The Philosophy and Practice of Outstanding Early Years Provision

Pat Beckley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351797009
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book examines the philosophical and theoretical foundations of early years practice, and supports practitioners as they reflect on the collective and personal rationales which motivate and inform their work with young children. Theoretical underpinnings are explored from a variety of perspectives, and are translated into effective strategies for application in a range of early years settings.

Featuring contributions from leading early years professionals, The Philosophy and Practice of Outstanding Early Years Provision draws on sound expertise to deepen the reader's understanding of the concepts and ideas behind everyday practice. The book is divided into four easily navigated sections which explore key issues including the creation of enabling environments, leadership in the early years, the opportunities and challenges presented by diversity, and the value of creative approaches. Recommended strategies are discussed in relation to emerging global pressures and the needs of the contemporary child, inviting practitioners to modify and enhance future behaviour and practice.

This will be essential reading for students and practitioners who wish to improve current and future practice by gaining insight into the philosophical foundations which underpin outstanding provision.

Part 1 Philosophy for an enabling environment

1	The contemporary early years world Pat Beckley

Overview

This chapter considers how similar and different approaches can be implemented in a variety of ways in diverse contexts. Philosophical understandings influence the policies that are designed and the provision devised. The chapter discusses which factors might influence provision for early years and how ideas that work in particular contexts are shared but changed to fit the needs of different contexts. Issues that are affected by closer global networks are considered, such as safeguarding measures, partnerships with parents and technological advances. A networking and sharing of ideas, leading to a convergence of views, is explored and considered in terms of practical application to the needs of early years settings.

Introduction

The chapter opens by detailing philosophies that might have had an impact on provision for early years children in the contemporary world. Facilities and approaches to support children and the adults involved in their care and education in the early years continue to change as knowledge and understanding of this age phase develops and responds to new thoughts and findings. At a macro level, policies setting frameworks or guidelines for practitioners to follow can set requirements for personal, social and emotional development, physical development, health, understanding of mathematics, literacy and the wider world, language and creativity. These could be taken to have various strands, such as historical and geographical knowledge about the locality and art, music or dance. Frameworks may also specify for example a knowledge of local culture or an understanding of a second language.

International perspectives

Many theoretical perspectives explore how cultures and societies have been influenced by the wider world. Ideas may be shared globally, as suggested by Waters (1995: 3), who describes globalisation as ‘a social process in which constraints of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede and in which people become increasingly aware that they are receding.’ Lauder et al. (2008: 4) also considers the implications of adopting a whole-world picture, arguing that ‘it is a world of collective consciousness, where we see our problems as interconnected.’ In provisions conceived as part of a global view, early years settings would need to respond to global initiatives and assessments, such as league tables.

Gammage (2006: 235) raises the importance of early years discussions at national levels, stating ‘In the twenty-first century it is probably evident to every parent, professional childcare worker, kindergarten and primary teacher that early childhood is high on the political agenda almost everywhere.’ The particular perspective on early years that any framework or practitioner adopts can affect how early years provision is observed and implemented: for example, Cole (2008: 28) considers a Marxist perspective on global practice. This standpoint could have implications for understanding the early years as a means to provide a future workforce. A Marxist observer might ask, would the delivery of activities encourage a compliant workforce, ready to acquiesce to working conditions offered?

There are suggestions that global forces take the form of ‘McDonaldisation,’ whereby early years provision becomes similar and standardised. Ritzer (1996: 79) suggests that a McDonaldised society expects standardised ‘order, systemization, formulation’ and ‘routine.’ Yet McDonaldisation could in turn cause a backlash where people wish to hold on to what is perceived as an identity, such as was the case with the 2016 Brexit vote in the United Kingdom. Thus early years settings may respond by adopting a prescribed format or a specific theme, such as an outdoor facility or key theorist approach, to gain an identity.

Bryman (2004: 2) gives another perspective on global influences. He suggests a ‘Disneyization’ could occur as global standardisation ‘rides roughshod over local cultures and practice.’ He claimed ‘Disneyization’ could be ‘the process by which the principles of the Disney theme parks are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world.’ However, early years practitioners can interpret national policies and initiatives within their own philosophical understanding and implement them according to their values, adhering to broad guidelines. This will be discussed further in Chapter 11, based on a study of the adults working with the child.

Cerny (2007: 2) considers the effects of globalisation to generate a possible conflict, where there are two sorts of boundaries: vertical boundaries, concerned with physical or territorial locations, and horizontal boundaries which cover social stratification and differing mores. Accommodating this conflict in early years provision would require early years practitioners to ‘shoehorn the horizontal into the vertical,’ through attempts to implement macro-scale policies in existing local provision. Within the complex role of early years practitioner there exists a challenge to devise strategies whereby macro policies are accommodated within the local remit. For example, in Norway the national desire for assessments is located by practitioners in existing outdoor provision, and in England early years practitioners design strategies to satisfy their colleagues’ need for assessments in classes including older children, while still providing an appropriate learning environment for the young children in their care.

International challenges to early years provision

Waters (1995: 124) suggests there are three forms of globalisation: economic, political and cultural. Historically, macro systems have been affected by trade, nation-state negotiations and the sharing of ideas. In the 17th–19th centuries there emerged the political states that would in the contemporary world appear to be increasing in strength, together with tighter border controls. Yet those apparently firm boundaries are in fact blurred through the shrinking world brought about by high-speed transport links, instant internet communication and common concerns regarding environmental issues. According to Woodhead (2006), ‘Early education is now part of the process of globalisation through networking and sharing ideas and practice.’ Prospective headteachers in England have been encouraged by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) to consider approaches used in other countries:

Our children will become world citizens. The similarities between issues for education within a similar economic and developmental framework are appreciable whilst our cultural differences can bring new thoughts to approaches to development in our countries.

(Anonymous, NPQH Think Piece, National College for School Leadership, 2006)

Early years finances

Global economic concerns impact on early years provision with a need to keep a tight rein on costs, as well as to consider strategies that will provide early education to cultivate a new and economically viable workforce. These strategies may feature an emphasis on either core subjects or a broad range of learning areas to support thinking, and will require decisions on how to train those involved in working with young children, possibly ‘on the job.’ The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 2002 urged: ‘no nation today can afford to ignore opportunities for maximising investments in education in a competitive economic environment based on knowledge, flexibility and lifelong learning’ (Dahlberg and Moss, 2007: 5).

Children may need to develop skills which fit them for a new age, one characterised by technological knowledge and flexibility in outlook (See Chapter 5 for further discussion of this aspect). Developing the skills needed for the change from an industrial base to one demanding creativity could be the key to gaining employment in an increasingly competitive world where the workforce need to continually upgrade their skills and understanding to gain employment. These skills would need to be identified in early years provision and training in them implemented by practitioners.

The provision for early years reflects social changes in response to economic factors. Fukuyama (1996: 9) notes that ‘economics is grounded in social life and cannot be understood separately from the larger question of how modern societies organise themselves.’ In the present economic climate, parents may also need to have employment and may place demands for extended early years provision to accommodate this. This would intersect with social welfare concerns, with further challenges raised by an increasing older population requiring care. Ageing populations put further demands on workers to provide for them financially, and also demand welfare state assistance – at the possible expense of early years provision. In the scrutiny of financial considerations, resulting pressures could mean increased emphasis on the value obtained for the finances spent. This may be demonstrated in an interest in ‘outcomes,’ where specific aspects can be identified to show that the early years provision is providing value for money. In turn practitioners would be under pressure to deliver provision that satisfied such requirements, at the risk of losing the facility. The use of external regulators has significant implications for the viability of individual settings and for those who work there, pressurising them to conform to requirements and spend time providing evidence that this has been done. Funding tied to results obtained by external regulators, which are shared widely in subsequent reports, is vital if settings are to continue operating, given that parents and carers can easily move their children to those settings deemed to be more successful by the regulators. Some settings, even despite providing excellent provision, may be required to close if the funding required to sustain them is felt to be too great.

Reflections

What economic factors have influenced your involvement with young children – for example such considerations as the need for early years childcare while in employment, extended hours, being at home with a toddler, reference to cost of care when choosing a setting, the crucial nature of securing employment to meet the basic needs of an infant, the cost of professional training or resources for an early years setting?

How did that impact on...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• About the contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part 1 Philosophy for an enabling environment
• Part 2 Diversity and diverse philosophical ideas
• Part 3 Philosophical perspectives for creativity
• Part 4 Wellbeing as a foundation for philosophy
• Index