childcare-statistics-commentary-march-2021">282,000 families</a> used tax-free childcare. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/863237/HMRC_research_report_570_-_Tax-Free_Childcare_barriers_to_sign_up_and_use.pdf">2019 study for HMRC</a> cautiously suggested that the tax-free childcare system’s complexity and lack of parental confidence might explain low uptake. </p>
<p>In addition, the tax-free childcare programme does not apply to the fast-growing number of parents on universal credit, while they are in contrast eligible for the 30 hours.</p>
<p>Finally, both tax-free childcare and childcare support under universal credit are paid retrospectively. This means that parents have to pay upfront, which is something low-income families – the families the government’s early-years policies <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Supporting-disadvantaged-families-through-free-early-education.pdf">claim to help</a> – often can’t afford. As a result, they lose out. In 2021 the High Court ruled this practice in Universal Credit <a href="https://www.leighday.co.uk/latest-updates/news/2021-news/court-of-appeal-to-hear-universal-credit-childcare-appeal/">unlawful</a>.</p>
<p>Since 2010, spending on childcare via the benefits system has fallen by 44%, according to a 2019 <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN258-Early-education-and-childcare-spending.pdf">analysis</a> by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Growing child poverty levels demand the opposite.</p>
<p>More than one in three families with at least one child aged under five are now <a href="https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/publications/changing-patterns-of-poverty-in-early-childhood">living in poverty</a> in the UK. This translates into poverty affecting around 2.2 million under-fives, a shocking statistic.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12187-020-09782-0">ample evidence</a> that low income by itself has a marked impact on young children’s learning and their socio-emotional development, as well as on their health and physical development. Early-years education and childcare are crucial to improving <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-difficult-childhood-makes-it-more-likely-youll-have-mental-and-physical-health-problems-as-an-adult-153154">the life chances</a> of children growing up in poverty. It is high time for the system to be changed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eva Lloyd has received funding from the British Academy, the Department for Education and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. She is a co-Investigator on the the Nuffield Foundation funded Covid and Childcare Study and a trustee and director of Acorn Early Years, a not-for-profit childcare group operating in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas. She is also currently a member of an Expert Group advising the Irish Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on a funding model for its early learning and care and school-age childcare systems.</span></em></p>Childcare is central to families being able to sustain working lives. But insufficient government funding and a complex web of for-profit companies means many are losing outEva Lloyd, Professor of Early Childhood, School of Education and Communities, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1635502021-07-18T12:28:06Z2021-07-18T12:28:06ZWhy the outdoors should be an integral part of every early learning and child-care program<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410605/original/file-20210709-19-1emy3o7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=161%2C1041%2C5829%2C2928&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Beyond the many known benefits of outdoor education, COVID-19 has highlighted the outdoors as an environment which mitigates the risk of spreading airborne viruses. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Charles Parker)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bilateral negotiations are underway to move the historic <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2021/04/budget-2021-a-canada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-plan.html">federal commitment to a Canada-wide early learning and child-care system</a> from vision to reality. Expanding access for all young children in Canada will require creating and licensing more physical spaces where children learn and are cared for. But what kinds of spaces will these be? </p>
<p>In the face of the growing body of research that reveals how outdoor early learning has significant <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/synthesis">developmental benefits for children</a>, early childhood educators across the country are reimagining early learning and care in the outdoors.</p>
<p>Governments need to take note of <a href="https://childnature.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Infographic-final-version.pdf">this burgeoning grassroots movement</a> because there are implications for capital infrastructure, regulations and early childhood educator training.</p>
<h2>Optimal conditions for learning</h2>
<p>In the outdoors children can <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play">move freely, follow their interests, take risks and test their limits</a>. This translates into children who are happier, more active, curious, confident and collaborative. High-quality outdoor environments create <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/young-childrens-outdoor-play-based-learning">optimal conditions for learning</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the <a href="https://www.lawson.ca/op-elcc-covid19.pdf">outdoors as a health-promoting environment that mitigates the risk of spreading airborne viruses</a> — something we can continue to benefit from in the future.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-obesity-to-allergies-outdoor-play-is-the-best-medicine-for-children-118031">From obesity to allergies, outdoor play is the best medicine for children</a>
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</em>
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<p>My doctoral research is about the philosophy, practice and policy of outdoor early learning in Ontario. I have become convinced that high-quality outdoor learning should be a significant part of every early learning and child-care program. </p>
<p>Here’s what governments should be contemplating as we begin to build a Canada-wide system that embraces and enables outdoor learning.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure must include outdoor spaces</h2>
<p>When we think of capital infrastructure costs for early learning and care, we tend to think about buildings, but we need to think carefully about outdoor spaces and reframe them as outdoor learning environments. Regulations across <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5292-1">the country currently do not require more than seven sq. m per child of outdoor space</a>. That is just <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526402028">half the size of a parking space!</a></p>
<p>Fortunately <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/portfolio_page/seven-cs-an-informational-guide-to-young-childrens-outdoor-play-spaces">evidence-based design guidelines</a> already exist for planning high-quality outdoor learning environments. Criteria for early learning and care infrastructure funds to create new spaces should require high-quality outdoor learning environments as part of any new construction or renovation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A natural playground built of logs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Deciding how to invest in new infrastructure for early learning and care means considering how outdoor environments will be part of children’s learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Schools, local green spaces</h2>
<p>Of course, access to outdoor space is a challenge in many urban centres. However, accommodations can be made. </p>
<p>First, early childhood education programs can be delivered through schools, which tend to have outdoor space. This would maximize existing assets and benefit all children in a school. The Nova Scotia government has done so with its <a href="https://www.ednet.ns.ca/pre-primary">pre-primary program for four-year-olds</a>. The government recently announced <a href="https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20210413001">a new fund for outdoor learning environments</a> in partnership with the federal government. </p>
<p>Second, partnerships with municipalities and parks agencies can support access to local green spaces. Partnerships can help ensure access to infrastructure such as bathrooms and running water.</p>
<p>Investing in high-quality natural play spaces <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/our-projects/school-board-collaborations-services/">in school yards</a> and local parks would also leverage benefits for everyone in the local community. This is especially important given that <a href="https://ccpr.parkpeople.ca/2020/themes/growth/stories/towards-equitable-parks">access to green space is not equitable in Canada</a>.</p>
<h2>Forest and nature schools</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young children in a colourful autumn leafy forest seen walking up a hill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Children seen at Cloudberry Forest School in St. John’s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cloudberry Forest School</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also need to enable early learning programs in which children spend the majority of their day outdoors, such as <a href="https://childnature.ca/about-forest-and-nature-school/">forest and nature schools</a>.</p>
<p>Currently government regulations for early learning and care in every jurisdiction require an indoor facility in order to obtain a licence to operate. However, such buildings are a poor and unnecessary use of money when programs plan to be mostly outside. Community buildings, cabins and shelters can provide sufficient protective space during inclement weather. </p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADEL/bulletins/2d8751e">Washington state recently licensed outdoor preschools</a>. <a href="https://dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/reports/OutdoorPreschoolPilotFinal2020.pdf">Pilot program budgets</a> demonstrated that outdoor programs require around <a href="https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v4i3.181">30 per cent less in operating funds than traditional early learning and care programs</a>. </p>
<p>In St. John’s, N.L., <a href="https://www.obrienfarm.ca/cloudberry-forest-school">Cloudberry Forest School</a> has just started a three-year pilot project <a href="https://gazette.mun.ca/public-engagement/educational-beacon/">to explore the licensing of outdoor early learning and care programs</a>. Other jurisdictions will soon be able to benefit from their learning.</p>
<h2>Educator training</h2>
<p>Quality in early learning and care <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/early-learning-child-care/reports/2019-defining-measuring-quality.html">is influenced by the educational attainment of the staff who work with children</a>. Currently, the majority of post-secondary early childhood education programs across the country <a href="https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/1653">do not explicitly prepare educators for outdoor teaching and learning</a>. However, this is changing rapidly.</p>
<p>There are new post-secondary transformations taking place in <a href="https://www.okanagan.bc.ca/news/from-colleges-to-communities-lawson-foundation-supports-early-childhood-education-project-at">Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick</a>. In Ontario, Humber College is embracing a “Two-Eyed Seeing” approach, <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-make-connections-to-aki-earth-through-anishinaabe-teachings-133669">whereby both Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives influence early land-based play and learning</a>. Their work is <a href="https://humber.ca/today/media-releases/humber-launch-land-based-play-and-co-learning-initiative">guided partly by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/children-make-connections-to-aki-earth-through-anishinaabe-teachings-133669">Children make connections to Aki (Earth) through Anishinaabe teachings</a>
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<p>Existing evidence-based <a href="https://outdoorplaytraining.com/about-the-project/">professional learning resources</a> and <a href="https://childnature.ca/forest-school-canada/">training programs</a> could be scaled and paired with apprenticeship approaches to educator training to help meet the urgent need for qualified educators.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Father and child fishing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Recruiting for outdoor programs may attract more males to work as early childhood educators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Canada needs an additional <a href="https://centreforfuturework.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ELCC-Report-Formatted-FINAL-FINAL.pdf">20,000 staff each year to expand the early learning and care system, most of whom need to be educators who will work directly with children</a>. Outdoor early learning is a source of untapped potential for recruitment. </p>
<p>Passionate professionals in parks, conservation and outdoor education might reimagine their careers through early childhood education in outdoor learning environments if supported to make the transition. Recruiting for outdoor programs may also attract <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2017/03/blueprint-2020-expansion-early-learning-childcare-scotland-2017-18-action/documents/00515637-pdf/00515637-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00515637.pdf">more males to early childhood education</a>. The fact that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10409289.2020.1822079">educators report their own improved well-being and professional engagement outdoors</a> may help attract and retain more early childhood educators.</p>
<h2>Scotland as an international model</h2>
<p>Scotland recently expanded its early learning and care and <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2017/03/blueprint-2020-expansion-early-learning-childcare-scotland-2017-18-action/documents/00515637-pdf/00515637-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00515637.pdf">emphasized the importance of outdoor play and learning in its policy</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/scotlands-outdoor-play-initiative-has-some-lessons-for-the-rest-of-the-world-132429">A grassroots movement led by early adopters, and then supported by champions within government</a>, laid the groundwork. </p>
<p>The Scottish government also developed a robust set of <a href="https://www.careandlearningalliance.co.uk/care-inspectorate-hub-outdoor-learning-guidance-tools/">resources for educator training, play space design and implementation guidelines to support outdoor programming</a>. <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/early-education-and-care/outdoor-play-and-learning/">Government, local authorities and non-profits in Scotland worked together</a> to enable early learning and care programs to use local green spaces. This is a model Canada should pay attention to.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scotlands-outdoor-play-initiative-has-some-lessons-for-the-rest-of-the-world-132429">Scotland’s outdoor play initiative has some lessons for the rest of the world</a>
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<p>The <a href="https://ppforum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FromInvestmentToAction-May2021.pdf">Public Policy Forum recently recommended</a> that the federal government invest in an infrastructure fund for early learning and care as well as the expansion of post-secondary programs for early childhood educators. As government and educational plans unfold, children should not have to depend on the goodwill of an educator to access high-quality outdoor learning; good policy and investment are the solution, and all levels of government have roles to play.</p>
<p>Building a new Canada-wide early learning and care system will be one of the most significant social investments in decades. With the goal of serving every young child in Canada, it is incumbent upon us to imagine and build a system that reflects children’s innate needs and desires to learn outdoors in order to enhance child-care quality as well as child and educator well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Alden is affiliated with the Lawson Foundation, a funder of The Conversation Canada. </span></em></p>Planning outdoor early learning and child care has implications for training and recruiting educators as well as for planning, developing and funding physical spaces.Christine Alden, PhD Candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1632952021-07-05T17:08:20Z2021-07-05T17:08:20ZHow missing out on nursery due to COVID has affected children’s development – new research<p>Nurseries can be noisy places. A clutch of three-year-olds gathered round a book shout excitedly. Across the room, a small committee of toddlers negotiates over stickers and string. Outside, key workers encourage pairs of miniature gymnasts while others sing to drowsy babies. And through the cacophony, children’s use of language develops.</p>
<p>For parents collecting their children, the chatter and buzz of childcare settings is always reassuring. All the more so during the pandemic: another day of play and learning is done, with protective measures in place. </p>
<p>Parents are understandably anxious about how the pandemic has affected their pre-schoolers’ development. More than half of the 570 parents <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-parents-view.pdf">surveyed</a> for a recent Sutton Trust report felt that their two-to-four year-olds’ social and emotional development had been negatively affected during the pandemic. A quarter of these parents felt their child’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-lockdown-has-affected-childrens-speech-and-what-parents-can-do-to-help-160886">language growth</a> in particular had suffered. One in five had similar concerns about their physical development. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development">recent study</a> on what attending childcare does for children’s speech, understanding, and thinking skills, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/icd.2241">we found</a> that a child who regularly attended nursery or a childminder one day a week during the pandemic understood an average of 24 more new words over the research period compared with their peers. </p>
<h2>Pandemic restrictions</h2>
<p>As the first lockdown in England was announced in March 2020, nurseries, childminders and other early years providers were closed to all children except those of critical workers or those classed as vulnerable. In the four months that followed, nursery attendance in England was down to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings">5-10%</a> of its usual rate. </p>
<p>Nursery staff worked hard to <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/features/article/working-with-families-close-to-home">stay connected</a> to families. Many provided free and easy online activities such as stories and songs, puppet shows and creative competitions.</p>
<p>Despite these huge efforts, we don’t yet know what impact the disruption will have on children in the longer term. Will those who were able to attend nursery have reaped the usual, pre-COVID benefits, as so many of their playmates and teachers were at home, and their usual play environment looked so different? </p>
<p>Although the benefits of early childhood education and care are particularly pronounced in children from <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.13313">disadvantaged backgrounds</a>, those from more privileged backgrounds will likely also have been impacted by nursery closures, as families struggled to provide supportive learning environments at home while splitting their time between caring for young children, educating their other children and working. </p>
<p>To understand how this disruption has affected families and young children, we recruited nearly 200 UK families through our <a href="https://leedscdu.org/">research labs</a>. Between March and June 2020, we asked about their use of formal (such as nursery and childminders) and informal (family and friends) childcare, before, during, and between the first and second lockdowns in England. We also gathered information on income, level of education, occupation, and neighbourhood. </p>
<p>To investigate early thinking skills (known as <a href="https://www.albertafamilywellness.org/resources/video/executive-function">executive functions</a> – the control of attention, behaviour, and emotion), we asked parents how often their child showed different behaviour such as following instructions, exploring, and regulating their emotions. Parents and carers told us how many words their children said and understood from categories such as animals, vehicles and food. And we asked them to play games with their child –- which were designed to elicit <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/rhzkq/">skills</a> such as waiting, finding, and sorting –- then analysed their observations.</p>
<p>In November and December 2020, we then followed up with the families on their children’s abilities in the same areas, <a href="https://babylab.brookes.ac.uk/research/social-distancing-and-development/sd-the-team">and explored</a> the relationship between the time children had spent at nursery or with a childminder, their growth in language and thinking skills, and their socioeconomic background. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/icd.2241">We found</a> that
a child regularly attending two days came to understand 48 more new words than their peers over the same period. This effect was greater among children from less affluent backgrounds. Children who continued to attend nursery or a childminder also showed larger boosts in their cognitive control, flexibility, and memory, regardless of socioeconomic background.</p>
<h2>Levelling inequalities</h2>
<p>Our data clearly shows that time at nursery or with a childminder helps children strengthen their language and cognitive skills. This fits in with research that shows that, alongside a supportive <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09243453.2020.1693487">home learning environment</a> – vital for early <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24467656/">language and literacy</a> development – high-quality childcare is equally important. </p>
<p>Childcare can stimulate the social, cognitive, physical and language growth that children need for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00148-021-00835-4">starting school</a>. And children who enter their education with firm foundations have better chances at school and better economic success in <a href="https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/7729/">adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>Children from <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.13313">disadvantaged backgrounds</a> stand to gain extra benefits from early childhood education and care. Families who have to adapt to greater economic stress (lower income) and greater environmental stress (income volatility, housing discrimination) tend to <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/byp4k/">speak</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27196418/">less</a> to their children, which can impact their language growth.</p>
<p>Research shows that high-quality childcare helps to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3947639/">buffer</a> against these risk factors, as well as against individual risk factors. For example, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29720785/">household instability</a> in early childhood has been shown to lead to worse cognitive and social outcomes by the age of five. Going to nursery or spending time with a childminder, however, can substantially reduce this impact.</p>
<p>This suggests that children from the most disadvantaged families gain the most from early childhood education and care. But chronic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jun/15/ministers-knowingly-underfunding-childcare-sector-england">underfunding</a> of early years education presents a major barrier. Government investment is therefore a powerful way of alleviating socioeconomic <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/312/5782/1900.full.pdf?casa_token=Y3uSZ1cBSP8AAAAA:2GGewvhRpRKcpdE9sT6xTDLks18NRMLI0FDxM6Ta2n6pj5P3DYPsb_SWvykOLsugeLOmCjQ3ym1maBI">inequalities.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BN-Inequalities-in-education-skills-and-incomes-in-the-UK-the-implications-of-the-COVID-19-pandemic.pdf">Lower-income families</a>, who have been disproportionately affected by <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n376">infections</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/22/low-paid-workers-in-uk-more-than-twice-as-likely-to-lose-job-in-pandemic">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/coronavirusanddepressioninadultsgreatbritainjanuarytomarch2021">mental ill-health</a> and <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19bylocalareasanddeprivation/deathsoccurringbetween1marchand17april">deaths</a> during the pandemic - all stressors which are likely to affect home interactions with children. Our findings provide evidence that access to early childhood education and care is important for all children, and is an effective way of tackling inequality. Government investment is therefore <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-early-years-education-must-be-prioritised-in-pandemic-recovery-plans-163342">crucial</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Davies receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Hendry receives funding from the National Institute for Health Research and holds the Scott Family Junior Research Fellowship at University College, University of Oxford</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council</span></em></p>Not being able to attend nurseries due to lockdown has affected children’s growth in emotional, linguistic and physical terms. The longterm effect could heighten inequalityCatherine Davies, Associate Professor in Language Development, University of LeedsAlexandra Hendry, Junior Research Fellow, University of OxfordNayeli Gonzalez-Gomez, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Oxford Brookes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1633422021-07-02T17:03:58Z2021-07-02T17:03:58ZWhy early-years education must be prioritised in pandemic recovery plans<p>Nursery workers, childminders and nannies have been working hard throughout the pandemic. This work is, in part, what has allowed key workers to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-52514919">keep working</a>. This has been crucial not only for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/24/when-our-nursery-reopened-after-covid-19-only-7-kids-came-back-parents-are-terrified">parents</a> and their employers, but also for the children themselves, especially those who are <a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/chldrn/">vulnerable</a> or <a href="https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/education-in-england-annual-report-2020/">disadvantaged</a> and those with <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-support-children-with-special-educational-needs-as-they-return-to-school-139422">special educational needs</a>.</p>
<p>The government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/huge-expansion-of-tutoring-in-next-step-of-education-recovery">COVID recovery plan</a> for <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-school-recovery-is-englands-1-4-billion-catch-up-plan-a-good-idea-162020">schools in England</a> includes £153 million for professional development for early-years practitioners. This is good news for a workforce that is chronically <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0950017009337057">underpaid and undervalued</a>. But the question is, will it be enough? </p>
<p>These early-years professionals have been forced to respond rapidly to uncertainty and change, which has only been exacerbated by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/18/risky-vague-inconsistent-nursery-teachers-in-england-lament-covid-strategy">ambiguous and inadequate</a> official guidelines. The government was <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/coronavirus-dismay-as-early-years-staff-told-they-won-t-be-sent-testing-kits">slower</a>, for example, to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing to people working in private nurseries than in other parts of the education sector. </p>
<p>When schools closed to all but keyworkers’ children and vulnerable pupils, nursery workers <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-55545277">continued to work</a>. And they were <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-55546359">not prioritised</a> for the vaccine despite their daily risk of exposure to the virus. </p>
<p>COVID-related disruption and nursery closures affected the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/18/fewer-uk-children-school-ready-after-covid-nursery-closures">development</a> and behaviour of young children. And research shows that quality education and care is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027277570900106X">central</a> to addressing this.</p>
<h2>Recovery plan</h2>
<p>Observers fear the £153 million lump sum is only a fraction of what is needed to enable staff to address the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/27/covid-toddlers-from-uks-poorest-families-hit-hardest-by-lockdown">widening</a> attainment gap for the most disadvantaged children. They also question whether it will ensure a healthy recovery for the early-years sector more broadly. </p>
<p>Professional development alone is not enough. Nursery workers are often paid little more than the minimum wage. Without improved salaries, this recovery package will only reinforce their perception that their skills and knowledge are <a href="https://cericleeds.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/invisible-keyworkers-why-responding-to-the-crisis-in-early-years-education-and-care-during-the-pandemic-must-address-working-conditions-for-early-years-workers/">not valued</a>. </p>
<p>Studies suggests that early-years education is “foundational” – an essential structure that underpins the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0958928716685689">economy</a> and <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022401">society</a>. <a href="https://childcare-during-covid.org/">Our ongoing research</a> into the impact of COVID on the sector lends weight to studies which indicate that the past year has placed <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/14990">significant financial strain</a> on providers. </p>
<p>Meanwhile <a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/news/2020/05/quarter-childcare-providers-fear-closure-within-year">a survey</a> conducted by the Early Years Alliance in May 2020, also found that one in four nurseries feared they would not reopen. While our research doesn’t indicate closures on this scale have or are taking place right now, the changes providers are making to adapt are likely to place greater strains on the workforce and threaten to undermine the quality of the education and care they provide. </p>
<p>Revenues plummeted when fewer children <a href="https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-the-early-years-december-2020/">attended nursery</a> due to the pandemic. The department of education’s subsequent decision to continue to provide funding at pre-pandemic levels did prevent many from falling into deficit. However, this measure was reversed in January 2021 and funding was altered to reflect actual attendance. </p>
<p>This is likely to have <a href="https://www.ceeda.co.uk/news/2019/early-years-sector-faces-a-quarter-of-a-billion-funding-cut-in-spring-term/">affected</a> those nurseries where attendance was lowest, which, our research suggests, will be those in areas of greatest deprivation. This will exacerbate the negative impact of the pandemic on the poorest families. </p>
<h2>Childcare crisis</h2>
<p>These pandemic-related losses have compounded <a href="https://theconversation.com/underpaid-and-undervalued-the-reality-of-childcare-work-in-the-uk-87413">long-standing</a> <a href="https://www.ceeda.co.uk/news/2019/time-for-a-sector-led-manifesto-for-early-years/">funding shortfalls</a> in early-years education. <a href="https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/news/2021/06/new-data-shows-ministers-knew-early-years-was-underfunded">New data</a> obtained by the Early Years Alliance through a freedom of information request shows that there is a shortfall of £2.60 per child for every hour that is funded through the government’s 30-hour so-called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/focusing-free-childcare-on-working-parents-is-short-sighted-44623">free</a>” childcare offer. </p>
<p>In response, nurseries and childminders are taking measures to compensate for their financial losses. Many are using their savings and taking on debt. More worryingly, others have also cut staffing hours. They are reducing hours, raising fees and increasing the child-to-staff ratios, which, research suggests, will <a href="https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/4642/1/RR320.pdf">lower the quality</a> of education and care. </p>
<p>The combination of these changes is likely to affect the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/853358/CEYSP_2019_Report.pdf">affordability</a> of childcare. Importantly, it’s also likely to undermine the quality of the education and care the children receive. </p>
<p>For parents, accessible and affordable childcare is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0958928718808421">essential</a> to both remaining in work and returning to work. We conducted a <a href="https://childcare-during-covid.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSSI_DWP_Impact-of-Covid-on-childcare_finalv2.pdf">survey</a> of 1,020 parents in England and Wales between January and February 2021. Of our respondents, 40% (344 parents) said that their ability to work was affected by childcare. Of these, one in ten had difficulty finding or securing a job because of problems accessing childcare during 2020. And almost one in five parents of the 344 said that a lack of childcare had an impact on their career progression.</p>
<p>Most parents who decided not to return to work after maternity or shared parental leave during the pandemic cited childcare and some, specifically the cost of childcare, as a significant factor. Research has shown that when childcare becomes more inaccessible and unaffordable, it is women who <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/documents/research/carrying-the-work-burden-of-covid-19/working-class-women-and-covid-final-report.pdf">disproportionately</a> pay the price in terms of their work and career progression. If this happens as a result of COVID, it will roll back decades of <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203978269/women-european-employment-colette-fagan-damian-grimshaw-jill-rubery-mark-smith">progress</a>. </p>
<p>The All Parties Parliamentary Group for Childcare and Early Education has <a href="https://connectpa.co.uk/early-years-catch-up-premium-needed/">called on</a> the chancellor Rishi Sunak and education secretary Gavin Williamson to fund a premium for the early-years of up to £3,000 per child. This echoes <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4827/call-for-extra-funding-for-early-years-care">the call</a> made by specialists at the University of Leeds, the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University for early-years provision to be more thoroughly included in COVID recovery plans. Responding to these urgent calls must be a government priority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Hardy receives funding from UKRI/ESRC. The Childcare during Covid research project is funded by the UKRI/ESRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Tomlinson and Xanthe Whittaker do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From nursery closures to families self-isolating, COVID has disrupted children’s access to pre-school care. This impacts their development, and their parents’ ability to workXanthe Whittaker, Research Fellow in Human Resource Management, University of LeedsJennifer Tomlinson, Professor of Gender and Employment Relations, University of LeedsKate Hardy, Associate Professor in Work and Employment Relations, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1608862021-05-19T14:13:33Z2021-05-19T14:13:33ZHow lockdown has affected children’s speech – and what parents can do to help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401550/original/file-20210519-19-hbjk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Learning to speak does not happen in a vaccum. Interaction with peers and the wider world is crucial</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/-Ux5mdMJNEA">charlein gracia | unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The pandemic means many children will have spent the best part of a year interacting much less than normal with teachers, friends and family. One of the big questions is how this will have changed the way they have learned to speak. Have lockdown and other COVID-19 measures affected how children acquire the speech and language skills so vital to their academic and social development? And if children’s speech has been held back, what can parents do about it?</p>
<p>A <a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-school-starters/">recent survey</a> of schools and parents, conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation, has found that children who started school in autumn 2020 <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56889035">needed more support</a> than in previous years. </p>
<p>The findings suggest that the greatest area of concern was communication and language development, in which 96% (55 out of 57) of schools said they were either “very concerned” or “quite concerned”. Close behind were personal, social and emotional development (91%) and literacy (89%), skills which are heavily reliant on the development of strong speech, language and communication abilities. </p>
<h2>Impact of lockdowns</h2>
<p>Parents have done an amazing job through the pandemic to keep their children safe and healthy. Having few activities available to them and restrictions on seeing extended family has been a challenge for many. </p>
<p>But this has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigating-the-role-of-language-in-childrens-early-educational-outcomes">reduced children’s exposure</a> to new vocabulary – to words we might use when we visit the farm, say, or go to see grandma. This is important as we <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigating-the-role-of-language-in-childrens-early-educational-outcomes">know</a> that vocabulary levels at age two predict children’s performance at school entry, which itself is predictive of later outcomes. </p>
<h2>Impact of mask wearing</h2>
<p>Widespread mask wearing during the pandemic has also made us realise how much we <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11008820">rely on lipreading</a>. Not being able to see lips move during speech, combined with the dampening effect that wearing a mask has on the sound produced, has made it difficult for us to understand what other people are saying. This is particularly a problem for the many children who experience <a href="https://rnid.org.uk/information-and-support/ear-health/common-ear-problems/glue-ear/?gclid=CjwKCAjwy42FBhB2EiwAJY0yQvhYp75DeQnBpsdCrmEu_zFRLa5HWEestED4PHxrUcnm5E8MzZ0kwBoCVSUQAvD_BwE">glue ear</a>, which can lead to temporary hearing loss, in early and middle childhood. </p>
<p>In school and pre-school, children may struggle to differentiate between similar sounds, such as “p” and “t”, when their teacher is wearing a mask. That can impact on a child’s speech development or their <a href="https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/child-learning-disabilities/reading-issues/phonological-awareness-what-it-is-and-how-it-works">phonological awareness</a>, which is the ability to break down words into speech sounds to assist with early reading and spelling acquisition. </p>
<p>Masks also obscure facial expression, which contributes to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781887/">how we understand</a> the meaning behind the words we hear. When this is taken away, not only is the potential for misunderstanding (and mislearning) increased but there can also be an impact on children’s development of <a href="https://theconversation.com/facial-expressions-are-key-to-first-impressions-what-does-that-mean-for-people-with-facial-paralysis-59359">social</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/face-masks-hide-our-facial-expressions-and-can-exacerbate-racial-bias-155250">emotional</a> skills. </p>
<h2>Access to therapy</h2>
<p>While lockdown has affected opportunities to promote speech and language development for all children, those who were already most at risk are likely to have been disproportionately affected. Many of these will be children who require speech and language therapy. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.rcslt.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Building-back-better-March2021.pdf">report</a> by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists found that 62% of children who needed speech and language therapy (from a survey of over 400 parents) received none during the first lockdown. Where possible, services were provided remotely. However, the same survey found that 19% of children did not like having speech and language therapy on video, while 12% could not cooperate with it. </p>
<p>Children born with cleft palate are one of several groups at high risk of problems with speech development. To investigate the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/dental/cleft-collective/news/2020/cvd19infographic.html">impact of the first lockdown</a>, researchers at the University of Bristol asked parents of children affected by this condition about how effective remote speech and language therapy provision had been. </p>
<p>Of 212 responses, 26% reported it was very effective while the remainder said it was somewhat effective (67%) or not at all effective (8%). Some parents reported that they felt the video appointments were “better than nothing”. </p>
<h2>What can be done to help?</h2>
<p>There are several key things that parents can do to support their child in learning to speak. From day one, talk to your baby about whatever they show an interest in. Use simple sentences and make your voice sound interesting by using lots of intonation and facial expression. Babies and toddlers like and need lots of repetition so if your child is looking at a bus then say lots about the bus, describing what it looks like, talking about how it moves and saying the word “bus” over and over again. </p>
<p>The same principles apply as children get older. Talk to them about the things which interest them. Respond to what your child says and does, so that they start to link words and sentences with meaning. Now that restrictions are easing, look for opportunities to develop your child’s vocabulary by visiting places such as libraries, city farms, parks and gardens and meeting up with friends and family.</p>
<p>For more ideas and support, organisations such as I CAN, the children’s communication charity, of which I am a trustee), have developed <a href="https://ican.org.uk/a-message-to-our-supporters-on-coronavirus/activities-to-develop-speaking-and-listening-skills/">resources</a> for parents to help pre-schoolers and primary-aged children with their speaking and listening. The Talking Point <a href="https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/">website</a> is another source of information for both parents and professionals who may be worried about a child’s speech and language development. </p>
<p>Most children will respond quickly. But for those who continue to struggle, talking to a health visitor or teacher and a speech and language therapist will help determine whether more support is needed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Wren is the founder and director of ChildSpeech, an independent speech and language therapy company. She receives research funding for her research from charities (The Underwood Trust, The Scar Free Foundation) and from the NIHR. She is a trustee for the children's communication charity, I CAN.</span></em></p>Children who started school in autumn 2020 needed more support than in previous years.Yvonne Wren, Senior research fellow and director, Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531212021-01-14T12:41:38Z2021-01-14T12:41:38ZKeeping nurseries open helps in the fight against inequality but ignores a low-paid and anxious workforce<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378544/original/file-20210113-13-1ep43o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5351%2C3562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/infant-school-boy-pointing-book-held-1279943923">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The current lockdown in England has seen schools closed, but – in a notable shift from the first lockdown in March 2020 – nurseries and other venues looking after young children have been told by the government to keep their doors open. To understand this decision, we need to look at the role and status of the sector. </p>
<p>Early years education has long been associated with <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/early-years-workforce-forgotten-key-workers-driven-out-by-low-pay-in-increasingly-volatile-sector">low pay</a> and extended working hours for its staff. Early years staff hold <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/early-years-teachers-doing-more-work-for-same-pay">diverse qualifications</a> that reflect piecemeal policy attempts to professionalise the sector. The sector is still perceived as overwhelmingly vocational, low-skilled work. </p>
<h2>Ongoing challenges</h2>
<p>Before the COVID-19 pandemic, early years employees described a sector adversely affected by <a href="https://tactyc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Occasional-Paper-15.pdf">long-term funding insecurity</a>. They pointed to an increase in the number of families experiencing economic hardship and a range of associated complex needs. This includes supporting children whose first language is not English and those with special educational needs and disabilities.</p>
<p>The decision to keep early years providers open was made by central government. The lack of consultation with <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/why-nurseries-open-lockdown-schools-closed-b695670.html">early years education providers</a> on this decision has been a <a href="https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1640297/nursery-staff-extremely-anxious-schools-tier-4-close-early-years-open">source of disappointment</a> and frustration to staff. </p>
<p>They point to a tired, anxious and overlooked workforce, unsure how to safely navigate their daily work and nervous of the risks their employment poses to <a href="https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1640297/nursery-staff-extremely-anxious-schools-tier-4-close-early-years-open">their own families</a>. It is impossible to socially distance from babies and toddlers, and they cannot socially distance themselves from each other. </p>
<p>But nurseries play a very important role in local communities. The decision to send children to nursery during lockdown is often the result of inequality. A suitable learning environment may simply not be available in the homes of many <a href="https://www.inpsyed.net/blog">economically disadvantaged families</a>, who may struggle with providing heating <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55634558">and technology</a> and often live in cramped and overcrowded conditions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Small girl playing with art supplies at nursery" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378548/original/file-20210113-13-1tjid6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nurseries provide support to children and families living in poverty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-preschooler-girl-cutting-colorful-paper-126500930">MNStudio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The part played by early years settings in reducing the impacts of socio-economic disadvantage has been widely recognised, <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-01-31/debates/0AD4FA19-0825-45E4-BAE6-DFC321FA5688/MaintainedNurserySchools">including by MPs</a>. Nurseries support families in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nursery-schools-are-a-secret-weapon-in-the-fight-against-inequality-142687">multitude of ways</a>, ranging from providing clothing to children to supporting parents with completing benefits paperwork. </p>
<p>Parents have met the news of nurseries staying open with mixed feelings and very different personal circumstances. Some have chosen to keep their children at home, while others have resolved to send their children in for economic reasons. Those parents in paid employment will be only too aware of the difficulties of home working and home schooling preschool age children from their experiences during the first lockdown. This age group requires a lot of hands-on care and supervision, as well as <a href="https://sotonpsychology.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d6VcwC01wqhRxfn">educational input and stimulation</a>. </p>
<h2>A point of contention</h2>
<p>Whether or not to keep nurseries open remains a point of debate, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggesting that they should <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/keir-starmer-says-nurseries-should-23292903">“probably be closed”</a>. But if nurseries close for all but vulnerable children and the children of key workers, the impact on parents and families is likely to be significant. </p>
<p>During the first lockdown, many of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable families were unable to access the valuable services that educational <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55138429">settings provide</a>. The consequences of this are rising levels of inequality – not just in economic terms but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/oct/10/britains-divided-school-system-report">socially and educationally</a>. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/06/the-guardian-view-on-educational-inequality-no-quick-fixes">impact of inequality</a> exacerbated by the pandemic may be felt for generations to come.</p>
<p>For working parents, the difficulty of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/coronavirus-working-from-home-parents-children-tips-routine-a9414261.html">managing childcare</a> alongside paid employment heaps pressure on to struggling families, affecting the affluent as well as those in poverty. But the effects have been, and will be, felt more keenly by poorer families.</p>
<p>For staff, keeping early years education open requires them to make significant personal sacrifices, so closing these settings is arguably the fairest option for them. But this requires financial support to furlough the staff and provide more structural economic support to families. </p>
<p>The question of whether to keep early years settings open or to close them is one with significant consequences and no easy answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153121/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Hoskins receives funding from the Froebel Trust and the British Academy.</span></em></p>Nurseries play a hugely important role in local communities.Kate Hoskins, Reader in Education, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1426872020-07-22T16:19:21Z2020-07-22T16:19:21ZWhy nursery schools are a secret weapon in the fight against inequality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348878/original/file-20200722-30-1nziqk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C995%2C703&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/nursery-children-playing-teacher-classroom-1235911417">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>State-funded nursery schools occupy a unique position in education. Serving children from two to four years old, they are disproportionately located in areas of deprivation – in 2015, 64% were in the 30% <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmeduc/1006/100605.htm">most deprived areas</a> in England. They also support higher-than-average proportions of <a href="https://www.early-education.org.uk/sites/default/files/Nursery%20Schools%20-%20The%20hidden%20benefits.pdf">children with additional needs</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://tactyc.org.uk/new-occasional-paper-15/">Our research</a>, conducted with four nursery schools, shows that the part they play in their local communities has expanded over the past decade. They now fill significant gaps in welfare provision in England. </p>
<p>Before the coronavirus pandemic, they provided support to children and families which ranged far beyond their educational role. Now, they are likely to be more vital than ever.</p>
<h2>Filling the gaps</h2>
<p>In recent years, there has been an increased focus on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425692.2016.1202748">measuring the effectiveness</a> of the youngest children at schools in England – from when they start in reception in the September after their fourth birthday. This has raised the stakes for all schools, who are required to meet national attainment standards. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Little girl playing with toy at nursery" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348881/original/file-20200722-16-bl5non.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nursery schools play a vital role in preparing children for their education journey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-play-kindergarten-747301111">Marko Poplasen/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Without high-quality early education, children who struggle stand little chance of meeting these attainment standards and catching up with their more advantaged peers. This is the vital service provided by nursery schools.</p>
<p>The purpose of nursery schools is to deliver high-quality early education to children before they enter primary school. The aim is develop their numeracy, literacy and social skills in particular. They are led by a head teacher and employ other qualified teachers. In July 2019 there were <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/845080/SCEYP_2019_Main_Report_Nov19.pdf">36,500 state nursery</a> school places available in England.</p>
<p>Our research found that nursery schools are indeed a critical provider of quality early years experiences for the most vulnerable children and those with special educational needs and disability. They make an important contribution in readying all children for school. One teacher in our study commented:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If there aren’t state-funded nursery schools, those children will not go anywhere. If they haven’t got the home life to support them, then that’s it, they’re always behind.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Above and beyond</h2>
<p>Our work also confirmed that nursery schools now provide substantial assistance to children and families beyond their role in education. This can range from providing clothing to support with completing social benefit forms. One manager told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s more than supporting a child, it’s supporting the whole family and hopefully the community around the school too. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the past, the most disadvantaged families were supported by <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/StopStart-FINAL.pdf">SureStart centres</a>, which provided healthcare and parenting advice, early education and other family services. However, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/05/1000-sure-start-childrens-centres-may-have-shut-since-2010">as many as 1,000</a> of these centres may have closed since 2010. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Nursery school children eating snacks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348887/original/file-20200722-24-1xh92k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nursery schools have seen the services they provide increase.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teacher-pre-school-children-eating-healthy-342598889">SpeedKingz/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nursery schools have absorbed these additional areas of need, and staff have seen their role evolve and workloads increase. One nursery school teacher commented:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For children it’s not just about literacy and numeracy, it’s much more. There are lots of things that they often need support with, their physical development, their toileting, their feeding, their sleeping. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The expansion in the role played by nursery schools is directly linked to the <a href="https://imx07wlgmj301rre1jepv8h0-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Occasional-Paper-15.pdf">austerity policies</a> of the past decade. The reduction in funding for all areas of the welfare state has led to significant contractions in support available, especially in relation to the availability of housing and benefits for families out of work or struggling to make ends meet. </p>
<h2>Complex role</h2>
<p>The consequences of these changes are keenly felt by nursery school staff. They reported that their role has become increasingly complex, as they cater to more children with special educational needs and disabilities as well as recent migrants and children who speak English as an additional language. All four nursery schools in our study had seen a marked increase in demand for places for children in these groups.</p>
<p>Concerns among staff over whether these demands are sustainable led to tensions in the schools we visited. One of the nursery managers commented that in some instances, they have to provide children with one-to-one support:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no funding for that at the moment. But we have to do it for that child, so we do, which obviously can put a strain on the rest of the nursery. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>These efforts resulted in over-stretched resources, to the detriment of the staff and children. Furthermore, even these efforts are under threat, given the current <a href="https://www.early-education.org.uk/sites/default/files/Signed%20letter%20to%20Chancellor%20re%20MNS%20Feb%202020.docx.pdf">long-term funding uncertainty</a> facing nursery schools in England.</p>
<p>Our study confirms the vital role nursery schools play in local communities, and especially in supporting children from poorer or disadvantaged families. The aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic will only increase this, as unemployment is <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/economy-business/work-incomes/coronavirus-which-workers-are-economically-impacted/">disproportionately affecting</a> vulnerable and minority ethnic families. Nursery schools have <a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2020/07/17/calls-on-government-to-make-early-years-central-to-covid-fightback-with-a-new-best-beginnings-guarantee/">never been more important</a> to level the playing field.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142687/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Hoskins has previously received funding from the Froebel Trust and Brunel University London's RDF fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Bradbury receives funding from Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy, and previously from the National Education Union and the More than a Score campaign group. She is affiliated with More than a Score. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lewis Fogarty does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>State-funded nursery schools now fill significant gaps in welfare provision in England.Kate Hoskins, Reader in Education, Brunel University LondonAlice Bradbury, Associate Professor in Sociology of Education, UCLLewis Fogarty, Doctoral Candidate in Education, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1324772020-07-09T19:18:41Z2020-07-09T19:18:41ZKids’ physical activity before age 5 matters so much because of the developing brain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345586/original/file-20200703-33939-1ge0j58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C217%2C4997%2C3212&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both when planning family activities and choosing a child care provider, parents should be mindful of how much physical activity their children are getting.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/parenting-during-covid-19.html">current pandemic</a> many parents of young children are finding themselves spending more time in the role of caregiver than usual. Keeping young children physically active and miminizing screen time while parents manage work schedules may be a serious challenge.</p>
<p>But even before families became more confined to home due to closures and social distancing, children were not getting enough physical activity. The <a href="https://www.participaction.com/en-ca/resources/children-and-youth-report-card">2020 ParticipACTION report card</a> report card gives children and youth’s physical activity in Canada a D+. The report says less than one in five children and youth in Canada meet guidelines for sedentary behaviours, physical activity and sleep.</p>
<p>Our research investigates young children’s physical literacy, in their “early years,” <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd">from birth to age six</a>. </p>
<p>The International Physical Literacy Association defines <a href="http://physicalliteracy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Consensus-Handout-EN-WEB_1.pdf">physical literacy</a> as “the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life.” </p>
<p>Both when children are at home and when they are in care, parents are encouraged to consider how adults are supporting children’s physical development. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345546/original/file-20200703-25-ia99gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adults who positively model physical activity set a sound foundation for children’s motivation and confidence to value and enjoy being physically active.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Neural pathways</h2>
<p>The importance of early childhood physical literacy development should not be overlooked. The <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/">brain connections and neural pathways</a> that are formed before the age of five set the foundations for how the brain will develop throughout life.</p>
<p>This not only applies to the social, emotional and cognitive areas of development (or “<a href="https://edi.offordcentre.com/researchers/domains-and-subdomains/">domains</a>”) but also the physical. There is strong <a href="https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full/10.1139/H07-112#.XpJ2g3J7lPY">support for physical activity in the early years</a>, and researchers have reported that time spent in this critical developmental period focusing on physical development through physical activity and active play has <a href="https://activeforlife.com/the-brain-building-benefits-of-physical-literacy/">many benefits</a>. </p>
<p>Physically, this includes improved co-ordination and higher levels of fitness. Socially, this means improved co-operation and sharing with others. Emotionally, this means better management of emotions and overall behaviour. </p>
<p>Young children who are regularly engaged in physical activities also demonstrate cognitive benefits, including improved attention, problem-solving and persistence in tasks.</p>
<p>Research has shown that providing physical activity and active play in the early years <a href="http://thesportjournal.org/article/preschool-childrens-level-of-proficiency-in-motor-skills-and-the-level-of-their-physical-fitness-as-adolescents/">positively relates with motor skill ability, fitness levels and physical activity in adolescence</a> and beyond. All these have positive relationships to overall health and wellness.</p>
<h2>Unprecedented screen time</h2>
<p>Young children in Canada are growing up with unprecedented access to digital media and technology, which has led to <a href="https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/screen-time-and-young-children">some concerns among health professionals</a>. </p>
<p>From a young age, children are enticed with bright and colourful screens and sometimes are just as likely to play games on a phone as they are to play with a ball on the floor, test their balance or ride a tricycle. Consequently, in comparison to previous generations, more children today are <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2229567/The-children-held-school-lazy-lifestyles-mean-t-stand-leg.html">entering school lacking basic physical skills</a>. In the province of Manitoba, more than a quarter (26.7 per cent) of children in kindergarten in 2018-19 <a href="https://www.gov.mb.ca/healthychild/edi/index.html">did not meet motor skill expectations for their age</a>. </p>
<p>It’s now more important than ever before that those caring for young children consider opportunities for physical development. </p>
<h2>Adults play critical role</h2>
<p>Each person’s physical literacy journey will take its own path, but adults play a crucial role in this journey by providing a range of opportunities and modelling an active lifestyle. </p>
<p>Being active as a family is the primary way children will build positive habits for physical activity, particularly before <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0223928">time spent with peers</a> becomes an important factor.</p>
<p>Our previous research measured physical activity levels <a href="https://www.scapps.org/jems/index.php/1/article/view/1428">in children and found, on average, kids walked 3,604 fewer steps on a typical weekend day compared to school days</a>.
Because parents have a role in children’s physical activity and children typically spend weekends with parents, finding ways to increase family weekend physical activity is important.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345543/original/file-20200703-33947-4lftmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being active as a family shapes how children develop habits and confidence in physical activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early childhood education</h2>
<p>Some children may also not find <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-in-childcare-are-not-getting-enough-moderate-to-vigorous-intensity-physical-activity-125866">adequate physical activity in child care</a>. </p>
<p>One study of a sample of about 400 early learning and child care practitioners found that they saw their key responsibilities as <a href="https://carleton.ca/cmi/when-and-how-do-we-introduce-number-concepts-in-child-care/">promoting social, emotional, and cognitive development — especially numeracy and literacy</a>. This could suggest that children’s physical development and learning may not always take equal priority for practitioners, although <a href="https://lawson.ca/wp-content/uploads/OutdoorPlayInfoGraphic.pdf">regulatory issues and environments</a> can also influence what happens in early learning and care programs.</p>
<p>Providing early childhood caregivers with physical literacy knowledge is one way to influence <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743516301025">more physical literacy development opportunities for children</a>. </p>
<p>One strategy to begin addressing this issue is through education resources such as the <a href="https://www.york.ca/wps/wcm/connect/yorkpublic/681484dd-21a5-49ef-899e-f844d970b4f9/Physical+Literacy+Handbook+for+ECE.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=mLV.M0M">Physical Literacy Handbook for Early Childhood Educators</a>. Programs for early childhood caregivers and parents can also help underscore how physical learning, development and engagement is related to other key developmental outcomes. </p>
<h2>Movement for Life program</h2>
<p>We partnered with the City of Winnipeg Community Services department to create the <a href="https://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/wcm-docs/docs/WCSP/movement_for_life_-_overview_letter.pdf">Movement for Life! program</a> focused on physical literacy development in the early years.</p>
<p>The program, aimed at early childhood caregivers including parents, combines a three-hour educational workshop, a participant handbook and practical sessions facilitated by <a href="https://fitkidshealthykids.ca/">Fit Kids Healthy Kids</a>. </p>
<p>During these sessions, children participate in activities related to physical literacy, while caregivers observe and learn strategies to facilitate these. The goal of the program is that participants will gain confidence, understanding and competence in providing opportunities in physical literacy for very young children.</p>
<p>Our research, to date, on the <a href="https://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/wcm-docs/docs/WCSP/iplc_2019_poster-_movement_for_life_-_gregg_hall_toulman__may_6_.pdf">Movement for Life!</a> program shows that early childhood caregivers who participate in the program are more confident in their ability to offer physical activities that develop children’s motivation, confidence, competence, knowledge and understanding related to engagement in physical activities. </p>
<h2>Don’t need to be Olympians</h2>
<p>Parents don’t need to be Olympians to get kids active. <a href="https://activeforlife.com/activities/">Simple games</a> and making the most of opportunities to be active are perfect ways to get young kids and families moving together.</p>
<p>The early years are critical for establishing a strong foundation for human growth in all developmental domains. </p>
<p>Sharing knowledge and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282817457_Physical_Literacy_in_Early_Childhood_Exploring_Possibilities_and_Increasing_Opportunities">strategies</a>, as well as providing enhanced training to those who can most influence physical literacy in young children, is a great place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Hall receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Gregg receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>When young children are active, their brains and bodies develop the ABCs of “physical literacy,” a key developmental foundation. A new program from University of Winnipeg can help.Nathan Hall, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Brock UniversityMelanie Gregg, Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology, University of WinnipegLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1366692020-06-22T16:21:05Z2020-06-22T16:21:05ZCoronavirus school closures could widen inequities for our youngest students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341631/original/file-20200614-153867-1tvjse6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C26%2C4343%2C2673&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The interruption to young children's learning is happening precisely at a time when developmental gains matter most. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 may appear indiscriminate in how it infects people, but its greatest effect will be on the most vulnerable. </p>
<p>The coronavirus has uncovered myriad inequities within systems of education, from childrens’ and families’ access to resources, to the supportive and safe environments that are necessary for optimal learning. Inequities are exponentially greater in times of crisis. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse">Canada, more than 2.3 million</a> primary-age children remain at home. Challenges of inequity were immediately apparent as <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-how-different-provinces-have-handled-the-school-closures/">public school authorities began responding</a>. </p>
<p>Privileged families with stable home environments will find themselves able to navigate and circumvent around school closures and find and use alternate and various learning resources, while families facing inequities will be most impacted by these challenges.</p>
<p>For the youngest children in our schools, the cumulative effects of inequities are particularly concerning. The interruption to their learning is happening precisely at a time when crucial developmental gains matter most, since these gains provide an important <a href="https://edi.offordcentre.com/about/what-is-the-edi">foundation for child well-being, competence, skills and maturation.</a> This disruption, if left unaddressed, may shift childrens’ developmental trajectories.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-quality-early-childhood-education-reduces-need-for-later-special-ed-112275">New research shows quality early childhood education reduces need for later special ed</a>
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<h2>Remote learning</h2>
<p>For our youngest learners, schools are responding in variable ways. In Ontario, for example, the province set out minimum requirements for students from kindergarten to Grade 3 at <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/letter-ontarios-parents-minister-education#section-0">five hours per week with a focus on literacy and numeracy</a>. The province has also more <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/letter-ontarios-parents-minister-education#section-0">recently stressed the importance of mental health</a> of children. </p>
<p>Young <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1220771">children learn through inquiry and self-directed, play-based community learning</a> that is supported by responsive, stable, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.05.028">educator-child interactions</a>. </p>
<p>Having teachers post resources online may be important to families with the capacities to engage with them, and using the internet to maintain relationships could be helpful in some cases. To meet the remote learning requirements stipulated by education authorities, some early childhood teachers are offering <a href="https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/publications/ell_home_learning_kindergarten.pdf">at-home learning strategies</a> or minimal to frequent online meetings to deliver various curricula and support children. </p>
<p>But it’s important for policy-makers and the public to understand something already very clear to early childhood educators and teachers: online delivery of education cannot substitute for in-person learning. Learning on a screen is not how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1220771">young children learn the foundational</a> and developmental skills they need. </p>
<p>How realistic it is for all families to follow the varied instruction that schools are offering is questionable, if not deeply problematic. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341632/original/file-20200614-153839-umjwlc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children whose parents or caregivers are most available at home will benefit most from remote learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Inequities will be magnified</h2>
<p>Public education <a href="https://www.unicef.ca/sites/default/files/2018-10/UNICEFReportCard%2015CanadianCompanionENGLISH.pdf">serves as an equalizer</a> in our society. But jurisdictional and national averages gloss over the evident inequities for Indigenous children, Black and racialized communities, children and families in shelters or government care, those with special needs and those living in poverty. </p>
<p>In the pandemic, the equalizing properties of education are now being eclipsed by child and parent ableism. This means that students and families who have internet and technology access, housing and food security and quiet and safe environments that are conducive to learning will be poised to benefit most from remote learning. Remote learning will further exacerbate the inequities that already exist.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/writing-and-reading-starts-with-childrens-hands-on-play-125182">Writing and reading starts with children's hands-on play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is not to say that teachers offering online time is not important. Educators are in a unique position of regular and almost daily contact with isolated families. Online time can support emotional and social well-being and referral to necessary services. For this reason, family check-ins should be a priority. </p>
<p>But let’s acknowledge that there will be a lot of catching up to do when children return to school. </p>
<h2>Family struggles</h2>
<p>As learning <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/coronavirus-school-closures-canada-1.5495075">transitioned online</a>, many parents struggle with homeschooling due to <a href="https://tdsb.on.ca/News/Article-Details/ArtMID/474/ArticleID/1459/TDSB-Seeks-Funding-for-Technology--Back-to-School-Transition">limited technology and resources.</a> Single-parent families, <a href="https://jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(18)30344-7/fulltext">individuals with mental health challenges</a>, those with children with <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/covid-19-pandemic-taking-harder-toll-on-parents-families-taking-care-of-children-living-with-autism-1.4908808">special needs</a> or with multiple children <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/parents-opt-out-distance-learning-1.5548215">report feeling overwhelmed</a>. In homes marred by <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/gender-based-violence-and-covid-19">family violence</a>, the respite offered by school is gone.</p>
<p>Essential workers may not be home to support childrens’ learning. Those who continue to work from home must do so with a balance of child care, education and their own job demands, with much of the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-opinion-coronavirus-gender-economic-impact-job-numbers/">weight put on women</a>. </p>
<h2>Social and emotional well-being</h2>
<p>The social and emotional well-being of <a href="https://oecdedutoday.com/coronavirus-school-closures-student-equity-inclusion/">families, children and educators is critical.</a> Maintaining responsive interactions and <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/05/14/connection-not-real-time-teaching-is-priority-for-crisis-education.html?fbclid=IwAR3snSh8nkpi_rQmau77dk1RA_Uq6J7JYrYyU4aYslitMQPtnvjpEASpsIQ">social relationships between educators, children and families</a> will help support well-being. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341637/original/file-20200614-153867-1qp1791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How we respond to these incalculable disruptions in children’s lives will determine their outcome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Potential changes in policies by ministries responsible for children and education may be necessary as we transition back to in-person schooling. Changes in teaching approaches will be important prior to a COVID-19 vaccine to ensure physical distancing health guidelines are not inadvertently having a negative impact on children’s learning and development. </p>
<p>School authorities and child-care operators must focus on professional learning of their educators focusing on supporting children as they transition back. Approaches used to support refugees in order to narrow learning gaps may be useful.</p>
<p>Flexibility is required. Policies may need to change in real time. Unions may be required to be nimble, <a href="https://oecdedutoday.com/how-teachers-school-systems-respond-coronavirus-talis/">allowing educators to meet the needs and challenges of children</a> and their learning.</p>
<h2>Focus on early childhood</h2>
<p>School authorities, public health and government ministries responsible for children and education must collaborate in order to create inclusive, supportive and safe environments, especially during transitions. </p>
<p>Co-ordinated public health responses should include input from school authorities and early childhood experts who know best how children learn. Educators are skilled at maintaining classroom safety and hygiene without impeding childrens’ development. </p>
<p>The enduring social and emotional impacts will likely be COVID-19’s greatest legacy, compounding inequities and widening inequality. How we respond to these incalculable disruptions will determine their outcome. Social and emotional well-being, the foundations of learning and lifelong success should be top priorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emis Akbari receives funding from federal government of Canada, Atkinson Foundation, Lawson Foundation, Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation</span></em></p>Remote contact with families in the coronavirus emergency is critical, but learning on a screen is not how young children will gain the foundational and developmental skills they need.Emis Akbari, Adjunct Professor, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at Ontario Institute for the Study of Education (OISE), University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1282822020-03-08T12:52:54Z2020-03-08T12:52:54ZMathematical thinking begins in the early years with dialogue and real-world exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315557/original/file-20200214-11040-19h3m27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C110%2C5613%2C3595&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The extent to which parents and educators encourage children to think mathematically in the years before they enter grade one are critically important for math foundations. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s natural to think that mathematics is primarily about numbers. In school, we first learn how to recite numbers and then spend considerable time writing them down and manipulating them on paper. Of course, numerals (the written notation for numbers), along with other symbols, are critical for communicating ideas about quantities and expressing how they relate to each other. </p>
<p>But what appears to be lost in conversations about school mathematics, however, is that mathematics is <a href="https://fieldsmathed.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40928-018-0011-4">primarily about thinking</a>. </p>
<p>Rather than debating whether “<a href="https://tapintoteenminds.com/memorization-automaticity/">discovery learning</a>” or “<a href="https://theconversation.com/ontario-math-has-always-covered-the-basics-115445">the basics</a>” are most important for children, more attention is needed to support the development of children’s thinking about quantities and space. </p>
<p>A considerable amount of research now shows that children’s success in school depends on the extent to which parents and educators encourage them to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2008.tb00054.x">think mathematically in the years before they enter Grade 1</a>. </p>
<p>It is possible — necessary, even — to focus on children’s thinking about numeracy in the early years so they begin their formal education on the right foot.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315577/original/file-20200215-10995-lwzgho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More attention is needed to support the development of children’s thinking about quantities and space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Talking about math</h2>
<p>Imagine you are having a conversation with a group of kindergarteners. You read them a story about two children at grandma’s house who are sharing four cookies equally. You engage them in a conversation about how many cookies each child gets. Some of the children take out play cookies and act it out. Others draw pictures to think about the problem. </p>
<p>Then you ask what would happen if two more children came to the table. Would each child get more, fewer or the same number of cookies? How do you know? </p>
<p>In such a situation, children engage in a lively discussion about equivalence, partitioning and distributing and comparing quantities.</p>
<p>There are numerous benefits to these types of conversations. Clearly, there are cognitive and social advantages to children of articulating and justifying their thinking. The point here, however, is <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-12895-1">that children are engaging with concepts that are foundational to the elementary curriculum</a>: concepts such as the meaning of division, the importance of equal partitions and what happens to each share when the divisor (the number of sharers) gets bigger. </p>
<p>Also important to note is that the children are grappling with important mathematical ideas without writing down formal representations, such as numerals or the signs for division (÷) or equals (=). </p>
<p><a href="https://dreme.stanford.edu/news/make-statement-math-how-get-kids-and-you-talking-about-math">Reflecting on concepts and thinking about what they mean is at the heart of mathematics</a>; such activity is not only possible in the early years, it’s essential. It needs to be present throughout all the years of a child’s mathematical development, in school and out.</p>
<h2>Children’s mathematical ideas</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.concordia.ca/faculty/helena-osana.html">students and collaborators in our research lab</a> at Concordia University are finding that children are capable <a href="https://mfr.ca-1.osf.io/render?url=https://osf.io/9tqe5/?direct%26mode=render%26action=download%26mode=render">of engaging with many big ideas</a> that span the mathematics curriculum: multiplication, division, estimation, equivalence, place value, fractions and even algebraic reasoning. </p>
<p>This is not to suggest that their ideas are fully mature or that they are proficient in expressing their ideas formally. Indeed, these ideas emerge from explorations with objects and actions in real-world contexts. </p>
<p>Extending and refining children’s intuitive, yet deeply mathematical ideas, and giving them the symbols to more efficiently represent these ideas thus become the primary objective of mathematics teaching in school. </p>
<p>For example, a kindergartener can understand that if she has five spoons and her friend also has five spoons, they have the same number of objects. A Grade 1 teacher can then show this student the symbol for expressing numerical equivalence with the use of the equal sign symbol (5 = 5). A five-year-old child can show how three people can share one chocolate bar equally by partitioning a rectangle into three equal parts. Or, a Grade 1 teacher can show this child how to express the quantity each person receives, both in words, “one-third,” and numerically as “1/3.” </p>
<p>Such symbols, and the generalizations they represent, can in turn be used to build more complex ideas, thus revealing the cumulative and iterative nature of mathematics learning. </p>
<p>Without a focus on meaning at all levels of teaching, children who spend time in school manipulating numbers on a piece of paper, for example, are unlikely to develop their mathematical understanding.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315578/original/file-20200215-11000-1bybcj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s mathematical ideas are ideally nurtured well before they become proficient in writing down formal representations such as numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The early years</h2>
<p>We now know that if children are not exposed to important mathematical ideas through activity and conversation in the early years, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0031721715614831">they will lack important foundations for Grade 1</a> and, most importantly, it will become increasingly difficult for them to catch up to their more equipped peers in school. </p>
<p>This effect is prominent for many <a href="https://doi.org/10.17226/12519">children living in poverty who are particularly at risk for early numeracy difficulties</a>. Children often lack key foundational competencies when they enter kindergarten having had little exposure to “math talk” in the home.</p>
<p>Although it is never too late to help a child who is struggling in mathematics, the opportunities to close the gap become fewer and fewer as children progress through the school system. </p>
<p>Preparing young children for learning mathematics in school means having conversations with them about mathematical ideas, but it does not mean, for instance, adapting a Grade 1 curriculum in early childhood settings. </p>
<p>Rather, it means laying groundwork by engaging children in ideas that will allow for the development of mathematical proficiency throughout their schooling. In this way, there is no qualitative difference between numeracy in early childhood settings and mathematics in elementary school. </p>
<p>A first step in engaging young children in foundational numeracy concepts is recognizing the continuity in children’s development, which will provide a clearer view on how to help them at any age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128282/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helena Osana receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Math is not primarily about numbers, but about thinking. It all begins with parent-child conversations about mathematical ideas.Helena Osana, Professor, Concordia University Research Chair in Mathematical Cognition and Instruction, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1023722018-09-05T10:40:34Z2018-09-05T10:40:34ZSix ways that tablets really can transform teaching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234309/original/file-20180830-195322-hifggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-school-concept-supplies-tablet-on-211402468?src=AxWOJ7ENfqj9Ay8Y09y02w-1-44">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The holidays may be over – but the debate over young people and screen time continues. And as anxious parents prepare children for the start of a new school term, many will have concerns about what exposure to technology they will have in the classroom.</p>
<p>The UK education secretary Damian Hinds has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/07/uk-schools-silicon-valley-tech-industry-urged-foster-education-revolution">challenged the technology industry</a> to spearhead a classroom revolution. He wants more classrooms to take advantage of the gadgets and software available which enable pupils to go on “virtual trips” or “control robots”. </p>
<p>Hinds is right to see the potential that technology has to transform teaching and learning. High quality educational apps available on smart phones and tablets really can help raise attainment, and provide a unique learning experience. </p>
<p>Over the past five years, we have been conducting an <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.225.00009/event_abstract">international research project</a>
evaluating a series of educational apps developed by the British charity <a href="https://onebillion.org/">onebillion</a>. </p>
<p>These interactive apps are designed specifically to support early years numeracy and literacy skills. They are available in different languages and enable children to learn independently and at their own pace. There is even an “in-app” teacher who guides them through the curriculum-based content. </p>
<p>Children interact with the apps by touching, dragging, and dropping objects to answer questions. Their learning levels are then assessed through quizzes.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sq0eN-axrLk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>So far, we have found many positive results from using these apps in early years education. Here are some of the things they can do: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Improve learning outcomes – these apps significantly raise attainment in key skills such as mathematics and literacy (when used alongside standard teaching methods). </p></li>
<li><p>Foster an inclusive learning environment – children with special educational needs and disabilities can learn effectively with these apps. This gives teachers a tool for providing high quality education for children with specific needs alongside mainstream classroom peers.</p></li>
<li><p>Support cognitive development – when using educational apps to acquire specific skills, such as mathematics, core cognitive skills can also develop. When children in Malawi used interactive maths apps on a daily basis for eight weeks, their attention and concentration skills also improved.</p></li>
<li><p>Promote development of non-cognitive skills – teachers in Malawi and the UK using the same interactive apps to support early mathematical and literacy skills, reported that children become more confident and independent in their learning.</p></li>
<li><p>Bridge home/school divides – these apps are also available for parents to download and are easy to use, so can support learning at home.</p></li>
<li><p>Equalise access – as these apps are available in different languages, are easy to use by teachers and parents, and promote self-paced learning, they can be used in different settings, equalising access to high quality education for all.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The apps are currently being implemented by <a href="https://vsointernational.org/">Voluntary Service Overseas</a> in Malawi in their flagship international development programme, <a href="https://unlockingtalent.org/">Unlocking Talent through Technology</a>. They have also been implemented in 15 schools across Nottinghamshire with <a href="http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52319/9/Math%202018-30648-001.pdf">promising results</a>. So far, children using the app for 12 weeks (for 30 minutes a day) were up to four months ahead of their peers. The app was particularly beneficial for children struggling with maths.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234831/original/file-20180904-45166-1nqyfq2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Appy’ children at a school in Nottingham, UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marc Faulder</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it’s not just about numbers. Educational apps can also be used by teachers and children to create their own imaginative content, and connect classrooms worldwide. <a href="http://jmilnereducation.wixsite.com/storiesofalifetime">Stories of a Lifetime</a> is a global literacy project run by Marc Faulder (in the UK) and Jason Milner (in Australia), which creates a library of local stories and myths, told by children in their own words and animations. Part of Apple’s “<a href="https://www.apple.com/uk/education/apple-distinguished-educator/">Distinguished Educators</a>” programme, it enables teachers across the world to share their children’s stories in way which promotes digital literacy, communication skills and a sense of identity.</p>
<h2>Teaching the teachers</h2>
<p>But while tablets have considerable potential to transform teaching, teachers themselves need to be <a href="https://enabling-environments.co.uk/">skilled and confident</a> in using this technology creatively. To revolutionise learning through technology, greater opportunities for professional development of teachers is needed. </p>
<p>Tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Google already offer introductory and specialised training for teachers in using tablet technology effectively in the classroom. But for technology to enhance learning universally, training should be an integral part of professional development. </p>
<p>Those currently in the profession, and those studying to become teachers, would benefit from being taught how to use apps and tablets to improve learning in all subject areas – even if that means the adults having a bit more screen time, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Pitchford receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Education Endowment Foundation, and the Royal Norwegian Embassy to support this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura A. Outhwaite receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to support this research.</span></em></p>A brief guide for teachers and parents on tech in the classroom.Nicola Pitchford, Professor of Developmental Psychology, University of NottinghamLaura Outhwaite, PhD candidate in Applied Psychology and Education, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/874132018-04-20T08:50:24Z2018-04-20T08:50:24ZUnderpaid and undervalued: the reality of childcare work in the UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215436/original/file-20180418-163975-1uf1xef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=JKqcTL2H4CmPtqxwWaEtTA-1-1">shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the important job they do, wages for people working in childcare <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0958928717719196">tend to be low</a>. These workers earn less than the average wage across all UK employment sectors and barely half that of <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1159248/early-years-pay-and-conditions-survey-2016">qualified teachers</a>. </p>
<p>In the latest <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2016">government provider survey</a>, it was found almost 20% of day nursery workers in England earn less than the national living wage – including 10% of those aged 25 and over. </p>
<p>In contrast, qualified teachers working in state nursery schools, children’s centres or state primary nursery classes <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-teachers-pay-and-conditions">receive nationally agreed pay</a> and employment conditions. </p>
<p>This is partly because, since 1998 and the introduction of universal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-policy-and-society/article/div-classtitlethe-interface-between-childcare-family-support-and-child-poverty-strategies-under-new-labour-tensions-and-contradictionsdiv/561079E5D07DAD0B3EFAE6A278E463EA#">entitlement to early education</a> for all three- and four-year-olds, early education is no longer required to be delivered by graduate teachers – except in state nursery schools and nursery classes attached to state primaries. </p>
<p>Instead, working with children in private sector settings – such as day nurseries, preschools and playgroups – are early childhood practitioners with a range of childcare qualifications, or none. Some may be graduates, some may be school leavers.</p>
<h2>Low pay, low status</h2>
<p>This matters because <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1476718X10387900">research</a> into childcare quality shows a direct link between workers’ qualification levels, <a href="http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports/ecec-report-pdf">their pay and conditions</a> and service quality. In other words, the more qualified and better paid the workers, the better the educational and care experience children receive.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215432/original/file-20180418-164001-19th9no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Time spent at nursery has the potential to be hugely influential.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=fvwl9ZqhtzD2GWYDh37eMQ-1-7">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research has shown what matters to those working with young children <a href="https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef1469en.pdf">includes competitive wages</a> and benefits. As well as reasonable workloads, competent and supportive managers and opportunities for development. Research has also shown that a supportive environment for nursery workers can have a positive impact on <a href="http://ecec-care.org/fileadmin/careproject/Publications/reports/CARE_WP3_D3_2_Professional_Development_and_its_Impact_on_Children.pdf">children’s development and childcare quality</a>.</p>
<p>All of these factors also increase the likelihood of staff retention and motivation for quality interactions with children. Yet despite this, these aspects of childcare provision are not regulated by the government and are left to be determined by the industry itself.</p>
<h2>Woman’s work?</h2>
<p>One of the reasons for this is the gender imbalance within the workforce. Childcare is still seen as woman’s work, and <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/reducing-gender-inequalities-create-sustainable-care-system">is often undervalued</a>. Men form only 3% of the <a href="http://www.seepro.eu/English/Projekt.htm">UK childcare workforce</a>. </p>
<p>Attempts to change this dynamic – by emphasising the educational dimension – have done little so far to raise <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jped.2017.8.issue-1/jped-2017-0001/jped-2017-0001.xml?format=INT">the status of English childcare practitioners</a>. This is despite the fact that childcare workforce qualification levels have been <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/593646/SFR09_2017_Main_Text.pdf">steadily rising</a> and an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175463/Nutbrown-Review.pdf">independent review</a> recommended that graduate childcare practitioners should have the opportunity to become qualified teachers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215431/original/file-20180418-163991-1sy0h9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many nursery school workers are poorly paid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=fvwl9ZqhtzD2GWYDh37eMQ-1-68">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, the government has offered graduates interested in working with young children various training pathways. But these don’t offer the same packages that qualified teachers get – such as better pay and conditions, as well as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596884/Workforce_strategy_02-03-2017.pdf">improved career prospects</a>. Unsurprisingly, enthusiasm for such <a href="https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/EPI_-Early-Years-Workforce.pdf">training routes</a> has proved limited and <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1160816/report-calls-for-qts-for-devalued-early-years-teachers%20and%20qualification%20levels%20are%20now%20falling">many courses have closed</a>. </p>
<h2>International perspectives</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1350293X.2013.814321">Nordic countries</a>, on the other hand, have much smaller pay differentials within their early years workforce and the job is much more respected. Statistics from a <a href="http://www.seepro.eu/English/Projekt.htm">2017 report</a> show that Denmark has achieved the best gender balance within its early years workforce. Here, 13% of staff are male. </p>
<p>Across the age range, well paid early years teachers in Denmark work alongside assistants – whose training differs from schoolteachers. As early childhood is viewed as a distinct life stage, the childcare system is also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/feb/18/britain-learn-denmark-childcare-model">completely separate from the school system</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215435/original/file-20180418-163971-eq6y0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In other countries, early years education is seen as highly important.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=fvwl9ZqhtzD2GWYDh37eMQ-1-59">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd.org/edu/school/ECECDCN-Germany.pdf">Similarly in Germany</a>, the early years workforce is much less of a hierarchy. Most of those working with children under six have a three-year post-secondary qualification – only 4% are qualified to degree level. And in France, even childminders have their basic <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/analysis/1097583/frances-childcare-french-lessons">pay and conditions regulated by government</a>.</p>
<h2>Affordable childcare</h2>
<p>In other EU countries, parents’ fees for nursery are income related, or waived for the poorest. Price capping is also used to <a href="http://www.cwrc.ac.uk/documents/CostsofchildcareJuly2013.pdf">keep childcare affordable</a>.</p>
<p>In Finland, the state still provides completely free childcare. And in many countries, governments cover more than 80% of the direct costs. Compare this with early years spending in the UK which is more than 20% lower – and considerably <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/education-at-a-glance-19991487.htm">lower than even the OECD average</a>. In fact, the UK and Japan are the only OECD member states where 50% of early years spending comes from private sources – such as parental income. </p>
<p>In the UK, funding for early education is paid directly by the government to state schools, academies and private childcare businesses. Parents then have to pay all additional childcare costs upfront. For a child under two spending 25 hours a week in a day nursery, <a href="https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-survey-2017">parents can pay anything</a> from £100 up to £154.</p>
<p>Although some parents can then claim part of these costs back – through the benefits or tax credit systems – this forms a huge barrier. Particularly so for <a href="https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-survey-2017">parents in irregular or self-employment</a>. It also deters childcare businesses from raising fees further to invest in their workers. </p>
<h2>Baby steps</h2>
<p>A recent government report said this was a “fundamental design flaw” and one that was in <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmtreasy/757/757.pdf">urgent need of rectification</a>. It was hoped that the recent roll-out of the 30 hours of free childcare for three- and four-year-olds of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/30-hours-free-childcare-launches">working parents</a> would help to change matters – and make childcare more accessible and affordable. </p>
<p>But given that the free childcare initiative requires a significant expansion of the early years workforce, this may be tricky. Without improving training, pay and employment conditions, the chances of creating a high quality, equitable and sustainable childcare system seem remote.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87413/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eva Lloyd has carried out research for the Department for Education and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. </span></em></p>Why does childcare work have such a status problem in Britain?Eva Lloyd, Professor of Early Childhood, Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/892752017-12-25T20:35:24Z2017-12-25T20:35:24ZHow are we doing on early childhood education and care? Good, but there’s more to do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200413/original/file-20171221-15878-fv1rnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While it's important to recognise the gains we have made, there is also more that needs to be done to have an effective ECEC system.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Overall, we’ve seen huge improvements, particularly for children aged three to five years. The priority now is a universal approach to quality education and care for our youngest children.</p>
<h2>A short history of early childhood reforms</h2>
<p>In 2007, the Rudd Government committed <a href="http://www.startingblocks.gov.au/media/1104/national_ecd_strategy.pdf">to a series of significant early childhood reforms</a>. </p>
<p>Responding to the landmark Starting Strong II <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/startingstrongiiearlychildhoodeducationandcare.htm">report</a>, and a comparatively <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/startingstrongiiearlychildhoodeducationandcare.htm">poor international report card</a>, the aim was to build an effective early childhood education and care (ECEC) system in Australia.</p>
<p>Closely aligned to the OECD recommendations, this was a multi-layered series of national reforms which included: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>a commitment to achieve universal access to quality early childhood education for all children in the year before school; and </p></li>
<li><p>a national quality agenda with better standards, streamlined regulatory approaches, an assessment and rating system for ECEC services and a framework for early years learning. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The government also <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/rudd-commits-15bn-to-childcare-rebate/2007/10/21/1192940902139.html">promised</a> greater fee subsidies to assist families with the rising cost of ECEC. This was done to increase children’s participation in quality ECEC and boost women’s workforce participation.</p>
<p>Through a series of changes in government at national and state levels and 10 years on, how far have we come? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/early-learning-report-card-australia-is-improving-rapidly-but-theres-more-work-to-do-83706">Early learning report card: Australia is improving rapidly, but there's more work to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Preschool attendance</h2>
<p>While the OECD <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/startingstrongiiearlychildhoodeducationandcare.htm">report</a> promoted a universal approach to ECEC, inclusive of all age groups, Australia chose to begin with a focus on preschool education. This was defined as an education program for children aged 3.5 to 4.5 years, delivered by a degree qualified early childhood teacher, for at least 15 hours per week, based on an approved learning framework. </p>
<p>Considerably smaller in scope and vision, this was a pragmatic place to start. There was a solid base of <a href="https://highscope.org/perrypreschoolstudy">research</a> showing the benefits of universal preschool provision, with increased benefits for children experiencing disadvantage. Additionally, many states were already performing well in this area. Others, including NSW and Queensland, lagged considerably behind. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200414/original/file-20171221-15867-mqnu3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universal preschool provision sets children up for learning later in life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although it took longer to achieve, this has been a major policy success. The <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4240.0">number of Australian children enrolled</a> in teacher-led preschool programs has risen nationally from 52% in 2009 to around 90% now. </p>
<p>Studies link preschool participation to improved educational outcomes in school. The Australian Early Development Census <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200615300144">found</a> children who attended preschool were 30% less likely to be developmentally vulnerable when they started school. <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2344071">Data</a> also found children who attended a teacher-led preschool program scored 20-30 points higher on Year 3 NAPLAN tests. </p>
<p>Despite these improvements, greater effort is required to continue to boost the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children with a disability and children living in regional and remote areas.</p>
<h2>Quality</h2>
<p>The benefits of participation in ECEC depend on quality provision. The centrepiece of the Rudd reforms was a new <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a> (NQF), which began in 2012. This combined minimum licensing standards, aspirational quality standards and a national assessment and rating process. </p>
<p>It also introduced Australia’s first national <a href="http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf">Early Years Learning Framework</a> for children from birth to five years in ECEC settings like child care centres, preschools, family day care. </p>
<p>The NQF raised quality expectations, and appropriately, the new <a href="http://acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/the-national-quality-standard">National Quality Standard</a> (NQS) challenged services to lift their practices. So it should be no surprise that in the first year of assessment, 44% of centres did not meet the NQS. In fact, this should be taken as a sign that the new system was working.</p>
<p>The NQF has delivered some important improvements in ECEC services, including better adult to child ratios, better qualified educators, and the requirement for more early childhood teachers in long day care. </p>
<p>The most recent <a href="http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/Reports/2017/NQF_Snapshot_Q3.pdf">NQF Snapshot</a> shows that 75% of services have risen to the challenge and are now meeting or exceeding the standards, with 25% working towards. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200415/original/file-20171221-15920-lm5l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having a quality framework has delivered important improvements, including better adult to child ratios.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Improvement is also evident within ratings. Where the overall rating has stayed the same at reassessment, the majority of services have increased the number of elements met. </p>
<p>Clearly we want to reach the point where all services are meeting or exceeding the standards. But the goal has to be real and sustained improvement, not quick fixes or cosmetic change. </p>
<p>A particular area for attention and support remains educational programs and practices. It’s arguably the most influential of the seven quality areas. It’s also the most demanding, as 19% of services don’t meet the NQS standard on one or two standards relevant to educational practice including critical reflection and assessment of learning. </p>
<h2>Access</h2>
<p>Individual and national benefits will not be realised if families can’t afford to access services, and there has been a steady increase in the cost of ECEC over the past decade. The Australian Bureau of Statistics <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6470.0.55.001Main%20Features52017">reported</a> that fees rose 60% between 2009 and 2016. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/childcare-funding-changes-leave-disadvantaged-children-with-fewer-hours-of-early-education-51488">Childcare funding changes leave disadvantaged children with fewer hours of early education</a>
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</em>
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<p>While it’s early days, the Coalition government’s new simplified <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/ChildCarePackage">Child Care Subsidy</a>, which comes into effect mid next year, is expected to provide welcome relief for the majority of families. Government modelling suggests 71% of Australian families will be better off, with the greatest support for low to middle income families (A$0–170,710 family income). </p>
<h2>There’s more to do</h2>
<p>While it’s important to recognise the gains we have made, there is also more that needs to be done to have an effective ECEC system:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>it’s important to remember the goal should be a universal approach to access to quality ECEC for all children, birth to school entry</p></li>
<li><p>there is urgent need to sort out funding for preschool education. Quality service provision requires secure funding, which goes well beyond an annual agreement; and</p></li>
<li><p>there must be greater attention to the ECEC workforce, and the needs and well-being of those providing these services. We need a national early years workforce strategy.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Irvine has received funding from the Australian Research Council and grants from the Queensland Department of Education and Training.</span></em></p>Overall, we’ve seen huge improvements, particularly for children aged three to five years, but now we need a universal approach to quality education and care for our youngest children.Susan Irvine, Associate Professor, School of Early Childhood, QUT Caboolture, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/823462017-09-04T13:21:59Z2017-09-04T13:21:59ZThe experts who put storytelling, language and better paid teachers at the heart of early education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184488/original/file-20170904-17933-uzdoa9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thinking ahead.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-elementary-pupil-working-desk-284502008?src=y8nCGDJlGsUGhLHGFRVy6Q-2-27">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are a lot of things to remember at the start of a new school term. Uniforms, sports kit, stationery equipment, activity clubs … Often forgotten are the names of the people behind the learning which actually goes on once pupils arrive in the classroom. Not the teachers who do the teaching – but the academics who worked out how children learn.</p>
<p>Jerome Bruner, Catherine Snow and Kathy Sylva are not familiar names you might recognise from TV panel shows. But their original ideas have become widespread and deeply rooted in early education systems worldwide. My own collaboration with Sylva and Snow taught me the importance of patient, humble and systematic research.</p>
<p>Bruner, who died last year at the age of 100, was a professor at Harvard and then Oxford. He believed firmly that all children can thrive in their learning if provided with the right conditions. </p>
<p>In the 1960s, he helped develop the US government-funded <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs">Head Start</a> programme. The aim was to give equal learning opportunities to all pre-school children, especially those from challenging home environments. For Bruner, it was adults, rather than tools or technology, that were the key to transforming children’s learning experience. It is a principle that continues to inspire <a href="http://grandparentsofmedialiteracy.com/chapter-14">current literacy and media literacy students</a>. </p>
<p>His three key books – <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Search-Mind-Jerome-S-Bruner/dp/0465032214">In Search of Mind</a>, <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003668">Actual Minds, Possible Worlds</a> and <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674003613&content=reviews">Acts of Meaning</a> – offered an alternative account of how the human mind works. </p>
<p>According to Bruner:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are storytelling creatures, and as children we acquire language to tell those stories that we have inside us. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The mind that drives science, art and sense of self, he said, is not linear and logical, but narrative. People think in stories and are able to imagine the world only through stories. It is an idea that has influenced decades of storytelling approaches to school learning, as well as entrepreneurship and art. Professional coaching companies, for example, regularly recommend that CEOs <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateharrison/2015/01/20/a-good-presentation-is-about-data-and-story/#7195e674450f">structure their presentations in a storytelling format</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aljvAuXqhds?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/faculty/catherine-snow">Snow</a>, (who will be <a href="http://www.oxes.org.uk/about-us/events-2/disputed-narratives-and-contested-conversations-bruners-influence-on-the-study-of-language-development/">paying tribute to Bruner’s work</a> in a memorial lecture a year after his death) has used her research combining linguistics and psychology to revolutionise the way we understand children’s language learning. </p>
<p>Back in 1977, she challenged <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/applied-psycholinguistics">Noam Chomsky’s</a> idea that children’s understanding of language grammar is innate. <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/SNOTTC">Snow’s research</a> noted that parents tend to speak very differently to their children as opposed to other adults. Parents’ speech is often characterised by much simpler grammar, a lot of repetition, and a higher-pitched voice, a register that has been called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-baby-talk-is-good-for-your-baby-59515">motherese</a>”.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-child-language/article/how-the-prosodic-cues-in-motherese-might-assist-language-learning/4D0F9C743BAAF528AD6E9AF21E31318B">Research showed</a> that motherese is essential for children’s language learning and, subsequently, a number of national and international programmes have been <a href="http://familynurturance.com/2015/08/28/the-relationship-between-talking-and-academic-success/">encouraging parents to speak to their children</a> from earliest age to stimulate children’s language development.</p>
<p>In 1983, Snow helped develop the <a href="http://childes.talkbank.org/">Child Language Data Exchange System</a> (known to linguists and developmental psychologists as “CHILDES”). An amazing feat of language research, CHILDES is the biggest repository of English language data in the world and includes recordings of language produced by children and their caregivers in conversation. Its audio examples of children’s speech are widely used for research projects but also for <a href="http://childes.talkbank.org/teach/">teaching undergraduate courses in language development</a>.</p>
<h2>Back to basics</h2>
<p>Bruner’s former student, Oxford-based Sylva (who was awarded an OBE for her service to children and families), addressed the inequalities in children’s education and was an early advocate of investment in high-quality early childhood settings. She saw that quality is achieved through upskilling the workforce and paying them well – a key idea behind the 2011 British government initiatives <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-graduate-leader-fund-final-report">Graduate Leader Fund</a> and <a href="https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/news/were-expanding-early-years-0">Early Years “Teach First” teachers</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly when it comes to learning at home, parents’ qualifications and daily routines influence how well children learn. Sylva led one of the most influential studies in the history of early childhood education, which eventually became known under the title: <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/research/featured-research/effective-pre-school-primary-secondary-education-project">Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE)</a>. Together with colleagues at the <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe">London Institute of Education</a>, the EPPSE team followed 3,000 children from the age of three to 16 – their entire compulsory schooling life. </p>
<p>That team substantially extended the <a href="http://www.ecersuk.org/4.html">Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales</a> to evaluate and research the quality of early years settings. In the UK, the revised scales have been used in collaboration <a href="http://www.ecersuk.org/9.html">with over 45 local authorities</a> to monitor and improve the quality of education provision in early childhood settings. </p>
<p>Bruner, Snow and Sylva developed pedagogies that bridge theory and practice and laid the foundations for humanistic approaches in educational psychology. Together they developed tools for researching early childhood and established key policies in the UK and US. Anyone who has worked over the last 50 years in the field of early education will have been influenced by the generosity and crystal clear thinking of this academic trio. As, unknowingly, have millions of school children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalia Kucirkova receives funding from The Economic and Social Research Council. She was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and research staff member at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Natalia is a former committee member of the Oxford Education Society at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Her latest book was commissioned by Harvard University Press.
</span></em></p>Jerome Bruner, Kathy Sylva and Catherine Snow are names we are more familiar with than we think.Natalia Kucirkova, Senior Research Associate, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759432017-04-18T13:26:15Z2017-04-18T13:26:15ZWhy solving social mobility is a vital political move<p>The road ahead for social mobility is decidedly rocky. The global economy is changing rapidly, transforming the nature of work. Geographical divisions are widening. Public sector spending is being squeezed, and the booming housing market has reinforced social divides. Today, many young people from low and middle income families will be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/18/millennials-earn-8000-pounds-less-in-their-20s-than-predecessors">worse off than their parents</a>. </p>
<p>Improving Britain’s poor record on this issue is vital if the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/the-eu-referendum-reveals-a-nation-utterly-divided--an-early-gen/">social divides exposed by the European referendum</a> are to be healed. Ensuring that all children are able to achieve to the best of their potential, regardless of their family background, is at the heart of this challenge. The UK needs a plan to improve the current situation in which levels of social mobility are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/may/22/social-mobility-data-charts">far lower than in many other countries</a>, and have been declining over time. </p>
<p>So what can the government do about it? One clear message at <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/news/2017/04/06/casp-social-mobility/">a recent conference</a> organised by the Social Mobility Commission and the University of Bath was that their needs to be much more clarity about what the precise goals of promoting social mobility are. </p>
<p>Today in the UK those that make it to the top of many professions are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35641061">drawn disproportionately</a> from private schools. And as education secretary Justine Greening said at the event, low ability children from high income backgrounds are 35% more likely to become higher earners than their high ability, but poor, peers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165569/original/image-20170418-32700-kl9avn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Greening on social mobility.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Bath</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But while such examples expose the unfairness in society, it is not only the outcomes of the most able children that should be of concern. Greening emphasised the need to ensure that all children, whatever their ability or background, can achieve to the best of their potential. As professor of social policy <a href="http://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/people/view/76">Brian Nolan</a> argued, improving the living standards of the bottom 40% of households is central to addressing social mobility.</p>
<p>Education is also critical. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2015">Early years provision</a> has been shown to reap long-term dividends, but there is also a need to intervene throughout childhood and into early adulthood in order to ensure that gains achieved early on are maintained. </p>
<p>Transition points are key. Today, even where take up of early education is high, many children are not arriving at reception class “<a href="http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1157166/a-third-of-children-not-school-ready-for-reception">school ready</a>”. And even when children are achieving good GCSEs, they are not always transitioning to good jobs. Ensuring that gains that are achieved early on are not lost will be key to ensuring the success of strategies to promote mobility.</p>
<p>But these policies are unlikely to be enough. Recent studies have emphasised the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3424745/Geography-disadvantage-hits-poor-childrens-life-chances.html">importance of location</a> to children’s life chances. In the US, poor children who move to more advantaged areas have markedly better outcomes as adults. The UK, too, has social mobility “hot” (and “cold”) spots, although we have yet to understand what it is about place that matters most. </p>
<h2>Moving on</h2>
<p>Today young people are moving between jobs and regions <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/13/americans-are-moving-at-historically-low-rates-in-part-because-millennials-are-staying-put/">less frequently than in the past</a>. What the best response to regional differences in opportunities should be is also unclear. Should people be encouraged to move from place to place more, or should (and can) policy encourage jobs and businesses to move to the areas where people need them?</p>
<p>Halting and reversing the downward trend in social mobility needs new ways of thinking. Education, while vitally important, is not enough. The performance of the labour market and the housing market are also critical to the future of social mobility. Throughout the 2000s, welfare-to-work policies were promoted on the assumption that higher rates of employment would reduce poverty. </p>
<p>Yet while many more people are working, being in work is no longer enough to avoid poverty. Today most of those that are poor <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-19941995-to-20132014">are also working</a>. Reducing poverty requires a new focus on careers, not just jobs, yet the labour market is moving in the opposite direction. Low skilled workers’ jobs are increasingly casualised, while employers invest in training for high, but not low, skill workers. </p>
<p>Tackling the downward spiral of declining social mobility looks set to become increasingly challenging. Yet, failing to do so risks reducing social cohesion. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/cope-divide-europe-2017-background-report.pdf">New research</a> from the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/about/">Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development</a> (OECD), shows that where people perceive opportunities for social mobility to be poor, they are much more likely to vote for populist policies. </p>
<p>Improving social mobility is therefore not just an ethical imperative. It is increasingly becoming a political necessity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75943/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This seminar series was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>The political ramifications of a society in stasis.Susan Harkness, Reader in Social Policy, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/702022016-12-29T20:58:18Z2016-12-29T20:58:18ZFour education claims of 2016 – reviewed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150456/original/image-20161216-26065-1lnvfn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is school the most important part of education?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>2016 has been a big year in education. Debates over <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-gonski-gone-we-can-expect-more-demand-for-private-schools-52760">school funding</a> and the nation’s poor performance in <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">school assessments</a> have led to the surfacing of several claims about education. </p>
<p>We take a closer look at some of the common claims to see if there is any truth to them.</p>
<h2>Claim 1: More funding does not equal better outcomes</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>“For the majority of OECD countries there is essentially no relationship between spending per student and outcomes in PISA.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The is a recent statement made by the education minister Simon Birmingham who <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Latest-News/ID/3317/Pliberseks-politicking-while-student-results-stalling">drew on</a> <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisainfocus/49685503.pdf">OECD research</a> to talk about the lack of impact of funding on education outcomes. </p>
<p>But is he correct in his analysis?</p>
<p>When you look at an <a href="http://epa.sagepub.com/content/19/2/141.full.pdf+html">aggregate level</a>, increased funding to the education system does not seem to make a difference. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/expenditure-on-education-and-training-in-australia-2016/">research</a> shows that school expenditure in Australia increased by A$8 billion in the last ten years, yet the additional resources have not led to better student outcomes as judged by <a href="http://reports.acara.edu.au/">national</a> and <a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/pisa-australia">international</a> <a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/timss">assessments</a>.</p>
<p>However, more funding to schools <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-more-money-for-schools-improve-educational-outcomes-57656">can make a difference</a> – when targeted effectively to improving student learning. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/publications/other-publications/smarter-schools-national-partnerships-reports/low-socio-economic-status-school-communities/report-low-socio-economic-school-communities-national-partnership-lsesnp-final-evaluation">Low Socio-Economic School Communities National Partnership</a> ran between 2009 and 2013 and targeted funding to schools in disadvantaged communities. Through this initiative, the schools that benefited from the additional funding: </p>
<ul>
<li>invested in leadership and teacher development </li>
<li>provided welfare and learning support for disadvantaged students </li>
<li>used evidence to inform their decision making</li>
</ul>
<p>There is a lot more to <a href="http://education.unimelb.edu.au/news_and_activities/events/upcoming_events/dean_lecture_series/current/dls_spotlight/professor-john-hattie">lifting outcomes in education</a> than just funding, although funding is often a necessary ingredient. </p>
<h2>Claim 2: Graduates with high ATARs are better teachers</h2>
<p>Throughout the year, various ways of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">improving teacher quality</a> have been debated. </p>
<p>Restricting entry to teaching degrees by capping places or introducing minimum ATAR standards have been <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/nsw-calls-for-universities-to-cap-teaching-spots/news-story/b6b9a2f51f61ea7e56e5f7252c86b4b1">the more popular solutions</a>. </p>
<p>Victoria <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/raising-the-bar-top-30-per-cent-of-students-for-teaching/">recently became</a> the second state after New South Wales to announce a minimum entry standard for teaching. </p>
<p>ATAR is a measure of year 12 performance. How this is a measure of the broader set of capabilities that 21st-century teachers need in <a href="https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/corporate/global/pearson-dot-com/files/learning/Problem-Solvers-Web-.pdf">dynamic educational workplaces</a> is far less clear. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/educational-opportunity-in-australia-2015-who-succeeds-and-who-misses-out/">Research shows</a> that students are less likely to achieve a high ATAR if they are from a low SES background. Part of this stems from the fact that<a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/educational-opportunity-in-australia-2015-who-succeeds-and-who-misses-out/"> children from low SES backgrounds often start school behind their peers</a>.</p>
<p>So if the ATAR is the measure of quality teaching, it means that a larger proportion of students from less affluent backgrounds – or who live further from the city – would be likely ruled out from becoming teachers. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/education-workforce-schools/report/schools-workforce.pdf">undersupply of teachers in rural areas</a> this would be problematic. </p>
<p>There is a need for <a href="https://theconversation.com/placing-a-cap-on-teaching-degrees-doesnt-guarantee-better-teachers-66272">diverse cohorts of teachers</a> that have the capability to respond to the diversity of student needs. </p>
<p>So, what is a solution? </p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Response-to-Working-Together-to-Shape-Teacher-Education-in-Victoria.pdf">Universities need to partner with schools</a> to ensure their graduates can teach and lift outcomes in the reality of the modern classroom.</p>
<p>A key part of the solution also lies in ongoing teacher development through <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/The_shared_work_of_learning_lifting_educational_achievement_through_collaboration.pdf">collaboration between schools</a>.</p>
<h2>Claim 3. A post-school qualification increases the chance of employment</h2>
<p>It’s the time of year when many young people have finished school and are deciding on their future pathways.</p>
<p>As the job market becomes increasingly competitive for <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf">young people</a>, some form of post-school training or degree is <a href="http://www.hea.edu.au/media/616/lsay_lsay57_2397.pdf">important</a>, but is it enough? </p>
<p>Some degrees have poor employment outcomes both in the short and medium terms - for example nearly 20% of agricultural and environmental studies students who want to work full time are <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/graduate-employment">not in full time work</a> three years after finishing their degrees. </p>
<p>This contrasts sharply with trade apprentices - <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/62143/Total-VET-graduate-outcomes-2016.pdf">over 90% of these students</a> remain employed post training. So higher qualifications will not necessarily increase the likelihood of finding employment.</p>
<p><a href="http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/GainInsights/EmploymentProjections">Future employment growth</a> is likely to be the highest in areas requiring a university degree, but a high level of job growth is expected in diploma level and higher level Vocational Education and Training (VET) certificate roles as well. </p>
<p>Given this, it’s concerning that we are training <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/expenditure-on-education-and-training-in-australia-2016/">fewer people in VET</a> than in 2006.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-New-Work-Mindset.pdf">recent FYA report</a> shows how thousands of jobs can be grouped into seven “clusters of work.” Each cluster shares a common set of capabilities or “soft skills” which are portable across multiple jobs. For instance, “The Carers” cluster has a high reliance on interpersonal skills and includes jobs such as GPs, social workers and childcare workers. </p>
<p>The role of VET, then, will be paramount in providing the training needed to navigate the future jobs landscape.</p>
<h2>Claim 4. School is the most important part of education</h2>
<p>Given the spotlight on schooling this year, one could think it the most important part of education – but is it? </p>
<p>School is vitally important, but learning is a <a href="https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/corporate/global/pearson-dot-com/files/learning/Problem-Solvers-Web-.pdf">dynamic process</a> occurring at multiple stages of a child’s development – both in and outside of the classroom. </p>
<p>Research shows that there are <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/documents/cyf/WorkingPaper11.pdf">certain stages</a> in a child’s development that are optimal for learning. It is crucial to prioritise these stages to get the best learning outcomes. The early childhood years, around ages three to five, is a stage of <a href="http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/335168/better_systems_better_chances_review.pdf">significant growth and development</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Important connections between the brain’s nerve cells are developed and there is rapid growth in cognitive, language and social and emotional development.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.ncsl.org/documents/cyf/WorkingPaper11.pdf">Quality early education</a> is critical to help children develop symbols, language and social skills – the building blocks for future learning.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">PISA results</a> show the positive impact of early learning. </p>
<p>Children who attended a year of preschool did better than their non-attending peers. Children who attended two years performed even better. The impacts of preschool attendance were higher than the impacts of formal coaching in literacy and numeracy in the early years. </p>
<p>Investing in getting the foundations right should be a <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">key priority</a> for governments.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">Adolescence and early adulthood</a> offers another opportunity to boost learning. But, too much emphasis on academic learning during this <a href="https://consortium.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Wallace%20Report.pdf">stage</a> can diminish self-esteem and spark disengagement. </p>
<p>Opportunities to develop <a href="http://bigthink.com/big-think-gesf/educating-for-the-21st-century-2">non-cognitive skills and capabilities</a> such as critical thinking, resilience and collaborative problem solving skills can be equally as important as <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w12006">acquiring knowledge</a>.</p>
<p>Given that around <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/educational-opportunity-in-australia-2015-who-succeeds-and-who-misses-out/">one in four children</a> and young people in Australia are falling behind at each educational milestone from the early years through to adulthood, governments need to look not just to schools but across the entire education continuum to target investment effectively.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We take a closer look at some of the common claims made this year to see if there is any truth to them.Megan O'Connell, Policy Program Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityKate Torii, Policy Analyst, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/704862016-12-27T21:01:41Z2016-12-27T21:01:41Z2016, the year that was: Education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150265/original/image-20161215-2478-15kohj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A year of high expectations, yet little action.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This has been the year of consultation but <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2016-education-experts-react-58592">little reform</a>. In the lead up to the general election in July, rumours spread about big changes being made to school and higher education. Alas, for higher education at least, we were told to <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">wait another year</a> before any policy changes would be made.</p>
<h2>Higher education – chatting about reform</h2>
<p>Instead, the sector was given a <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/he_reform_paper_driving_innovation_fairness_and_excellence_3_may_2016.pdf">shopping list of possible reform ideas</a> by the government for higher education. The sector has spent the past year discussing these ideas, which include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Whether we should <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">deregulate fees</a> for some <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-university-flagship-courses-actually-workable-and-will-they-be-a-disaster-for-equity-63521">university courses</a> (most unis are <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/aliceworkman/what-the-hecs?utm_term=.cy5gL0djA#.dn3pB61lW">against this idea</a>).</p></li>
<li><p>If the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-scrap-the-atar-what-are-the-alternative-options-experts-comment-55501">ATAR is a useful admissions tool</a>. (<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-more-transparent-university-admissions-process-heres-what-we-should-be-talking-about-58414">Research shows</a> that few students – around one third – are recruited into a university course with an ATAR alone. The government’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/16/university-admissions-confusion-to-be-addressed-with-my-school-style-website">recent decision</a> to make the admissions process more transparent is a step in the right direction, but it <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-university-admissions-process-more-transparent-is-important-but-wont-help-improve-equity-68918">won’t improve equity</a>.)</p></li>
<li><p>Reducing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-education-in-policy-paralysis-after-budget-2016-what-now-58815">repayment threshold</a> for students loans from A$54,126 to $40,000-$45,000.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>VET – a new loan system</h2>
<p>There has also been discussions around Vocational Education and Training (VET) reform – and the government has finally taken some long-awaited action in this area. </p>
<p>From January 1, 2017, there will be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-student-loans-unlikely-to-weed-out-dodgy-private-providers-66575">new VET student loan program</a>. This will replace the current flawed VET FEE-HELP scheme, and according to the government, will help to “restore credibility” and rebuild trust in the sector.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-loan-scheme-to-exclude-shonky-providers-66507">The program</a> will place tight caps on students loans and issue tougher entry requirements for providers.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-student-loans-unlikely-to-weed-out-dodgy-private-providers-66575">some aren’t so sure</a> that it will be so easy to weed out dodgy private providers who have, in the past, “proved very adept at finding creative ways around regulation”.</p>
<h2>Schools – less funding and slipping standards</h2>
<p>As for schools, the government <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-gonski-gone-we-can-expect-more-demand-for-private-schools-52760">announced that it would abandon</a> the last two years of Gonski funding – a needs-based funding model aimed at supporting children from low socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds, including those with limited English, Indigenous children and those attending small, rural or remote schools. </p>
<p>This is despite figures showing that these students <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-change-the-way-we-measure-student-progress-in-schools-56422">continue to fall further behind their peers</a> from high SES backgrounds by nearly <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">three years of schooling</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Latest-News/ID/2995/Address-to-the-Independent-Schools-Council-of-Australia-Assoc-of-Heads-of-Independent-Schools-of-Australia-National-Education-Forum">government</a> has repeatedly argued that the continued <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-continue-to-fall-behind-other-countries-in-maths-and-science-69341">slippage in school standards </a> demonstrates that more money does not lead to better educational outcomes. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-model-was-corrupted-but-labor-and-coalition-are-both-to-blame-65875">it seems that messy politics</a> got in the way of the Gonski model being implemented effectively. So instead of a needs-based model, we got an “inconsistent patchwork of approaches across the nation that protected the vested interests of non-government schools”.</p>
<p>There is, however, plenty of <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-more-money-for-schools-improve-educational-outcomes-57656">research</a> to show that money does make a difference when it is targeted at areas most in need of support.</p>
<p>The debate then moved on to whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">certain schools are “overfunded”</a>, as suggested by education minister Simon Birmingham.</p>
<p>This led to fraught debates around inequality of funding between government and non-government schools. Private schools in Australia can receive public funding while also be allowed to charge school fees. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-some-australian-private-schools-are-overfunded-heres-why-66212">research shows</a> that while most high-fee private schools are overfunded, many low-fee private schools are underfunded.</p>
<p>States and territories won’t find out till next year how funding will be distributed from 2018 onwards. In the meantime, there have been a few suggestions around how to reform the school funding system, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-model-for-school-funding-that-wont-break-the-budget-69406">this one</a> by the Grattan Institute.</p>
<p>Teacher quality is another issue that kept coming up this year. This followed concerns that universities were recruiting students onto teacher training courses with <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-main-challenges-facing-teacher-education-in-australia-63658">lower than advertised ATARs</a>.</p>
<p>All <a href="https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-quality">initial teacher education students</a> now have to <a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-teachers-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-skills-is-pointless-51566">pass a literacy and numeracy test</a> before graduating to help improve standards.</p>
<p>We ran a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">series of articles</a> looking at how to improve teacher education and raise standards. So what’s the answer? </p>
<p>Australia needs <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-main-challenges-facing-teacher-education-in-australia-63658">more specialist teachers</a>, and it needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-raise-status-of-teaching-australia-needs-to-lift-pay-and-cut-teacher-numbers-63518">raise the status of the teaching</a> profession by lifting pay. It needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/focusing-on-tests-and-invalid-assessments-is-the-wrong-way-to-measure-teacher-quality-63931">change how schools and teachers are evaluated</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-not-hard-wired-to-learn-in-different-ways-we-need-to-stop-using-unproven-harmful-methods-63715">ditch the idea</a> that students are hard-wired to learn in different ways.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-continue-to-fall-behind-other-countries-in-maths-and-science-69341">two</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/pisa-results-dont-look-good-but-before-we-panic-lets-look-at-what-we-can-learn-from-the-latest-test-69470">international tests</a> and one <a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-results-reveal-little-change-in-literacy-and-numeracy-performance-here-are-some-key-takeaway-findings-70208">national test</a> revealing that Australia – on average – <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-continue-to-fall-behind-other-countries-in-maths-and-science-69341">continues to slide</a> in maths, science and literacy, you would think that we don’t know how to improve student learning in schools. But we do. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-john-hattie-on-how-to-improve-the-quality-of-education-in-australian-schools-60254">Education experts like John Hattie</a> have been talking about how to do this for years. This issue is a combination of the government paying little attention to what the evidence actually says, and schools taking a long time to implement some of these ideas. There is also the issue of <a href="https://theconversation.com/gaps-in-education-data-there-are-many-questions-for-which-we-dont-have-accurate-answers-65241v">a lack of education data</a> made publicly available.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-john-hattie-on-how-to-improve-the-quality-of-education-in-australian-schools-60254">So what makes a difference to the quality of education?</a> Interaction with teachers, clinical teaching, constantly measuring each student’s knowledge and responding to their individual needs.</p>
<p>What doesn’t? Smaller class sizes, private schooling, and homework.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150269/original/image-20161215-2517-1f9y3ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early years education is not about babysitting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early years education – about changing a mindset</h2>
<p>In early years education, little progress has been made. This is despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-childhood-education-is-key-to-closing-the-gaps-54322">research showing</a> that early years education is key to closing achievement gaps in the longer term.</p>
<p>The issue is to do with <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-childcare-such-a-hard-sell-in-the-federal-election-59815">changing a mindset</a>. Rather than looking at the funding of early years education as something that helps get mums back to work, the government needs to look at it as setting children up for learning before they start school.</p>
<p>The good news is that we have almost all four year olds <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2016/childcare-education-and-training/early-childhood-education-and-care#framework">enrolled in preschool</a>. The less positive news is that early years education still faces many problems around <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-in-five-early-childhood-educators-plan-to-leave-the-profession-61279">low retention of teachers</a>, and staff feeling <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-childhood-educators-rely-on-families-to-prop-up-low-income-research-finds-69283">underpaid</a> and having to rely on families to prop up their income.</p>
<h2>Other areas we’ve covered</h2>
<p>Throughout the year we’ve discussed a range of much-debated issues – based on new research. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/disability-discrimination-24285">Disability discrimination</a>: we looked at the concerning ways schools try to avoid <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-with-disability-are-being-excluded-from-education-59825">enrolling students with disabilities</a>; around <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-with-disabilities-risk-being-misdiagnosed-in-order-to-receive-school-funding-support-53490">misdiagnosing students</a> as a way to obtain school funding; and about <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-your-rights-if-your-child-with-a-disability-is-denied-a-school-place-53500">your rights as a parent</a> if your child with a disability is denied a school place.</p></li>
<li><p>How to revive <a href="https://theconversation.com/reviving-indigenous-languages-not-as-easy-as-it-seems-68977">Indigenous languages</a> - which is no mean feat.</p></li>
<li><p>We talked about how a tough approach to bad behaviour in schools – such as writing names on the board, taking away a student’s lunch time, or handing out detention – are <a href="https://theconversation.com/schools-tough-approach-to-bad-behaviour-isnt-working-and-may-escalate-problems-56737">actually ineffective</a> in the long term and can exacerbate student disengagement and alienation. Individual punishment – such as expulsions – used as a deterrent also <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-expelling-too-many-children-from-australian-schools-65162">rarely works</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>And although genes are never the full story, research shows that they <a href="https://theconversation.com/genes-can-have-up-to-80-influence-on-students-academic-performance-58052">can have up to 80% influence on students’ academic performance</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite little progress in policy reform, it has been a superb year of debate and discussion around some pressing issues facing education. </p>
<p>To top it off, we were humbled to have received a media award by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders for our “excellent coverage” of education issues.</p>
<p>I’d like to say a big thanks to all our authors who’ve contributed this year – and we hope many more will join us next year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Gonski funding was scrapped and the vocational education sector got a new student loan system. Here’s what else happened in education this year…Claire Shaw, Education EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/661172016-09-29T03:22:26Z2016-09-29T03:22:26ZDo ‘kindy bootcamps’ get children ready for school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139533/original/image-20160928-727-em6t7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Kindy bootcamps' tend to be run by untrained teachers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent surge in private companies offering “skill and drill” school-readiness programs has been likened to “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/prekindy-bootcamp-the-threeyearolds-with-homework-20160923-grmv0c.html">kindy bootcamps</a>” by the media. </p>
<p>These programs typically run for one hour a week (with fees in the range of A$40 an hour) for small groups of around five children aged between two and five.</p>
<p>The programs are often housed within companies that also offer tutoring to school-age children. They are not regulated or accredited, as child care, preschool and kindergarten full-time programs are. </p>
<p>Parents with disposable incomes seem to be seeking out these add-on programs to ease their anxieties about their child’s future academic achievement and competitive entry into elite schools.</p>
<h2>Flaws in these programs</h2>
<p>These school-readiness programs generally have four main flaws. </p>
<h3>1. Run by untrained teachers</h3>
<p>Commercial school-readiness programs are largely run by people without early childhood teaching qualifications. Because they are not regulated, there are no qualification requirements. </p>
<p>There is no guarantee that the program will be delivered by someone who is a qualified teacher or has any training. They may just have had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/jan/05/schools.uk2">some training in their scripted program</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.keeplearningeducation.com.au/page28.html">Some programs are facilitated by</a> primary-trained teachers. However, such degrees are largely based on curriculum content, whereas early childhood qualifications specialise in the nuanced development, pedagogy, curricula, environments and relationships of early childhood to provide customised educational programs to meet individual children’s needs.</p>
<p>Attending a commercial school-readiness program is effectively like having someone with a first-aid certificate (granted they have had some training in the prescriptive program) treat your child’s long-term health-care needs instead of a doctor. </p>
<p>All licensed early childhood education and care services in Australia must have access to, or employ, at least one qualified full-time early childhood teacher (depending on child numbers). Funded kindergarten programs must be planned and delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher. </p>
<p>Internationally, there is <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/49325825.pdf">strong evidence</a> that higher specialised early childhood qualifications raise the quality of interaction and pedagogy in early childhood education and care. This enhances student educational outcomes. </p>
<h3>2. ‘Readiness’ places pressure on children</h3>
<p>The idea of “school readiness” places all the pressure on the child – who at this point is around four or five years old. But how do you really know when a child is ready? </p>
<p>Commercial school-readiness programs are designed to accelerate maturation. They do this through rote-learning-style drills to teach the alphabet, phonemes (letter sounds) and numbers.</p>
<p>In 1925, it was proposed that children matured based on internal predetermined timing of growth and maturation. Since then many developmental psychologists and learning theorists have argued and demonstrated that children’s growth and development are influenced by a number of factors. These include relationships, family resources and experiences, neighbourhood, community resources and responsive early childhood programs provided by qualified early childhood teachers.</p>
<h3>3. Sole focus on literacy and numeracy</h3>
<p>Commercial school-readiness programs are largely focused on learning literacy and numeracy. For example, in the Keep Learning program they learn blends through basal readers and worksheets. This is simply focusing on the alphabetic code (knowing the letters and their corresponding sounds). </p>
<p>A quality early childhood program will embrace a holistic approach which enhances children’s sense of identity, their capacity to look after themselves (dressing and feeding, for example), to plan, play and create with others, to show care and respect for others and the environment, to make choices, take risks, manage change and celebrate achievements. All this (and more) is achieved through provocative learning environments, child-initiated inquiries, intentional teaching and exploratory creative play.</p>
<h3>4. Too few hours</h3>
<p>Most of these commercial programs run for only one hour a week. That is not going to have a lasting impact. Young children learn through being immersed for ongoing periods (days, weeks, months) in purposefully designed early childhood environments, which provoke learning inquiries and offer opportunity for child-directed activity with open-ended materials guided by experienced early childhood teachers. </p>
<p>The United Nations Children’s Fund has set a global benchmark of 15 hours per week for preschool children aged four and five. Regular ongoing participation in programs provided by early childhood teachers has been <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3155&context=sspapers">proven to be most beneficial for learning outcomes</a>.</p>
<h2>School transition programs</h2>
<p>The problem with such “bootcamps” is that they put the pressure on the child to fit in with school systems – and what they perceive as being “ready”. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n2/dockett.html">extensive research</a> on starting school has identified that what really counts is schools working with early childhood and community services, neighbourhoods, children and families to facilitate children’s ongoing development as capable learners. </p>
<p>This involves schools taking the responsibility to plan for successful transitions for young children to school. They do so using community data (such as Australian Early Development Census Data) and getting to know children and families through early childhood and community services. </p>
<p>By making the effort to know and understand next year’s student cohort, schools can plan for responsive environments and effective teaching practices that meet the specific children’s needs. </p>
<p><a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/pdf_with_bookmarking_-_continuity_of_learning-_30_october_2014_1_0.pdf">National guidelines</a> are available for transition to school. State education departments also provide transition-to-school guides and resources.</p>
<p>Community-facilitated transition programs aim to respond to each child’s strengths and challenges, and include children’s views as a way to inform the direction of the program. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n2/dockett.html">research tells us</a>, children can make valuable contributions to transition programs that are educational for all involved.</p>
<h2>Impact of quality early childhood education</h2>
<p>Participation in a quality early childhood education program has consistently demonstrated developmental and academic benefits, with the greatest gains for children from <a href="http://aihw.gov.au/workarea/downloadasset.aspx?id=60129552948">disadvantaged backgrounds</a>. </p>
<p>Data shows that children who have had at least a year of quality preschool education <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/preschoolparticipationandqualissummarypaper2013.pdf?Redirect=1">perform better</a> in Year 3 NAPLAN and in the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-overview.pdf">Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)</a> for 15-year-olds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Phillips receives research funding from the Spencer Foundation and the Queensland Department of Education and Training. She is affiliated with the Australian Literacy Educators' Association as co-editor of Practical Literacy: the early and primary years. </span></em></p>Parents are sending their children to private pre-school programs as a way to ensure they are ready to start school. But are these effective?Louise Phillips, Lecturer in Arts and early years education, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.