tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/early-learning-9130/articlesEarly learning – The Conversation2024-03-26T12:48:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242982024-03-26T12:48:20Z2024-03-26T12:48:20Z3 ways to use the solar eclipse to brighten your child’s knowledge of science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583531/original/file-20240321-16-fk38cj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C60%2C6720%2C4406&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In no case should a child look directly at the solar eclipse, but there are special eclipse glasses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/child-observes-the-annular-solar-eclipse-by-using-special-news-photo/1724609614?adppopup=true">Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth on April 8, 2024, it will represent a rare astronomical event that won’t take place for <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/">another 20 years</a> – a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/">total solar eclipse</a>. For parents and educators, at least those who live along an arc of land from Texas up through Indiana and Maine, it offers a unique and memorable learning opportunity. </p>
<p>As STEM researchers at <a href="https://hhs.purdue.edu/center-for-early-learning/">Purdue’s Center for Early Learning</a>, we suggest three ways to make the total solar eclipse a fun experience for young children and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2019.1620232">teach some important science</a> along the way.</p>
<h2>1. Discuss historical versus modern understandings of eclipses</h2>
<p>It is important that children learn to <a href="https://www.sciencepracticesleadership.com/uploads/1/6/8/7/1687518/reiser,_berland,_&_kenyon_(2012).pdf">consider and contrast multiple ideas</a> when developing explanations for why something happens. One way to do this is to compare historical and modern explanations for why solar eclipses occur. </p>
<p>Share with the kids that, historically, many people across cultures feared eclipses. Some thought they <a href="https://www.britannica.com/list/the-sun-was-eaten-6-ways-cultures-have-explained-eclipses">signified disapproval from the gods</a>. Others believed they predicted bad tidings to come, including <a href="https://www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/black-monday-great-solar-eclipse-1652/">shipwrecks and storms</a>.</p>
<p>Contrast those explanations with easy-to-understand scientific explanations of today. Britannica Kids offers a great <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/eclipse/353079">resource for children under 8</a>. Scientific American has a webpage that <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-explain-aprils-total-solar-eclipse-to-kids/">works well for older kids</a>. </p>
<p>When contrasting scientific evidence with historical beliefs, it is important not to be critical of other cultures. Use the eclipse to talk about how scientific knowledge is built over time through observation. There are many things we do not know now that we will learn 10, 20 or even 100 years from now. </p>
<h2>2. Have conversations using scientific language</h2>
<p>Teaching children about the solar eclipse isn’t just about explaining the what and the why. It’s also about engaging in rich dialogue. Our prior research shows that young children’s science knowledge is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100981">highly based on language</a>. Both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105473">parents</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2010.507496">teachers</a> play a role in shaping this language. </p>
<p>Use science-related vocabulary to enrich children’s understanding of the eclipse. Examples include: orbit, rotate, spin, reemerge, Sun, Moon, Earth, far, distance, total and partial. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2011.608027">Children understand science concepts more deeply</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2075">use more complex vocabulary</a> when adults use inquiry-based strategies. For example, adults can ask children what they see happening while watching the eclipse and why they think that is. Then the adults can ask the children to make predictions about what else could happen and provide evidence for their explanations. </p>
<p>Children can document their observations throughout the eclipse in their own <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.01.009">science journals</a> using both science-related vocabulary and drawings of what they see. The journals are a great opportunity to discuss their ideas and have rich conversations.</p>
<h2>3. Use household items to help children understand the eclipse</h2>
<p>Three-dimensional models allow children to visualize things that are otherwise difficult to see, such as the orbit of the Earth and the Moon. Comparisons between the model and their observations of real life, especially when guided by a teacher or parent, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619864601">help children build knowledge</a> about complex topics in science.</p>
<p>During the solar eclipse, the Moon moves directly between the Earth and the Sun. In small groups at school or at home, one child can represent the Earth, while another holds a basketball to represent the Sun and another a tennis ball to represent the Moon.</p>
<p>The child representing the Earth can orbit the Sun and rotate in place, experimenting with changing their distance from the Sun and Moon. Closing one eye, the child may eventually see the basketball completely blocked by the tennis ball when it aligns just right. This is what happens in a total solar eclipse. </p>
<p>In this exercise, children are not only modeling the eclipse but also building scientific vocabulary. Throughout the activity, parents and teachers can ask children to compare and contrast the model to their own observations. They can ask questions, such as why do the Sun and Moon look like they are similar sizes in the sky, even though we know that the Sun is many times larger than the Moon? If the Moon is smaller, how does it block the Sun completely? The key is to help children generate hypotheses, test their ideas and then develop new conclusions.</p>
<p>We hope these ideas will encourage everyone to take advantage of this wonderful scientific learning experience. We also warn you not to look directly into the Sun during the eclipse and to get the right <a href="https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters">eclipse glasses</a>. Looking directly at the Sun, even through sunglasses or cameras, <a href="https://theconversation.com/total-solar-eclipses-while-stunning-can-damage-your-eyes-if-viewed-without-the-right-protection-221381">can cause severe injury to the eyes</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224298/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 organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you have young kids, the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, represents a rare opportunity to teach them about science.David J. Purpura, Professor of Human Development and Family Science; Director of the Center for Early Learning, Purdue UniversityLauren Westerberg, Doctoral Candidate in Human Development and Family Science, Purdue UniversitySona Kumar, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Human Development and Family Science, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182472023-11-23T11:30:09Z2023-11-23T11:30:09ZThe Productivity Commission wants all Australian kids to have access to 3 days of early learning and care a week<p>A major new report is recommending bold changes to Australia’s early childhood sector. On Thursday night, the Productivity Commission released an <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/childhood/draft">interim report</a> from its <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/childhood#draft">inquiry</a> into early childhood education and care.</p>
<p>The report recommends every Australian child aged under five years gets access to three days a week of “high-quality” early learning and care. This entitlement could occur in a range of settings such as centre-based day care, family day care and preschool. </p>
<p>Currently there is no national guarantee, only a mix of entitlements to preschool for three- and four-year-olds, which varies depending on the state.</p>
<p>The report also recommends lower-income families receive a 100% <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy">child care subsidy</a> for these three days and some work or study requirements are removed. This means families earning less than A$80,000 would get up to 30 hours of free childcare for children aged under five years.</p>
<p>The recommendations would result in a huge overhaul of the sector and require large increases in the supply of early education places and government funding. </p>
<h2>Why do we have this report?</h2>
<p>The inquiry was set up in February this year, following a <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/cheaper-child-care">Labor election promise</a> to conduct a comprehensive review of the sector with the aim of paying 90% of fees for all families covered by the <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy">Child Care Subsidy</a>. </p>
<p>The report is one of several federal government-commissioned inquiries into early education and care. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is currently looking at <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/inquiries-and-consultations/childcare-inquiry-2023">the early learning market</a> and Australia’s children’s education and care regulator is looking at <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/interview-sky-news-sunday-agenda-0">safety</a> in the sector. </p>
<p>The Productivity Commission review has a broader scope than the other reviews and is examining issues such as cost, quality, workforce and access to early learning and care.</p>
<p>The sector already provides services to more than <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/early-childhood/resources/june-quarter-2023-data-tables">1.4 million children</a> every year and receives about A$13 billion in government funding. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-childcare-is-costly-but-nowhere-near-as-costly-as-recent-reports-suggest-heres-why-215259">Yes, childcare is costly, but nowhere near as costly as recent reports suggest – here's why</a>
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<h2>What are the key findings?</h2>
<p>The interim report found Australia’s early learning and care system can be complex and costly, with patchy provision in some areas and not enough support for vulnerable groups.</p>
<p>To meet these challenges, the Productivity Commission recommends the federal government takes a more active role in ensuring up to 30 hours or three days a week of quality early childhood education and care is available to all children up to five years.</p>
<p>This would be the first time there is an explicit policy aim in Australia for an entitlement like this.</p>
<p>The report highlighted that those who are likely to benefit most from childcare services - those experiencing disadvantage – are also less likely to attend. To increase participation, the report recommends “relaxing” the <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/activity-level-and-subsidised-care-for-child-care-subsidy?context=41186">activity test</a> and increasing subsidies for low income families.</p>
<p>At the moment, many families need to undertake a certain amount of work, study or volunteering (“activity”) to be eligible for the child care subsidy.</p>
<p>As Associate Commissioner Deborah Brennan said:</p>
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<p>A child’s entitlement to at least three days of [early childhood education and care] a week should not depend on how much their parents work.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-1-million-australians-have-no-access-to-childcare-in-their-area-179557">More than 1 million Australians have no access to childcare in their area</a>
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<h2>Fees and subsidies</h2>
<p>A key point is the amount of subsidy different families should receive.</p>
<p>Currently, families earning between $80,000 and $530,000 receive up to 90% in subsidies. The subsidy decreases by 1% for each $5,000 they earn above $80,000. The subsidy is paid directly to early childhood services and they pass it on to families as a fee reduction. </p>
<p>In response to Labor’s request to investigate a 90% universal subsidy, Productivity Commission modelling suggests this would would increase the child care subsidy payments by about $4.1 billion annually, or 33%. The biggest beneficiaries would be high-income families, because their subsidy would increase the most. </p>
<p>But the report goes a step further. For families on incomes up to $80,000 it recommends increasing the subsidy to 100% of the <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/type-child-care-you-use-can-affect-child-care-subsidy?context=41186">top subsidy rate</a> for 30 hours a week.</p>
<p>This would make up to 30 hours of childcare effectively free for about 30% of all families with children aged under five. The estimated cost of this policy, along with the relaxing of the activity test, is an additional $2.5 billion a year, or 20%.</p>
<p>The commission believes these changes would remove barriers for lower-income families and encourage more children experiencing disadvantage to benefit from high-quality early learning. </p>
<p>As the report says: </p>
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<p>Affordability should not be a barrier to […] access.</p>
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<p>The commission will explore further recommendations in their final report for subsidy rates to families not covered by the 100% subsidy recommendation. </p>
<p><iframe id="Scxct" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Scxct/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Expansive reform</h2>
<p>The commission’s proposal would introduce an entitlement to early education and care like reforms already underway in other countries. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-australia-should-look-to-quebec-s-5-a-day-daycare-20230702-p5dl3q.html">Quebec in Canada</a> already has an entitlement to childcare at $10 a day regardless of income. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/upcoming-changes-to-childcare-support/">United Kingdom</a> is expanding childcare entitlements to 30 hours per week for many working families with children aged over nine months.</p>
<p>The commission highlights such an expansion “will require careful sequencing and implementation”.</p>
<p>To do this, it is proposing more government involvement in locations where families struggle to find appropriate education and care. At the moment, the government subsidises those who create the demand for early childhood services (parents and families). Meanwhile, supply is created by a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit providers opening centres to respond to this need.</p>
<p>This is different to our school system, where governments fund schools directly, there is greater government service provision and schools are not allowed to be for-profit.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>When viewed this way, the Productivity Commission has not recommended a major overhaul of the current approach. Instead, it will explore the most effective government interventions where the current model is not working properly. This means there is still a lot of detail that needs to be worked out.</p>
<p>But the reform agenda is undeniably big and geared towards directing the most support to those children from disadvantaged backgrounds. </p>
<p>The commission will hold public hearings next year with a final report due to the government on June 30 2024.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Hurley works for the Mitchell Institute who receive funding from Minderoo Foundation to undertake research into early childhood education and care.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Tham works for the Mitchell Institute who receive funding from Minderoo Foundation to undertake research into early childhood education and care.</span></em></p>Australia is set to embark on bold changes to early childhood education if a new report is anything to go by.Peter Hurley, Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityMelissa Tham, Research fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2083962023-09-14T21:19:18Z2023-09-14T21:19:18ZOntario needs to remove barriers to child-care subsidies for low-income families<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/ontario-needs-to-remove-barriers-to-child-care-subsidies-for-low-income-families" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In September, a major turnover in child care occurs, as preschoolers graduate to kindergarten and a new wave of preschoolers enters into early learning and care systems. </p>
<p>This year, the pressures on the child-care sector have increased dramatically as governments are radically decreasing the costs of child care for families as they <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories.html">implement Canada-wide early learning and child care (CWELCC)</a> agreements.</p>
<p>The government of Ontario has <a href="https://www.fao-on.org/en/Blog/Publications/2022-education-estimates">projected significant increases in demand for child care</a> as a result of lower fees. In these early days, we are not aware of evidence of this happening, but <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/now-that-daycare-is-cheaper-in-ontario-demand-is-up-are-working-parents-getting-squeezed-out-1.6757416">anecdotally this seems to be the case</a>.</p>
<p>While provinces are talking about increasing the number of spaces, substantial <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2022-059">labour shortages in staff</a> (since pay and benefits are poor in this sector) and insufficient investment in physical spaces likely mean that increases in demand will <a href="https://fao-on.org/en/Blog/Publications/2022-education-estimates">far outpace increases in supply</a>.</p>
<p>When resources are scarce, disadvantaged parents and children receive the short end of the services stick while more affluent families are more likely to secure access to higher-quality services. </p>
<p>Research from 2005 found that following Québec’s move to significantly expand a network of daycare services in 1997 and reduce fees for parents, “<a href="https://irpp.org/research-studies/quality-counts">the overall quality of the daycare settings attended by children from less privileged families was significantly lower</a> than that of those attended by children from more privileged families.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ottawas-10-a-day-child-care-promise-should-heed-quebecs-insights-about-balancing-low-fees-with-high-quality-159626">Ottawa's $10-a-day child care promise should heed Québec’s insights about balancing low fees with high quality</a>
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<p>Ontario’s current implementation plan for child care and early learning agreements runs the risk of leaving disadvantaged families further behind, rather than closing gaps in opportunities and outcomes for their children. To prevent this, Ontario, and indeed all provinces, need to double down on removing barriers to child-care subsidies for low-income families. </p>
<h2>Lower-income families have less access</h2>
<p>In Canada, many children spend a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-652-x/89-652-x2014005-eng.pdf">significant part of their day in early learning and child care</a>, whether in centres or home-based settings.</p>
<p>With the introduction of new child care agreements across Canada, all families are eligible for substantial fee reduction. </p>
<p>For example, when Ontario’s agreement is fully implemented, fees should be down to approximately $12 per day, regardless of whether both parents (or one parent in single-parent households) work or study. </p>
<h2>$10 a day is a hardship for many</h2>
<p>Before the federal government announced the introduction of Canada-wide early learning and care agreements, most parents who received a child-care subsidy in Toronto paid well below $10 per day. For example, when we examined data pertaining to nearly 900 parents recruited from the City of Toronto’s child-care subsidy waitlist, we found that, based on their financial and work/study activity eligibility, parents paid an average of $3.33 per day. </p>
<p>Since their fee contribution was set based on financial eligibility criteria, this means that $10 per day would be a hardship for many of these families. Without additional fee subsidies, these parents would likely not be able to afford care.</p>
<h2>Complicating factors</h2>
<p>Even if parents can afford child care (whether through their earnings or subsidies), they still need to secure a space. Wait lists for child care can be long, with some parents having to get in line even before their child is born. </p>
<p>This is especially challenging for families who are new to Canada or unfamiliar with the system, as well as those in neighbourhoods with limited child-care options. </p>
<p>As documented by the research of Petr Varmuza, one of the authors of this story, in the City of Toronto, when neighbourhoods have lower levels of income and maternal education, they tend to have lower availability of child care. </p>
<p>One complicating factor is that parents find it hard to evaluate the quality of care their children receive, with many being unaware of whether it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-019-0063-8">licensed or not</a>. </p>
<h2>Disadvantages compounded</h2>
<p>It is concerning that children from lower-income families <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-019-0063-8">are less likely to have access to any form of licensed care</a>. Low-income families tend to have limited knowledge of the child-care sector and tend to live in neighbourhoods with fewer child-care <a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/UserFiles/File/Events/2023_Summer_Institute/Michal_Perlman_-_WHO_S_IN_AND_WHO_IS_OUT_CWELCC_AND_EQUITY.pdf">spaces per child</a>. </p>
<p>Furthermore, because subsidies for low-income parents are tied to parent activity, if their circumstances change for any reason (like losing a job, going on parental leave or caring for a sick family member), their subsidy is revoked. And research has linked such <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01513-8">disruptions in care to worse outcomes for children</a>. </p>
<p>It is simply unfair that low-income parents are subject to these activity requirements in order to receive the level of subsidy they need while, under the current framework for CWELCC, higher income parents are not subject to these restrictions. </p>
<h2>Remove work/study requirements</h2>
<p>To address this inequity, all work/study requirements for fee subsidies should be removed.</p>
<p>Inclusivity is explicitly stated as an important goal of the federal government’s Canada-wide early learning and child care initiative, and one aimed at providing support to society’s most vulnerable populations and ensuring the healthy development of their children. </p>
<p>However, for vulnerable and marginalized groups, access to early learning and child care remains uncertain. This inclusivity goal must become a top priority to fulfil affordable care for all families.</p>
<p>The ultimate solution is publicly funded child care with enough spaces for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208396/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michal Perlman receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, The Lawson Foundation, The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and other sources.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Burns receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Petr Varmuza 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>For vulnerable and marginalized groups, access to early learning and child care remains uncertain. Inclusive access must become a top priority to achieve affordable care for all families.Michal Perlman, Professor of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of TorontoPetr Varmuza, Assistant Researcher, Perlman Lab, Ontario Institute for the Studies of Education, University of TorontoSamantha Burns, Ph.D. Student, Developmental Psychology and Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1989682023-03-05T17:19:56Z2023-03-05T17:19:56ZInclusive child care must support children with disabilities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513279/original/file-20230302-20-pz1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C77%2C5751%2C3750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Policymakers need to better consider the needs of all children to ensure that children with disabilities are not left out.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/inclusive-child-care-must-support-children-with-disabilities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In 2022, we spent several months listening to parents of young children with support needs as part of <a href="https://inclusionbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/InclusiveChildcare2.pdf">our study</a> about inclusive and equitable child care in British Columbia. </p>
<p>Parents whose children have disabilities, complex health conditions or behavioural differences have been advocating for years for their children to have the opportunity to learn and play alongside their peers in early learning and child-care programs.</p>
<p>In light of that, it was difficult for us to hear the complete absence of their voices in December 2022, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier David Eby celebrated <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/trudeau-and-eby-tout-daycare-funding-but-mom-says-kids-with-diverse-needs-left-behind">new measures</a> to make child care affordable in B.C. </p>
<p>Equitable access to child care requires that governments address the need for affordability and inclusion of all children, regardless of their abilities. Such initiatives need to bring about just conditions for all children, otherwise they are not just or fair.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man speaking while another stands behind him. The words child care appear on the wall behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513272/original/file-20230302-2561-cnfxhi.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks as B.C. Premier David Eby, back right, listens during a child-care announcement in Richmond B.C., in December 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Inequitable child care</h2>
<p>The UN <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/portfolios/crc.html">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, which Canada <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/national-child-day/united-nations-convention-rights-of-the-child.html">ratified</a> in 1991, states that children with disabilities should “enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community.”</p>
<p>In response to years of government inaction in B.C. on inclusive child care, Inclusion B.C. initiated a <a href="https://inclusionbc.org/our-campaigns/kids-cant-wait/">Kids Can’t Wait</a> campaign in 2016. This created a forum for parents’ voices on the structural changes needed to advance inclusive child care in this province. </p>
<p>That was seven years ago. Since then, the B.C. government has launched a range of <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/caring-for-young-children/running-daycare-preschool/inclusive-child-care">piecemeal measures</a> primarily focused on advancing accessibility and affordability. These measures have had positive impacts for some children and families. However, their stated vision for inclusive child care for all families and children has yet to be realized. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-care-after-the-coronavirus-pandemic-should-be-more-inclusive-of-children-with-disabilities-141172">Child care after the coronavirus pandemic should be more inclusive of children with disabilities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>What does advancing accessibility and affordability mean when there is a serious <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9403403/b-c-early-childhood-educator-report-staff-shortages-wages/">shortage of early childhood educators in B.C.</a>, when ‘special needs’ training for early childhood educators is optional, and when there is no clear provincial framework or imperative for inclusion? </p>
<p>It means that children with support needs are systematically left out. It also means there are an increasing number of <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/11/01/Protest-Disability-Funding-Clawback/">parent advocates</a> whose families’ lives have been turned upside down as a result of their <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/08/04/Disabled-Kids-Falling-Through-BC-Child-Care-Gap/">children being excluded</a> from early learning and child-care programs. </p>
<h2>Making child care more inclusive</h2>
<p>The B.C. government has stated its intention to build inclusion into the existing child-care system. Adding on inclusion in this way risks that the ableist foundations of this system will stay in place. </p>
<p>As they grow, children denied child care because of their ‘differences’ may continue to face similar situations: in <a href="https://canadianteachermagazine.com/2022/09/26/11465/">schools</a>, <a href="https://cic.arts.ubc.ca/research-streams/employment-and-transitions/employment-and-transitions-reports/">employment settings</a> and <a href="https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2022/10/04/bc-disability-poll-campaign/">their everyday lives</a> where decisions are made and inclusion is an optional add-on. That is, unless we commit to doing things differently. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An adult hand holding a child's hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513289/original/file-20230302-108-cfwhmq.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Equitable child care requires that governments address the need for affordability and inclusion of all children, regardless of their abilities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The parents who participated in our study understand the discrimination their children experience, as well as what would make a positive difference. Their perspectives are extremely important to informing an inclusive system. </p>
<p>However, the burden of advocacy work should not be theirs to shoulder. They are already navigating a complex set of challenges while raising their families and making a living. To then have to do the emotional and time-intensive labour of trying to convince governments that your child matters is beyond what any parent can be expected to do. </p>
<p>Child-care centres should have better <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/caring-for-young-children/how-to-access-child-care/licensed-unlicensed-child-care">adult-child ratios</a>. Activities need to be responsive to diverse needs and abilities. Early childhood education curricula must foster knowledge and skills for including all children in routine programming. Importantly, educators should be <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-covid-19-child-care-plan-must-start-with-investing-in-early-childhood-educators-157553">well compensated</a> to maintain a stable workforce and quality programs. Funding models should include support for program-level inclusion and policies must support inclusive practices.</p>
<p>This is all possible. Several participants in our study shared what it felt like when they finally found child care that included their children. As one parent stated, having their son in a child-care program was “like an extension of our family.” The parent added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I can trust them. It just shows you how it can be when you have the right people doing the right thing with the right education and experience. It works really well.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Regardless of whether our children need support, or whether we are parents at all — we can all recognize that advocating for equitable child care is something that will make a real difference in our communities. What might we accomplish if we made child-care programs a starting point for overturning the <a href="https://bchumanrights.ca/news/campaign-on-ableism-sparks-province-wide-conversation/">ableist norms</a> and assumptions that underpin so much in our society today?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198968/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>As federal and provincial governments bring in measures to make child care more affordable, the voices and needs of children with disabilities must not be ignored.Alison Gerlach, Assistant Professor, School of Child and Youth Care, University of VictoriaJanet Newbury, Adjunct Professor, School of Child and Youth Care, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890502022-10-24T20:00:48Z2022-10-24T20:00:48ZWhat’s in your future? ‘Fortune tellers’ paper game helps children acquire fine motor and language skills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489651/original/file-20221013-12242-zilxpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C46%2C5184%2C2491&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The folded paper decorated with messages, numbers and fortunes printed under the flaps can spark conversation at gatherings or be given as a birthday card. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-s-in-your-future--fortune-tellers--paper-game-helps-children-acquire-fine-motor-and-language-skills" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Making <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/whether-you-call-it-a-chatterbox-or-fortune-teller-this-playground-game-has-stood-the-test-of-time-20220425-p5afwc.html">“fortune tellers” — a folded paper game children hold on their fingers and thumbs and practice counting and “telling fortunes”</a> with — has been a time-treasured craft and play activity for generations across cultures. </p>
<p>One of the earliest known paper-folding <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/origami/History-of-origami">instruction books is Japanese, dated to 1797; German educators also encouraged paper folding</a> in 19th-century kindergarten curricula. In English, “fortune tellers” are sometimes called <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67389/brief-history-cootie-catchers">salt cellars</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtm0WlsVMt0">chatterboxes</a> or <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/157106/cootie-catcher">cootie catchers</a>;
in my own family heritage language, Dutch, they are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh6Dup06kfs"><em>happertje</em></a> (meaning “bite”). </p>
<p>This single activity integrates and provides a context for children to acquire and apply key concepts and skills <a href="https://www.ednet.ns.ca/edi">from important domains of early development</a>. These include physical health and well-being, including fine motor manipulative skills; language and cognitive development, which includes word knowledge; and social competence.</p>
<p>The activity promotes connected, accelerated and robust understanding through guided, engaged play.</p>
<h2>Experiential learning in a game</h2>
<p>It is important to underscore that different domains of children’s early development <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310550/">are interrelated and interdependent</a>.</p>
<p>Orchestrating activities that exploit interaction among the domains supports young children in their quest to unite disparate or discrete “bits and pieces” of concept and skill understanding. In this way children have practice bringing different tasks <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.156">and embodied knowledge</a> into a coherent conceptual system. </p>
<p>In children, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1223064">experiential learning that</a> engages <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/191866/the-hand-by-frank-r-wilson">neurocircuity connecting the brain and hands</a> and is mediated through adult talk is key to learning language for making meaning in the brain. </p>
<p>The psychologist Jean Piaget describes the early <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457">development needs of children as concrete learners</a>, meaning direct contact with objects and materials in real time. The importance of the “<a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html">more knowledgeable other</a>” and the role of language interactions in supporting ongoing learning was underscored by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky.</p>
<h2>Different learning goals</h2>
<p>Let’s isolate some important learning goals that a fortune teller task supports. </p>
<p>Fine motor manipulative and fine motor literacy skills are developed through scissor work to cut a square. Working on <a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-play-that-enriches-kids-reading-skills-8-fine-motor-activities-for-little-fingers-118673">a good pincer grip</a> through handling crayons and pencils happens when children print messages and numbers. </p>
<p>Folding, creasing, cutting, colouring, drawing and writing/printing supported <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/talking-with-mdash-not-just-to-mdash-kids-powers-how-they-learn-language">by adults talking with children helps children learn</a> procedural language and specialized vocabulary connected to numeracy and visual spatial concepts like diagonal, triangle, half. </p>
<p>And concepts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290802425914">of shape are foundational to children’s ability to recognize letters</a> that underpin literacy learning. When children play with their fortune tellers, they practice counting out loud connected to finger movement. </p>
<h2>As a birthday greeting</h2>
<p>The social and emotional domain can be developed when children write thoughtful wishes for birthdays. Young children can start with drawing balloons, cake and candles to go under the flaps of a birthday greeting fortune teller card. Such activities promote emotional well-being for both recipient and sender.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/handwritten-valentines-create-a-legacy-of-love-and-literacy-130365">Handwritten valentines create a legacy of love and literacy</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<p>Children could also write many other messages related to affirmations, random acts of kindness, mindfulness and ideas for behaviour and stress management. </p>
<p>Cognitive development can be nurtured with playful practice of times tables, jokes and riddles that encourage solving a problem, retelling and <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/story_sequence">narrating a sequence of</a> events. </p>
<p>Children reveal important information about their developmental readiness and progress, and their learning needs are visible in completing small projects such as making fortune tellers. A weak pincer grip, for example, might signal the need for <a href="https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/finger-exercises-for-kids.html">more focused finger exercises</a> with clothes pegs, games with chop sticks or pick up sticks. </p>
<h2>Making the fortune teller</h2>
<p>Making fortune tellers involves about 11 folds — a multi-step task that will involve step-by-step help for young learners.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rbA29zfEAZk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘How to make a fortune teller’ video.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You could use one of <a href="https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Fortune-Teller-Origami-Diagram.pdf">many diagrams available online</a>. Or, on YouTube, a video from “Maflingus” (or Miami Flip, as he introduces himself) on how to make a fortune teller explains the folding technique in straightforward language. I was drawn to give this youngster the opportunity to explain the process as I worked with two children in completing the task. He did not disappoint! </p>
<p>Children benefit from adults offering them input in multiple ways. As an adult leading the task, you can talk and give hands-on support when making the diagonal folds. </p>
<p>Break tasks into manageable chunks or steps. This might involve first creating a model of the final product. Offer specific feedback and encouragement at each step and backing up to review if necessary.</p>
<p>Completing this one-shot project was motivating, fun and purposeful for the children who decided to make this into a birthday wish for their father for later that day. </p>
<h2>Not just for little kids</h2>
<p>Older students can benefit from using the fortune teller as a study strategy.
Under the flaps, students might generate handwritten notes and summaries. Reviewing key concepts and vocabulary or definitions and formulas all promote deep processing and learning. </p>
<p>Handwriting creates embodied cognition and memory in the neurocircuitry that we know works as a key study technique. It produces the added bonus of having a handy, permanent <a href="https://theconversation.com/note-taking-by-hand-a-powerful-tool-to-support-memory-144049">external memory support</a> and storage space that can be revisited for quick review. </p>
<h2>All the boxes</h2>
<p>Though there are <a href="https://www.pbs.org/parents/printables/fortune-teller-game">endless free</a> and commercially available resources for making fortune tellers, <a href="https://www.thesuburbanmom.com/2018/05/14/harry-potter-fortune-teller-printable/">tailored to different themes</a> including printouts or colouring pages available online. I prefer a heartfelt hand-printed message, joke and a bit of art work, and as this article explains, the many benefits of starting from scratch. </p>
<p>Few learning tasks are able to integrate and target many developmental domains at once … fortune tellers tick all the boxes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hetty Roessingh receives funding from SSHRC </span></em></p>How to make a ‘fortune teller’ or ‘chatterbox’ with children, and why the paper activity targets many developmental domains at once.Hetty Roessingh, Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed 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>
<hr>
<p>
<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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<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">
<figcaption>
<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>
</figcaption>
</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>
<figcaption>
<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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<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">
<figcaption>
<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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<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/1609682021-06-03T15:19:46Z2021-06-03T15:19:46ZNew cross-Canada research highlights an early childhood educator recruitment crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403422/original/file-20210528-18-r14zhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C385%2C4589%2C2511&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In expanding early learning and care, Canada must addresses a current crisis is retaining and recruiting educators. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Canada emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, early education is key to the recovery of not just children and families, but of our social economy.</p>
<p>Children have endured <a href="https://www.directrelief.org/2021/01/growing-up-in-the-midst-of-a-pandemic-how-covid-is-affecting-childrens-development/">learning delays</a> and many have seen <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00787-021-01744-3">worsening mental health</a>. The pandemic has also rocked an early childhood sector that was already unstable and uneven. We must do better. </p>
<p>The newly released <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/">Early Childhood Education Report 2020</a>
monitors quality and changes in early child education across Canada, and suggests critical issues to consider. The report is produced by the <a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/Main/index.html">Atkinson Centre</a>, a research centre based at the University of Toronto that uses <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgDiMqVuMEA">best available evidence</a> on early child development to inform public policy.</p>
<p>The report evaluates quality based on analyzing data across all 13 Canadian provinces and territories <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7y1VIDTJiQ">in five equally weighted categories</a>. It examines how early childhood education services are integrated across ministries, funding in ratio to provincial or territorial budgets, access, learning environments and how governments are being held accountable for policy decisions.</p>
<p>The recent historical <a href="https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/home-accueil-en.html">federal 2021 budget</a> announcement promised over <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2021/04/budget-2021-a-canada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-plan.html">$30 billion dollars towards early learning and child care</a> with a vow to increase access and drastically reduce costs.
It also proposes $2.5 billion over five years to build long-term investments in Indigenous-led early learning programming that parallels the government’s commitment to provinces and territories.</p>
<p>However, as heard in all budget announcements, these are funding and aspirational goals. The challenge lies in bilateral negotiations that successfully support each jurisdiction’s unique needs and ongoing initiatives. We must be careful not to take shortcuts.</p>
<p>Program quality must develop along with the growth of spaces and the capacity to offer more affordable parent fees. This will require using public infrastructure including school boards to expand access to early childhood programs, and a robust workforce strategy that addresses a current educator recruitment and retention crisis. </p>
<h2>A comparative look at provinces, territories</h2>
<p>The Early Childhood Education Report 2020 is the fourth edition capturing the impact of the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories.html">2017-20 early learning and child care bilateral agreements</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/early-learning-child-care/reports/2017-multilateral-framework.html">2017 Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework</a> represented the first time in a decade that the federal government brought attention to early education, followed a year later by the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/indigenous-early-learning/2018-framework.html">Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework</a>. </p>
<p>These frameworks set the groundwork for provincial or territorial governments to strive towards a common goal to expand access, affordability and inclusion. </p>
<h2>Uneven access, curriculum</h2>
<p>Across the country, there are both similarities and stark differences in how early learning and care is run.</p>
<p>For example, 75 per cent of two- to four-year-olds <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/profiles/prince-edward-island/">in P.E.I.</a> have access to regulated early learning programs, compared to only 27 per cent in <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/profiles/saskatchewan/">Saskatchewan</a>. </p>
<p>The inclusion of children with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sJCz_00Ww4">special needs</a> in early learning programs that receive public dollars are only mandatory in <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/resources/charts-graphs/overview/jurisdictions-where-public-funding-for-child-care-is-conditional/">three regions</a>; Alberta (within early childhood services programs that serve children aged three and up with exceptionalities, including kindergarten), P.E.I. (within publicly managed early years centres: these must meet higher quality standards and employ all certified staff) and Manitoba.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-care-after-the-coronavirus-pandemic-should-be-more-inclusive-of-children-with-disabilities-141172">Child care after the coronavirus pandemic should be more inclusive of children with disabilities</a>
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<p>In 2011, we reported only eight provinces or territories with a curriculum framework in place to guide educator practice. Our report this year demonstrates that now all 13 jurisdictions have a curriculum framework, however, it’s only mandated in P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Québec, Ontario, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children play with bubbles and blocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403425/original/file-20210528-21-1ef4xpm.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">There are both similarities and stark differences in what we see in early learning and care across the country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Educator qualifications, salaries</h2>
<p>The qualifications of educators vary greatly across the country, as does the ratio of qualified to unqualified staff required in programs. No jurisdiction in Canada requires that all staff be qualified. <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/profiles/alberta/">Alberta</a> only requires one in three staff to be qualified for preschool children. </p>
<p><a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/resources/charts-graphs/overview/ece-salaries-as-a-percent-of-teacher-salaries/">Salaries of early childhood educators</a> vary across the country. Yet they remain stagnant while related professions <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/elementary-teachers-get-salary-benefits-boosts-in-tentative-contract-deal">such as teachers</a> have enjoyed salary increases. Low and stagnant wages contribute to country-wide shortages in early childhood educators with many <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/aeceo/pages/2614/attachments/original/1621392971/Forgotten_on_the_frontline.pdf?1621392971">leaving the sector</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-covid-19-child-care-plan-must-start-with-investing-in-early-childhood-educators-157553">Canada's COVID-19 child-care plan must start with investing in early childhood educators</a>
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<p>In some places, workforce shortages have led governments to reduce qualification requirements. Alberta no longer <a href="https://aecea.ca/child-care-accreditation-cancellation">administers the child care accreditation system</a>, while Ontario has tabled <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/strengthening-early-years-and-child-care-ontario-2020-report">legislative revisions</a> that would allow people to work with children four years and older who are not certified in early education.</p>
<h2>Small federal investments matter</h2>
<p>The 2017 federal funding prioritized access, quality and inclusion, and aimed to add <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-on-track-to-deliver-on-the-creation-of-up-to-40-000-more-affordable-child-care-spaces-870836736.html">40,000 spaces</a> for children zero to five across the country. We were able to report an addition of over 100,000 new spaces current to March 31, 2020, however, how the pandemic affected access is not yet clear. Many programs have collapsed under the financial stress brought on by COVID-19.</p>
<p>Overall funding allocation to early learning has seen an almost two-fold increase since the release of the <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/early-years-studies/early-years-study-3-2011/">first edition</a> of our report to over $14 billion in 2020 from from over $7 billion in 2011. </p>
<p>A 25 per cent increase in overall funding was seen just since 2017, with provinces and territories increasing funding spurred by federal interest and investment. This is a noted difference of only nine per cent increase <a href="http://ecereport.ca/en/early-years-studies/2014/">between 2014</a> and 2017 when federal interest was non-existent. </p>
<p>This demonstrates that even small federal action can produce significant change, stimulating spending and improving access. </p>
<h2>Notable improvements</h2>
<p>More than half of provinces and territories have shown notable improvements in the quality of their early learning and child care provisions.</p>
<p>Although our 2020 report does not capture recent changes made in the Yukon, the territory is making notable leaps forward in their programming and affordability, and the territory partially credits the report as a guiding document. Child-care operators now receive $700 per month per child from zero to four years of age, reducing average monthly parent fees to $200. Full-day kindergarten for four-year-olds outside of Whitehorse will start in September 2021. </p>
<p>Educator shortages have been addressed by new wage enhancements with up to a $17.11 per hour top-up, taking the median salary of educators in the Yukon to the highest in the country. The region also has moved oversight of early education into the education ministry, integrating and streamlining services.</p>
<h2>Transforming</h2>
<p>Transforming services to realize a system similar to public education is vital. <a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/UserFiles/File/Publications/TELCCS_REPORT.pdf">Public delivery of early learning and child care is associated</a> with better working conditions and increased compensation for educators, streamlined administrative costs and higher program quality. </p>
<p>School boards play a significant role in <a href="http://mwmccain.ca/_media/uploads/deloitte/deloitte_elcc_report.pdf">educating younger children in kindergarten and pre-kindergarten</a> (junior kindergarten). Full-day kindergarten for five-year-old children is offered in all regions except Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.</p>
<p>Full-time pre-kindergarten programs for four-year-olds are offered in <a href="https://www.ednet.ns.ca/pre-primary">Nova Scotia</a>, <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/">Ontario</a> and the <a href="https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/en/services/junior-kindergartenkindergarten">Northwest Territories</a>, with Québec committing to province-wide pre-kindergarten by 2023. </p>
<p>Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I. have plans to roll out pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds. Federal funding can be leveraged to support these school-based early learning expansions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A playground with a blue slide for young children seen outside a school building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403426/original/file-20210528-16-wi0aki.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">Some school boards offer pre-kindergarten for children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>What children deserve</h2>
<p>A skilled workforce, leadership and ongoing professional learning are foundational to high-quality early learning and child care. </p>
<p>As the federal government negotiates funding with provinces and territories, this must be top of mind. Based on Canada’s population and the number of available spaces in regulated child care, we are currently at only 39 per cent access for children between zero and five, meaning we are looking to more than double access. </p>
<p>With shortages of a qualified workforce, we cannot allow expansion to be accommodated by reductions in qualifications or ratios of qualified staff. This will greatly reduce the quality of the early learning environment and rob children of the benefits they deserve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emis Akbari 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>Beyond addressing key staffing issues, developing high-quality early childhood programs must involve using school boards to expand access and grow spaces while offering more affordable fees.Emis Akbari, Adjunct Professor, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at Ontario Institute for the Study of Education (OISE) and Senior Policy Fellow at the Atkinson Centre, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1314572020-10-04T18:54:41Z2020-10-04T18:54:41ZMontessori, Steiner or Reggio Emilia: which childcare philosophy is best for your family?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361308/original/file-20201002-22-a5hhpr.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/closeup-colorful-chalk-different-glasses-waldorf-1076921903">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Up to <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/early-childhood-education/information-for-parents-and-carers/brain-development-in-young-children">90% of brain development occurs in the first five years</a> of life. Early learning matters, and creates a solid foundation for future development. </p>
<p>Philosophical underpinnings in early education matter too. They influence the interactions between teachers and children, the environment design and beliefs about how children learn. </p>
<p>The demographic diversity of Australia means no single early learning philosophy will suit everyone. Parents can find it difficult choosing a service given the plethora on offer. </p>
<p>Below are three of the best known alternative educational philosophies used in early childhood education in Australia. </p>
<h2>Steiner (Waldorf)</h2>
<p>Steiner education (also known as <a href="https://www.waldorfeducation.org/waldorf-education">Waldorf</a>) is based on Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy. It originated in Germany in the early 20th century. </p>
<p>It is focused on self-directed learning, based on children’s interests. Steiner education encourages self-motivated learning that supports and encourages problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and social skills.</p>
<p>When learning is self-directed, children’s motivation doesn’t come from rewards. Instead, they are <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191203-the-things-that-do-and-dont-motivate-kids-to-succeed">engaged</a> because they find it satisfying. </p>
<p>A Steiner childcare centre or preschool engages children in self-directed play, and in the arts. Children draw, paint, model, tell stories and do practical things like cooking, cleaning and gardening. There would be more arts and craft in a Steiner-inspired setting than a mainstream one.</p>
<p>Steiner teachers role model rather than instruct and play with children, facilitating their learning.</p>
<p>Assessments of children’s learning are generally personalised to the child and their interests, abilities, culture and strengths — rather than based on developmental checklists or standardised assessments. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A kid's hand holding a paintbrush dipped in a jar of yellow paint." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361291/original/file-20201002-18-p86pys.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You can expect more arts and craft at a Steiner-inspired childcare centre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-childs-hand-painting-colors-brush-1703159359">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Steiner learning resources are <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/1011-still-no-magic-bullets.html">simple and low-tech</a> to stimulate curiosity and creativity. A Steiner classroom may include weaving materials, crayons, puppets, natural fibres and natural timber. </p>
<p>Parents enrolling their child in a Steiner-inspired service can expect the centre to aim for the same teacher to educate and care for their child throughout their time there.</p>
<p>Genuine Steiner schools are certified and use a specific Steiner curriculum. They attract families who would like their child to develop their creativity in a predictable, routine environment with little to no technology. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-worry-your-childs-early-learning-doesnt-stop-just-because-theyre-not-in-childcare-134668">Don’t worry, your child’s early learning doesn’t stop just because they’re not in childcare</a>
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<p>Limited research has been conducted into Steiner education. What research exist mainly relates to schools rather than childcare. Some studies show <a href="https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/scope-report-waldorf-inspired-school.pdf">students at Steiner-inspired schools</a> get better academic scores (when using the same test methods) and social outcomes than students at public schools.</p>
<h2>The Montessori approach</h2>
<p><a href="https://montessori.org.au/about-montessori">Dr Maria Montessori</a> was a medical doctor and psychiatrist. She opened a school for disadvantaged children in early 20th century Rome, to test her education theories. There are now Montessori schools in more than 100 countries. </p>
<p>Montessori’s philosophy is based on her direct observations of children, and integrating their development with their learning. The focus is on play and work, as children like to model adults and be involved in real-world tasks. The philosophy sees children as capable of self-directed learning, who can independently choose resources to use in their learning. </p>
<p>The first learning materials a child is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6161506/#CR18">likely to encounter</a> in the Montessori environment will be used for practical life activities. These include pouring different materials, using utensils such as scissors and tongs, cleaning, preparing snacks, laying the table and washing dishes, arranging flowers and gardening. The aim is to develop independent skills and to build their gross and fine motor control and hand-eye co-ordination. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A boy pouring water from one glass bottle to another." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361295/original/file-20201002-22-jm9if5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pouring encourages the development of gross and fine motor skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/adorable-little-kindergarten-child-boy-pours-1480028207">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Montessori resources are specifically designed, often sensory. They are to encourage matching, rhyming, sequencing, sandpaper letters and numbers for finger tracing, cutting, writing and drawing, sewing, weaving and woodworking. </p>
<p>Resources help children learn through repetition and self-correction. A child manipulating a puzzle can see their mistake if the pieces don’t fit together and self-correct as they go. </p>
<p>Unlike the Steiner approach, children in Montessori settings are grouped according to ability, not age. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225224885_Maximizing_Learning_in_Early_Childhood_Multiage_Classrooms_Child_Teacher_and_Parent_Perceptions">There are benefits associated with multi-age classrooms</a>, which support children to work at their individual pace. They provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and to develop a sense of community. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/maria-montessori-challenged-and-changed-how-kids-are-taught-and-remains-influential-today-144895">Maria Montessori challenged and changed how kids are taught, and remains influential today</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Many Australian early learning services are inspired by Montessori, but not all will be Montessori-registered (anyone can open a Montessori services as the name “Montessori” was never copyrighted). </p>
<p>In Australia, education and care services can participate in an external review by Montessori Australia against the Montessori quality standards and become <a href="https://montessori.org.au/montessori-quality-assurance-programme">“Montessori registered™</a>. Parents can search the <a href="https://montessori.org.au/">Montessori Australia</a> directory to confirm if a service is Montessori-inspired, or Montessori-registered. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Montessori-style sandpaper letter 'M'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361294/original/file-20201002-14-gp4utp.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Montessori resources are often sensory-based, like sandpaper letters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/montessori-wood-material-learning-children-school-1105881251">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is limited evaluation of the Montessori method in Australia, particularly for children aged under three. Some <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6161506/#CR18">research has shown</a> children aged 3-6 attending Montessori settings make significant gains over children attending non-Montessori settings in social and academic skills — but only if using the prescribed Montessori program without adaptations. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783/full?utm_source=F-NTF&utm_medium=EMLX&utm_campaign=PRD_FEOPS_20170000_ARTICLE">A US study</a> found higher academic and social skills, as well as better mastery of skills and executive function in children aged 3–6 who had attended a Montessori service, in comparison to children in non-Montessori settings. </p>
<h2>Reggio Emilia</h2>
<p>The Reggio Emilia approach was established in a city in Northern Italy. After the end of World War 2 and fascism, parents and educators looked for new educational experiences.</p>
<p>The first preschool in <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/31672150.pdf">Reggio Emilia opened</a> in 1963 with the collaboration of educationalist Loris Malaguzzi. </p>
<p>In 1991, one of the city’s preschools, the Diana preschool, was named <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/school-must-rest-idea-all-children-are-different-200976">one of the most advanced preschools in the world</a> by Newsweek, in recognition of the preschool’s innovative teaching practices. These preschools saw the child as an active citizen and holder of rights from birth, valued for their individual identity and active participation in their learning. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/knowledge-is-a-process-of-discovery-how-constructivism-changed-education-126585">Knowledge is a process of discovery: how constructivism changed education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>In contrast to the more structured educational programs in Montessori settings, teachers in Reggio Emilia design <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergent-curriculum">curricula</a> that follow children’s interests and learning. Teachers assume different roles including researcher, role model, observer, documenter, photographer and student. </p>
<p>A teacher may see children are interested in nesting birds in the tree outside their classroom. The teacher may first establish what the children already know about the birds. Then the teacher may offer children the opportunity to draw the birds in the nest, create sculptures of the nest and read children books about bird species. The teacher could also photograph the children engaged in learning about the birds and do further research themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial view of the city of Reggio Emilia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361299/original/file-20201002-23-1mgfuw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The city of Reggio Emilia opened the first newly inspired preschool in 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-reggio-emilia-town-center-1501886867">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The learning journey is then displayed at the centre.</p>
<p>Reggio Emilia schools are renowned for their aesthetics. Each resource is purposefully placed in the classroom to invite children to explore and create with it. Resources can include items such as PVC piping, boxes, fabrics, buckets, stones, blocks and clay. Classrooms are bright and open, designed to allow children to move freely between spaces. </p>
<p>An exact replica of Reggio Emilia can’t be recreated outside the town, as each services must reflect its cultural, political and historical context. So centres refer to themselves as "Reggio-inspired”. These individual differences make it difficult to evaluate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131457/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadia Wilson-Ali is Director, Education and Quality at Nido Early School. No funding has been received in regards to this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marianne Knaus receives funding from organistaions for special projects conducted in the past including AISWA, ECU, WA Department of Education. No funding has been received in regards to this article. </span></em></p>Parents can find it difficult to choose a childcare service, given the plethora of types on offer. Here are three of the most well-known alternative educational philosophies explained.Nadia Wilson-Ali, PhD Student, Edith Cowan UniversityMarianne Knaus, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1394322020-06-01T12:17:29Z2020-06-01T12:17:29ZClear masks for caregivers mean young children can keep learning from adults’ faces<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338577/original/file-20200529-78875-18d0wif.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C5370%2C3601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Babies love to look at faces for good reason. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mother-taking-care-of-baby-royalty-free-image/1216318518">monzenmachi/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As daycare centers and pre-kindergartens begin to reopen around the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/guidance-for-childcare.html">recommends masks be worn</a> by teachers, care workers and children over two years of age. </p>
<p>Important as they are for <a href="https://theconversation.com/masks-help-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-the-science-is-simple-and-im-one-of-100-experts-urging-governors-to-require-public-mask-wearing-138507">helping minimize the spread</a> of the coronavirus, masks come with a potential downside when worn around little kids. <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199559053.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199559053">Decades of research</a> has shown faces are an important tool for learning. With caregivers’ faces covered, infants and young children will miss out on some of the visual cues they’d normally get from faces.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=0CvEbZ0AAAAJ">I study visual learning</a> and recommend that policymakers and educators consider transparent face masks for use around infants and young children.</p>
<h2>Faces are key for little learners</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338590/original/file-20200529-78849-1vfegu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All wired up and ready to go.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lisa Scott</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>When infants and children come to my <a href="https://bcdlab.psych.ufl.edu/">research lab</a> (with their families, of course), we show them pictures of faces on a computer screen, sometimes paired with sounds or words. Using tools like eye tracking technology and <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/eeg">EEG</a>, which measures electrical activity in the brain, we are able to observe what they’re paying attention to and learn more about how their brains are developing. These methods allow us to measure learning even before infants can talk. </p>
<p>Our work shows that infants pay close attention to eyes and mouths on faces. Infants also learn that two eyes are usually above a nose which is above a mouth, and they learn to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2016.1146780">combine these features into one whole</a>. Babies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418769884">use faces as a tool</a> for learning from familiar people, like mom, dad or a care worker.</p>
<p>Infant brain responses change when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1068/p5493">faces are altered</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.02.008">turned upside down</a> or presented with conflicting information, like a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01138.x">happy face paired with a crying sound</a>. These changes in brain responses suggest that infants can tell when there is something different about a face. </p>
<p>Although they cannot yet speak, infants as young as six months of age <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2018.03.002">learn and understand names for new faces</a>. When similar-looking faces are presented in a book and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02348.x">paired with names</a>, babies are able to differentiate them. Learning to match a name with a face may be more difficult when faces are masked.</p>
<h2>Faces foster language development</h2>
<p>Research shows infants and children pay close attention to mouths <a href="https://llamblab.haskins.yale.edu/publications/">during important periods of language learning</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338587/original/file-20200529-78880-ds0wac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Babies and young children zero in on mouths to learn language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mother-holding-baby-and-talking-on-cell-phone-royalty-free-image/135385028">Sam Edwards/OJO Images via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Young babies shift their visual focus from looking primarily at the eyes of talking faces to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1114783109">looking at the mouths</a> between 4 and 8 months of age. Infants begin to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1113380109">understand the meaning of familiar words</a> between 6 and 9 months of age. Looking toward the mouth increases as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.01.002">infant speaking skills increase</a>. Although this focus on the mouth decreases around 9 to 12 months of age, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.03.009">increases again around 14 months</a> of age during word learning. Even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000750">5-year-olds show increased interest</a> in the mouths of talking faces compared to adults. </p>
<p>While it is unknown how covering the mouth will directly affect development at every age, these studies suggest that infants and children <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci4040613">use the mouths of faces as a tool</a> for learning to produce speech sounds and for learning new words. </p>
<h2>What should care workers and educators do?</h2>
<p>Wearing masks around infants and children during the first five years of life may reduce their ability to learn from auditory and visual cues – and this may negatively influence speech and language learning. Covering faces could also limit children’s ability to recognize familiar people and <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2020/04/21/are-you-happy-or-sad-how-wearing-face-masks-can-impact-childrens-ability-to-read-emotions/">determine when someone is happy, sad or angry</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s crucially important to protect children and workers from the spread of the coronavirus. But there are ways to keep everyone safe while also allowing little ones to see adults’ faces.</p>
<p>If possible, care workers and educators spending long hours with infants and young children should consider clear masks or transparent face shields to reduce potential negative impacts on early learning. And, certainly, parents should continue to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/baby-talk-learning-your-babys-language-communication/id1505875687?i=1000475161449">play</a>, <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_parents_sing_to_babies">sing</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-babys-brain-to-benefit-read-the-right-books-at-the-right-time-83076">read</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191001-the-word-gap-that-affects-how-your-babys-brain-grows">talk</a> face to face with their infants and children.</p>
<p>Luckily, infants and young children often spend just as much time at home, where healthy caregivers don’t need to wear masks. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children5070098">Developing children are also very resilient</a>, so if transparent masks are not available, it is still important for caretakers to wear masks until public health authorities recommend otherwise.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa S. Scott receives funding from the National Science Foundation and is a current Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) fellow funded by the Jacobs Foundation, New America, and the International Congress of Infant Studies</span></em></p>With caregivers’ faces covered, infants and young children will miss out on all the visual cues they’d normally get during stages of rapid developmental growth.Lisa S. Scott, Professor in Psychology, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1346682020-04-20T05:18:25Z2020-04-20T05:18:25ZDon’t worry, your child’s early learning doesn’t stop just because they’re not in childcare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327618/original/file-20200414-117567-1tuz0ay.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/legs-child-red-rubber-boots-jumping-487536364">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At childcare and preschool, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED433943.pdf">children experience</a> belonging to a community and engage actively with their learning. </p>
<p>They also collaborate in groups, which helps them learn how to negotiate, listen and engage together. </p>
<p>Learning in this sense is layered and complex in that children aren’t just taught knowledge, but participate in constructing it. And because of this, a child’s learning never stops. </p>
<p>Even if your child has paused attending childcare or preschool due to COVID-19, they are still learning, every day and in every moment.</p>
<h2>Parents are the most important teachers</h2>
<p>Play is central to children’s learning experiences. It’s <a href="https://pz.harvard.edu/projects/pedagogy-of-play">how they make meaning</a> in their world, create, build and maintain relationships, and explore and engage with theories and questions.</p>
<p>Early childhood teachers work with children to create daily moments of play that ignite wonder, inquiry and surprise. </p>
<p>They do so by using ordinary moments – such as a group of children drawing a map of the community or a toddler reaching out to catch the rain – as the foundation for creating experiences that further children’s thinking and ideas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/let-them-play-kids-need-freedom-from-play-restrictions-to-develop-117586">Let them play! Kids need freedom from play restrictions to develop</a>
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<p>The children and teachers are co-participants in the learning process. They <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/44290238.pdf">collaborate</a> to understand and make meaning of the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315297378">relationships between each other</a>, with the other children in the setting and with the environment. </p>
<p>These same collaborations of meaning-making and discovery occur in families.</p>
<p>Even the Early Years Learning Framework – the national guide for the early childhood curriculum – <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/early-years-learning-framework-0">states that parents and families</a> are “children’s first and most influential educators”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329019/original/file-20200420-152614-9ihqe2.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A child’s learning never stops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-daughter-walking-through-woods-dog-420746095">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And research shows children’s development and learning <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Reconceptualizing-Early-Childhood-Education-Care-Reader-Marianne-N-Bloch/9781433154171">never actually pauses</a>. Children will <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2304/ciec.2010.11.2.227">still learn</a>, grow and develop despite not attending preschool and childcare. </p>
<p>They will continue to make meaning of their world as they think, question and play at home, or as they walk with a parent, or eat breakfast with their family. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/8-tips-on-what-to-tell-your-kids-about-coronavirus-133346">8 tips on what to tell your kids about coronavirus</a>
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</em>
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<p>Even ordinary negotiations with a child and parent can be learning experiences. </p>
<p>Imagine your child wants to play with you while you are busy answering emails. Stopping for a moment and listening to your child’s request, then responding with a simple, “I can play with you in 15 minutes”, offers an opportunity for the child to act with patience and empathy.</p>
<p>Listening, collaboration and compromise are all part of this very ordinary moment and become how child and parent learn in relationship with each other and build knowledge together.</p>
<p>Here are some other ways parents can create learning experiences at home.</p>
<h2>A bag of things</h2>
<p>Your home is full of rich materials for children to explore and through which they can understand the world.</p>
<p>For example, give young child a small bag and ask them to fill it with things like fallen leaves, old buttons, bottlecaps, string or small bits of paper. </p>
<p>Then clear a space, empty the bag, and give the child time and space to play with the gathered materials. </p>
<p>You might be immediately inclined to give your child a task or tell them what to do with the materials. But instead, wait and trust the child to find their own way. </p>
<p>Slowness is part of the process. It gives children time to question: where did this button come from?; what happens when I stack these bottlecaps?; how can I use this string to create something else?</p>
<p>Listen to what your child is saying and doing. Then see how you might support your child to think deeper about the materials. </p>
<p>You may notice how your child is grouping the materials, so you could ask: “how are you deciding which items go together?”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329020/original/file-20200420-152567-vr480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children learn through relationships, including relationships with nature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-playing-autumn-park-114033664">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can place some empty containers in the middle of the space as a response to grouping and see what happens. </p>
<p>Spend time listening again and thinking about what your child is theorising during the grouping of materials. </p>
<p>Is she grouping the objects into a particular shape, or by certain amounts? Perhaps your child will manipulate the shapes into a sculpture. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kids-at-home-because-of-coronavirus-here-are-4-ways-to-keep-them-happy-without-resorting-to-netflix-133772">Kids at home because of coronavirus? Here are 4 ways to keep them happy (without resorting to Netflix)</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>In this shared example, categorising (making groups) moves to theory building (how items are grouped) to creating and building new knowledge (how items come together to create something new).</p>
<p>You can keep this collection to play with later, showing your child how to recycle materials.</p>
<p>You can find more ideas for what to do at home at
<a href="https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/athomewiththereggioapproach/">Reggio Children</a></p>
<h2>Relationships with a place</h2>
<p>Learning <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203317730">happens in relationships</a> – relationship with families, animals and insects, plants, oceans and mountains, pens, pencils, paper and paint, and places. </p>
<p>Find a place close to your home you can visit regularly, like a nearby park. Help your children notice a tree’s bark, or follow the tree with their eyes from ground to sky. </p>
<p>Get them to look at the things around them. </p>
<p>What made you and them want to go to this place? Was it the colours, sounds, smells, memories? Who are the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which this place is located? </p>
<p>Be slow in this place and help your children discover something new. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>does the creek change after it rains? </p></li>
<li><p>do they see something new if they follow an ant? </p></li>
<li><p>do buildings make different shadows when it is sunny? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In these complex times, these relationships are how we can empower children to understand and contribute to their new reality.</p>
<p>You can find more ideas about building relationships with places in <a href="https://www.goingoutandabout.net/activities-durig-covid19">Out and About</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeanne Marie Iorio works for The University of Melbourne.
Jeanne Marie Iorio has received external funding from the local government and community organisation for activities related to her research.</span></em></p>Parents are children’s first and most influential educators. They can turn ordinary moments into important learning experiences.Jeanne Marie Iorio, Senior Lecturer, Early Childhood Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1145142019-04-07T11:00:47Z2019-04-07T11:00:47ZA new language doesn’t hamper kids learning. Other things do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267570/original/file-20190404-123410-7tx28w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many South African children are still in the process of learning English by the time they first start going to school.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa is a linguistically and culturally diverse country. There are 11 official languages and several other minority languages. But English continues to be preferred as the <a href="http://www.praesa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Paper6.pdf">language of learning and teaching</a>. </p>
<p>Many South African children are still in the process of learning English by the time they first start going to school. In a single English-medium classroom, one can find children with various levels of English proficiency; from children with English as their mother tongue to children who have never learnt English before. </p>
<p>This situation poses a range of challenges for both the teacher and the children. One of the biggest challenges is that a certain level of proficiency in English is required for the children to be able to perform well academically in an English-medium school. It’s a <a href="https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/product/Owens-Language-Development-An-Introduction-7th-Edition/9780205525560.html">widely known fact</a> that academic success is very much dependent on language competence and proficiency. </p>
<p>This means that there’s a great need to understand how language develops in children’s early school careers. It is also important to understand the cognitive mechanisms that underlie language learning. To further explore how this happens in the early years of schooling I did a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2019.1571009">study</a> involving pre-primary children in an English-medium school in Cape Town.</p>
<p>The group consisted of children who were still learning English as well as children whose mother tongue was English. The children were very diverse – there was a total of nine different home languages in the group of children who were still learning English. </p>
<p>The findings showed that the ability of children to develop their language skills didn’t depend on whether they were proficient when they started out. Their ability to learn and advance – or not – was in fact dependent on a range of other factors, none of which had to do with English language proficiency.</p>
<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>The research aimed to understand the link between language and working memory development. I did this by tracking how working memory developed for the children chosen to take part in the study.</p>
<p>Working memory is the ability to store and use information in the short-term and is important for our everyday lives. For example, we use working memory when we need to remember an address that we just heard while we are looking for a pen to write it down. Working memory also underlies many important academic competencies, like reading and mathematics. </p>
<p>The children were broken into two groups: those with English as their primary language, and those still learning English. They were given the same tasks; these were an English language assessment and working memory tasks. They were assessed three times over the course of the year – at the beginning, middle and end. </p>
<p>The results showed that both groups improved over the year on the assessment of English language abilities. The results also revealed that great improvements were made in language development during the first year of formal schooling. Results from the working memory tasks indicated that children who were still learning English, as well as the children who have English as their mother tongue, performed the same on these tasks and achieved comparable scores. Children in both groups saw their language abilities and working memory abilities improve over the year. </p>
<p>The most interesting finding is that the route, or trajectory, the children’s cognitive and language development followed was the same for both groups, regardless of the English abilities they had at the beginning. </p>
<p>Importantly, the result that working memory scores between groups were comparable also indicated that the amount of knowledge of English that a child had didn’t affect their working memory abilities. </p>
<p>What this points to is that, if a child’s working memory scores are low and the trajectory of the development is not the same as their peers, there may be cause for concern. In this case, the children should be referred to an occupational or speech therapist for further assessment. Our research shows the fact that they’re struggling can’t simply be explained away as a “symptom” of the child not knowing English well enough. </p>
<h2>Falling through the cracks</h2>
<p>Studies like these are important for giving professionals better ways of seeing if a child has a disorder or is only struggling because they have not acquired a sufficient level of English yet. </p>
<p>In the context of a classroom with various languages and proficiencies of English, it is easy for a child with a disorder to be overlooked. </p>
<p>Along with the under-resourced schools and over-burdened teachers, heterogeneity among learners results in them not receiving the support that they need, be it academic or linguistic. Those whose primary language is English as well as those learning English suffer alike. The upshot is clearly seen in the worsening educational crisis in South Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle White received funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. </span></em></p>The ability of multilingual children to learn and advance academically from pre-primary has little to do with their English proficiency.Michelle White, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1101942019-01-24T13:38:26Z2019-01-24T13:38:26ZKenyan approach holds promise for boosting early childhood education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254710/original/file-20190121-100264-1md6je8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Early childhood education can equip kids for later learning.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">karelnoppe/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been <a href="http://www.adeanet.org/en/system/files/259338e.pdf">a big push</a> by countries in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade to improve early childhood education. This refers to pre-primary schools, which usually caters to children aged between 4 and 5.</p>
<p>Research <a href="https://heckmanequation.org/www/assets/2017/01/F_Heckman_FourBenefitsInvestingECDevelopment_022615.pdf">has shown</a> that participating in early childhood development and education programmes is associated with better adjustment to later schooling, as well as higher levels of academic achievement. </p>
<p>Kenya is among the best regional performers in terms of early childhood development enrolment, as shown in the chart below. But enrolment doesn’t necessarily equate with quality. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254705/original/file-20190121-100270-1hnkl2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNESCO 2017</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So in 2014, the Kenyan government introduced an early childhood education programme called <a href="https://ciff.org/grant-portfolio/tayari-getting-children-ready-to-learn/">Tayari</a> – a Kiswahili word that means “readiness”. It was piloted over four years in more than 1800 public and private early childhood development and education centres. Tayari reached slightly over 72 000 pre-primary school leaners.</p>
<p>Tayari’s aim was to develop a cost-effective, scalable model of early childhood development and education that would prepare children cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally for primary school. The model had three interrelated components. The first was teacher training and classroom support. The second involved providing teachers and learners with appropriate instructional materials like learners’ work books and teacher guides. The third centred on health and hygiene knowledge, making children aware of why hand washing and healthy foods are important.</p>
<p>Cost-effectiveness was determined by comparing net gain scores on learner assessment to incremental costs of implementing Tayari. This information is important to policy makers in making alternative investment decisions. </p>
<p>So, did it succeed? My colleagues and I at the African Population and Health Research Centre conducted an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329523116_Impact_Evaluation_of_Tayari_School_Readiness_Program_in_Kenya">independent external evaluation</a> to find out. We wanted to assess the programme’s impact, and how cost effective it had been. Our findings were largely positive.</p>
<p>The learners who were exposed to Tayari were more ready to join primary grade 1 compared to those not involved in the programme. The Tayari model provides an opportunity to improve the quality of childhood learning in sub-Saharan Africa. It is flexible and can be tweaked to fit different contexts.</p>
<h2>Measuring success</h2>
<p>Our study involved a randomised control trial design. This means we created a natural experiment to compare scores of learners who were exposed to Tayari with those of similar learners not exposed. Using this approach, we sampled 600 pre-primary schools from the 1800 centres involved in the Tayari programme. Half of these were low-cost private early childhood development and education centres; the other half were public early childhood development and education centres.</p>
<p>We then compared learner assessment results from the centres that were exposed to learners of centres not exposed. We found that, on average, learners who’d been part of the Tayari programme were about three school months ahead of their peers who hadn’t taken part.</p>
<p>Crucially, we also found that the Tayari programme was cost-effective. By spending an extra US $14 per learner over a period of two years – that is, about US $7 a year – policymakers could enhance learners’ scores in early childhood development and education centres by an average of about 3 percentage points. </p>
<p>With a budget of US $7 million per year, the government can heavily subsidise the cost of 1 million learners in early childhood education in a way that will improve the quality and make the learners ready to join primary grade 1.</p>
<h2>Future prospects</h2>
<p>Our results suggest that the Tayari programme could provide a useful model for other countries in sub-Sahara Africa. The typical barriers addressed by Tayari includes inadequate provision of age-appropriate and context relevant quality teaching and learning materials; and, lack of capacity to offer classroom-based teacher coaching during instruction. </p>
<p>Policymakers have much to learn from the way the model was structured, and the way the overall package focused on instructional quality. </p>
<p>Of course, there are still gaps in our knowledge. We don’t know how long Tayari’s social and education benefits will persist; this will need to be the focus of future research. But, based on our study and its findings, we believe the Tayari model is suitable for scaling up by ministries of education and development partners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Moses Ngware receives funding from the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)</span></em></p>Cost-effective, scaleable early childhood development and education programmes can make a huge difference.Moses Ngware, Senior Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/990852018-07-02T20:08:09Z2018-07-02T20:08:09ZLearning languages early is key to making Australia more multilingual<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225429/original/file-20180629-117422-3lpvob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In their early years, children have the ability to accurately produce all sounds of all languages, to mimic a near-perfect accent, which makes it an optimal time for learning a second language.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Simon Birmingham recently <a href="https://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/successful-early-learning-language-program-doubles/">announced</a> the government will invest an additional A$11.8 million in a successful preschool language learning program. </p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/2024.0Main%20Features22016">300 languages</a> are spoken in Australia. In the Greater Sydney area alone, nearly <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/2024.0Main%20Features22016">40% of households</a> speak a language other than English and many children of these households attend weekend <a href="http://www.communitylanguagesaustralia.org.au/">community language learning</a>.</p>
<p>But, in New South Wales for example, <a href="http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/hsc/about-HSC/HSC-facts-figure">less than 10%</a> of secondary students make it through to a final end of secondary school examination (Higher School Certificate) in an additional language. A <a href="http://www.australiachinarelations.org/sites/default/files/20032%20ACRI%20Jane%20Orton%20-%20Chinese%20Language%20Capacity_web_0.pdf">report</a> of Chinese learning shows of all the learners who start Chinese study 96% have dropped out by senior secondary level.</p>
<p>The additional funding for pre-secondary school language education is a step in the right direction to making Australia a more bilingual country. Starting early is the key to making sure students continue with their language education.</p>
<h2>Early Learning Languages Australia</h2>
<p>Appetite for learning a language must be created by starting early, through generating curiosity and fun in playing with language. <a href="https://www.ella.edu.au/">Early Learning Languages Australia</a> (ELLA) does this. </p>
<p>Introduced in 2017, ELLA has created a <a href="http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-publications/every-child-magazine/every-child-index/every-child-vol-16-3-2010/play-based-learning-free-article/">play-based</a> interactive language learning program for tablet devices. This makes language learning visual and engaging for preschool children. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/play-based-learning-can-set-your-child-up-for-success-at-school-and-beyond-91393">Play-based learning can set your child up for success at school and beyond</a>
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<p>The program uses characters, game activities and songs to teach simple language. Apart from a few prompts in English, it immerses the child in understanding and using the target language. The program is based on decades of <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/HICIEI">international</a> <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Immersion_Education.html?id=m6gagHDTsCEC&redir_esc=y">studies</a> of early immersion language learning which have consistently shown the cognitive, neural, visual-spatial, conceptual, social and personal benefits of early language learning.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fellaprogram%2Fvideos%2F1828617747422676%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="100%" height="420" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
<p>Children’s use of language in songs and games resembles the natural way people learn their native language. In early years, children have the ability to accurately produce all sounds of all languages, to mimic a near-perfect accent, and they will speak and sing without the inhibitions of adolescence. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/45071">research</a> <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/45071">evaluation</a> of the program has been sound, using cognitive, behavioural and qualitative measures.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-hard-for-adults-to-learn-a-second-language-61477">Why it's hard for adults to learn a second language</a>
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<h2>Increasing early language learning</h2>
<p>The increased funding to Early Learning Languages Australia will expand the program to a total 5,000 preschools nationally, including long daycare centres with preschool programs. This represents a significant impact to the sector. </p>
<p>Languages currently available include Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Modern Greek and Hindi. The additional funding will add Korean, Vietnamese, Turkish and German to the program. All of these languages are included in the <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/">Australian Curriculum</a> for schools.</p>
<p>The program will also be trialled in 300 schools, in Foundation (kindergarten) to year two, in 2019-2020. This may help lay the groundwork for future sustained interest. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225457/original/file-20180629-117367-faj8ib.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">Expanded funding will add Korean, Vietnamese, Turkish and German to the program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/friendly-elementary-school-teacher-helping-young-147613586">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Tired arguments are holding us back</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/63381">Research</a> has shown the efforts of some of the most talented teachers running rich, motivating programs are currently undermined by discouragement from school leadership and parents.</p>
<p>There are two tired arguments about early language learning in public schools which stifle the progress of school language learning. The first is the lack of qualified teachers – the solution is to train more! The training of specialist primary school language teachers has begun, but needs more investment. </p>
<p>The second argument is contested space in the “crowded curriculum”. Putting the value judgement aside, there is already <a href="https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/55778">one solution</a> in place. </p>
<p>In a small but growing number of schools, primary language teachers are successfully collaborating with regular classroom teachers to teach selected units from, for example, geography or science, in a language other than English. This achieves <a href="https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/55778">two learning objectives at once</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-languages-should-children-be-learning-to-get-ahead-74305">What languages should children be learning to get ahead?</a>
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<p>Investment in early learning, through preschool and primary years is the key to unseating these arguments, and achieving sustained language achievement. Victoria has led the way in attaching value to language study, making learning a language compulsory in primary years.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=200805621;res=IELAPA">independent schools</a> have conducted <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/jp/series/14589">highly successful</a> continuous preschool, primary and secondary school language programs for many years. </p>
<p>The longer term objectives of early language learning are to provide intellectual stimulation, intercultural curiosity and for children to see linguistic diversity as an every day affair in classrooms and playgrounds. </p>
<p>The Australian curriculum is built on seven general capabilities, one of which is <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/intercultural-understanding/">intercultural understanding</a>. The most powerful vehicle for this is through language learning. If we start early, this is where children learn to value both their own cultures, languages and beliefs, and those of others. </p>
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<p><em>This article has been updated since publication to correct an error in referring to ELLA as Early Language Learning Australia, when the correct title is Early Learning Languages Australia.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Moloney 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>Learning languages early makes multilingualism “normal” in classrooms and playgrounds, and builds curiosity and even modest mastery.Robyn Moloney, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie UniversityLicensed 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>
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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>
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<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>
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<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">
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<span class="caption">Universal preschool provision sets children up for learning later in life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<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>
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<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">
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<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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<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/837062017-09-10T19:41:12Z2017-09-10T19:41:12ZEarly learning report card: Australia is improving rapidly, but there’s more work to do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185210/original/file-20170908-9585-ngc2ea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three year olds. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Photographee.eu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Quality early education can set a child up for life, allowing them to develop to their full potential. High quality and affordable early learning opportunities need to be a reality for all children in Australia. </p>
<p>A new report from the <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/everyonebenefits/pages/73/attachments/original/1504689599/ELEB-Report-web.pdf?1504689599">Early Learning Everyone Benefits campaign</a> (ELEB) tracks progress across a range of different early childhood education and care (ECEC) measures.</p>
<p>It shows that while the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education">National Partnership on Universal Access to Early Education</a> has driven significant rises in preschool participation in the year before full time school, Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three year olds. </p>
<p>It also highlights the persistent correlation between socioeconomic status and early childhood outcomes in Australia, as well as the diversity and fragmented nature of our early childhood sector.</p>
<h2>Child development</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/">Research</a> shows a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and developmental vulnerability at the start of school. </p>
<p>In 2015, one in five children started school developmentally vulnerable. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more than twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable at the start of school, and this number increases to two in five for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The effect of disadvantage is evident across all areas of development, and is not changing over time. </p>
<p>This gap between the most advantaged and least advantaged children, in both learning and well-being, creates significant challenges for an education system already struggling to reduce the gap in achievement. </p>
<h2>Participation</h2>
<p>The ELEB report shows the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education">National Partnership on Universal Access to Early Education</a> has driven significant rises in preschool participation in the year before full-time school. In 2015, 91% of children participated in 15 hours per week, which is within reach of the 95% target. All states and territories, except New South Wales, met the target in 2015. </p>
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<p>However, it shows Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three-year-olds. Only 89% of four- year-olds, 62% of three-year-olds and 35% of Australian children aged birth to two participated in early childhood education and care in 2015. </p>
<p>We continue to rank <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/education-at-a-glance-19991487.htm">below the OECD average</a> for the participation of three-year-olds and four-year-olds, although we have had the fastest growth of any OECD country over the past decade. </p>
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<p>The low rate of participation among three year olds in Australia is of particular concern. <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/two-years-preschool/">Research</a> indicates that two years of a high-quality preschool program delivers better outcomes than one year, especially for children who are developmentally vulnerable.</p>
<h2>Diversity, complexity and quality improvement</h2>
<p>The Australian ECEC sector is complex, with a diverse mix of funding streams (all levels of government and families contribute), provider types (for profit, not-for-profit, government, community managed and private) and delivery settings (long day care, family day care, sessional preschool and school-based). </p>
<p>There are strengths to this diversity, but it can create challenges for coherent policy. State and territory governments share responsibility for early childhood education with the federal government. Early education systems across each state and territory are varied and have differing proportions of community, private and state education department providers. </p>
<p>Although the <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a> (NQF) has laid a solid foundation on which to build quality in the sector, the process of assessing all early learning and care providers has taken time. At <a href="http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/Reports/2017/NQF_Snapshot_Q1_2017.PDF">the end of March 2017</a>, 88% of services had been assessed, with 73% “meeting” or “above” the National Quality Standard. </p>
<p>In addition, competing policy objectives continue to create complexity for policy implementation. For example, the federal government’s new <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/ChildCarePackage">Jobs for Families Child Care Package</a>, centred on reform of the childcare subsidy scheme, has a focus on parents’ workforce participation. But the NQF focuses on improving learning outcomes, and the National Partnership Agreement focuses on building participation. </p>
<p>Unaligned policy objectives can result in tensions, such as between raising standards of care and ensuring childcare is affordable. They can also deliver adverse policy outcomes: for example, when eligibility requirements for funding reduce access to early learning.</p>
<h2>Investment</h2>
<p>Australian governments are recognising the benefits of early childhood education, which is reflected in their investment. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2017/child-care-education-and-training/early-childhood-education-and-care">Total Commonwealth, state and territory government expenditure</a> on ECEC services was $9.1 billion in 2015–16, compared with $8.8 billion in 2014–15. Federal Government spending on early childhood services has grown rapidly over the past decade, from $2.9 billion in 2006–07 to $7.4 billion in 2015–16.</p>
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<p>State and territory government spending on early childhood services has also seen an upwards trend. However, it should be noted this has included funding received from the federal government through the National Partnership Agreement. </p>
<p>Western Australia and South Australia spend the greatest proportion of total budget expenditure on early childhood services. New South Wales spends the lowest.</p>
<p>When it comes to per-child spending on early childhood services, the Northern Territory spends the most, at $1,116 per child aged birth to 12 years in 2015-16. Again, New South Wales spends the least, at $246 per child.</p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>While Australia has lagged behind comparable countries over recent decades, the National Partnership Agreement has been a significant turning point. This long-overdue investment from governments to provide all Australian children with access to 600 hours of preschool education in the year before school has paid off enormously. It also shows what can be achieved when federal, state and territory governments work together. </p>
<p>However, there is more to do. Now is the time not only to continue this commitment, but to extend that access to high-quality, age-appropriate early education programs for three-year-olds.</p>
<p>We need a system that can deliver two years of quality preschool programs, as well as access for all Australian children during their crucial first five years of early development - wherever they live and whatever their family circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Pilcher 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>Despite good progress in recent years, there is still more to do, including improving access to early childhood education for three-year-olds.Sarah Pilcher, Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/710142017-01-18T01:34:47Z2017-01-18T01:34:47ZFactCheck: what are the facts on rising child care prices?<blockquote>
<p>We’ve already had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth. We saw during the Rudd-Gillard years price spikes of up to 14% over a 12 month period. Under the Coalition, that’s been brought down to around 6% on average. So we actually have much lower growth in relation to child care costs, but to achieve the real changes we need, we need to get our child care reforms through to Parliament. <strong>– Education Minister Simon Birmingham, <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/3335/Doorstop-Adelaide">doorstop interview</a>, January 8, 2017.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>As the working year starts again and many children return to formal child care, Education Minister Simon Birmingham has called on Labor to support a suite of reforms he says will ensure prices rise more slowly.</p>
<p>Simon Birmingham said the Coalition has “had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth”. Under Labor, he said, there were price spikes of up to 14% over a 12 month period but under the Coalition, “that’s been brought down to around 6% on average”.</p>
<p>Is that accurate?</p>
<h2>Checking the source</h2>
<p>When asked for sources to support his statement, a spokesperson for Simon Birmingham referred The Conversation to the Department of Education and Training’s <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-update">Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary reports</a>, and in particular page 11 of the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/42331">March quarter 2016 report</a>, which contained this table:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152217/original/image-20170110-16999-1ngcjee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Average and annual percentage change to Long Day Care hourly fees, March quarter 2007 to the March quarter 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/eccc_in_summary_mar_quarter_2016.pdf">Australian Department of Education and Training, Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary March quarter 2016</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The spokesperson also referred The Conversation to Simon Birmingham’s January 8 <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3334/Child-care-fee-increases-highlight-need-for-Turnbull-Governments-reforms">media release</a>, in which the minister discussed the release of the government’s <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/eccc_in_summary_mar_quarter_2016_0.pdf">March quarter 2016 report</a> on child care costs.</p>
<h2>A one-off price spike and longer term trends</h2>
<p>Simon Birmingham was correct when he said child care prices spiked to 14% over a 12 month period during the Rudd-Gillard years. Department of Education data from 2007-2016 show prices spiked up to 14% in the 2008-09 financial year.</p>
<p>But with the exception of the one-off spike in 2008-09, child care prices over the last decade have continued to increase close to their usual trajectory of average annual price increases of 6.8% – whether it was the Coalition or Labor in power. </p>
<p>Annual price growth has been slightly below that 6.8% average since the Coalition came to power in 2013 – closer to 6%, as the minister correctly said. The chart above provided by the minister’s office clearly shows the blue line (the rate of price growth) has been below the red line (the average increase) for the entire period of the Abbott/Turnbull government.</p>
<p>But, as that chart also shows, that trend began before the Coalition took office in 2013 and child care pricing and rebate policy hasn’t changed much since Labor lost the 2013 election. The Turnbull government does have a package of new measures it hopes to get through parliament, but it hasn’t passed yet.</p>
<p>So to say “we’ve already had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth” is taking credit for a reduction in the rate of growth that is likely due to broader market forces – like low inflation and slow wage growth – not government policy.</p>
<h2>Why was there a spike?</h2>
<p>The 14% price spike in the 2008-09 financial year was likely due to a one-off event – the major expansion of the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/child-care-rebate">Child Care Rebate</a>. In that year, the maximum Child Care Rebate payment was <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2008-09/content/overview2/html/overview_10.htm">increased</a> by around $3,000 to $7,500 per child, per year. </p>
<p>A portion of the higher payment was likely taken by child care providers through record price rises. Department of Education figures show marked price increases in the September and March quarters of the 2008-09 financial year, marked with circles below.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152419/original/image-20170111-4585-1e5540l.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Department of Education ABS Centre for Social Research and Methods.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s the overall trend?</h2>
<p>The ABS Consumer Price Index shows the amount paid by parents after the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/child-care-benefit">Child Care Benefit</a> and the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/child-care-rebate">Child Care Rebate</a> have been taken into account. This is the “net” price paid by parents. Removing the impact of the changes in childcare benefit and rebate changes leaves the “gross” price index – the prices charged by childcare operators.</p>
<p>The chart below confirms the continued long-term trend of strong child care price inflation. The gross price index (purple line) has continued to increase strongly throughout the period. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152955/original/image-20170117-9029-6gdz2w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chart by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, using Australian Bureau of Statistics data.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the long-term, the net cost of child care – the cost after subsidies are received, shown as a green line in the chart above – has not grown as quickly as household income (the red line). That’s largely due to increases in the Child Care Rebate. </p>
<p>More recently, however, affordability has deteriorated significantly. According to the ABS Consumer Price Index, there have been real cost increases of around 56%. That’s because child care subsidies haven’t increased in real terms – at rates greater than inflation – since 2008-09. </p>
<h2>What factors affect child care prices?</h2>
<p>Child care prices are determined within a complex market. Government does have a role to play, but a host of other forces also play an important part in determining child care prices.</p>
<p>These factors include the supply of child care centres and centre vacancies (both of which have increased recently), demographic and labour market changes (particularly the strong growth in female workforce participation), and regulatory changes (such as the <a href="http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework">National Quality Framework</a>, which seeks to increase the quality of child care). </p>
<p>Major child care subsidies have remained largely unchanged since 2008 and there has been little change in other areas of child care policy since the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments. So it’s unlikely that the Coalition government has had any major influence on prices beyond broader market forces. </p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Simon Birmingham got his numbers right on child care price increases – but he overstated how much of the change was due to government policy.</p>
<p>The minister was correct when he said there had been a 14% price spike during the Rudd-Gillard years. However, this was a one-off spike in 2008-09 most likely related to the expansion of the Child Care Rebate.</p>
<p>He was also right that price growth has now fallen to around 6% on average. According to the Department of Education price data, annual price growth has been below the decade-long average of 6.8% for the entire period of the Abbott/Turnbull government. That decrease began before the Coalition came to power.</p>
<p>But was it accurate to claim “we’ve already had great success in terms of reducing the rate of price growth”? No – that’s overstating the impact the government has had, and understating the effect of broader market forces.</p>
<p>Major child care subsidies have remained largely the same since 2008 and there has been little change in other areas of child care policy since the Rudd/Gillard Labor governments. So it’s unlikely that the current government has had any major influence on prices. <strong>– Ben Phillips</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This is a sound analysis, providing the full details and statistics to put the minister’s statement in context. <strong>– Guyonne Kalb</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71014/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>The education minister says that under Labor there were child care price spikes of up to 14% over a 12 month period, but under the Coalition those have fallen to “around 6% on average”. Is that right?Ben Phillips, Associate professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods (CSRM), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/687982016-11-22T20:00:52Z2016-11-22T20:00:52ZKenya’s early learning centres may be doing more harm than good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146788/original/image-20161121-4560-5ljwwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A pre-school class in Nairobi, Kenya</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/JahBone</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like the rest of the developing world, more and more women in Kenya are <a href="https://olc.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/3-A_global_history_of_early_childhood_care_and_education_Background_paper_EFAGlobalMonitoringReport2007UNESCO_0.pdf">joining</a> the formal workforce. As a result there’s been a growing need for centres that can care for young children. </p>
<p>This has seen early childhood development and education centres in Kenya <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001390/139026e.pdf">mushroom</a>, spurred by a rise in parents who <a href="http://www.kicd.ac.ke/images/ICT/2014BasicEducationStatisticalBooklet.pdf">believe</a> early childhood development education is a critical step to primary education. A great deal of research has been done on the issue. It <a href="https://olc.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/3-A_global_history_of_early_childhood_care_and_education_Background_paper_EFAGlobalMonitoringReport2007UNESCO_0.pdf">shows</a> that early education is an integral part in developing cognitive stimulation, language skills, social and emotional attributes. </p>
<p>The care of young children from birth to primary school requires special skills. But Kenya’s centres are generally left unsupervised by the government, so these skills aren’t always available. </p>
<p>In rural areas, early childhood development and education centres <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001390/139026e.pdf">are</a> typically makeshift structures or just take place in the shade of trees. In the urban areas, this lucrative market is driven more by commercial considerations than by the development of children. This opens them up to being operated by people with no background in early childhood development. It also compromises the quality of care.</p>
<p>In Kenya, early childhood education is the <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001390/139026e.pdf">most</a> competitive level of education. Getting their children into their first choice primary school is a big deal for parents, so their early learning centre choice is critical. </p>
<p>If parents can afford it, they choose to send their children to private institutions. These are better staffed. For example, three different classes are offered depending on the children’s age. In state-run early development centres public centres, <a href="http://www.kenpro.org/challenges-facing-early-childhood-development-education-in-kenya/">due to a</a> shortage of teachers and funding from the government, children of all ages learn together under one teacher. </p>
<h2>Academic over holistic</h2>
<p>Competition between the private sector centres is high. The focus is firmly on the child’s mastery of academic skills and the school’s reputation, to the detriment of them learning holistically. A holistic <a href="http://www.raiselearning.com.au/blogs/news/5818384-exploring-holistic-approaches-for-early-childhood-educators">approach</a> pays attention to children’s physical, personal, social, emotional and spiritual well-being as well as cognitive aspects of learning.</p>
<p>Scandinavian countries, for example, has for some time embraced holistic learning in childhood education. They had seen the toll that the pressure for school success can take on the children. This was seen in youth who were no longer able to absorb academic pressure leading to <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/anne.trine.kjorholt">manifestations</a> and so engaged in negative social behaviour such as drug abuse. </p>
<p>In Kenya, children in both public and private preschools tend to learn through academic drills of alphabet letters, letter sound pronunciations and the memorisation of numbers. This goes against the holistic approach where children learn using everyday experiences. Themes in this approach include going shopping and learning numbers in the process; this allows children to associate whatever they learn to their surrounding and real life examples. </p>
<p>In many private academies, lower primary school textbooks are used for the young nursery and pre-unit classes. This illustrates how, in an attempt to accelerate learning, babies are literally taught the work meant for nursery children. </p>
<p>The workload doesn’t finish at the end of the school day either. Children as young as three years old are expected to do homework. There are also examinations at the end of term from baby class to pre-unit. When leaving pre-school, children are subjected to primary school interviews.</p>
<h2>The alternatives</h2>
<p>Kenya’s early childhood development and education policy <a href="http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Kenya/KenyaECDPolicyFramework.pdf">recommends</a> an integrated holistic thematic approach in teaching. But it has not been fulfilling its role as the overseer of early childhood education in Kenya effectively. For one, education policy in Kenya is explicitly <a href="http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Kenya/KenyaECDPolicyFramework.pdf">against</a>
interviewing children joining standard one class. But these interviews continue to be administered.</p>
<p>There are alternative theories on child development that offer guidelines on how children should learn during their formative years:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=367">Montessori</a> argued that the environment children learn from should be homelike to facilitate hands-on practice. Here children learn life skills such as cooking or setting a dining table. These activities are meant to help the child appreciate social relationships and responsible behaviour. </p></li>
<li><p>Piaget <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers-our-field-jean-piaget-champion-childrens-ideas">emphasises</a> that children learn by pretend play, creativity, problem solving, and by trial and error. For example, a nature walk would give them hands-on exploration of important science concepts.</p></li>
<li><p>John Dewey <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers-our-field-john-dewey-father-pragmatism">argues</a> that learning should be based on practical hands-on real life experiences. According to Dewey, children should start each day with a group meeting – like planning a cooking activity. During these, children will discuss and develop language and social skills. </p></li>
<li><p>Vygostky <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers-our-field-lev-vygotsky-playing-learn">argues</a> that children learn to appreciate their families’ cultures through play. Through socio-dramatic play, children discover social events and activities carried out by their community and family. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If learning in these centres has to take a Western education perspective, then these approaches give guidelines that make learning bigger than academic drilling. This would provide children with a practical, low-pressure environment that enables them to explore and develop basic academic skills, as well as life values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68798/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Teria Ng'asike is affiliated with
Early Childhood Professional Association Kenya. This is an association that works with early chhildhood stakeholders, to ensure earlly childhood development centers offer quality learning environment for young children. Including ensuring that teachers of early childhood centers are well trained and are providing profesional care and education to the children. </span></em></p>Kenyans need to be wary of early learning centres that pressure children with academic drills.John Teria Ng'asike, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Mount Kenya University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/516462015-12-04T11:10:17Z2015-12-04T11:10:17ZHere’s how screen time is changing the way kids tell stories<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104316/original/image-20151203-22452-671u3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much screen time should kids get?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ticoneva/5581238453/in/photolist-9vciKc-czxg1y-cNCt2f-cEdiHw-9vfjhG-d8xR6q-cFoHN1-cFizYW-8HHKcW-8h3VKq-oHHVrV-9vfjn3-psg5Zp-dGhh3n-9vfjpb-9vciQ4-b9wfxp-pPqUYq-oaR3RE-rNwbmw-rwtr7X-ryff9m-rwubKt-b9wcMV-b9wY7D-b9wzna-adf5Rs-b9wzc2-b9wCVn-b9ws7r-b9wdHv-b9wofn-b9wWhM-b9woPx-b9wrUg-b9wA7n-b9wBVF-b9wzyB-b9wXWn-b9wTRZ-b9wbFz-b9w7TH-b9wBHa-b9wKde-b9wYic-b9wXAc-b9wAhT-b9waAB-b9wCJD-b9wejM">Yan Chi Vinci Chow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently, at a child’s birthday party, I overheard a conversation between parents discussing their concern about “screen time.” </p>
<p>Phones, computers, iPads and the good old television are all around us. And this can be a source of anxiety for parents, caregivers and teachers. A recent <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx">report</a> from the <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx">American Academy of Pediatrics</a> suggests the amount of time young children spend viewing television and movies and playing on handheld devices is increasing. </p>
<p>As an early childhood media researcher, an early childhood teacher educator and a parent, I understand these concerns. But, I believe, it is equally important that we consider how children are learning from the time spent in front of the screen. </p>
<p>My research shows that children are creating complex oral stories through the characters they see on screen.</p>
<h2>Educational opportunities in “screen time”</h2>
<p>A number of <a href="http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9780805839364/">studies</a> show how viewing television and other media can contribute to children’s learning. Children have been known to improve their math and literacy skills from watching “educational” shows such as Sesame Street. </p>
<p>When children watch educational programs and interact with apps that promote learning, they make gains in literacy, numeracy and vocabulary. A <a href="http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/McManis_YC0512.pdf">recent article</a> in Young Children, a publication of the <a href="http://www.naeyc.org/">National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)</a> (a nonprofit organization that works to promote early learning), shows how children can gain several skills through experience with computers and handheld devices. </p>
<p>These devices can facilitate better language and literacy outcomes, such as letter recognition, listening, comprehension and vocabulary. When children play games that link letter sounds to written letters, it can increase their ability to hear and identify individual sounds – skills children need in order to read.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104318/original/image-20151203-21427-144dprq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How are children interpreting television show characters?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/208917634/in/photolist-jsKWb-8wTXNJ-iHbn7m-8vw4mN-8vsCQR-8vwHnS-8vugpH-8uYX9q-aPFrM4-dUBkDB-8vvoaR-8vv6gX-8wQWZn-8wTXJy-dEQpbD-8w36Fd-8vsUSp-8vsJTt-8vupkr-hE5oza-bzDq69-am7ALL-9ozHnq-8vuFTD-8vvfSM-auo7zn-9JutQm-8vta3M-8vsETH-8vwNRd-8vt3Rn-6Kathh-aJPPrK-kBySf8-9eNTXx-8vyodS-8vxQn7-8vuJWV-8vxHZ5-8vtBUp-8vyoRj-8vydqG-8vv83p-8MK4qC-8wQXkB-57XARs-cRXbMd-bsexcT-8vtyRx-8vtw32">woodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Researchers <a href="http://www.readinghalloffame.org/sites/default/files/yokota__teale-rt_may_2014.pdf">show</a> that children learn from both print and digital picture books. Digital storybooks (e-books) that pair spoken word with pictures and print text can enhance vocabulary. </p>
<p>Apps that allow a “read-along” experience, for example, can help children develop a <a href="http://www.literacyandtechnology.org/uploads/1/3/6/8/136889/jlt_v15_3.pdf">better understanding</a> of concepts about stories and print, especially if they have printed text that children can see. E-books that highlight words as they are read, help young children learn that print is read from left to right in English.</p>
<h2>Children learn from superheroes as well</h2>
<p>But it is important to realize that it is not just “educational” television and media from which children learn. Children pick up ideas from television (even television not considered “educational”) and use them to enhance literacy.</p>
<p>Children can learn from superheroes, too. Researcher on early childhood learning <a href="http://education.illinois.edu/faculty/ahdyson">Anne Haas Dyson</a> found that <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807736392.shtml">seven- to nine-year-old children</a>] took the superheroes they watched on cartoons and brought them into their fiction writing and dramatic play. </p>
<p>Her research shows children, like adults, often use media and media characters as tools. With the help of their teacher, children brought their home life and interests into school to make their writing come to life. </p>
<p>Dyson’s research demonstrates that when allowed, children <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807742805.shtml">use media</a> – songs, characters from their favorite shows and movies – as a way to enhance their “school learning.” </p>
<p>My own <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09540253.2014.949634">research</a> demonstrates how preschool children take unlikely characters in popular television shows and movies and blend them together to create complex oral stories. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104323/original/image-20151203-32297-1lrk1hf.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children bring what they learn from superheroes into fiction writing and dramatic play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrtea/572531978/in/photolist-4hFBue-f8kESr-7p34Lx-4VMBYX-dXWT7r-qHP1EX-7z3mTX-5WgaCb-SAnP1-8k5ddv-7y4AZN-LTBoH-9ZVsTq-o2JbF-4iAQTq-7uqB8b-96Vp7M-6cksVM-6fSaKB-xLDeCZ-5QTVF">Stephen Train</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I spent nearly a year in a preschool to observe how three- to five-year-old preschool children talked and thought about television, movies and handheld devices. These preschool children often talked about characters from a wide range of television shows and movies.</p>
<p>For example, one preschooler, I observed, “borrowed” <a href="http://disneychannel.disney.com/hannah-montana">Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana</a>, a tween rockstar, as the protagonist in her tale. After introducing Hannah Montana, she brought Boots (the monkey from <a href="http://www.nickjr.com/dora-the-explorer/">Dora the Explorer</a>, a preschool cartoon) into her story. She spun a story in which Hannah Montana and Boots battled and ultimately defeated a villainous monster from a movie. </p>
<p>Preschoolers took ideas from shows such as Sesame Street, Mickey mouse Clubhouse, cartoons featuring Spiderman, Tinkerbell and Spongebob. Some combined these with shows that older siblings and family members watched such as action movies, professional wrestling and even monster movies.</p>
<p>Rather than repeating what they saw on television, they brought ideas from their own community to make new stories. </p>
<p>The stories children saw and the characters they knew from television also allowed them to relate to other children. Superheroes, characters from Frozen and other popular culture characters can give children from diverse backgrounds a common (and exciting) topic in which to <a href="https://rowman.com/isbn/9781475807967">create play scenarios</a>.</p>
<p>And this play involves negotiating and talking with other children about characters and plot, which in turn enhances oral language. Oral language is a crucial aspect of literacy for young children. </p>
<h2>How should adults monitor screen-time?</h2>
<p>Although research shows the way in which children learn from media, there are also legitimate concerns about what children see on these screens. </p>
<p>Media is created from viewpoints and stances that may not always be acceptable to parents and teachers. Media can show people in inaccurate and stereotypical lights. </p>
<p>So what should adults do with all of the media content coming into their children’s lives?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415539517">Research</a> with preschoolers has shown that conversations allow a child to examine who is being shown in media and the way they are being shown. And it is important to note that <a href="http://cie.sagepub.com/content/14/2/138.abstract">children’s</a> view of these stereotypes often depends on their home lives and environments. These conversations are important for children. </p>
<p>Adults also need to recognize that screen time is one way for children to learn. It is certainly not the only way. The American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx">suggests</a> that children should engage with entertainment media for no more than one or two hours per day. </p>
<p>As they note, it is important for kids to spend time on outdoor play, reading, hobbies and using their imaginations in free play. Children need rich experiences in their lives and <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/ve/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/sociolinguistics/words-work-and-play-three-decades-family-and-community-life">interactions</a> with other people. Screens cannot make up for this.</p>
<p>Children need a healthy balance. While we should be careful in flinging open the gates of media, we should be equally concerned about chaining them shut.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison S Henward does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research shows that preschool children take characters from popular television shows and movies and blend them together to create complex oral stories.Allison S Henward, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/514882015-12-01T19:11:40Z2015-12-01T19:11:40ZChildcare funding changes leave disadvantaged children with fewer hours of early education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103810/original/image-20151201-26591-jjnh13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children need more than one day per week of preschool education to feel secure, build relationships and support learning.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged Australian children will be worse off from next week following government changes to childcare funding which mean they will receive fewer hours of early education.</p>
<p>While the <a href="http://budget.gov.au/2015-16/content/glossy/families/download/Budget-2015-Families-Package.pdf">government’s Families Package of A$3.5 billion</a> in new investment is expected to leave most working families better off, the cuts to the hours of early learning for low-income and disadvantaged households threaten to make it a backward step for our nation.</p>
<p>Under the current system, these children receive up to 24 hours of early childhood education and childcare (ECEC) a week, or about two days per week in a long day care centre, regardless of their parents’ work status. </p>
<p>The government is planning to cut this support by half.</p>
<p>These changes will shape the lives of the 900,000 families who currently use ECEC and the hundreds of thousands to follow in coming years. </p>
<p>It’s hard to overstate what’s at stake for children from low-income and disadvantaged families under the new legislation.</p>
<p>The pendulum seems to be swinging back towards a narrower view of investment in childcare to boost work participation, rather than a broader view of also supporting all children’s learning and development.</p>
<p>The developmental gap between children from higher- and lower-income families is already very stark. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/parents/findings-from-the-aedc">2012 Australian Early Development Census</a> of all Australian children entering year 1 found that children from low-income families were much more likely to start school developmentally vulnerable. </p>
<p>The evidence also suggests that children who begin school behind their peers often stay behind.</p>
<p>Just 12 hours of ECEC a week is simply not sufficient to close the developmental gap. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/storage/ANALYSIS%20OF%20THE%202015%20BUDGET2.pdf">Research</a> suggests up to 250,000 families could see a reduction in access to ECEC as a result of these changes.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.highscope.org/content.asp?contentid=219">Perry Preschool Study</a>, focusing on children experiencing disadvantage, found that 14 hours of participation a week in early learning was a key factor leading to significant developmental gains. </p>
<p>More recent studies, focusing on children aged 3–5 years, support the need for full-day ECEC programs where children attend <a href="https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/theresearchisin.html">several days per week</a>.</p>
<p>This makes sense. Any qualified educator will tell you that children need more than one day per week to feel secure, build relationships and support learning.</p>
<p>In the UK, evidence from a <a href="https://www.ioe.ac.uk/RB_Final_Report_3-7.pdf">long-running study</a> helped persuade the government to fund 15 hours per week of free ECEC for children from the age of 2 years on. </p>
<p>New Zealand, recognised as a world leader in ECEC, has gone further, funding 20 hours for children from 3 years regardless of what their parents are doing. </p>
<p>The new education minister, Simon Birmingham, could use the legislation to build a strong system of quality, inclusive ECEC services, for all Australian children and their families, by balancing the focus of the package to ensure it puts the development of children on a par with workforce participation.</p>
<p>He should ensure that a child’s access to early learning isn’t diminished because their parents don’t work.</p>
<p>Getting the new package right will help hundreds of thousands of children start school well. Investing early in our most disadvantaged children will significantly improve their lives, our nation’s future productivity and society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Irvine 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>Under new legislation, children from low-income families will receive just 12 hours of early learning support a week, adding to the risk of these children falling behind their peers at school.Susan Irvine, Academic Coordinator, Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood), QUT Caboolture, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/480902015-09-24T20:15:15Z2015-09-24T20:15:15ZWhat a difference a portfolio makes: early learning is not babysitting<p>The reorganisation of federal ministerial portfolios this week moved early childhood education and care (ECEC) from social services to education, with Simon Birmingham assuming ministerial responsibility. This movement is not unusual as childcare policy-making is not easily siloed into one portfolio. </p>
<p>Childcare policy is related to social welfare, education, employment and health. The cross-portfolio nature of childcare policy means that successive governments prioritise it in different ways, at times locating it within social welfare and at others including it in education.</p>
<h2>Has childcare historically been education or social services?</h2>
<p>In 2013, the incoming Coalition government positioned childcare in the education portfolio. Tony Abbott named Sussan Ley as assistant education minister with responsibility for early childhood education and care. A reshuffle transferred these ECEC responsibilities to social services (Scott Morrison assumed responsibility). </p>
<p>If we trace the history back further, it is in the first Rudd ministry (2007) that the word childcare is used in any ministerial portfolio. <a href="http://example.com/http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=HANDBOOK;id=handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2014-10-31%2F0062;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2014-10-31%2F0052%22">Julia Gillard</a> held the portfolios of education, employment and workplace relations alongside social inclusion. Maxine McKew held a prime ministerial and cabinet portfolio as parliamentary secretary for early childhood education and childcare. In a subsequent shuffle, Kate Ellis assumed ministerial responsibility for early childhood education, childcare and youth. </p>
<p>Under the Howard government, childcare was included in the children and youth affairs portfolios and at times also located in the family and community services portfolios.</p>
<p>Now we have a situation where responsibility for childcare is named and located in the education portfolio. </p>
<p>Many of the changes in the past reflect a confused and confusing attitude to early learning. In Australia, as in many other countries, learning and education are often positioned as different to childcare. This positioning has a long history. </p>
<h2>Early learning isn’t a means to an end, it’s an end in itself</h2>
<p>Similar to the situation in many Western countries, the establishment of childcare services in Australia was related primarily to women’s participation in the <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/405557">labour market</a>. The emphasis in childcare was on health and therefore practices focused on hygiene, safety and regularity of routines such as sleeping, eating and toileting.</p>
<p>In comparison, historically, preschools had primarily educational aims. The emphasis was on learning.</p>
<p>While internationally and within Australia there have been many attempts to align the purposes of childcare and education, the common perception is that they are different. One of the underpinning assumptions of this difference is that “real” learning begins at school (or preschool). </p>
<p>Most often engagement with the “three Rs” is viewed as more important than the learning that has occurred before it. This perception persists despite the research evidence from <a href="http://issuu.com/bernardvanleerfoundation/docs/a_good_start_advances_in_early_chil">neuroscience, economics and social science</a> that the experiences and learning in the first 2000 days of life, before a child enters primary school, are critical in establishing trajectories in health, learning and behaviour.</p>
<p>The variability in the way ECEC is positioned in public discourse reflects its complex nature. ECEC is both a public service and an educational endeavour. Availability, affordability and access to quality childcare are important for children, families, communities, the economy and <a href="http://theconversation.com/university-a-worthwhile-investment-for-individuals-and-society-oecd-31516">civil society</a>.</p>
<p>However, in the current debates about childcare, the rhetoric of the labour market still dominates discussion regarding the importance of childcare for the economy. This is because government responsibility for young children has been framed in particular ways using a market-driven approach. </p>
<p>As a result, the provision of childcare in Australia is based on a “demand” model rather than “supply”. Childcare is seen as a private affair rather than a public good. Parents and families are constructed as “consumers” and “clients”. </p>
<p>From this perspective, care and education are the responsibility of the individual family rather than a shared task between family, community and government. Children are caught in the middle as “profitable assets”.</p>
<p>It’s a positive move to shift ECEC responsibility back to the education portfolio. This move signals the importance of learning in the early years, rather than positioning childcare as primarily a welfare or labour market issue. </p>
<p>Given the contemporary importance and status of international comparisons of educational outcomes, the Australian public and policy debates must be attentive to the fact that, in OECD comparisons, the countries that are performing best invest much more than <a href="http://theconversation.com/childcare-may-be-expensive-but-its-worth-it-in-the-long-run-28551">Australia in ECEC</a>. </p>
<p>The countries that view childcare as a public, shared, important responsibility demonstrate the relationship between consistent ongoing investment in early childhood education and long-term educational outcomes.</p>
<p>If Australia is to live up to its aspirations of being the innovative clever country, it needs to pay serious attention to the learning that occurs before children enter primary school. Viewing childcare as important learning rather than babysitting so mum can go to work is a good place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48090/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Krieg has received funding from The Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation. </span></em></p>The reorganisation of federal ministerial portfolios this week moved early childhood education and care from social services to education. This is a good thing.Susan Krieg, Associate Professor, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/426242015-06-23T04:42:16Z2015-06-23T04:42:16ZBeing seen as well as heard can transform children’s lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84852/original/image-20150612-1481-11qpyop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children need to get involved in classroom decisions that affect them, rather than just answering questions when prompted to do so.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Mukoya /Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children thrive when they are allowed to get involved in making decisions and given space to ask questions about things that concern them. They <a href="http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/Putting_Children_at_the_Centre_final_%282%29_1.pdf">learn</a> to communicate well and believe in themselves. This is particularly true in a classroom setting.</p>
<p>The concept of participation is multi-dimensional and has been interpreted in many different ways. At its simplest, participation is about allowing children to get involved in making decisions that affect their own lives. For instance, this will involve the teacher giving children a say in how one area in a classroom should be set up. </p>
<p>But some teachers and other adults still believe that children should be seen rather than heard. Children are not encouraged to ask questions in class, or are urged to respond only to a teacher’s instructions. </p>
<h2>How teachers view participation</h2>
<p>In South Africa, <a href="http://www.southafrica.info/services/education/edufacts.htm#02">Grade R</a> – also known as the reception year – is the entry year into the foundation phase of primary schooling. Children are four or five when they enter Grade R.</p>
<p>There is a great deal of research which shows <a href="http://magazine.good.is/articles/why-early-childhood-education-matters">how valuable</a> early childhood education is to overall learning and development. As with many countries’ school systems, the major focus in South Africa is on ensuring that children can be promoted to the following grade. This means that even in Grade R there is little or no emphasis on child participation. Instead, teachers are trying to prepare their young learners for entry into Grade 1.</p>
<p>Part of my research was into how Grade R teachers understood child participation and how – or if – it was implemented in their classrooms. Five Grade R teachers who worked at public and independent (private) schools in the Western Cape province were interviewed. </p>
<p>It was found that teachers’ beliefs about child participation are not standardised and universal. They are socially, culturally and contextually constructed. The context in which teachers grow up and their own memories of childhood have a bearing on their ideas on childhood, images of children and their notions of child participation. </p>
<p>It’s not just teachers who are reluctant to prioritise child participation. Some student teachers at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology told me they viewed child participation as a challenge or problem. They were worried that if they let children get more involved, discipline would suffer, especially in overcrowded classrooms. There are <a href="http://www.childrencount.ci.org.za/indicator.php?id=6&indicator=44">supposed to be</a> 40 learners per teacher in primary schools, but <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Overcrowding-at-6-000-schools-20080113">in reality</a> that figure is often far higher. </p>
<p>Most student teachers have also never seen what active child participation looks like during their teaching practice sessions. They struggle to imagine how it could be productive or constructive.</p>
<h2>Children love to take charge</h2>
<p>The children I observed showed the highest levels of participation during <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/">free play time</a>, which is when they are given the chance to choose what they’d like to play with, and where.</p>
<p>They showed great agency, shaping their own agendas and displaying strong levels of assertiveness. They proved to be skillful negotiators and, through imaginative play, displayed strong levels of agency. </p>
<p>As soon as teachers were present, though, the adults took on an instructive role, made decisions and expressed their opinions. The teachers didn’t see the value of and the rich meanings that emanated from the children’s participation.</p>
<p>Initially I hoped to talk to children about what they liked and disliked and what they were doing, but this proved to be difficult. This has led me to think about new ways of researching <em>with</em> children in future endeavours.</p>
<h2>Where to from here</h2>
<p>This research makes it clear that a paradigm shift is needed. Teachers need to listen to their young learners and value their opinions. Children must have the space to make decisions about issues that affect them. These imperatives are already <a href="http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf">enshrined</a> in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which South Africa is a signatory.</p>
<p>If this paradigm shift occurs it will enhance learning and this can ultimately help shape a new citizenry. It will also bring South Africa into line with the approaches of countries like <a href="https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/archive/2003-involving-children.pdf">New Zealand</a>, Australia, the <a href="http://www.participationworks.org.uk/about-us">UK</a> and Portugal. They are all serious advocates of listening to children and subscribe to ways of teaching that encourage participation.</p>
<p>This can only happen if teachers are trained to improve their approach to teaching. They must learn what child participation actually means and how to invite it into their classrooms. It’s also important that parents embrace the concept of participation and come to understand how it can help their children to learn and develop.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42624/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naseema Shaik received funding from the National Research Foundation for the research discussed here.</span></em></p>At its simplest, participation is about allowing children to get involved in making decisions that affect their own lives and their own learning experiences.Naseema Shaik, Lecturer, Language in Education, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/417462015-05-15T01:15:43Z2015-05-15T01:15:43ZThe education budget report card: ‘F’ for Fail<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81658/original/image-20150514-28590-8v8fhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cuts to funding in education and research shows a lack of planning for the future.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Budget: The Longer View. The dust has begun to settle on Tuesday’s federal budget – and some key issues and themes are emerging. What are they? This long-read essay is part of a special package intended to answer that question.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. In Joe Hockey’s <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2015-16/content/speech/html/speech.htm">speech</a>, education was only mentioned twice and simply in terms of higher education as a valuable service export.</p>
<p>The focus was almost entirely on child care, small business and infrastructure. This was contrasted with last night’s budget <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-14/bill-shorten-proposes-5pc-tax-cut-for-small-business/6471006">reply</a> by Bill Shorten, where the emphasis was on a future defined by science, technology, education and innovation. </p>
<p>Christopher Pyne’s absence from the post-budget headlines is notable, given the central placement of his twice-failed higher education reform agenda in last year’s budget.</p>
<p>It is only when digging into the Department of Education and Training’s <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/education_and_training_portfolio_budget_statements_2015-16.pdf">budget statements</a> that the finer details on education become clear.</p>
<p>And the picture overall is not a particularly good one for the future of education in Australia.</p>
<p>In brief: schools are facing a A$30 billion funding black hole from 2018; there is continued uncertainty for current and future university students; and there will be far-reaching impacts of further broad cuts to research spending and infrastructure.</p>
<h2>What does the budget mean for early education?</h2>
<p>There are some positive aspects in the families package, a centrepiece of the budget and widely covered in the media over the past couple of weeks. </p>
<p>The package includes a continued commitment to universal access to early childhood education, by providing 600 hours of <a href="https://education.gov.au/news/universal-access-early-childhood-education-will-continue">preschool education</a> for all children in the year before full-time school, with a further focus on supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children. </p>
<p>While the current program is fully funded until the end of 2017, it is unclear what will happen after this.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81775/original/image-20150515-28624-vihe7i.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">Childcare funding shouldn’t come at the expense of other funding to young families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>One concern is that it appears the child care package is linked to budget cuts included in last year’s budget, including cuts to the family tax benefit, as well as the controversial changes proposed this week to paid parental leave.</p>
<p>Increased support for child care and early childhood education are certainly welcome, yet it should not be for the sake of coercing parents into the workforce or reducing other support for young families.</p>
<p>While it might be a little glib to reference Whitney Houston, our children really are the future, and it serves us all to provide them with the best start in life. There is much more that can be done.</p>
<h2>What does the budget mean for school education?</h2>
<p>Prior to the 2013 election, Tony Abbott declared the coalition was on a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalition-joins-labors-gonski-unity-ticket/story-fn59niix-1226690519042">unity ticket</a> with Labor for school funding. While the government has since committed to increasing school funding in line with indexation, such a move completely ignores the real growth of costs in school education. </p>
<p>As a result, this has meant that schools are now facing a A$30 billion shortfall in funding from 2018. Unfortunately, this year’s budget really just <a href="http://theconversation.com/education-budget-cant-shake-the-gonski-ghost-41450">tinkers</a> around the edges and provides little certainty for parents and their children, particularly students attending public schools in disadvantaged areas.</p>
<p>One such tinkering is the announcement to provide A$16.9 million to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership in a move to improve <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/federal-budget-2015-teachers-expat-aussies-targeted-in-education-revamp/story-fn84fgcm-1227352496100">teacher quality</a>. The irony of course is that the same institute received a A$19.9 million cut in the 2014 budget.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81777/original/image-20150515-28638-dkc6ia.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">The money given to teacher education this year is less than the cut it faced last year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Further tinkering can be seen in: the highly controversial school chaplaincy program that continues to be funded; the Direct Instruction roll-out in remote Indigenous primary schools and the generous support for private boarding schools who take Indigenous boarders; as well as the ongoing support for Independent Public Schools.</p>
<p>While it might look striking for the government to say they have a <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/">Students First</a> policy platform that focuses on teacher quality, school autonomy, strengthening the curriculum and parental engagement, you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is. </p>
<p>Without the funding to support equitable access to high quality education outcomes for all students, regardless of their backgrounds, then no amount of politics is going to make any difference.</p>
<h2>What does the budget mean for higher education?</h2>
<p>There were few <a href="http://theconversation.com/pyne-fails-to-deliver-any-surprises-in-the-higher-education-budget-41741">surprises</a> apart from a commitment to further uncertainty for the sector. There was zero mention on budget night about the future of fee deregulation, but Pyne has previously made it clear he intends to go for a third round.</p>
<p>The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure funding of A$150 million has been saved from the chopping block for a year. This is the one that Pyne “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/i-want-it-to-be-a-surprise-for-you-christopher-pyne-smiles-through-grilling-from-david-speers-20150317-1m0p91.html">fixed</a>”. Yet, it has come at the cost of A$150 million to the Sustainable Research Excellence grants. These are a critical component of the research landscape in Australia.</p>
<p>Coupled with last year’s cuts to the CSIRO and the “efficiency dividends” applied across the sector, the real value of investment in research and innovation diminishes year after year.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81778/original/image-20150515-8726-mk464r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&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">Fee deregulation is up for round three in parliament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>This sends troubling and mixed messages about the government’s support for research. It is important to develop and sustain Australia’s scientific research and capacity for innovation. Taking with one hand to give with another is not good policy. </p>
<p>As part of a broader A$131 million cut to the Department of Education and Training, the Office of Learning and Teaching will be moved to a university-based institute and provided with A$28 million to promote excellence in learning and teaching in higher education. </p>
<p>Again, there is tinkering around the edges in higher education, including proposed cuts to the Cooperative Research Centres, which support research commercialisation and engage research institutions with industry, alongside the removal of funding for The Conversation, which provides a platform for academics to share research and engage in public scholarship.</p>
<p>There are also plans to toughen compliance measures for vocational providers as well as a costly and complex exercise in pursuing student loan payments from Australians living overseas.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most controversial measure is the A$4 million promised to Bjorn Lomborg’s “Consensus Centre” climate change think tank. Originally meant to be hosted by the University of Western Australia, the centre is currently homeless after the Vice-Chancellor publicly backed away from involvement in the centre.</p>
<p>Time will tell how many of these measures play out, but if the past year’s antics are anything to go by, we have more to come from Pyne’s vision of higher education reform. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the ongoing cuts to research investment will have long term consequences for a country that prides itself on being at the cutting edge of innovation and scientific contribution.</p>
<p>Given the state of uncertainty that universities and students have faced since May 2014, it seems unlikely that there will be any positive change in the near future. This is not an ideal context for continuing to grow and support a sector that provides enormous benefits to Australia, economically, socially and culturally.</p>
<h2>Reform requires vision</h2>
<p>The budget is an opportunity to present a narrative to the Australian people about what kind of society we aspire to be.</p>
<p>To take this opportunity, governments need to be willing to step outside the election cycle, which breeds short-term thinking and look to the broader needs of the country in the coming years. </p>
<p>Yet any real reform requires vision that goes well beyond our current politics. It is for these reasons that this year, the government gets an “F” for Fail on its report card for education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41746/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Riddle 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>You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. But the tinkerings to last year’s education budget still mean a “fail” for education funding.Stewart Riddle, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/329582015-03-15T19:26:46Z2015-03-15T19:26:46ZSix ways Australia’s education system is failing our kids<p>Amid debates about budget cuts and the rising costs of schools and degrees, there is one debate receiving alarmingly little attention in Australia. We’re facing a slow decline in most educational standards, and few are aware just how bad the situation is getting. </p>
<p>These are just six of the ways that Australia’s education system is seriously failing our kids.</p>
<h2>1. Australian teens are falling behind, as others race ahead</h2>
<p>The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey tests the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in more than 70 economies worldwide. And <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">it shows</a> that Australian 15-year-olds’ scores on reading, maths and scientific literacy have recorded statistically significant declines since 2000, while other countries have shown improvement. </p>
<p>Although there has been much media attention on falling international ranks, it is actually this decline in real scores that should hit the headlines. That’s because it means that students in 2000 answered substantially more questions correctly than students in 2012. The decline is equivalent to more than half a year of schooling.</p>
<p>Our students are falling behind: three years behind students from Shanghai in maths and 1½ years behind in reading.</p>
<p>In maths and science, an average Australian 15-year-old student has the problem-solving abilities equivalent to an average 12-year-old Korean pupil.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.iea.nl/">international assessment</a> of school years 4 and 8 shows that Australian students’ average performance is now below that of England and the USA: countries that we used to classify as educationally inferior.</p>
<p>The declining education standards are across all ability levels. <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=ar_misc">Analysis of PISA and NAPLAN</a> suggests that stagnation and decline are occurring among high performing students as well as low performers.</p>
<h2>2. Declining participation in science and maths</h2>
<p>It has been estimated that <a href="http://www.aigroup.com.au/portal/binary/com.epicentric.contentmanagement.servlet.ContentDeliveryServlet/LIVE_CONTENT/Publications/Reports/2013/Ai_Group_Skills_Survey_2012-STEM_FINAL_PRINTED.pdf">75%</a> of the fastest growing occupations require science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills and knowledge. </p>
<p>The importance of STEM is acknowledged by <a href="http://news.microsoft.com/download/presskits/citizenship/msnts.pdf">industry</a> and <a href="http://www.bca.com.au/newsroom/stem-strategy-would-help-drive-innovation">business</a>. Yet there are <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/73153/1/Continuing_decline_of_science_proof.pdf">national declines</a> in Australian participation and attainment in these subjects. We are also among the bottom of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/about/">OECD</a>) 34 nations on translation of education investment to innovation, which is highly dependent upon STEM.</p>
<p>Fewer than <a href="http://amsi.org.au/publications/participation-year-12-mathematics-2004-2013/">one in ten</a> Australian students studied advanced maths in year 12 in 2013. In particular, there has been a <a href="http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/CAL/article/viewFile/7625/8461">collapse in girls studying maths and science</a>.</p>
<p>A national gender breakdown shows that just 6.6% of girls sat for advanced mathematics in 2013; that’s half the rate for boys, and represents a 23% decline since 2004. In New South Wales, a tiny 1.5% of girls take the trio of advanced maths, physics and chemistry. </p>
<p>Maths is not a requirement at senior secondary level in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, although it is compulsory in South Australia, and to a small extent in Queensland and the Northern Territory. In NSW, the requirement for Higher School Certificate (HSC) maths or science study was removed in 2001. The national curriculum also makes no requirement for maths or science study after Year 10. </p>
<p>Australia is just about the only developed nation that <a href="https://theconversation.com/make-maths-mandatory-and-well-improve-our-international-education-rankings-11663">does not make it compulsory to study maths</a> in order to graduate from high school. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/literacy-numeracy-skills">recent report</a> by the Productivity Commission found almost one-quarter of Australians are capable of only basic mathematics, such as counting. Many universities now have to offer basic (school level) maths and literacy development courses to support students in their study. These outcomes look extremely concerning when we review participation and achievement in <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF02Consultants/SAF02_STEM_%20FINAL.pdf">maths and science internationally</a>. </p>
<h2>3. Australian education is monolingual</h2>
<p>In 2013, the proportion of students studying a foreign language is at historic lows. For example in NSW, only 8% studied a foreign language for their HSC, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/number-of-hsc-language-students-falls-to-record-low-20131002-2usv2.html">the lowest percentage ever recorded</a>. </p>
<p>In NSW, the number of HSC <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ebos/static/ebos_stats.html">students studying Chinese</a> in 2014 was just 798 (635 of which were students with a Chinese background), whereas a decade ago it was almost double that number, with 1,591. </p>
<p>The most popular beginner language in NSW was French, with 663 HSC students taking French as a beginner in 2013. These numbers are extremely small when you consider that the total number of HSC students in NSW: more than 75,000.</p>
<p>These declines, which are typical of what has happened around the country, have occurred at a time when most other industrialised countries have been strengthening their students’ knowledge of other cultures and languages, in particular learning English.</p>
<p>English language skills are becoming a basic skill around the world. Monolingual Australians are increasingly competing for jobs with people who are just as competent in English as they are in their own native language - and possibly one or two more.</p>
<h2>4. International and migrant students are actually raising standards, not lowering them</h2>
<p>There are many who believe that Australian education is being held back by our multicultural composition and high proportion of migrant students. This could not be further from the truth. In the <a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">most recent PISA</a> assessment of 15 year olds, Australian-born students’ average English literacy score was significantly lower than the average first-generation migrant students’ score, and not significantly different from foreign-born students. </p>
<p>The proportion of top performers was higher for foreign-born (14%) and first-generation students (15%) than for Australian-born students (10%).</p>
<p>Students from Chinese, Korean and Sri Lankan backgrounds are the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/top-atar-hsc-performances-the-result-of-years-of-achievement-20141214-12442a.html">highest performers</a> in the NSW HSC. The top performing selective secondary schools in NSW now have more than <a href="http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2011/05/ho.html">80% of students coming from non-English</a> speaking backgrounds.</p>
<h2>5. You can’t have quality education without quality teachers</h2>
<p>While there are many factors that may contribute to teacher quality, the overall academic attainment of those entering teaching degrees is an obvious and measurable component, which has been the focus of rigorous standards in many countries. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=teacher_education">international benchmarking study</a> indicates that Australia’s teacher education policies are currently falling well short of high-achieving countries where future teachers are recruited from the top 30% of the age cohort. </p>
<p>In Australia between <a href="https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/45254/3/DP534.pdf">1983 and 2003</a>, the standard intake was from the top 26% to 39%. By <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=teacher_education">2012/2013</a>, less than half of Year 12 students receiving offers for places in undergraduate teacher education courses had ATAR scores in the top 50% of their age cohort. </p>
<p>Teacher education degrees also had the highest percentage of students entering with
<a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=teacher_education">low ATAR scores</a>, and the proportion of teacher education entrants with an ATAR of less than 50 nearly doubled over the past three years. We cannot expect above-average education with below-average teachers.</p>
<h2>6. Early learning participation is amongst the lowest in the developed world</h2>
<p>While Australia has recently lifted levels of investment in early childhood education, this investment has not been reflected in high levels of early childhood participation. In Australia, just 18% of 3 year olds participated in early childhood education, compared with 70% on average across the OECD. In this respect, we rank at 34 out of 36 OECD and partner countries. </p>
<p>Australia also ranks at 22 out of 37 on the OECD league table that measures the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/Australia-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf">total investment across education</a> as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.</p>
<p>While low levels of expenditure and participation curtail any system, there is more negative impact from a lack of investment in early childhood than there would be from a lack of funding further up the educational chain. Nobel prize winner <a href="http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/presenting-heckman-equation">James Heckmann</a> has shown how investment in early childhood produces <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/48980282.pdf">the greatest returns to society</a>.</p>
<h2>What to do?</h2>
<p>Funding is a critical issue, and not just in terms of what you spend, but also how you spend it. <a href="http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/presenting-heckman-equation">Research suggests</a> spending on early childhood, quality teaching and core curriculum have the greatest returns on investment. </p>
<p>There is also growing evidence to suggest that a segregated schooling system – for example, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/672011">socio-economically</a> or <a href="http://wol.iza.org/articles/school-tracking-and-intergenerational-social-mobility.pdf">academically selective</a> schools – is counterproductive and restricts social mobility. High-performing countries have school systems on a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lesson-from-canada-why-australia-should-have-fewer-selective-schools-35534">far more level playing field than Australia</a>.</p>
<p>We need a long-term plan across education sectors: from early childhood, to schools, universities and TAFE, which includes plans for supporting and strengthening teacher education in all those sectors.</p>
<p>We also need a louder public conversation about Australian education, and lobbying to shift how we value and invest in education. </p>
<p>When <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/46581323.pdf">Germany was shocked</a> by its first performance on the 2000 PISA assessment, it started a national conversation that saw education on the front page of newspapers for the next two years. Germany’s education has been improving ever since. </p>
<p>If Australia wants to build a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02188791.2014.924387#.VQJMlfmUeSo">strong and competitive economy</a>, we need fewer front page articles about budget cuts, and more on reform and investment in education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32958/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>Australia’s facing a slow decline in most educational standards and few are aware just how bad the situation is getting.Rachel Wilson, Associate Professor in Education, University of SydneyBronwen Dalton, Professor, Head of Department of Management, UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyChris Baumann, Associate Professor in Business, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/384792015-03-11T19:26:16Z2015-03-11T19:26:16ZAbbott points to Canadian model of early learning but doesn’t see the whole picture<p>As a Canadian researcher, it was good to read Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-address-to-the-national-press-club-of-australia-20150202-1341zn.html">recent reference to my country</a> as justification for investing more in childcare. Unfortunately, he seems to be focusing on only half of what’s needed. </p>
<p>He said if Australia could shift its low rate of female workforce participation to Canada’s rate – one of the highest in the world – the Australian economy would be A$25 billion a year better off.</p>
<p>It’s true. In 1997, Quebec, for example, decided to tackle its low rate of maternal workforce participation by subsidising low-cost childcare. <a href="http://childcarecanada.org/documents/child-care-news/11/06/quebecs-child-care-scheme-pays-itself-economist">As a result</a>, 70,000 mothers were able to return to work. And the policy that cost $2 billion a year actually ended up saving the government money because of the taxes generated by this workforce increase.</p>
<p>While it is important to note that raising workforce participation is key to a nation’s productivity, this is only half of the economic benefit that a country can achieve from investing in high-quality early learning and care. </p>
<p>In order to build the human capital required for a creative and flexible “all hands on deck” economy, governments must also pay attention to the human development side of things. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcZqHlVhjpU">neurological science and economic research</a> is clear about the remarkable return from the right investments in the first 2000 days of a child’s life.</p>
<p>Our countries have much to learn from each other. We share, for example, the use of the Educational Development Index, a Canadian invention that measures how many children start school developmentally vulnerable. Frankly, its effective and <a href="http://www.aedc.gov.au">widespread use in Australia</a> (AEDI) trumps our own application. <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/education-and-training/early-learning-report">The Index tells us</a>, that in both countries, more than 20% of children start school with challenging vulnerabilities, well behind their peers. Many of them never catch up.</p>
<p>But measuring is one thing. Doing something with results is another. </p>
<p>In Australia, there are many examples of AEDI results driving local community action. Canada’s largest province of Ontario, when faced with a vulnerability rate of 27% in 2009, introduced two years of free universal high-quality full-day preschool for all children. After four years of implementation, <a href="http://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2013/09/study-shows-benefits-of-full-day-kindergarten.html%20%20&%20http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/fdk-infographic.html">the results are startling</a>. The vulnerability rate is rapidly moving downward as social, emotional and language development indicators are rising dramatically.</p>
<p>And what about the economic return? <a href="http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/view/2132">Research sponsored by the Business Council of British Columbia</a> notes that for every 1% drop in the vulnerability rate, a 1% increase to the GDP will accrue as a result over the working life of each 1% of the cohort no longer vulnerable. This is a massive multi-billion-dollar gain but only if the quality of non-parental early learning and care is improved.</p>
<h2>The quality counts</h2>
<p>The key to these results is the quality of the education and care, including an evidence-based curriculum delivered in a consistent manner across all learning centres by well-qualified early learning professionals. Improving the relationships between parents and early learning professionals is also key, as is the dire need to improve the quality and availability of our early learning and childcare for children aged 0 to 3.</p>
<p>While it is promising to see the new Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison, recognising the critical importance of Australia’s National Quality Framework as a major quality lever, affordability seems to hold priority prominence. A healthier and more prosperous Australian future requires equal attention to affordability and quality, not a war between the two.</p>
<p>Abbott is correct in encouraging policy that enables an increase in the participation of women in the workforce. But he must keep in mind that who the children are with and what they are doing while mums are working, is the other half of a winning equation. And this means investing in high-quality early learning and care centres, not subsidising the use of nannies for the well-off.</p>
<p>In these challenging times, with budget choices increasingly difficult, we hear about the value of attending to a nation’s infrastructure — roads, public buildings, the digital highway. In this context, there is no more important “infrastructure” than quality early child development, the very best social and economic choice with Australia’s best future in mind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles E. Pascal is an advisor to Goodstart Early Learning.</span></em></p>Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pointed to Canada as the best model of early learning, but he doesn’t understand the full benefit.Charles E. Pascal, Professor, Applied Psychology & Human Development, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/350332015-03-05T19:26:52Z2015-03-05T19:26:52ZWhy Swedish early learning is so much better than Australia’s<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73865/original/image-20150304-15267-136xjvu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A combination of education and care makes Sweden's early childhood education so much better than Australia's</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ebba Dahlqvist</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people have heard that Finland leads the world in education, but fewer have heard that Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is the international leader in early childhood education and care. </p>
<p>In 1999, when Sweden was inspected by a group of international experts appointed by the OECD, the group <a href="http://www.buv.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.44671.1320915819!/OMEP_Brno_0504.pdf">concluded in their report</a> that early childhood education and care in Sweden are of high quality, and in many areas the very best. The system is called “<a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001879/187923e.pdf">EDUCARE</a>”, and the name itself may hold the key to Sweden’s success.</p>
<h2>Education and care go together in early childhood</h2>
<p>In the picture below, taken at a Swedish preschool, you see a warm and loving interaction between a teacher and young child who are exploring the world together through a digital camera. They are both enjoying themselves and they are both learning. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72235/original/image-20150217-32058-1s9wwvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Swedish EDUCARE is a way of respecting young children as full human beings. While the <a href="http://www.government.se/content/1/c6/09/10/62/322638cd.pdf">benefits of this system for Swedish society</a> are certainly impressive, the success of the system rests on a firm belief in the human right of every child to be given the very best care, upbringing and education that the nation can offer.</p>
<p>The Swedish government and public alike consider EDUCARE essential, but it took decades of political work to become the <a href="http://www.government.se/content/1/c6/09/10/62/322638cd.pdf">well-established system that it is today</a>. Historically, EDUCARE began in much the same ways that early childhood education systems began in many other countries.</p>
<p>The child Crèche, designed to keep poor children off the streets, and the Kindergarten, for wealthy children, merged and expanded in the 1970s and 1980s in the hope this would improve <a href="http://www.government.se/content/1/c6/09/10/62/322638cd.pdf">economic, social, political and educational situations in the nation</a>. </p>
<p>A primary cause of the change was the fact that women wanted to be more involved in the labour force. However, when this transition occurred in Sweden, people took to the streets to fight for the right of <em>all</em> children to a good and stimulating play and learning environment, not just the children of professional women.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2704">first national Swedish preschool curriculum</a> was accepted <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2704">in 1998</a> and became an essential resource for early childhood educators and policy makers worldwide.</p>
<p>The Swedish national preschool <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2704">curriculum</a> has no prescribed goals for individual children to reach by a certain age. Instead, it states “goals to strive for”. Assessments of EDUCARE are not “top down”, but require and value teachers’, parents’ and children’s opinions and experiences. </p>
<h2>What are the benefits of this system?</h2>
<p>This results in a space for every Swedish child in a preschool that is:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>accessible</p></li>
<li><p>high quality</p></li>
<li><p>staffed by teachers with a 3.5-year university education and by educated assistant teachers</p></li>
<li><p>shaped by respect for each child as a competent person in his or her own right, not just a receptacle for knowledge but a contributor and a creator</p></li>
<li><p>in possession of high-quality material conditions: Swedish preschools are remarkably well designed and appointed.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Today <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/37423778.pdf">83% of Swedish children</a> aged one to six are in preschool, and <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/andra-sprak-och-lattlast/in-english">95% of three to six year olds</a> are in preschool. Children start school at the age of seven, as their first year outside of the preschool is in a preschool class that is housed either in a preschool or within a school and is designed especially for children aged six to seven.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/andra-sprak-och-lattlast/in-english/the-swedish-education-system/preschool">Almost all (99%)</a> Swedish children attend high-quality leisure centres during non-school hours. These centres, like the preschools, are open from 6.30am-6pm year round. The preschool fee is 2-3% of a family’s income, before tax, for the first child, and then less for each child after that, with a maximum fee for the first child of 139 EUR a month, for the second child of 93 EUR a month, and for the third child of 47 EUR a month. Fourth children and beyond <a href="http://www.skolverket.se/om-skolverket/andra-sprak-och-lattlast/in-english/the-swedish-education-system/preschool">attend preschool for free</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/05_03_01.pdf">International studies</a> have consistently shown that a high-quality preschool experience has a myriad of short-term and long-term positive effects for children, <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/312/5782/1900.short">particularly for children with special needs</a>. </p>
<p>Wider economic benefits have also been proven. <a href="http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/about-us/directory/professor-edward-melhuish/">Research evidence</a> shows that when children have access to quality early childhood education they can expect better school success, a decreased crime rate, less substance abuse and increased long-term employment – <a href="http://heckmanequation.org/content/resource/invest-early-childhood-development-reduce-deficits-strengthen-economy">all positives for the economy</a>.</p>
<p>If not out of consideration for the human rights of children, then out of consideration for the many economic benefits of a good childcare system and the future benefits for children and families, all countries should strive for reform of their early childhood education and care systems. Sweden can provide us with a model and vision for such reform. One of the OECD-appointed researchers of the Swedish system went so far as to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If I were to be a child again, I would like to be raised in Sweden.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>Further reading on what Australia can learn from education overseas:</em></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lesson-from-canada-why-australia-should-have-fewer-selective-schools-35534">The lesson from Canada: why Australia should have fewer selective schools</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/should-aussie-kids-go-on-us-style-summer-camps-35497">Should Aussie kids go on US-style summer camps?</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35033/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>Most people have heard that Finland leads the world in education, but fewer have heard that Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is the international leader in early childhood education and care.Monica Nilsson, Assoc Professor School of Education and Communication, Jönköping UniversityBeth Ferholt, Assistant Professor, Brooklyn CollegeKarin Alnervik, PhD in Education, School of Communication and Education, Jönköping UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.