After Prime Time: What type of childcare is best for children? Iona Institute seminar, 25 June 2013 Toby Wolfe, Acting Director, Start Strong I was delighted to be invited by David Quinn to speak here today on issues arising from the Prime Time investigation, A Breach of Trust . It was a hugely important programme, and it is vital that we discuss it. Start Strong’s approach Start Strong is a coalition of more than 50 organisations seeking to advance children’s e arly care and education in Ireland. Our definition of “early care and education” encompasses all settings where young children (up to the age of 6) live, learn and develop. It includes children's own homes, the homes of childminders, centre-based services, as well as the infant classes of primary schools, which take in half of all 4 year olds and most 5 year olds. By “education”, we mean education in the broadest sense, including all aspects of children’s development: emotional, social, physical, cognitive. “Care” and “education” are inseparable in early childhood. By that we mean both that children are learning from birth – indeed they are learning fastest in their first months and years – and that they learn and develop in all settings, and that “early education” must be caring and must be appropriate for young children. For example, Start Strong is arguing for a less formal approach to schooling in the infant classes of primary schools, with lower pupil-teacher ratios and smaller group-sizes. The inseparability of “care” and “education” is one of the reasons why – as a society – we need to put a much higher value on the work done by the carers of young children, both parents and carers outside the home. Caring for and educating a young child is one of the most important things that anybody can do, and it needs to be given a much higher value by society – and much greater recognition. It needs greater recognition both because early childhood is a special time that should be valued in and of itself, and because research evidence has demonstrated clearly how important children’s early years are for their later development. Early childhood – the first 6 years, and especially the first 3 years – are a critical period of life. Start Strong’s main purpose since we were established in 2009 has been to campaign for a comprehensive national plan for children’s early care and education – a plan that would encompass both supports for parents in the home and services for children outside the home. Prime Time The Prime Time programme was shocking and distressing. It was particularly distressing for parents. But should it surprise us? Perhaps not. I say this not because the mistreatment of children that we saw in the programme is common, but because we have no assurance of quality in early care and education
services, and because the quality is so variable. While there is excellent practice, there is also very poor practice, and there is everything in between. The reality is that we do not know how common such behaviour is. Even with the publication of inspection reports, we will not know, as they only touch the surface of what happens in terms of quality. Start Strong has argued all along that one of the biggest failings of our early care and education system has been the variable quality of services, and the lack of quality assurance. Just one month before the Prime Time programme was broadcast, we published our submission (called Shaping the Future ) on the National Early Years Strategy. Our central recommendation was that the core objective of the National Early Years Strategy should be to ensure that no child is in a low quality service. The Prime Time programme demonstrated the importance of that objective. Should Prime Time surprise us? It should not surprise us if we consider the policy context for the poor practice that we saw in the programme – a policy context which shapes the actions of those working in early care and education services, and which shapes the State’s responses to their actions. By the policy context I mean features of our early care and education system such as: • The working conditions of staff, which can lead to high levels of stress. • Their low pay, and the low value placed on their work. • The lack of support for the management and supervision of staff, with for example insufficient use of the key worker system. • Insufficient training of those working in early care and education services. • An inspection system that only asks some of the questions that need asking, focusing more on health and safety than on the quality of children’s experiences. Those weaknesses in our early care and education system are the legacy of a lack of policy attention to quality and the historic low level of investment in children’s early care and education in Ireland. When money has been invested in early care and education, much of that money has gone into buildings and ultimately into the construction industry, rather than into upskilling and paying appropriate wages to those working with children. The research evidence – and implications for policy I would like to highlight three general conclusions of recent research on children’s early development, and to draw out some policy implications from each conclusion. 1. The early years are hugely important in children’s development. We know, for example, that there are close correlations between measures of children’s development at 3 years old and their outcomes as adults, and there is much evidence of the negative, long-term impact of adverse experiences in early childhood. The research shows that above all it is the quality of children’s experiences and interactions that shapes their early development – in all settings, both within the home and outside the home. Young children do best with care
(whether parental or non-parental care) that is warm and supportive but that also sets boundaries on their behaviour, and that positively supports their development, supporting their language and communication skills, their empathy, their resilience, creativity, and self-regulation. What are the policy implications? First, we need to prioritise young children in our investment decisions. Parents prioritise their children in their own domestic investment decisions. And, as a society too, we need to prioritise children – especially young children – in our public investment decisions. It may be a cliché to say that our children are the future of our society, but it is true. Secondly, we need to prioritise the quality of young children’s experiences – in all settings: in children's own homes, in the homes of childminders, and in centre-based services. 2. The home environment – what parents do – is the single most important determinant of outcomes for children. The phrase “what parents do” accounts for much of what I just referred to as the “quality of children’s experiences and interactions”. It encompasses “parenting style”. (The Growing Up in Ireland study and other research have pointed to the importance of an “authoritative” parenting style that is loving and responsive but that also sets clear boundaries on children’s behaviour.) And the phrase also encompasses what is often termed the “Home Learning Environment”, which includes the vocabulary that parents use when talking to their children, the exposure children have at home to the written word (through stories being read to them regularly, for example), as well as the opportunities they have at home for creative development, interactive play, and so on. The research evidence shows marked variation between children in their home learning environment, with strong variation by social background. The research also shows strong negative impacts of growing up in poverty. Poverty limits children’s opportunities and it increases parental stress, which in turn impacts on parenting. There is a close connection between parents’ well-being and children’s well-being. What are the policy implications? First, parenting programmes and parenting supports are an essential aspect of our early care and education system. There is growing evidence of positive benefits arising from many parenting programmes and supports such as Incredible Years, the Triple P programme, the Parenting Plus programme, and the Community Mothers programme. Parenting difficulties arise in all families at different times, which is why it is important that parenting supports should be universally available. Making parenting supports universally available also reduces the stigma attached to them, which can be a real
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