Child Care in Practice 11/2

ISSN 1357-5279
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2
APRIL 2005

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Contents and Abstracts

99 Foreword
Peter Clough & Cathy Nutbrown

103 Inclusion in the Early Years: From Rhetoric to Reality
Frances Ross-Watt

Inclusion is one of five National Priorities identified by the Scottish Executive Education Department. As a consequence, teachers throughout Scotland are presently confronting the progression from integration to inclusion, along with the many changes that brings. This paper recounts the first stage of an on-going case study into the experiences of Heather, a girl with Spina Bifida, who requires additional support to meet her special educational needs. It charts her progress through nursery, transition to primary one and advancement through primary one to the end of the year. The setting is a mainstream primary school, one that prior research has identified as embodying good inclusive practice.
By adopting the case study approach, the paper aids our appreciation of the various issues, concerns and difficulties facing mainstream staff in early years education, as they endeavour to respond to the diverse needs of an increasing population of learners with Special Educational Needs. We are given the opportunity of examining the robustness of the inclusive procedures and practices within the school. We also explore the multidisciplinary dimension through studying the contributions of the psychologist, occupational therapist, classroom assistant even the janitor-as each plays his/her part in the education and development of this little girl.
In this way, the paper allows us to view the practice of inclusion from the perspective of headteacher, class teachers, parent and classroom assistant. Finally, and most importantly, we see the effect and reality of the policy through the eyes of the child herself.

119 Close Encounters: Issues in Pre-school Parental Involvement in Northern Ireland
Dorothy J. McMillan

Current discourse in educare acknowledges the partnership between parents and practitioners. But is the partnership a reality, and exactly what does the term mean to those who use it? The increased interest in the relationship between home and school is one of the most positive educational developments of the past decade. Today, at all levels of education, there is overwhelming agreement that parents have a valuable role to play in the education of their children. Parental involvement is promoted at government level and the prevalent culture of rights encourages parents to exercise their rights in the field of education. Early years educators have long recognised the importance of strong home-school links, since the pre-school setting forms a "bridge" for both child and family to cross between home and school. The high level of attendance at nursery school parents' meetings in Northern Ireland bears this out; but involvement in special occasions does not necessarily constitute partnership. Do parents and providers speak the same language with regard to communication, partnership and involvement?

135 Exploring Management Practices in Child Care Centres in Australia, Queensland from a Social Systems Framework
Hanna Nupponen

The focus of this research was on the nature and characteristics of effective leadership and management practices in centre-based child care. This paper is part of a larger doctoral study with a focus on management within child care centres. Eight directors were interviewed in south east Queensland, Australia using a case study methodology. There has been minimal Australian research focused on the management aspects of directors' work in centre-based child care to date. The conceptual framework adopted in this study views management from a Social Systems Model. Central to a Social Systems framework is the notion that early childhood centres do not exist in isolation; rather, management in these settings is embedded in a broader social context. A Social Systems Model has received little attention in contemporary research on child care in Australia, and this study aims to build a framework for future studies in this area. The aim was to produce an understanding of directors' work; perceptions of their role as managers in the centre; their experiences; and the nature of management within the context of the child care field in a complex social, political and economic climate.

161 Giving Voice to the Swedish Pre-school Child: Inclusion through Educational Process Reflection
Kerstin Bygdeson-Larsson

Educational Process Reflection (EPR) has been introduced in Swedish pre-school practice and brought about an expanded focus in educational work, concerning democratic values and promotion of health. The study used EPR to facilitate professional development, by teachers' collective reflection of narratives and observations of interaction and play processes. EPR brought about a shift of the teachers' perception of children, and enhanced intersubjectivity in communication. This implies a more healthy and democratic environment for the children. The theoretical lens for the study includes activity theory and Winnicott's concept of potential space.

179 Inclusion, Impact and Need: Young Children with a Visual Impairment
Colette Gray

From preschool to tertiary level, the past decade has witnessed a growing impetus for the inclusion of children with special needs and disabilities in mainstream education. Yet evidence on the needs of children with visual impairments (VI) remains scant. This paper seeks to inform the debate by presenting findings from research designed to explore the perceptions and experiences of parents, young people with VI and health and early years professionals working in the preschool sector. The findings reveal a significant increase in the incidence of VI in children attending early years settings. Despite their commitment to the ideals underpinning inclusive education, interviewees are concerned with the lack of awareness training available for staff working with the VI. Criticism is also levelled at specialist schools in Northern Ireland, for failing to provide a full educational experience for children and young people, aged from three to 18, with VI.

191 The FACE YOUR FEAR Club: Therapeutic Group Work with Young Children as a Response to Community Trauma in Northern Ireland
David Stewart & Kirsten Thomson

The translation of research into practice in social care is long on theory and short on practical examples. We describe a pilot project, which identified an important practice issue — the promotion of positive attachment in early infancy -— explored the evidence base, summarised the findings, and devised an implementation process. The site of the project was a Barnardo’s service in Belfast, which provides assistance to young women with infant children in a residential setting, where there are serious concerns about the capacity of the women to provide unassisted care. The paper is illustrated with extracts from the documentation that drove the process.

211 Talking about Quality: Report of a Consultation Process on Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland
Maresa Duignan

The development of a National Framework for Quality in early childhood care and education in Ireland is the main focus of the work of the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education. A central element of the brief for this groundbreaking initiative is that it must have relevance for all settings where children aged birth to six are present. This paper discusses a key step in meeting this challenge. It outlines a process of national consultation to establish baseline perceptions among all stakeholders in relation to the core elements of the framework (defining, assessing and supporting quality). It discusses the rationale for the consultation that is premised upon a belief that the best interests of the child can only be served by policy and practice that has been informed by the consensus arising from the interface of the multiple perspectives that characterise early childhood care and education in Ireland. The findings, distilled from thematic analysis of the data collected from the series of six consultations in six locations, are presented and their implications for the development of a National Framework for Quality discussed.

231 The Effect of Regulation on the Quality of Early Childhood Services in Ireland
Mary O'Kane

The first legislative control over early education services in Ireland came into place in 1996, in the form of the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations' (Department of Health, 1996). The research hypothesis of this study was that the implementation of the Regulations would have had an impact on quality of early childhood care and education (ECCE) services in Ireland. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine a sample of pre-schools to investigate both structural and process aspects of quality; to examine the possible relationship between these elements of quality; and to interview both Supervisors of these pre-schools and a small sample of Pre-school Officers to investigate their attitudes towards the Regulations. It was acknowledged at the outset that related factors, such as increased level of investment and improved levels of training, may have affected quality of provision.
The baseline data used for the purposes of this study were gathered in 1994/1995 during Phase II of the IEA² Preprimary Project (IEA/PPP). This was a large crossnational study that investigated the quality of care and education that children from various countries received at four years of age. Full details of the Irish aspect of Phase II can be found in A Window on Early Education in Ireland: the First National Report of the IEA Preprimary Project (Haves, O'Flaherty, & Kernan, 1997). Use of these data allowed comparison of both structural and process elements in ECCE provision before the implementation of the Regulations, and six years after their implementation in 2002.
The methodology of the present study involved revisiting a subsample of the original IEA/PPP national sample, undertaking structured observations and administering questionnaires to teachers and supervisors. A number of key issues emerged from the research. First, improvements were found in the quality of the pre-school provision in the present study as compared with that of the original study, although it is not clear the extent to which these improvements relate directly to the Regulations. The results also suggest that the need for training is becoming more widely accepted in the sector in Ireland. As predicted, increased awareness of training for ECCE professionals, and increased levels of funding appear also to have had an effect on quality. A third issue emerging from this study was the changing role of the pre-school teacher. The findings of this study also provided information regarding the nature of the relationship between regulation and quality provision. Related to this was the interaction between structural and process variables in quality ECCE provision. Full details of the study can be found in O'Kane (2004a).
This paper concentrates on how the findings relate to two of the themes identified: interaction between structural and process aspects of quality, and training.

253 Constructions of Childhood in Ireland in the Twentieth Century: A View from the Primary School Curriculum 1900-1999
Thomas Walsh

Our concept of childhood is context-linked and time-specific. This paper traces the evolution of our conceptualisation of childhood in Ireland, focusing particularly on children aged four to six years of age, from 1900 to the present day. In the course of the past century, this perception has altered greatly in light of advancements in society's understanding of children. There has been a gradual transformation in the position of children in society, and the rights and interests of children now receive unprecedented attention in the public domain.
These changes have been influenced, and indeed catalysed, by dramatic social, economic, familial, democratic, religious, cultural and political changes throughout the twentieth century. While there are a number of sources outlining the position of children in society, this paper focuses on documentation from the education system, particularly the content of successive primary school curricula in Ireland. Analysis of documentation provides an insight into society's view and value of children in Ireland in the twentieth century. This is traced in three distinct phases; the curriculum in the period preindependence (1900-1922); the programme adopted upon independence and implemented for close to 50 years (1922-1971); and the revisions that took place and were adopted in the curriculum (1971-1999).

253 Constructions of Childhood in Ireland in the Twentieth Century: A View from the Primary School Curriculum 1900-1999
Thomas Walsh

DHSSPS Contribution

275 An Updated Guide to Current Legislation and Associated Guidance for Family and Child Care Practitioners
Michael Williamson

283 Childcare Policy Directorate DHSSPS

285 Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003

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Foreword

Inclusion and Development in the Early Years: Making Inclusion Conventional?

Human rights are inscribed in the hearts of people; they were there long before lawmakers drafted their first proclamation. (Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights)

It is a particular pleasure to contribute to this special edition of Child Care in Practice as its focus on inclusive early education and care highlights global as well as specifically local concerns and interests. This collection of papers reaches into different parts of the globe in an attempt to identify barriers to inclusion, and practices which promote equality through diversity. The papers range from a consideration of specific strategies focusing on individual children (Ross-Watt, Bygdeson-Larsson) to exploration of nationwide strategies to promote high-quality provision that enables the inclusion of all young children in preschool provision (Duignan, O'Kane, Walsh). This collection illustrates the fundamental rightness of the inclusive project and simultaneously demonstrates the complexity of practices which develop such agenda. As such it offers fuel to those who continue to pursue the goal of treating all young children as having rights to citizenship in their communities.
For, as Robinson has it, Human Rights are "inscribed in the hearts of people"; and, they are also inscribed, more specifically for children, in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations [UN], 1989); this makes clear the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. It is in short-a "Convention for Inclusion" of all children in all matters that concern them. It is a convention for dignity and respect for all children whatever their country of origin, regardless of their abilities, without reference to their family's economic status, or their religion or other differences that distinguish or define them.

The UN Convention may well be the means by which, internationally, we become able-in the long term to make inclusion conventional rather than exceptional. Although the Convention is addressed to signatory countries, we would argue that it effectively charges every adult with a responsibility to play a part in the upbringing of the youngest of our citizens; that is, all adults, be they policy-makers, practitioners from a wide range of professions, parents, but-no less-those other members of communities (shop keepers, bus drivers, postal workers, etc.), men and women who-although they may not necessarily have a specific role in relation to work with or for children have a none the less crucial part to play ensuring the well-being of young children.
In seeking to protect children's rights by setting standards in health care, education and legal, civil and social services, the Convention stresses the principle of nondiscriminatory practices. The onus is on countries to identify the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children and develop policies and practices so that the rights of those children are afforded to them. It is this all-embracing concept of rights for all children that leads us to suggest that seeking inclusive practices in the early years is a direct response to the UN Convention; indeed, early childhood education at its best is inclusive, comprehensive education that meets the needs of all children and aims to help each one of them fulfil their own unique potential (Nutbrown, 1998, p. 167).
Young children can only be truly included if their educators understand their needs, and how to meet such needs through practices which aspire to excellence. For inclusion is about much more than location it is more than simply "being" in a setting it is about making sure that young children and their families are offered opportunity fully to participate in events and developments. And this is, alas, easier said than done. Despite the increasingly shared political agenda for social inclusion, there remain barriers to inclusion which have yet to be overcome. Four key themes - which cross geographical and cultural borders - seem to us to dominate the literature.

There is an evident climate of policy change towards inclusion across Europe (and)
A multinational commitment towards (and inclusive response to) education of children with learning difficulties has been established (but)
A commonality of concern exists about the education of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and
Inclusive ideologies continue to be discussed and promoted whilst, at the same time, exclusive practices continue. (Nutbrown & Clough, 2004, p. 306)

In two recent studies of educators' attitudes to inclusion, we found that although many practitioners espoused a pro-inclusive policy rhetoric, in reality they maintained reservations based on: the needs of the children they were seeking to include; the responses of parents; their own level of professional knowledge, and the level and quality of support they were offered to make inclusion of children with particular needs a reality (Clough & Nutbrown, 2004; Nutbrown & Clough, 2004).

Participants from a range of settings and policy contexts generally supported inclusion but with important reservations; the "Yes-but . . ." factor that we identified highlights the mismatch between policy and practical realities-between the willingness to include all children, in principle, and the ability to cater appropriately for the diverse and sometimes demanding needs of young children. For example, two of the early years practitioners we interviewed commented:

[It] ... depends on the degree of the condition the children have. A child who has mobility problems could not pose any insurmountable problems, but a child with severe autism would be too disruptive and would affect the learning process for the rest of the children.

Children should be included, provided that there is adequate teaching support available to enable all class members to receive equal attention during lessons. It (inclusion) should promote tolerance in children without disability and enhance learning in those with a disability.

However important are the views of practitioners, Kilpatrick and Hunter (2005) remind us-in their review of inclusive education principles and practices in Northern Ireland that various "layers" of inclusion must be peeled back to truly understand inclusion from a child's viewpoint. They argue that only when children's perspectives are understood, can an education system be truly inclusive.
Perhaps some aspects of inclusion can be summed up in this comment from a teacher working in Northern Ireland who, reflecting on views of childhood said:

Little children are so at risk aren't they? It's such a responsibility to try to protect them from all sorts of horrors, we have to try to do that for all of them in the early years-Special Needs or not. (Clough & Nutbrown, 2004, p. 203)

This comment embodies the spirit and programme of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect young children, to be responsible providers of early education, and to provide what they need and are entitled to -whatever their specific needs. Such aims also underpin the purpose of this edition of Child Care in Practice. "Protection" can take many forms and, as Stewart and Thomson remind us, "facing fear" and recognising (and seeking to heal) the real trauma that some children in Northern Ireland have suffered is an essential part of enabling them to participate in the education that is rightly theirs-to be able to go to school without fear is a right that the UN Convention exists to uphold-yet the practicalities of addressing such rights in the face of political conflicts create a challenge for practitioners that must be met with integrity and deep knowledge of the context in which such trauma arises.

This collection of papers offers examples of research and practice, commentary on policy and vision for future developments in inclusive and comprehensive early education. It demonstrates some ways in which early education can truly respect young children and strive to afford every child equality of opportunity be they children with specific learning difficulties (Gray) or those whose families exist on the "margins" of the communities in which they live. We can see how the ways in which provision and systems are managed can make a difference to the quality of provision and the experiences offered to each family (Nupponen), and how the crucial relationships with parents need to be nurtured so that parents do not simply "attend events" but experience positive and fundamental "involvement" in their children's early years settings (McMillan). All young children have the right to responsive, respectful education, not just those children who are easy to work with, obliging, endearing, clean, pretty, articulate, capable. Indeed, inclusive early childhood education and care means respecting children for who they are, respecting their language, their culture, their history, their family, their abilities, their needs, their name, their ways and their very essence.

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