6 research outputs found
[Book Review] Embracing children’s spirituality: glimpsing spiritual moments in children’s play
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Work-based learning and transitions in professional identity
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Computer mediated communication: using e-learning to support professional development
Professionalism in the Early Years reflects the new government agenda demanding higher levels of professionalism in the Early Years sector, as set out in the Children's Workforce Strategy. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Children's Workforce Development Council(CWDC) aim to transform and professionalise the early years workforce through the creation of new roles, such as the Early Years Professional (EYP), for those leading and working in Children's Centres and in the private and voluntary sector. This text is written by national and internationalauthorities in the field, all of whom are involved in teaching, training and research or at policy level. The editors have been closely involved with development of the government agenda on professionalising the Early Years workforce. Professionalism in the Early Years covers a wide range of issuesincluding: DT routes to professionalism; DT policy developments; DT multi-professional collaboration and multi-agency working; DT international perspectives; DT rethinking professionalism; DT key themes and issues within the Early Years workforce. A truly groundbreaking publication for a new generation ofthe Children's Workforce, Professionalism in the Early Years sets out the agenda to shape the future of this workforce. Student-friendly, accessible and authoritative, this is the ideal core reader for all those embarking on their professional development within the Early Years sector
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Developing reflective early years practitioners within a regulatory framework
The government in England has committed to the reform of the children’s workforce through ‘a transformational reform agenda designed to improve life chances for all and reduce inequalities in our society’ (DfES, 2006a, p. 2.). This agenda acknowledges that increasing the skills and competence of the workforce is critical to its success. This route to a more professional workforce includes the development of a new qualification the Early Years Sector–Endorsed Foundation Degrees leading to Senior Practitioner status and a new role of Early Years Professional. As a major open and distance-learning provider The Open University is in a unique position to respond to the above agenda in providing flexible and accessible progression routes leading to higher-level qualifications for early years practitioners. However this reform is to be achieved through an increasingly centralised process underpinned by a ‘standards agenda’ (Moss, 2003a).
This paper provides a critical review of policy developments leading to the creation of two new workforce roles. It considers the implications of these roles for the professional development of early years practitioners and explores the relationship between the two roles. The second part of the paper describes the tensions and challenges involved in developing distance-learning courses which support students in becoming reflective practitioners whilst meeting externally prescribed standards and a requirement to demonstrate professional competence. The approach taken to enable students to reflect on their practice in the first work-based learning course in the Open University Foundation Degree in Early Years is discussed. Initial findings from the analysis of the final written assignments from students on this course suggest it offers possibilities for critical reflection and developing professionalism
Spirituality expressed in creative learning: young children's imagining play as space for mediating their spirituality
Historically underpinning principles of the English curriculum framework for children from birth to five years explicitly acknowledged a spiritual dimension to children's uniqueness and well-being. Yet spirituality receives scant reference in the discourse of creative learning and teaching. This paper considers the relationship of spirituality to creativity and argues for a greater attentiveness to children's spirituality in early childhood education that acknowledges its presence in expression of children's thinking, creating and imagining. Located within an interpretive paradigm, this ethnographic study of children aged two and three years in a day nursery in England, explores how they express spirituality. A hermeneutic approach underpins the analysis and interpretation of the data. Findings reveal how in imaginative play, most often recognised in the early years curriculum as part of creative development, young children show a capacity for expressing meaning-making and negotiating identity, key dimensions of the spiritual in childhood