caring and educating communities for young children · margaret mc millan (1860-1931) • housing...
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Caring and educating communities for young children:
Finding the synergies between home,
preschool and the spaces ‘in between’
Dr. Margaret Kernan
Conferentie Het Jonge Kind, Almere
6 October 2017
International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI)
promotes the psychosocial well-being of children
growing up in difficult circumstances.
We provide training · research · advice · partnership
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is not
just about working with children.
It is also about working with and supporting
families.
Finding the synergies between home,
preschool and the spaces ‘in between’
The spaces in-between…
Aldo van Eyck
1918 - 1999
Why are the synergies between home,
early childhood education and care
(ECEC) setting and ‘spaces in between’ so
important for family wellbeing and young
children’s learning and development?
Home and Kindergarten (1840…):
continuity and alignmentFriedrich Froebel
(1782-1852)
• Mothers (primary
educators) to be
taught their
pedagogical role
• Mother- child songs
& games
• Activity and
occupation drive
Froebelian education in the
Netherlands: (1858…)
Openbare Fröbelschool, Utrecht, 1923
Elise van
Calcar
(1822-1904)
Fröbelschool, Leiden, 1901
Nursery school garden:
mitigating slum conditions
Margaret Mc Millan
(1860-1931)
• Housing
overlooked
nursery garden
• Mothers could
observe and
learn.
• Exposure to
fresh air,
sunlight, active
play outdoors
and indoors.
Era of compensatory education: 1960s …
ECEC early intervention programmes for
educationally disadvantaged
children.
Compensating for poor material
circumstances and a lack of ‘at home’
educational stimulation
Bronfenbrenner: Ecological systems theory
(1979, 1986); Bio-ecological model (1994;2006)
Need to pay attention to “joint synergistic effects of two or
more processes involving different agents and activities”
(Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994)
Parents as well as
PractitionersFathers as well as
Mothers
Play at home as well as on the
street and in ECEC settings
European Quality Framework for ECEC
Importance of Availability, Affordability and Accessibility of ECEC
provision.
Accessibility:
• Collaborative approach between local organisations and
community groups
• Respect values and beliefs, needs and culture of parents
• All children and families are welcome
• Close collaboration between staff in ECEC centres, health
and social services, local authorities, school sector
Why is interagency work important?
Most disadvantaged children; in families facing multiple risks
most likely to have poor outcomes
Risks present at several levels of influence simultaneously
Need to offer services at all levels (health, care, education,
housing…)
Best done cooperatively i.e. Interagency work.
(ISOTIS, 2017)
Too many services??
“…up to 40 organizationally different family support services were counted
in some municipalities.
• front-desk offices offering information, advice, low-intensity guidance and home
training;
• pedagogical advisory services connected to baby and toddler health centres;
• informal parent groups connected to playgroups or preschools;
• play-advisory centres and toy libraries;
• parental education courses on specific subjects …general childrearing issues;
• assessment and psychodiagnostic services;
• intensive home training for children with behavioural problems, information desks to
support parents’ decisions about primary school choice;
• and educational home programmes ….”
(Leseman & de Winter, 2013)
• “…pressure on municipal budgets, coverage is uneven and there
are gaps in provision, huge variation across municipalities….”
• “parents report that they are less likely to seek child-rearing
support and advice from CJG than from their child’s daycare
centre, preschool or school”
Kernan, 2012 ‘Parental Involvement in Early Learning – A review of research, policy and good practice’:
Bernard van Leer Foundation and ICDI
Multi-disciplinary neighbourhood teams
Is a different kind of
community engagement
possible?
An example from the UK: Pen Green
ECEC centres working collaboratively with parents and the wider
community have the capacity to transform children’s life chances
(Whalley & Norton, 2017).
“if there is no explicit emancipatory or
empowering vision guiding the project from
the onset, it will prove difficult to realise any
emancipatory effects” (Boog 2003, 434)
‘How’ is more significant than ‘what’
• By encouraging families to participate in the re-shaping of the
shared context in which they live out their individual lives
• By supporting parents and children to become effective public
service users
• By building the capacity of children, families and communities
to secure outcomes for themselves
• By harnessing the community’s energy for change and
parent’s deep commitment to ensuring that their children have a
better deal
TOY4Inclusion
European project that aims to improve
the transition experience of Roma
young children from home to
preschools and schools by
creating community based ECEC Play
Hubs where relationships between
Roma and non-Roma young children
and their families are built and
interactions across all
generations are supported.
TOY for Inclusion play and learning
spaces for all ages
(ECEC Play Hubs)
Integrated services for
young children and their families
Intergenerational learning (IGL)
between young children and older adults
Diversity, equity and inclusion in
ECEC
Community-based Early Childhood
Education and Care (ECEC)
Synergy between home, ECEC and spaces in
between
A ‘special’ toy library that not only provides a toy-lending facility, but
also:
• a space where children and their families of all ages are welcomed
to play games with each other,
• where information about childrearing, health, early learning and
development can be passed informally to parents and
grandparents,
• and where they can meet with other parents with different
backgrounds and take part in creative and social activities.
Finding the synergies between home,
ECEC and spaces ‘in between’ in Almere
Multi-generations living, learning and
playing together: Almere Haven
Conclusions
• Embrace and nurture the in-between spaces in young children’s
lives (informal, non-formal as well as formal ECEC)
• Build the capacities of all generations in the community to be
playing, learning and caring partners
• Educate a skilled and professional early years workforce
Upcoming Webinar!
Challenges and opportunities in integrating
early years services: a spotlight on the
workforce
26 October 2017, 14.30
http://www.earlychildhoodworkforce.org/
