THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY IN ECEC SERVICES: A Child - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Centre for Community Child Health

CCCH Professional Development Seminar Why quality matters: service delivery and children’s wellbeing Melbourne Convention Centre, 27th November 2013

THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY IN ECEC SERVICES: A Child Developmental Perspective

Tim Moore

Centre for Community Child Health Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne

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OUTLINE

• Early childhood development
• Key factors that promote development
• What kind of relationships do children need?
• What kind of experiences do children need?
• The ‘what’ and ‘how’ of working with children
• Individualisation and catering for diversity
• Conclusions and implications for practice

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NEW LEARNINGS ABOUT CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND WELL-BEING

• There has been an explosion of new knowledge regarding the

nature, development and functioning of the brain as the result of the development of new technologies for studying the brain. This has led to new insights into the neurobiology of interpersonal relationships.

• The importance of the early years for neurological development –

developmental vulnerabilities during pregnancy and in early relationships

• The previously unsuspected extent of neuroplasticity
• The previously unacknowledged role of emotions
• Shift from ‘left brain conscious cognition to right brain unconscious

affect’ - the vindication of Freud’s insights regarding the role of the unconscious

• The long term effects of early experiences / relationships

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HOW CHILDREN DEVELOP

• The basic foundations for future development are laid

down during the prenatal and early childhood years

• Prenatal development plays a critical role in shaping

aspects of development.

• Children learn from birth – wherever they are, there is an

informal ‘curriculum’ operating

• Children’s learning and development are cumulative, with

later development building upon earlier development.

• Discrepancies between children from advantaged and

disadvantaged backgrounds emerge early, and progressively widen, with advantages and disadvantages accumulating throughout life

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HOW CHILDREN DEVELOP (cont)

• Children's emotional development is built into the

architecture of their brains - emotional development begins early in life, is a critical aspect of the development of overall brain architecture, and has enormous consequences over the course of a lifetime.

• Children learn through ‘massive practice’ of existing

skills, repeating them thousands of times before transitioning to higher developmental levels

• Children’s development is shaped by the social and

physical environments in which they spend their time

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KEY FACTORS THAT PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT

• Relationships are the medium through which young

children learn the skills that enable them to become fully participating members of society.

• Relationships change brains. Our brains constantly

communicate with each other through unconscious or subconscious neurobiological pathways of which we are

• unaware. We are biologically primed to read others’ minds.
• The environments in which young children spend their

time provide opportunities and experiences that shape

• development. In particular, the nature and quality of the

home learning environments are important influences on children’s learning and development.

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KEY FACTORS THAT PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT (cont)

• Children learn from the environments in which they

spend their time – wherever they go, a curriculum

• perates, whether it is overt (EYLF/VEYLDF) or covert
• The quality of the relationships and the range of

experiences provided in each of these settings are what shape children’s development and determine their well- being

• The emotional health of young children — or the

absence of it — is closely tied to the social and emotional characteristics of the environments in which they live

‘There are many well-trodden pathways to

• misery. People may choose to eat too much
• r too little, drink too much alcohol, react to
• ther people without thinking, fail to have

empathy for others, fall ill, make unreasonable emotional demands, become depressed, attack others physically, and so

• n, largely because their capacity to manage

their own feelings has been impaired by their poorly developed emotional systems.’ (Gerhardt, 2004)

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WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIPS DO CHILDREN NEED?

Lori A. Roggman, Lisa K. Boyce and Mark S. Innocenti (2008). Developmental Parenting: A Guide for Early Childhood

• Practitioners. Baltimore,

Maryland: Paul H. Brookes.

• The key elements of developmental

caregiving involve being warm, responsive, encouraging, and conversational

• These developmental caregiving

behaviours promote three important

• utcomes in children’s early

development – secure attachment, confident exploration, and competent communication

• These three outcomes are the

foundations of subsequent social- emotional, cognitive and language development

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THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

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NEUROBIOLOGY OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Our feelings and emotions are communicated to others in conscious and unconscious ways

• Conscious communication of feelings is done by

telling others what we feel

• Our ability to do this effectively depends upon our

‘emotional intelligence’, that is, our ability to register and articulate our feelings

• Children benefit when we express our feelings directly,

simply, and in non-threatening ways: they want to know not only what their parents think, but also how they feel

• When we express our emotions, our children learn what

is important to us as well as witnessing a model for the healthy expression of emotion

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NEUROBIOLOGY OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS (cont)

• Unconscious communication of feelings is done

nonverbally through facial expressions, eye contact, tone

• f voice, gestures, posture, and the timing and intensity of

response

• We are constantly communicating our feelings in these

unconscious ways, and constantly (albeit unconsciously) registering such expressions in others

• Tuning to each other's internal states links us in a state of

emotional resonance that enables each person to ‘feel felt’ by the other

• Neurological and neurochemical processes make this

possible

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CORTICAL AND SUBCORTICAL PATHWAYS: THE ‘HIGH ROAD’ AND THE ‘LOW ROAD’

We take in information about others via two routes:

• The low road involves subcortical neural circuitry that
• perates beneath our awareness, automatically and

effortlessly, with immense speed. Most of what we do seems to be piloted by massive neural networks operating via the low road – particularly in our emotional life.

• The high road, in contrast, runs through cortical neural

systems that work more methodically and step by step, with deliberate effort. We are aware of the high road, and it gives us at least some control over our inner life, which the low road denies us.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS People learn how to be with others by experiencing how

• thers are with them – this is how one’s views and

feelings (internal models) of relationships are formed and how they may be modified. Therefore, how parents are with their babies (warm, sensitive, responsive, consistent, available) is as important as what they do (feed, change, soothe, protect, teach). Similarly, how professionals are with parents (respectful, attentive, consistent, available) is as important as what they do (inform, support, guide, refer, counsel).’ Gowen and Nebrig (2001)

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RESPONSES THAT UNDERMINE THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

There are three types of adult responses that undermine the development of emotional development:

• Dismissive responses – disregarding, ignoring or

trivialising children’s negative emotions

• Disapproving responses – being critical of children’s

displays of emotion, reprimanding or punishing them

• Laissez-faire responses – accepting children’s emotions

and empathising with them, but failing to offer guidance

• r set limits on the children’s behaviour

Gottman (1997)

EFFECTS OF NEGLECT Extensive biological and developmental research over the past 30 years has generated substantial evidence that young children who experience severe deprivation

• r significant neglect — defined broadly as the ongoing

disruption or significant absence of caregiver responsiveness — bear the burdens of a range of adverse consequences. Indeed, deprivation or neglect can cause more harm to a young child’s development than overt physical abuse, including subsequent cognitive delays, impairments in executive functioning, and disruptions of the body’s stress response.

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2012)

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WHAT KIND OF EXPERIENCES DO CHILDREN NEED

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EXPERIENCES CHILDREN NEED

• Ensuring safety - protection from harm, both physical and

relational

• Providing clear boundaries – metaphor of the child as

‘water in a container’ - clear boundaries benignly enforced have the paradoxical effect of freeing the child to explore

• Opportunities to play, experiment and explore – providing

they are safe and contained, play is children’s default mode

• Opportunities to practice and consolidate skills – children

learn through ‘massive practice’, having multiple

• pportunities to practice functional skills in everyday

environments (Mahoney, 2013)

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EXPERIENCES CHILDREN NEED (cont)

• Opportunities to participate in everyday activities and

environments – participation enables children to understand societal expectations and gain the physical and social competencies needed to function and flourish in their homes and communities Meaningful participation is the engine of development and the key to attaining a true sense of belonging and a satisfactory quality of life

• Scaffolded support in developing new skills
• Learning to lead and learning to follow - intentional

teaching (Epstein, 2007)

Ann S. Epstein (2007). The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children's Learning. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Epstein advocates an approach in which that combines child-guided and adult-guided learning experiences:

• Child-guided refers to experience that

proceeds primarily along the lines of children's interests and actions, although teachers often provide the materials and other support

• Adult-guided refers to experience that

proceeds primarily along the lines of the teachers goals, although that experience may also be shaped by children's active engagement. Intentional teaching involves acting with specific

• utcomes or goals in mind for children's

development and learning, and using child- or adult-guided teaching to accommodate the different ways that individual children learn and the specific content they are learning.

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THE ‘WHAT’ AND ‘HOW’ OF WORKING WITH CHILDREN

• How one relates to children is as important as what
• pportunities and experiences you provide is them
• The processes of responsive caregiving and benign

boundary setting provide the medium through which intentional teaching is delivered

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INDIVIDUALISATION AND CATERING FOR DIVERSITY

Council of Australian Governments (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming — The Early Years Learning Framework for

• Australia. Canberra, ACT: Australian

Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (2011). Guide to the National Quality Standard. Sydney, NSW: ACECQA.

Council of Australian Governments (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming — The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

The Framework is based on a view

• f children’s lives as characterised

by belonging, being and becoming:

• Belonging acknowledges

children’s interdependence with

• thers and the crucial role of

relationships

• Being emphasises the

significance of the here and now in children’s lives

• Becoming emphasises learning

to participate fully and actively in society

Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (2011). Guide to the National Quality Standard. Sydney, NSW: ACECQA. The guiding principles of the National Quality Framework are:

• The rights and best interests of the

child are paramount.

• Children are successful, competent

and capable learners.

• Equity, inclusion and diversity

underpin the framework.

• Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander cultures are valued.

• The role of parents and families is

respected and supported

• Best practice is expected in the

provision of education and care services.

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INDIVIDUALISATION AND CATERING FOR DIVERSITY

Two ways of viewing diversity:

• neurodiversity
• differential susceptibility

Thomas Armstrong (2010). Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Brain

• Differences. New York: Da

Capo / Perseus Books.

• Human beings and human brains exist

along continuums of competence. People with disabilities do not exist as ‘islands of incompetence’ totally separated from ‘normal’ human

• beings. Rather they exist along

continuums of competence, with ‘normal’ behavior simply a stop along the way.

• Human competence is defined by the

values of the culture to which you belong - whether you are regarded as disabled or gifted depends largely upon when and where you live

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WAYS OF VIEWING DIVERSITY The differential susceptibility hypothesis – dandelion and

• rchid children
• Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as

dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere.

• A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and

fickle, but capable of blooming spectacularly if given greenhouse care.

• With a bad environment and poor parenting, orchid

children can end up depressed, drug-addicted, or in jail— but with the right environment and good parenting, they can grow up to be society’s most creative, successful, and happy people.

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INDIVIDUALISATION AND CATERING FOR DIVERSITY (cont)

Implications

• One size does not fit all, and individual differences

must be catered for

• Inclusion of children with developmental disabilities

How do we do this?

• Responsive caregiving
• Universal design for learning
• Tiered systems of response
• Embedded instruction

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING

THE PYRAMID MODEL

Fox, Carta, Strain, Dunlap & Hemmeter (2009)

RECOGNITION AND RESPONSE

Coleman, Buysse & Neitzel (2006)

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CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

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CONCLUSIONS From a developmental perspective, quality in ECEC settings involves the following key elements:

• Responsive caregiving
• Ensuring safety and providing clear boundaries
• Providing opportunities to play, experiment and

explore, and to practice and consolidate skills

• Providing opportunities to participate meaningfully in

everyday ECEC activities and environments

• Using a combination of child-guided and adult-guided

learning approaches

• Providing scaffolded support in developing new skills
• Catering for the full range of individuality and diversity

WORKING WITH FAMILIES

Margy Whalley (2007). Involving Parents in Their Children’s Learning (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Paul Chapman Publishing. Centre for Community Child Health (2013). The Tasmanian Child and Family Centre Action Research Project: Phase Two Report. Parkville, Victoria: CCCH, MCRI, RCH.

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IMPLICATIONS

• Building secure relationships through responsive caregiving is a

central task of ECEC providers

• This has implications for rostering – ensuring that children have

consistent caregivers is important for building attachment security

• Such caregiving has to be ‘good enough’ rather than perfect –

‘repairing’ temporary breakdowns is an important learning experience

• To support them in their responsive caregiving role, caregivers

need to be supported responsively by colleagues and managers

• Efforts to develop ways of providing truly individualised and

inclusive models of practice need to be supported through professional development and additional resourcing

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FINAL REFLECTION

• Providing quality environments for children is a

highly important and skilled job

• It helps lay the foundations for children’s

subsequent development and wellbeing, with potentially lifelong consequences

• In so doing it helps shape the future wellbeing of
• ur society as a whole
• The people who do such important work should be

among the most highly valued, highly paid and well supported people in the community

• As things stand, they are none of these things –

clearly we need to work to rectify this situation

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• Dr. Tim Moore

Senior Research Fellow

Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal Children’s Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia 3052 Phone: +61·3·9345 5040 Fax: +61·3·9345 5900 Email: tim.moore@mcri.edu.au Website: www.rch.org.au/ccch