Early Childhood Blog

Some of the OU Early Childhood team are currently undertaking a longitudinal PRAXIS project which is just entering the second year (Phase 2) where we are considering the concept of ‘mattering’ and what that means to our Early Childhood students. We are used to the ideas of provocations in early childhood pedagogy and to give us inspiration for this phase of the project we decided to take a mini road trip to Chatsworth to attend the ‘Picturing Childhoods’ exhibition, using this as a creative provocation to our thinking about writing up the report of Phase 1 and moving forward with Phase 2. It turned out to be a marvellous provocation and before we left to travel back to the various corners of the UK, we got together over a coffee to discuss some of our thoughts and reflections, and this blog captures these.

Julie’s Reflection

This was my first visit to Chatsworth House and I wondered how it would go.  We met briefly as a group of 4 academics in the days before we went and discussed how we should approach the visit and what we would do, deliberating themes we could view the exhibition through.  Being time poor, I had been unable to give sufficient time to reading and reflecting before our discussion.  I felt like some of our degree students going to their first tutorial.  Unprepared and unsettled.  After our chat I felt motivated, a little excited and was looking forward to our visit.  This aligned with Prilleltensky’s (2020) view of mattering as innate and Elliot’s (2009) expansion of ‘mattering’ as overlapping with ‘belonging’.  I felt as if I fitted into the group and belonged and more than that; in a social sense, I mattered to this group of colleagues and from this I developed interest and confidence.   I took time that night to read and reflect on the purpose of the visit.  I wonder now about the skill needed by an Associate Lecturer to make a student facing time and confidence challenges feel as if they matter and belong in order to develop motivation and enthusiasm rather than less confident and a little lost.

On arrival at Chatsworth the scale and beauty was imposing but there seemed to be a calmness emanating from the surroundings and my colleagues.  We had decided to arrive together but to experience the exhibition alone in order to reflect on our perceptions.  We entered the house and then moved through the first room individually.  I noticed some grasses arranged in a cross on a chair and found them interesting and puzzling.  Why were they there?  Why were they crossed?  I wondered if they were illustrating a historical interest or feature, maybe a child’s plaything, after all we were in a childhood exhibition.  I enjoyed this wondering as a young child might and allowed myself to reflect on it as we walked through the rooms.

After a couple more rooms I noticed that a lot of the chairs held these grasses or ‘tweezles’, as a colleague later named them, and realised that they indicated a chair which must not be sat on.  This unwritten rule was not obvious to me at first and it was only through drawing on my cultural tools and knowledge of these grasses being spiky and hard that I realised the symbolism and the hidden rule.  Young children face unwritten rules, but what interested me was how new to Higher Education students know how to interact with new course materials, new peers, or tutors.  Do we include unwritten rules?  How will a student feel when they ‘realise’ the rule, perhaps having made a mistake or even worse missed some vital aspect of study.

Jo’s reflection

Everything was so big and grand, it made me feel very small and insignificant. The lack of light and general gloominess added to this feeling of being diminished. I think I noted several times ‘I feel so small’. This isn’t necessarily a negative affective response – there is something about feeling safe, small, enclosed, not standing out, not noticed, that is calming. The miniature objects in the dolls’ house displays reminded me of this and how being small and detailed is a positive thing. It is like the feeling when you look at the horizon or the sky etc. It was interesting when I used the mirror to look at the ceiling in the Great Hall; this made me feel still small but part of the scenery as if I was swimming in it.  Others talked about ideas that made me think of not belonging, of ‘spatial transgression’- I don’t think I felt like that, but I did feel quite removed from it all, as if I was standing back and wondering objectively about the secrets – who was missing, what was being concealed. I don’t think I also worried about where I was allowed to go but I did feel a little disorientated because of the grandeur and the gloom.

The room which had the greatest impact was the chapel with the Damian Hirst sculpture. I think this was because of the shock of the unexpected. As I walked in, I kind of felt that it was just another gloomy albeit grand room, with a shiny statue. I loved the shock as I approached the statue and realised what it was. I was unaware of this story but was intrigued by it. The notes said to look for the secret door to the right of the statue, but I was unable to find this and found it another irritating example of keeping secrets and withholding information. I absolutely loved the sculpture because it seemed so transgressive and shocking. I also appreciated the pain of all humanity across the saint’s face. I don’t know a lot about Damian Hirst, apart from recognising his more famous pieces of work, but I loved the creativity, the humour almost in the saint having his skin draped over his arm – humour in the grotesque. I don’t appreciate the constraints of religion – thinking about my own childhood, so to have this disruption in the middle of the pomposity of an ornate chapel appealed to my sense of resistance and pushing back. I also appreciated the lovely symmetry of ideas of the skin as clothing with the upstairs exhibition and the draping of fabric; in fact, symmetry was an idea I seemed to focus on in many of the spaces.

Colleagues talked about the ‘sewing rooms’ which also really resonated with me but made me feel both sad, thinking about childhood memories and also nervous because of the sound track; it took me a while to work out where the sounds were coming from and what they were supposed to be (cutting scissors and a sewing machine); I think I got the sense of spatial transgression here that others talked about elsewhere, even though I found these rooms captivating. The long corridor with the crystals didn’t hold my attention at all apart from the marble bath; we talked about how these crystals were more open-ended provocations but from my perspective I am not sure they are; I didn’t like the ideas they reminded me of. We are all bringing our own perspectives as academics and are as diverse as our students.

Eleonora’s Reflection

I have had several visits to Chatsworth House in the past so I approached the ‘Picturing Childhood’ Exhibition with some sense of familiarity coupled with a sense of uncertainty of how I might feel about engaging with it in my professional role. The exhibition offered ‘representations’, ‘experiences’ and ‘memories’ of childhood as the curators re-focused their collection to keep ‘childhood’ in the centre and in this way, inviting new layers of interpretation of the treasures of the House.

To me, portraiture as aesthetic representations of children and childhood have endless possibilities and I was wondering how I might perceive the many nuanced layers. Portraits could also suggest a political undertone in that they represent who is heard, whose voices are silenced, who is visible and who is not. So, I was curious to see how children appeared in the exhibition artifacts and how they were reflected or represented. As a subjective being, I could not help but engage with the exhibition influenced by my own ‘image of the child’ and my Anglo-Eastern European cultural and social capital.

Many of the somewhat ostentatious rooms and spaces in the House were awe-inspiring due to their scale and the wealth they exuded.  They were certainly designed to impress, and I could not help but feel very small, which made me wonder how children might feel in these spaces. I was also struck by the multi-sensory richness of the exhibition and was drawn to the sounds and textures that were sometimes soothing and comforting, and at other times intriguing or even spooky. The positioning of exhibits and the spaces created around them made me wonder about the curators’ ‘image of the child and childhood’, their intensions and also the hidden tensions and power at play in the entire exhibition. For example, the sculpture of Lady Sophia Cavendish as a child was placed under the main stairs in the Great Hall, with cushions on the floor, the tiles of which appeared like waves licking children’s toes as they sat. The sculpture was amazingly animated, her outreached hand inviting the observer to touch her, and the explanatory text addressed children directly. Then, as I sat down on the cushions and disappeared from view, I began to wonder: am I hidden to be out of sight to maintain the order in the richly decorated elegant environment or hidden to be in a secretly private space that children often seek out? Whose agenda drove the creation of this space? What assumptions have been made?

Jane’s Reflection

When I reflect back on my visit my immediate thoughts are about invisible boundaries. As I went around the house I took photos from a child’s-eye perspective, trying to see the contents and experience the spaces from their viewpoint. This meant that I had pictures of key holes, door stops, table legs and other random items. Towards the end of the visit a security guard approached me to ask if I had been taking pictures of door handles, what my photographs might be used for and generally finding out what I was doing. During the conversation I realised that actually, there could be a malevolent reason for taking these pictures, and I also realised that the staff in each room and corridor had been watching and raising concerns with the security team. When it became apparent that I wasn’t up to no good we had a great chat about the exhibition, the work that the Chatsworth education team do and I went on my way. But when I looked back at my photographs the incident coloured my recollections, I found myself thinking ‘should I have been looking at that’? Was I supposed to be in that space? Was I doing things ‘right’?

As an adult in this situation, we know some of the unwritten rules, not to touch the exhibits and to stay in the roped off areas but in some places the rules were not so clear. Were you able to go up a particular staircase, or was that only for people to come down? Can I push that door or not? These feelings link to the feelings of being small and overwhelmed by the unfamiliar and inherent power of the place that have been mentioned elsewhere, and this led me back to thinking about children and then onto students. Young children learn the unwritten rules by crashing into invisible boundaries all the time, reaching out to touch things they shouldn’t, running into places where they shouldn’t be and then being told the rule by someone with more knowledge or power. This process is a ‘normal’ part of learning but when this happens as an adult, we feel wrongfooted and guilty, as if we should already know these things and we have done something wrong. Students will meet invisible boundaries related to the hidden curriculum throughout their studies, highlighting this as a normal part of learning and trying to reduce feelings of having ‘done it wrong’ is something we could do more.

I hadn’t expected my visit to Chatsworth to lead to a reflection on how to support students and this conversation was one of many things that I could have written about, the whole experience has a catalyst for lots of ideas, thoughts, and inspiration many of which echo the responses of my colleagues.

Final thoughts

The exhibition certainly made us reflect on the construct of childhood. We were four diverse academics from different locations in Europe and so we all brought our unique perspective, however, as we shared ideas we found common interests, triggers, and questions. It made us think about our childhoods and how we might have behaved as children at the exhibition. We were quite playful in how we captured our ideas as we moved around the rooms, making sketches, jotting down ideas, and taking photographs, not of the usual exhibits but more of the tiny features or the hidden details. We were reminded of childhood hobbies, of how you had to behave as a child, the things that had remained with you and things you had lost on the way. We compared our own childhoods, the childhoods of the children in portraits we engaged with and the childhoods of children today. We had all recognised how power manifested itself in different ways through the house, we had all felt small and we all had emotional responses to objects and to spaces where we did and did not feel we belonged or mattered. The visit certainly helped us to develop our perspectives of ‘Picturing Childhood’ and to expose and refine concepts that are already influencing the PRAXIS project.

In this post Dr Jo Josephidou shares her reflections on her recent reading and thinking about how babies are considered by society.

Dr Karen Horsley has previously posted on this blog about her experiences of working with New Zealand colleagues and the learning opportunity this was for her (Waitangi Day- learning in collaboration with kaiako (educators), tamariki (children) and places in two Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres in New Zealand. | Early Childhood Blog (open.ac.uk). One of the ways we continue to develop our professional relationships with colleagues in New Zealand is by engaging with their professional journals. Whilst reading the latest copy of The New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education (The First Years Ngā Tau Tuatahi), I came across an obituary of Pennie Brownlee, an important thinker, writer, trainer and above all advocate for babies in the context of New Zealand. I was intrigued to read about her work, having a research interest myself in what happens to babies in our society. I decided to find out more and read one of her books ‘Dance with me in the heart’ (2008). This lovely book, written both very simply but very powerfully, focuses on the role of the adult in supporting the very young child in what she terms ‘the dance of learning’.  Its content resonated with me as I thought about recent election promises  around ‘fixing childcare’ and baby manifestos; it  also made me think of the recent work that Dr Jools Page has been carrying out in her area of professional love and more specifically on the Dance of Reciprocity.

Brownlee (2016) acknowledges the work of Emmi Pikler (1902 – 1984) as one who has informed her own ideas about the respectful ‘infant-adult’ relationship that comes about through carefully ‘choreographed tender care moments’.  As she considers the role of the adult, Brownlee imagines the baby and adult as dance partners. It is an ‘elegant dance’ that begins in the womb, accompanied by the rhythm of the beating heart. Neither partner leads but each takes their turn to convey which way they want to go and what the next move should be. A stressed dancer will convey this stress to their partner so that it is important that they are relaxed and at ease. As Brownlee continues to ponder on the role of the adult, she reflects on the importance that one in such a role would view their partner as competent, able and one who can be successful at the dance.

Her writing reminded me of Trevarthen’s (1931 – 24), a fellow New Zealander whose research explored babies’ musicality and how ‘to be’, as adults, with very young children. Trevarthen et al. (2018) write of the shame that can become part of the young child’s life as they are met with expectations and demands that, rather than celebrate them, find them wanting. In much the same way, Brownlee quotes Gerba as saying “How must it affect infants when what they can do is not appreciated, and what they cannot do is expected?”  The recent Manifesto for Babies, published in June (2024) by the First 1001 days movement was a call to advocate for these very young children and in particular to:

• Support babies’ healthy development
• Invest more in prevention
• Tackle health inequalities
• Support those who care for them

Being introduced to this book by Brownlee has helped me develop thinking around the consideration that is given to babies in our society. Looking after babies is complex, so those who look after them, parents and practitioners, should also be given greater consideration. The metaphor of dance is helpful in understanding how we can be supportive partners and dance alongside babies in their learning and development.

Here at the OU we are privileged to work with our validated partner institutions across the UK, supporting the design and delivery of high-quality early childhood programmes that ensure the workforce of future is equipped to deliver the best possible outcomes for babies and young children. An important aspect of these partnerships is the opportunity to share our research and scholarship and discuss the issues and questions that are currently high on our agenda. One way in which we do this is by holding collaborative events and this year’s took place on Thursday 11^th July.

The theme of the event was ‘Mattering and belonging: offering learning spaces where Early Childhood students can flourish’ and Jo Josephidou started proceedings by introducing the PRAXIS scholarship project that she is leading on with other EC@OU colleagues, titled ‘I just wanna ask, what’s the cat called? Mattering and belonging as an online Early Childhood student’.

The title came from an incidental comment made by a student during an online focus group session, where another student’s cat walked across the screen prompting the question ‘I just wanna ask, what’s the cat called?’. This seemingly general and unimportant comment actually became a point for reflection, prompting Jo to think about how our distance, online students can make the connections and find points of commonality that are essential in developing their student identity and creating a feeling of mattering and belonging. The project is a longitudinal study using group interviews and monthly reflective email questions to try and capture the journey of the early childhood student and identify what is important to them. Early findings indicate that they feel they have an identity as a higher education student and that this is something they have achieved for themselves and feel proud of, and they can see the impact their studies are having on their roles as parents, carers and practitioners. The project is ongoing and we look forward to finding out what happens next.

The next session was led by Louise Hannan, an Early Childhood Lecturer and PhD student at University Centre Somerset, and Caren Egan, the Nursery Manager at Bridgwater and Taunton College Childcare Centre who presented ‘Self-care strategies to promote staff wellbeing in an Early Years setting: A praxeological study.’

 This thought-provoking study considered how the pressures associated with consumerist and capitalist societies can impact negatively on the early years workforce who are already in a vulnerable situation because their work is stressful and requires a large amount of emotional engagement and skill. To counteract these pressures the study looked at ways to empower the nursery practitioners to find ways of valuing themselves for themselves rather than being influenced about what to value by external factors like the media or advertising. The study used photo elicitation to explore practitioners’ ideas of wellbeing generally and their own wellbeing in particular, and  a free drawing task that asked them to draw wellbeing ‘radiators and drains’, the things that contributed to their wellness and those that take away from it. The practitioners then engaged in a range of self-care sessions, including breathwork, connecting with nature, yoga, and meditation. Reflecting on the sessions practitioners identified that they felt calmer, more able to give time to situations and to consider their interactions with children and each other. Not every session ‘worked’ for every practitioner but everyone was able to connect to something and see a benefit, and these findings really resonated with the attendees at the event who had lots of questions for Sarah and Caren.

After the questions Sarah Guscott, a HE Practice Tutor and Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies & Primary Education at University Centre Peterborough gave the final presentation, ‘Exploring educators understanding of Sensory Processing and its developmental impact for children’.

Sensory processing relates to the reception, organisation, and interpretation of sensory information by the nervous system which is crucial for various aspects of child development, and which goes beyond the ‘traditional’ five senses to include the vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive senses too. Children who have sensory processing difficulties can find it challenging to cope with environments and situations which can affect their behaviour and learning, but there is currently little support for practitioners to identify and support these children. Sarah’s study used qualitative and quantitative questionnaires to gather insights into participants’ experiences and interpretations of sensory processing in young children. The findings indicated that practitioners face significant obstacles due to a lack of training and resources in sensory processing, leading to difficulties in recognising and addressing children’s sensory needs effectively. There was recognition that modifying the environment to reduce sensory overload and implementing individualised interventions resulted in a significant improvement in children’s sensory experiences, but there was need for more professional development in the area to help raise awareness and improve practice.

As the descriptions of the presentations show, the range and quality of research and scholarship being done in the field of Early Childhood is diverse and exciting and it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to hear, learn and discuss this great work.

On June 26^th 2024 Dr Natalie Canning presented her Empowerment Framework at a breakfast event held in the British Library in London. The organisations who attended the event neatly illustrated how ‘early childhood’ is an umbrella term, with representatives that work with babies, pregnant mothers, early childhood and care settings, and childminders as well as early childhood researchers, practitioners, policy influencers and members of the EC@OU team. The work being done by these groups reaches across the UK nations and beyond.

Grant Gordon from the Ethos Foundation captured this breadth in his introduction to the event as he outlined the context within which the Foundation was established and by highlighting the lack of real change in this context since its creation. Natalie then presented the Empowerment Framework, focussing on the potential it has to amplify children’s voices and how that can be a force for change. The presentations provided a catalyst for some lively discussions which showed the passion and expertise of everyone in the room, and which again drew attention to the diversity of issues that ‘early childhood’ represents. Questions were asked about school readiness, diversity and representation, curriculum design and workforce morale, whilst all the time looking at how to put the child at the centre of all the work that is done.

Listening to the presentations, questions and conversations I became aware of how everyone in the room was passionate about early childhood and had a particular issue, theme, situation or aspect that really motivated them. Everyone wanted to give voice to that passion but we were mindful that we needed  to focus on a unifying theme. It was like an orchestra tuning up, each instrument is important and essential to creating the finished work but at that point each one is focussed on perfecting their own piece and this creates a discordant noise that distracts and rather than a tune that engages and appeals. It needs a conductor and clear direction to bring all the sounds together into one clear and organised melody that resonates with the audience, connecting to them and getting their attention.

The work being done with our youngest children and their families covers education, care, social justice, professional identities, inclusion, representation, wellbeing, welfare, and more. The importance of each of these is undeniable, if we want the best future outcomes for all children then all these areas must be acknowledged and valued and there needs to be a clear agenda that the work in all these arenas can agree on and work towards together. To continue the orchestra metaphor we need the sheet music that shows us the music, the part  each us is playing, where we work together and where our solo opportunities are. The breadth and flexibility of the Empowerment Framework and its potential to support every child could provide the perfect opening bars for us all to play our part together.

You can find out more about the Empowerment Framework here:

TACTYC OCC-Paper-14-N-Canning.pdf (open.ac.uk)

In this thought-provoking post Dr Eleonora Teszenyi asks us to reflect on how children we support children in feeling they matter and they belong.

It is argued that children, like all humans, have an innate desire to feel important and to matter to others (Rosenberg and McCullogh, 1985). There is also compelling evidence to suggest that a sense of belonging is crucial to children’s participation in the activities of their groups and communities (Allen et al., 2023; Sykes and Teszenyi, 2018). Children who feel they belong and matter to others are happier, better adjusted, more engaged and are more motivated to learn (Alink et al., 2023; Korpershoek et al., 2020).

But are these concepts  – belonging and mattering – the two sides of the same coin? How young children feel towards their groups and communities directly relates to a sense of belonging. So, we have here the feeling of belongingness and also belonging via participation. We know that love and belonging are one of the fundamentals in the hierarchy of human needs (Maslow, 1943). Those working in early education settings tend to recognise that most children strive for affectionate relationships and for a place in a group, which would suggest that belonging is important to their social lives.

On the other hand, mattering is defined as a ‘psychological tendency to perceive the self as significant to others’ (Marshall et al., 2010, p.367). How others feel towards children and their participation in their groups shows how much they matter to others: how they are seen, how others interact with them, how much they feel they are valued as a member of a group. Flett (2022) describes mattering by its three key characteristics: (i) attention, which refers to being noticed by others; (ii) importance, which is the feeling of being a concern of others; and (iii) dependence or reliance, which is the feeling that others can depend on us. Just as the sense of belonging yields positive outcomes, ‘mattering’ can also contribute to a greater sense of wellbeing, greater resilience and improved self-esteem. Are we to assume, then, that ‘mattering’ includes both the feeling of being valued by others and adding value to others’ lives?

How about these two counter-intuitive notions? One, that a child might have the feeling they matter, but their emotional investment towards their group is not reciprocated, therefore, they do not feel they belong.  (Is there a darker side to belonging?) The other, that despite having a sense of belonging, children may still feel that they do not matter to their community.

Picture this:

3-year old Peter moves from the sand tray to the drawing table. With two of his peers he was loading a large bucket with stones but one of them impatiently took the spade out of his hand saying ”You are too slow, give it me!” He is now sitting at the drawing table with a sheet of paper in front of him, felt tip pen in his hand, drawing lines on the paper. David comes, wordlessly sits down, takes his sheet of A4 paper and begins to draw what looks like a large rectangle confidently. Peter lifts his head and observes David intently. After a short while, he asks: ”What are you drawing?” He receives no response.  Peter continues to watch but does not ask again. After a little while he returns to his own drawing and carries on with his wiggly lines. Imogen comes along, sits down next to Peter and asks him: ”What are you drawing”? Peter does not answer immediately, he keeps his eyes on his paper. David, however, looks up, takes a look at Peter’s drawing and says: „It looks like a tractor.” Imogen says: ” It doesn’t.”, to which David responds: ”I don’t think so either but it is beautiful.” Peter’s head snaps up, looks surprised and a smile tugs at his lips.

How is Peter feeling as he is pushed out of playing with the stones? Does his contribution matter? Does he belong? How does this feeling change as David comments on his drawing? Is he valued? Why is this significant for Peter?

Another important question to consider is what practitioners can do to support children’s sense of belong and mattering in an Early Years setting. Establishing positive social and emotional environments can serve as the foundation for children and young people to develop a sense of belonging. Woven into the fabric of a supportive environment is a network of positive relationships, and relationship-rich pedagogies that underpin interactions with and between children. As we have seen in the extract above, patterns of relationships evolve as individuals come together in a group, make emotional connections and learn about how each member of a community might act or react in particular situations. Although relationships cannot single handedly deliver a sense of belonging or mattering, practitioners can create a caring learning environment that facilitates the development of empathy, care and respect towards one another, carving out space and places for intimacy, friendships, shared play, peer support …etc.

Adults themselves can actively contribute to the development of positive relationships by attuned listening, slowing down to pay attention to children’s messages and meaning making (Clark, 2023), and by engaging in interactions that are conducive to community building such as collaborations, shared project, co-operation and joint problem solving.

References:

Alink, K., Denessen, E., Veerman, G. and Severiens, S. (2023) Exploring the concept of school belonging: A study with expert ratings. Cogent Education, 10(2) 2235979 DOI:10.1080/2331186X.2023.2235979

Allen, K-A., Boyle, C., Wong, D., Johnson, R. G. and May, F. (2023) ‘School belonging as an essential component of positive psychology in schools’, in Giraldez-Hayes, A. and Burke, J. (eds.) Applied positive school psychology. London: Routledge, pp. 159-172.

Clark, A. (2023) Slow knowledge and the unhurried child. Abingdon: Routledge.

Flett, G. L. (2022) An introduction, review and conceptual analysis of mattering as an essential construct and essential way of life. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 40(1), pp. 3-36.

Korpershoek, H., Canrinus, E. T., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., and de Boer, H. (2020) ‘The relationships between school belonging and students’ motivational, social-emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes in secondary education: a meta-analytic review’, Research Papers in Education, 35(6), pp. 641-680. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116

Marshall, S. K., Liu, Y., Wu, A., Berzonsky, M. and Adams, G. R. (2010) ‘Perceived mattering to parents and friends for university students: A longitudinal study’, Journal of Adolescence, 33, pp. 367-375. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.09.003

Maslow, A. H. (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), pp. 370-396.

Rosenberg, M. and McCullough, B. (1981) Mattering: Inferred significance and mental health among adolescents. Research in Community and Mental Health, 2, pp.163-182.

Sykes, G. and Teszenyi, E. (2018) (eds) Young children and their communities: Understanding collective social responsibility. Abingdon: Routledge

In this post Jo Josephidou talks about her latest work with the Froebel Trust which looks at outdoor practices with very young children.

We are all familiar with the ubiquitous message about the importance of children being outdoors and especially opportunities for them to engage with nature. But if you were asked to picture a young child outdoors, what kind of image would you conjure up? A child jumping in puddles, kicking through leaves or balancing on a log? Most probably a child who is older than two. But what about the youngest children – say those aged birth to two – do they not also need similar time and opportunities?

Generally we have found that this very youngest age group are excluded from practice, policy and research which focuses on children’s opportunities to engage with the outdoors and nature. We have discussed this issue before on this blog where we reported on outdoor practices with very young children in the early years setting, home and community. Our very latest Froebel funded report, From Weeds to Tiny Flowers, offers some new insights into different cultural and geographical practices.

Using the metaphor of weeds to talk about young children may seem a particularly odd choice. However we have borrowed this term from the work of Jenks (2005) who uses it to illustrate how children can often be perceived as being in the wrong place at the wrong time! This is particularly apt when talking about very young children who are often seen as out of place outdoors because this space is seen as a space for children who can run through puddles or climb on logs, but a place of danger for those who are too young to be active in this way.

We noticed in our review that exclusion was not just limited to very young children but that there were several other factors that interacted with each other which led to even more issues of exclusion on the grounds of class, socio-economic status and culture. Another area of exclusion that we also noticed was that the voices who talked about outdoor practices with very young children came mostly from Europe and North America. We are interested to see how other cultures speak about being outdoors and what we can learn from them in terms of pedagogies for very young children.

In fact this finding has informed the piece of research we are working on presently. We are looking to talk to parents from a range of cultural backgrounds to learn about their experiences with their children outdoors whilst living in an urban setting. We will update you as we progress with our findings.

Do please have a look at our lovely FREE  OpenLearn course which is based on our research up to this point,  focusing on very young children’s opportunities to be outdoors and in nature.

References

Jenks, C. (2005) Childhood. London: Routledge

As New Zealand commemorates Waitangi Day, Karen Horsley reflects on learning in collaboration with kaiako (educators), tamariki (children) and places in two Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres in New Zealand.

Waitangi Day is a national day in Aotearoa, New Zealand that commemorates the first signing of its founding document: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The Treaty of Waitangi, on 6 February 1840 (https://www.waitangi.org.nz/). The historical, political and cultural significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The Treaty of Waitangi informs the foundations of Aotearoa, New Zealand’s bicultural and bilingual early childhood curriculum – Te Whāriki.  Te Whāriki honours Māori Indigenous knowledge, ways of being and Te Reo Māori language into culturally responsive provision that values New Zealand’s diverse communities, including from the Pacific Islands.

Here are some of my reflections, that particularly struck me from my visit to two early childhood education (ECE) centres in different parts of Auckland, New Zealand. Both centres were teacher-led. The first centre serves culturally diverse communities that was originally set up to support the city hospital community. The second centre, was founded on the honoring and building of Samoan language and cultural values. The organisation built on the legacy of Samoan mamas (elders) who set up the original playgroups, whilst recognising the rich diversity of New Zealand’s communities. The directors, teachers and practitioners in both settings highly value and embed Te Whāriki early childhood curriculum into culturally responsive practice. Te Whāriki is a living document in the sense that it is interpreted in ways that are meaningful for the particular contexts of ECE centres, their families and communities.

1. AROHA – ALOFA (love): Relationships are everything

“First of all, it’s not me. It’s an us, it’s a we. It goes back to it takes a village to educate a child”

– Liz, second centre, 2023

This sense of ‘us’ not ‘me’ shone out in the beliefs and practices of all of the teachers I met. I noticed the loving care with which babies and young children were gently carried, held and spoken with as they explored and played, or simply enjoyed a quiet moment together. Sometimes, the most intangible or fleeting of moments, communicated the deeply held feelings and values of Aroha – Alofa that respected children’s rights and ‘mana’: including spiritual power, wellbeing and agency (Rameka et al., 2022). For example, teachers observed so closely to ask how and when babies would like to be held or picked up. They respected babies’ and children’s time and space to fully explore their environment, perhaps in the garden or park as babies crawled and walked barefoot over many textures and surfaces on offer to them (bark, paving, grass). Children and adults enjoyed playful moments and times of helping each other arrive at new theories, puzzling together. The children knew they would be listened to and their voices would be heard and this knowing led to a sense of collective learning, care and collaboration with the world. Pedagogies of Aroha – Alofa (love) and care meant that conditions were created for learning rather than adults feeling the need to ‘teach’. Teachers are confident for children to lead their learning and collective inquiry. Both centres cultivate a culture of true belonging and the courage to be real. Looking after relationships and others is very much at the heart of leadership and practice guided by intergenerational cultural philosophies, values and commitment to nurturing relationships and repairing them if this is necessary. ECE is infused with values such as Aroha – Alofa, service and respect, where teachers and leaders seek relationships of trust, collaboration and collective approaches. Rich Māori and Pacific Indigenous knowledge, spirituality and ways of being here speak to the ‘we’ and ‘us’ of leadership that support others to thrive.

2. Collective over individual: A culture of children, teachers, families and communities co-learners and researchers together

The Te Whāriki curriculum, research  and practice reflects a blend of contemporary and traditional  Indigenous and non-Indigenous multiple perspectives, framed and centred around Māori philosophy. People doing things together, trusting one another, constructing new knowledge together reflects this. Trust, in one another and the children as leaders of their learning are highly valued in living, learning and researching together.  Teachers in New Zealand ECE are referred to as “kaiako”, which is inclusive of all those who care and educate children in ECE settings (i.e., qualified teachers, educators, parents, elders and communities). It also incorporates the Māori concept of “ako” to acknowledge a reciprocal relationship between teachers and learners and learning from one another. A striking feature of the curriculum and practice was teachers’ very high regard and respect for children as highly competent learners. Children are encouraged to explore first with adults observing as engaged listeners and participants. Kaiako truly followed the children’s lead in their interests to develop theory making and threads of learning together in reciprocal relationships. They held back from talking and offering resources to see where children’s interests took them. Sometimes these led back to journeying and playing with younger siblings in mixed age play, talk, stories, creative media of all kinds and rhymes in community languages. Family and community members are seen and heard in the centres as very much part of everyday living, learning and researching alongside one another. Cultures of inquiry lead to children’s and teachers’ deep reflection on their learning, interests and evolving theory making. Communities are very much part and parcel of everyday life that honours Indigenous Māori and Pacific contemporary and traditional knowledge and practice – past, present and future.

3. Bringing your whole self to your work

Bringing your whole to your work, including language, family values, beliefs, knowledge and experiences through many languages, song, stories, metaphors, research and everyday conversations are seen as strengths. There is patience with one another in puzzling out the inevitable challenges of highly complex and nuanced ECE practice. Regular and informal meetings in daily life and inquiry in the centres create contexts for paying close attention to one another and asking difficult questions of practice that embrace uncertainty and vulnerability to move forwards together. There are playful times and (un)comfortable silences for thinking, and depths of patience and awareness for emerging new lively perspectives and possibilities:

E tūtaki ana ngā kapua o te rangi, kei runga te Mangōroa e kōpae pū ana

The clouds in the sky gather, but above them extends the Milky Way.

• Nā Sandi Tuhakaraina and Tracy Dayman, Tōku Anō Reo Māori My Very Own Language (2020, p.97)

Bringing your whole self to your work deeply respects and appreciates the interwoven languages, knowledge, culture and stories of everyone. I learnt that Indigenous communities around the world, such as the Māori and Pacific peoples of New Zealand derive insight and wisdom about practice and leadership from their unique Indigenous perspectives and beliefs. In the two centres, Māori or Pacific (Samoan) Indigenous values guide their thinking about leadership practice in [ECE]. Indigenous perspectives focus on collective decision-making, serving the interests of the community, harmonious relationships, ancestral wisdom, and a deep connection to the environment and all living things. In my ECE context, in the UK, appreciating and weaving Indigenous perspectives emphasises collaboration and distributed leadership (in contrast with individual authority and hierarchical structures). This requires strong reciprocal relationships of trust. If we want to invite new possibilities together we have to find ways to embrace equitable participation in culturally responsive practice.

4. Listen and learn first, reciprocity in relationships: What does this mean for our culturally responsive practice?

The significance of reciprocal relationships are everything. Without true respect and endeavour together we cannot create our best work. This means taking time and great care to learn about the context, including histories of people, places and things. Some questions to ponder include: How do I spell and pronounce people’s names, titles and language that are needed (or helpful) in this context? What is significant and why to the people we are working with? How can we work together? What does the history of the people in a place mean for our shared ways of working – are there practices, customs and values I need to particularly pay very close attention to? What are our shared values for culturally responsive practice? Honesty and transparency are essential to our work in new cultural contexts, remembering the fundamental significance of reciprocal, enduring relationships.

As an ‘outsider’ I needed to listen and learn first, to respect the deep history, cultures, communities, languages of the amazing people I met and was welcomed by. I appreciated  the value of reciprocity in relationships –  this meant that I shared and returned the knowledge back to the centres (sharing writing drafts, films, photography and research of mutual interest). Nurturing the relationships I had established  after returning home has been significant to me personally and professionally from a genuine felt connection. I appreciate being able to share my experiences and work in ECE to learn collectively and see new ways of knowing and being together, that I am able to share with our students and communities. Above all, we take our cue from the generous people who welcome us and help us to learn together, recognising and celebrating equity, diversity and inclusion, past, present and future. I am humbled and feel a great sense of gratitude for all of the reciprocal relationships we made. Relationships are everything, they come first.

Reference

Rameka, L., Soutar, B., Clayton, L., & Card, A. (2022). Whakapūmau te mana: Implications for early childhood practice. New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, 19(1), pp.46-61. https://doi.org/10.24135/teacherswork.v19i1.340

Do you have a professional or personal interest in learning opportunities for young children? Are you working with children or are you a parent or carer?

Jo Josephidou is part of the team that have created a new free course, ‘Young children, the outdoors and nature’ which looks at the importance of babies and toddlers having opportunities to engage with rich outdoor environments. By completing the activities, you will be introduced to the benefits of outdoor engagement for babies and toddlers as well as a variety of practices and provision which will help you develop your own environments for young children- take a look!

Young children, the outdoors and nature – OpenLearn – Open University

There has been a lot going on with the Early Childhood team here at the OU, so have a look at our new brochure to find out more- here’s the link: Early_Childhood_Leaflet_FINAL