The Independent Education Union early childhood education magazine
Election countdown – what are the politicians offering early childhood education?
Carla Rinaldi on the child as philosopher
A step-by-step guide to Twitter. PRINT POST No. PP100007356 ISSN 1326-7566
Vol 18 #2, JULY 2013
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bedrock Vol 18 #2 JULY, 2013
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23/05/13 10:09 AM
NSW News 4 Ask Lisa 6 Queensland news
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Election Countdown
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Queensland campaign update – Responsibilities not rewarded
11
The Child as philosopher – Carla Rinaldi
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Speak easy – supporting children who stutter
14
Pay now, save later
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Have we invented Vygotsky in our own image?
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Tweet to be heard – a step-by-step guide
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Nurturing for life
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CONTENTS 8 Election Countdown
14 Speak easy
21 Nurturing for life
Giveaways 22 Greenover – Let’s get moving
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editorial This issue provides members with the opportunity to assess the Liberal and Labor parties’ approach to early childhood education. Whoever wins the election in September, we can only hope they take on board the overriding and oft-repeated message that funding and support for early childhood is crucial to society as a whole. That message is to be found in the words and thoughts of leading Yale researcher Pia Britto, who talks about the economic benefits to society of supporting early childhood education (page 16).
John Quessy
Early childhood guru Professor Carla Rinaldi repeats the same message when she says children are citizens that should be at the centre of our society (page 12). The world’s leading academics and thinkers all agree the early years are crucial to children’s future outcomes, and we need governments to start acknowledging this with financial support for early childhood services. The IEU’s campaigns in Queensland and NSW calling for better support and renumeration for early childhood teachers are part of the worldwide movement calling for greater recognition for early childhood education. Also in this issue we take a fresh look at Vygotsky (page 18), explore how early childhood centres are using Twitter (page 20) and explore some strategies to deal with stuttering (page 14).
Terry Burke
If you’d like to get in touch with us about any stories that appear in this edition of Bedrock, suggest stories for the future or raise any other issues with us, email bedrock@ieu.asn.au.
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NSW news
Preschool teachers miss out Establishing a $300 million Early Years Quality Fund has been a welcome development in national early childhood policy, but the union has criticised a decision to leave out preschools. This money is specifically targeted to attracting and retaining qualified early childhood professionals in all long day care centres who are approved for Child Care Benefit. The funding goes straight to eligible services and will supplement wage increases of $3 per hour for Certificate III qualified staff with higher wage increases for diploma and degree qualified educators. All eligible services must show how they are committed to improving quality outcomes for children and workforce plans for attracting and retaining qualified staff. However, despite this injection of funds teachers and directors at NSW preschools will miss out on the federal money. “We’re pleased to see that early childhood teachers in long day care centres will receive pay rises in recognition of their qualifications and the important role they play in children’s early education,” IEU Industrial Officer Verena Heron says. “The Federal Government is establishing an Equal Remuneration Board to examine pay inequities in the early childhood profession and we welcome this move. However, we need to ensure that preschool teachers are included in any review. “The State Government funds preschools and it is now time for it to increase funding so that preschool teachers do not become the poor relations of the education establishment. “The Union demands that all teachers, regardless of where they work, are paid the same,” Ms Heron says.
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IEU submission An IEU submission on the Early Years Quality Fund Bill raised a number of concerns, including equity of distribution and poor detail. The IEU has concerns about how the fund will operate. Ms Heron says many will miss out on funds delivered via the Early Years Quality Fund Special Account Bill as there is clearly insufficient money in the fund. She says that while the Union supports and applauds the funds being applied to services that have an enterprise agreement, the limit of funds means many services will miss out. “We are concerned about the two-year limit, the lack of detail and that the monies will not allow all centres to have access.” Dear Prime Minister In a letter to PM Julia Gillard, NSW/ACT IEU General Secretary John Quessy has called for the Union to be included on the Early Years Quality Fund Advisory Board. As a matter of balanced representation on the Advisory Board, Mr Quessy is calling on the inclusion of the IEU to ensure that the voices of our university qualified early childhood teacher members are heard. Mr Quessy has challenged the composition of the Board and said it would leave the Government open to criticism by “ignoring the teacher unions which although not politically affiliated, seek to represent their members in this important venture.”
NSW news
Election forum You’re invited to attend a Federal Election Forum with Kate Ellis, Minister for Early Childhood and Child Care (ALP), Sussan Ley MP, Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning (Liberal Party) and Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, spokesperson on Youth, Early Childhood Education and Child Care (Australian Greens). The event, which is organised by Community Child Care Cooperative (NSW), is being held in Sydney on Tuesday, 30 July at 5.30-7.30pm at Sydney Masonic Centre, 66 Goulburn St, Sydney.
f It’s free but bookings are essential www.ccccnsw.org.au/events
Display your ratings
Are you clearly displaying your National Quality Standard rating? All services needed to start displaying their rating at the entrance to service from 1 May 2013. Services that haven’t been rated yet need to display a ‘Provisional – Not yet rated’ certificate. Any service that has achieved the ‘Exceeds the National Quality Standard’ rating can now apply to ACECQA for the top honour of an ‘Excellent’ rating. Details: www.acecqa.gov.au
2013 AnnUAl ecS conference
Advocacy. Activism. Transformation.
Saturday, 31 AUGUST
9.00am-4.00pm
MercUre HoTel 818 — 820 George St, Sydney
National Quality Agenda Submit online The National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS) allows services to submit applications and notifications online to regulatory authorities. Register at: http://bit.ly/11hxSXk
Contact Savan Nuth on 02 8202 8900, Toll free: 1800 467 943 or savan@ieu.asn.au for more information.
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NSW news
Go play Need inspiration in your day or have some families who need some help to get out and about? This excellent website is designed to keep kids busy, learning and having fun in NSW and is especially valuable during holidays. It lists free and paid activities for children from 0-18. Definitely one for the newsletter. http://goplay.nsw.gov.au/
D
ear Lisa,
A few months back you visited me at my Centre. During our discussion I explained that I was unhappy about starting on Step 1 as I am not a fresh-faced university student, but have nine years experience in the profession, four years as a diploma.
ASK LISA Contact Lisa on (02) 8202 8900 or email lisa@ieu.asn.au
As we talked we realised that I had performed high duties as a teacher at my previous centre, which could help me gain my Step 2 (fourth-year trained teacher) a little earlier. I had performed high duties on occasions when other teachers were away between January and April 2012. I had been offered a contract but was actively looking for work as a teacher and did not want to be tied to the centre if a position became available. Ruth
D
ear Ruth
Thank you for your email. If you were employed in a teaching role whilst another teacher was taking annual leave and you were paid as a teacher during this time then those days should count towards your incremental steps. You need to work 1976 hours as a teacher in a long day care centre (including annual leave, sick leave) on each incremental step. Your email states that your previous employer offered you a contract as a teacher and even though you did not sign this, your qualifications were needed in order to meet the Regulations and you were employed as a teacher during this period. I strongly encourage you to request written acknowledgement of this experience as a teacher from your previous employer as you will need this for any future employer to determine your correct incremental step. Lisa
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QLD/NT news
Laidley Kindy gives thanks for flood efforts Laidley Kindergarten Teacher Barbara Buchanan recounts the clean up effort at her regional centre from the 2011 and 2013 floods and gives thanks to IEUA-QNT. As you know much of Queensland was inundated by flooding in January 2011 and 2013. Unfortunately, the Laidley Kindergarten was flooded on both occasions with a metre of water in 2011 and 1.1m in 2013. The water poured through our building, which is a beautiful 130-year-old exPresbyterian Church. Recovery Recovery processes take a long time and at the end of 2012 we were beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. While on the surface we were running as normal, it was the administrative work such as files, stocktaking and cataloguing and covering of books that was still to be completed. We were a little more prepared for the 2013 flooding and many of our resources were put on top of our storeroom safely out of the reach of the water. We had also used some of our insurance money to ‘flood proof’ our books by putting shelving on the walls. Another few centimetres of water and we would have lost some of them. Of course our furniture, tables, chairs and movable shelving was again immersed in the muddy water and we lost a lot of consumables that were on the lower shelves of our storeroom. I think the most
heartbreaking thing was that our brand new and unused children’s hand basins, sensor taps and soap dispensers as well as our new and unused sand pit shed were also immersed. These had been installed mid-January. Working together On a positive note, we are lucky to be in a great community. Both our local primary schools, St Mary’s and Laidley District, offered us a temporary home. We are at present operating from a prep room at Laidley District. Our return home to our kindy building has taken longer than in 2011 because we have decided to raise the building above flood level. This has lead to a number of changes to the structure of our building with a long ramp and downstairs toilets needing to be added and an unexpected need to upgrade the adult toilets inside the building. However, everything is on track and we aim to be home by June. Hopefully, this disruption now will help save a lot of heartache in the case of future flooding. Thank you IEUA-QNT On behalf of the children, parents and staff of the Laidley Kindergarten we would like to thank IEUAQNT for the generous donation of boxes of paper, marking pens, highlighters and post-it notes. It has taken some of the stress out of the situation as these are the items we use every day. x7 x x7x
ELECTION COUNTDOWN Where do the early childhood education ministers stand? In the lead-up to the September Federal election, Bedrock Journalists Sue Osborne and Suzanne KowAlski-Roth approached Federal Labor Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth Peter Garrett and Shadow Liberal Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning Sussan Ley, and asked the following questions. Both Ministers were asked to reply in their own words.
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OECD research shows Australia spends less on early childhood education than other comparable countries. Early childhood teachers are paid less than school teachers, and the wages of other child care employees are also very low. There is a shortage of teachers in the sector. Research has also show investment in early childhood leads to economic benefits for a country in the long term. What investment policies would your government put in place to address under investment in early childhood education, and the poor wages and conditions and lack of recognition experienced by early childhood teachers and others in the sector?
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The National Quality Framework is one year old. Are there any aspects of the Framework would your Government seek to improve or change?
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With the exception of a few out of scope services such as mobile services, all early childhood services (long day care, kindergartens and preschools) are required to meet national standards, however funding for services relies on varied levels of federal and state support. The Federal Government supports long day care services through payments to parents to assist in the cost of providing services, while kindergartens and preschools are a state responsibility. This leads to many inequities. What would your government do to ensure that all services are funded equitably?
Mr Garrett’s response
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This Government has tripled investment in early childhood education and care, with a record $25 billion over the next four years to continue building a more affordable, flexible and high-quality child care sector. This will help more Australian parents return to work, safe in the knowledge that their children are schoolready. We have recently established the $300 million Early Years Quality Fund to attract and keep qualified professionals in the sector. Grants will be provided to services to offset the cost of employing a higher qualified workforce and ensure quality education and care is being delivered while maintaining affordability for parents. We’ve also established the Pay Equity Unit in the Fair Work Commission to examine pay equity across low paid sectors, as part of our long-term strategy to support low paid workers, particularly in female dominated sectors, and value the important work they do. We’re investing $190 million in workforce initiatives to help early childhood educators get the qualifications they need. This includes removing TAFE fees to support an expected 8000 people per year get Diploma and Advanced Diploma level qualifications in early childhood. x8x
We’re also expanding the early childhood education teachers HECS-HELP scheme to reduce the HELP debt of early childhood teachers who choose to work in rural and remote areas, Indigenous communities and areas of high disadvantage. And our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) initiative will help experienced early childhood educators in regional and remote areas obtain or upgrade their qualifications, with grants of up to $3500 available to help meet the costs of an RPL assessment.
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We’re proud to have introduced the first national benchmark for the profession, with the National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood education and care. Since its introduction on 1 January 2012 we’ve achieved higher educator to child ratios, with a 1:4 ratio for 0–2 year olds giving children more one-on-one time, which research shows improves outcomes for children. Services are now being assessed and rated against the National Quality Standard, bringing consistency and transparency to the process across Australia. Ratings of services are published on the Australian Government’s MyChild website, to help parents make informed choices about their children’s care. To make the transition easier for services, the NQF is being implemented gradually until 2020. The next step will be increased qualifications for educators, starting in 2014. This significant change is backed by a $190 million investment in training support for staff to up-skill.
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Our universal access commitment is all about equality. We want every child in this country to have access to a quality early childhood education program in the year before full-time schooling, delivered by a degree qualified early childhood teacher, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year. Under our National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education, $955 million is being provided to states and territories over the five years to 30 June 2013 to achieve universal access to early childhood education. State and territory governments remain responsible for ensuring the delivery of preschool education in their jurisdiction, with different arrangements for regulating, funding and delivering preschool programs. ABS data on preschool education in Australia shows that in 2012, more children than ever before – 266,000 – were receiving a preschool education. This is 60,000 more children than in 2008, when the National Partnership was signed by all governments. Nationally, 89% of four and five year olds in 2012 were enrolled in preschool, well on the way to achieving the target of 95 per cent enrolment by mid-2013. Based on this success, on 19 April 2013 the Council of Australian Governments agreed to a new National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education that will contribute a further $655.6 million in Australian Government funding over 18 months to states and territories. This will ensure uninterrupted service delivery in 2013–2014.
And we’re tracking progress, with important reviews. A Workforce Review is currently underway to look at how the Early Childhood Education and Care industry is making progress towards meeting qualification requirements that come into force from 1 January 2014, particularly in relation to early childhood teachers and rural and remote workforces and will be released later this year. And a Review of the National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care is scheduled for 2014 to assess how the NQF is achieving its objectives and making progress towards implementation. The sector will have an opportunity to provide input to this review. x 9 x x 9 xx 9 x
for our nought to fives (which I do) then, arguably, the NQF is worthy of equal stature to that of the Gonski ideals. And this is where I am most critical of the current Government’s methodology. The NQF was always going to demand more qualified workers, yet there has been insufficient incentive and appropriate training courses put in place in order to meet the growing needs of centre operators. Blind Freddy could also have told you asking for increased responsibility, quality and skills improvement from carers meant they should be paid appropriately in recognition. Yet, the Government did not address the issue until their most recently budget and, even then, has provided only stop gap funding which covers, at best, one third of carers across the country.
Ms Ley’s response
I
n talking to hundreds of childcare staff, managers, owners and their representative bodies in the last two years, there is obvious broad support for nationwide standards of excellence – and that the industry needs improved recognition for the crucial role it plays in caring and developing our very young. So, first up, it is really important for me to note an overriding view of the Federal Coalition. And that is; we fully support improved standards and conditions for early childhood educators, to ensure quality care is provided to all Australian children. All that said, you can’t take on reform such as the National Quality Framework (NQF) and not back it up with solid and complementary policies which recognise the issues facing our industry today, to then help take it where we need to be tomorrow. It was interesting to note the Federal Government’s recent determination to push through its national reforms for primary and secondary schools, citing a major injection of combined commonwealth/state funding was needed to do so. If you agree with the research that shows the benefit of more structured activities and methods x 10 x 10 x
The Coalition believes this issue should have been addressed right from the beginning by the independent arbitrator, the Fair Work Commission. Any positive decision on wages could then have been planned for by operators and possibly even phased in, in much the same way the NQF has a series of rolling benchmarks. Despite claims and even scare tactics from some quarters, can I confirm if the Coalition is elected in September, we do not propose major changes in policy. Our commitment is simply to task the Productivity Commission with an inquiry into any current impediments to a family friendly childcare system and look at how parents can better access existing services - including long day care, occasional care, family day care and in-home care. A key element of that inquiry will also be to assess the regulatory framework imposed on providers and the direct impact on you of implementing the NQF. That doesn’t mean we don’t support the Framework. It doesn’t mean we’ll push the states and territories to wind it back, or even abolish it. It just means we’ll see if there is a way the new rules and regulations can be implemented with a softer, more sensible cost impact on both providers and parents. We can all get to the same goals here. The key difference between the Coalition and the current Government is how we get there.
QLD CAMPAIGN UPDATE
Responsibilities not rewarded T
his year marked the one-year anniversary of the National Quality Framework (NQF), which so far has imposed a range of requirements upon kindergartens, including the creation of a nominated supervisor role. IEUA-QNT, in consultation with members in the sector, continues to raise concerns about elements of this legislation. Consultation with members at Regional Organising Committee (ROC) meetings and feedback in a Union-run survey highlighted a number of concerns, including: • the interpretation of the NQF requirements by assessors • balancing the requirements of the NQF while maintaining a strong curriculum for children, and • the increased responsibilities placed on nominated supervisors. ECE members were recently asked to provide feedback in an online survey regarding the role of the nominated supervisor and how it is impacting kindergartens. The survey results indicate that kindergarten employees working as nominated supervisors are facing increased responsibilities, which have generally not been rewarded with increased remuneration or additional non-contact time. Of the nominated supervisor survey respondents: • 94% feel uncomfortable with the responsibilities that exist when they are not present at the centre • 79% believe the nominated supervisor role has greater responsibility than the director • 90% indicated that they should be paid more because of the substantially increased level of responsibility, and • 74% indicate they work more than five additional unpaid hours per week, with these additional hours considered an even greater imposition for the significant number of part time employees in the sector). It is clear from the survey responses that kindergarten employees are concerned about the workload and responsibilities associated with the nominated supervisor role. The survey data will inform IEUA-QNT’s consideration of the nature, role and remuneration for nominated supervisors; members will be consulted in relation to any proposals for change and employee endorsement will be obtained.
Community kindies overlooked With the Federal Government recently announcing that it will establish a $300 million Early Years Quality Fund to help support the implementation of the National Quality Framework, it appears unfortunately to have overlooked the issues in community kindergartens. Grants are being provided to long day care centres in order to offset the cost of employing a higher qualified workforce and to assist in the provision of quality education and care. Eligible services were due to receive grants to promote productivity and provide an increased wage for employees with a Certificate III of $3 per hour from 1 July. The Government has stated that there will also be proportional wage increases for staff across the existing classification scale. However, the Government remains silent in relation to community kindergartens. Without a commitment of increased funding for community kindergartens any statements about valuing the professionalism of employees will remain hollow. Community kindergartens should receive the same or greater level of consideration for increased funding and remuneration comparable to other education settings. This includes maintenance of a maximum of 27.5 hours per week contact time and a reassessment of the responsibilities of Nominated and Certified Supervisors in the sector. The Government needs to recognise that education is delivered in a range of settings and community kindergartens are for the sole purpose of delivering quality early childhood education.
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The child as philosopher T
he Young Minds Conference held in Sydney in June, organised by the Buddhist Vajrayana Institute, asked the question, how do we grow a good person? Among those answering the question were the Dalai Lama, who said inner peace was crucial. Keynote speaker Carla Rinaldi of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia explained why her approach to early childhood education helped create good people. Bedrock Journalist Sue Osborne attended her workshop. Most early childhood educators would be familiar with the Reggio Emilia approach, which is practiced in many early childhood settings. Reggio Emilia is a village in Italy which developed a community approach to education after the Second World War. It was founded by Loris Malaguzzi, based on work by Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky and others. Professor Rinaldi worked closely with Malaguzzi for many years until his death in 1994. She continues to travel the world as an advocate for the approach. Reggio Emilia is now facing a crisis due to the financial woes in Italy, and Professor Rinaldi told her Sydney audience they were fighting hard to retain its principle of treating the child as the first citizen. She said all early childhood teachers had a responsibility to make the young child visible to the wider community, and be an advocate for their rights, as they were “the most important citizens” in our society. x 12 x
“The early childhood world is not just about pedagogy it’s cultural and political, teachers must take responsibility to be advocates and activists,” she said. Documenting the activities of young children and sharing it with the wider community, not just parents, is one of the central planks of the Reggio Emilia approach. Demonstrating the “competent child” to the world with evidence in reports, photos and videos was important, but the child must be given an opportunity to have a voice in that evidence too, she said. “We have seen the power of children on stage in this conference. They must be given a voice to impact on decision-making about their future.” Documentation was to be used to illustrate a process of research and discovery by the children, rather than static or staged moments. This would help to cultivate the idea that the young child was a thinker with important creative ideas. Professor Rinaldi illustrated her talk with a series of photos showing how teachers at Reggio Emilio used documentation in their work. In one instance, the teachers had documented words used by children in a discussion about birth. One of the teachers wrote that a child said: “the sea is born from the mother wave”.
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Children trust us from the first moment and we have to trust them. The teacher is there to observe and play the wonderful game of learning. School can kill creativity.
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Professor Rinaldi said the children began rolling the paper into cylinders, sharing it and taking it away from each other and exploring how the pens would slide through the cylinders. By allowing the children to direct their own play and actions they had achieved much greater learning about shapes and physics and relationships with others than if the teacher had redirected their play towards the drawing.
Professor Rinaldi said in many schools or centres an adult might interject and correct the child, explaining how waves are formed.
This was another crucial tenet of Reggio Emilia, that the children could be trusted to direct their own learning through play.
But she said this was the wrong thing to do. Instead the Reggio Emilia teacher allowed the children to continue the idea, with quotes including: “the weather is born from the storm” and “the wind is born from the air and has the shape to bang things”.
“Children don’t need to be taught to be artists, they already are artists. Teachers should wait to be asked for help before they intervene in play. Children must be allowed to work together and play together to solve their problems.
She said instead of limiting the children with factual correction, the teachers had allowed the children’s creativity to soar. “Their ideas are not wrong but deeply philosophical. This is poetry, this is how artists work. There is treasure in this conversation.” Professor Rinaldi said listening was key to the Reggio Emilia approach. “The pedagogy of listening is not easy to understand. Listening carefully to the young child is revolutionary. It’s not teaching but talking about relationships. “We must listen to the profoundly poetic words of children. The Early Years Learning Framework is a wonderful beginning but we can grow on that. “We need to really know all our children and what ideas will engage them.” A series of photos taken by a teacher at Reggio Emilia showed a small group of under-twos who had been given large sheets of paper stuck together with sticky tape and textas.
“Children learn to be creative in the collective process.” In another series of photos, a young girl playing outside is unable to retrieve a stone she had been playing with from a piece of equipment, because her hand is too big. The teacher observes her finding a smaller friend who she encourages to get the stone for her. Professor Rinaldi said the young children left alone had formed relationships and solved the problem. Children trust us from the first moment and we have to trust them. The teacher is there to observe and play the wonderful game of learning. School can kill creativity.” Professor Rinaldi said her take home message was for teachers to “learn not to teach but to listen to what children are learning. “And I don’t just mean listening to words, but to body language and drawings too. Our terrible mistake is to cut off these moments of creativity.”
The idea was that the children could crawl on the paper and draw on it. However, the children discovered they could tear up the edges of the paper. Once again the teacher did not intervene and stop the children tearing up the paper, as many adults might. The teacher’s only action was to continue observing and documenting the action.
Carla Rinaldi
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Dr Lowe says stuttering should not be ignored.
SPEAK EASY Supporting children who stutter H
ave you noticed children in your service repeating syllables or words, stretching out sounds in words or getting ‘stuck’ when trying to talk? If you hear a child stuttering, actions taken now could prevent a range of negative consequences and provide the best chance of recovery, Speech Pathologist Dr Robyn Lowe tells Bedrock Journalist Tara de Boehmler. Stuttering usually starts around preschool age and recent studies show it does not go unnoticed by peers. Their negative responses can have an isolating impact on children who stutter, who may avoid vital learning opportunities as a result.
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“It is extremely important for early childhood educators to be aware of and identify stuttering behaviours in children in their care,” the former early childhood teacher says. “If stuttering is observed or even if teachers are unsure, the teacher should ask the parents if they have noticed their child experiencing difficulty talking and importantly if they have been to see a speech pathologist,” she says. “The most critical thing to stress is that the child needs to see a speech pathologist for assessment and treatment as early as possible.” Dr Lowe says stuttering becomes more intractable as a child grows older. Recent research has uncovered a relationship between the severity of stuttering and level of education attained plus a range of other negative consequences. “Children who stutter are at risk of being teased and bullied which can have significant long term effects including decreased self-confidence, low self-esteem, depression and difficulties developing and maintaining friendships. “At school, those who stutter may avoid asking and answering questions in class. Some children may experience extreme distress when asked to read aloud and give oral presentations. Some adults even report that they left school at an early age to avoid such speaking situations.
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The most critical thing to stress is that the child needs to see a speech pathologist for assessment and treatment as early as possible.
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“Adults who stutter are at risk of developing social phobia, a serious psychological condition. This condition can affect a person’s ability to participate in normal everyday activities, develop relationships and can affect educational and occupational attainment.” With research revealing that negative peer reactions start in the preschool and kindergarten years, Dr Lowe says there are many ways early childhood educators can reduce the risk factors. The first is via observation. “You might observe the child who stutters having difficulty leading peers in play, fully participating in pretend play, dealing with conflicts, or participating in those verbal interactions that promote learning, such as group discussions with teachers. They might start opting instead for solitary play or choose not to talk a lot due to the difficulties they experience trying to talk. “Difficulty participating in pretend play and leading peers can affect the whole play experience which, as we know, is fundamental to a child’s learning at this age,” Dr Lowe says. Positive interactions Peers may appear confused. They might walk away or ignore the child who stutters. They might even imitate the stuttering. While some of these reactions may not be considered teasing or bullying at this stage, they can still have significant negative consequences. Modelling the right kind of behaviours, promoting positive interactions and educating the other children are among the most powerful tools. Dr Lowe recommends: • giving the child who stutters the time they need to speak - not interrupting or ignoring them and not finishing the child’s sentences • letting the child know know you have genuinely heard and understood them • teaching peers to wait and listen to the child who stutters and how to show a genuine interest in what they have to say • intervening if a child who stutters is being teased about their stuttering, bullied, or being left out of play situations, and • teaching the child who stutters problem solving and conflict resolution strategies. Dr Lowe says that while ‘stuttering’ should not be seen as a taboo word, it is not advisable for teachers to provide commentary about it directly to the child.
Lidcombe treatment The Lidcombe Program is the only treatment for children who stutter that has replicated clinical trials evidence. The parent and child attend weekly treatment sessions with a speech pathologist, with the parent shown how to administer it in the child’s everyday environment. “Usually a teacher would not provide the treatment unless they had direct training from the speech pathologist,” Dr Lowe says. She suggests that early childhood teachers arm parents with information about how to find a suitable speech pathologist, such as the need to ask speech pathologists if they have had training and experience treating children who stutter using the Lidcombe Program. Further information can be accessed from the Australian Stuttering Research Centre and Speech Pathology Australia. Speech pathologist can reached via local Community Health Centres. With treatment so effective in the early years, and the potential for serious negative consequences of ‘leaving it til later’ now better known, Dr Lowe says most children who receive timely treatment will recover well and look forward to the standard gamut of educational and occupational opportunities. “We are very aware of the negative consequences of stuttering. It is critical then to identify and treat stuttering early so we can prevent these negative effects from occurring.” Dr Robyn Lowe is a Speech Pathologist at the Australian Stuttering Research Centre, the University of Sydney. Resources Australian Stuttering Research Centre: sydney.edu.au/ health_sciences/asrc Speech Pathology Australia www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au Wait, wait, I’m NOT finished yet, DVD for teachers, www.stammeringcentre.org/guides References Kleitman S, Langevin M, Onslow M, Packman A, 2009, ‘The Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter (PATCS) scale: an evaluation of validity, reliability and the negativity of attitudes’, International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders Vol 44, Issue 3, pp 352–368. Langevin M, Onslow M, Packman A, 2009, ‘Peer Responses to Stuttering in the Preschool Setting’, American Journal of Speech - Language Pathology, Vol 18, Issue 3, p 26-276. O’Brian S, Jones M, Menzies R, Onslow M, Packman A, 2011, ‘Stuttering severity and educational attainment’, Journal of Fluency Disorders Vol 36, Issue 2, pp 86–92.
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PAY NOW, SAVE LATER
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If the economists are saying we are being inefficient, there must be something in it.
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esearch shows investing more in early education would save governments billions in the long term, but the message is still getting missed, Bedrock Journalist Sue Osborne writes. Leading Yale Research Scientist and Assistant Professor Dr Pia Britto, visited Australia earlier this year with Plan International. Dr Britto is touring the world launching the Handbook of Early Childhood Development Research and Its Impact for Global Policy, of which she is an editor. The Handbook is a meta-analysis which looks at what makes for effective programs and services for young children around the world, but mainly in low to middle income countries. “It looks at a holistic approach to what improves children’s health, education and developmental outcomes,” Dr Britto says. Dr Britto hopes sharing the Handbook’s findings will influence policy makers in Australia and overseas. “Research published in the 2011 Lancet Child Development Series reviewed 73 low and middle income countries and found that increasing preschool enrolment rates to 25% could yield an estimated US$10.6 billion through higher educational achievement, while a 50% increase could generate $33.7 billion,” she says. “If Australia were to focus more of its international aid on early childhood care and development initiatives the long term rewards will far outweigh the investment.” In neighbouring Indonesia the Ministry of Education estimates a mere 17% of children have the opportunity to attend preschool. Last year AusAID contributed $578.4 million to Indonesia with $76 million of that given to improve access, quality and management of education services across poor and remote areas of the country. However no funds specifically were given to early childhood care and development. “What some people may not realise is that early childhood care and development plays a critical role in a child’s learning outcomes at later stages of their schooling,” Dr Britto says. “Over one third of the world’s children under five years of age fail to achieve their full potential due to malnutrition, poverty, disease, neglect, and lack of early learning opportunities. “There is now ample and robust evidence demonstrating the value of early childhood care
and development in mitigating the effects of poverty and disadvantage, to help achieve healthy, productive societies and create huge cost savings. “Intervening at the time when their language development and executive function is developing is much more effective. “By placing some emphasis on this area, the Australian Government can increase the impact of their other education initiatives by ensuring that children are ready to learn and ready to succeed in school and life.” She said there were many economic models that backed up the savings that could be made by investing in early childhood. “If the economists are saying we are being inefficient, there must be something in it.” Unfortunately, the tendency to overlook early education in favour of remedial literacy and numeracy programs for older children persists. OECD research shows Australia spends less on early childhood education than other comparable countries. But Dr Britto says some of Australia’s initiatives, such as the Early Years Learning Framework, were good models for other countries. The Handbook showed the teacher was a “key figure in the paradigm” and learning how to support and strengthen the teacher, rather than making more demands on them, was crucial. “How do we make it possible for the teacher to have those amazing interactions with the child? ‘We expect teachers to have capacity and knowledge but we also need systems that may not know how to teach, but know how to provide teachers with what they need.” A teacher working alone in a centre could easily lose sight of the big picture outside the walls of their room, and the Handbook could “break down those walls”. “It can make them think about where they are in the global picture, reflect on their role and where they fit in, and what practitioners in other countries are doing. “It is part of their career development and professional development.” Reference Pia Britto, Patrice Engle, Charles Super 2013, Handbook of Early Childhood Development Research and Its Impact on Global Policy, Oxford University Press.
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Have we invented Vygotsky in our own image? W
e are bombarded with buzzwords from time to time. Where do they come from, what do they really mean and how have they influenced us in our daily practise, asks Early Childhood Consultant and Author Joy Lubawy.
Lev Vygotsky (a Russian) was born about the same time as Jean Piaget (a Frenchman) and whereas Piaget lived to a ripe old age, Vygotsky died very young (1934) and we didn’t hear much about Vygotsky until after the death of Piaget in 1980.
This became a line of enquiry taken for my last book Reflection, Empowerment and Practice in Early Childhood: Growing with the NQF, EYLF, NQS & QIP and it took me to some interesting places.
A series of myths grew up around Vygotsky. I think firsthand accounts in Russian became secondhand accounts in English, mis-translated perhaps. We confidently took the misunderstandings on board, but we made them our own. We made them fit us.
In the late 80s it suddenly became fashionable to use ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPG) and ‘scaffolding’ when talking about the work we do educating young children. Proudly we’d announce that the ideas came from Lev Vygotsky. It is time to think again? x 18 x
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ZPG for many of us, including me, meant that we don’t jump too far ahead of the child; we work within their capability and experiences so far. We get into the learning ‘zone’ - not only with physical skills, but in all areas of their development. It
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Despite everything we may now think he said, Vygotsky did not believe children learnt through their play.
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What disturbs me is that a delightful man called Jerome Bruner (born in 1915 and as far as I know still living) coined this expression, not Vygotsky. What Jerome actually meant was for an adult to physically hold a block structure while the child continued building until finished. The adult would provide the scaffold to prevent the building from toppling over.
makes sense to us doesn’t it, and there is nothing wrong with this idea. It’s what we have invented to make sense of Vygotsky. According to Lambert and Clyde (2000) and original Russian documentation which they had re-translated, the situation is a little different. Vygotsky was working with and designing programs for children with intellectual disabilities and he was using a very structured, lock-step approach in the beginning of the communist era in the USSR. They write:
We generalised: we positioned the end of the zipper so the child could zip a jacket up, we matched up buttons with the button hole so they could do up their cardigan, or we held and perhaps turned a piece of paper so a child could cut, or even provided light card instead of sloppy paper so they would be more successful. We called it scaffolding. We took Bruner’s lovely original and very specific idea, made it general and then we gave the credit to Vygotsky.
“It was based upon a zealous, ideological adaptation of Marx and Engel’s historical materialism to new communist education curriculum intended for the masses…abstract, formalised and controlled.” (p31)
Despite everything we may now think he said, Vygotsky did not believe children learnt through their play. Nor did he believe that symbolic play did not occur until children were aged seven or more and children under three could not play imaginatively! He said play was something children did to bring themselves comfort in a world where they were immature, dependent and powerless, a far cry from powerful, creative and capable.
Today this might be also expressed as task analysis. For instance we might be teaching a child to skip on alternate legs. Task analysis suggests that the skill of skipping is hopping on alternate legs while moving forward. First they jump, and then they hop on one leg, and then learn to hop with the other leg, and then put it together with forward motion. Hey presto they are skipping! It sounds a bit like Vygotsky, but I think in reality it is a little different. Task analysis helps us work out how to teach something new and potentially difficult. But it’s too linear and controlled for where we are today. We know that children make giant leaps sometimes or head off on tangents at other times, not always progressing in a linear fashion. We’d now say children are in charge of their own learning when they are ready. We believe children are naturally motivated to learn new facts, ideas, concepts and skills. Vygotsky was planning for children with serious disabilities and for his time he was a revolutionary, but I don’t think he speaks to or for us today. Truth about scaffolding What is ‘scaffolding‘ to you? I often thought of scaffolding as ‘that which a child can do today with a little help from an adult, they can do tomorrow by themselves’. Is that what you are thinking? It’s the little bit of help that becomes the scaffold.
The lesson for me is, find out more, and think critically, be careful of buzzwords and fads. Yes, it might be splitting hairs: who really cares who said what or what they actually meant, we know what we mean, finding ways to work effectively with young children so that they can be successful learners. However, if we are to be effective educational leaders we need to understand theories. Jerome Bruner is for me the hero of the moment! When you have time check out more about him, go to Google and YouTube and listen to him speaking. He has spent his entire working life (and was still researching when I last looked) thinking and learning about the ways children learn and develop. He has much to say to us in a new intentional world of early childhood education. Go Bruner! References Lambert E & Clyde M 2000, Re-thinking Early Childhood Theory and Practice. Katomba, NSW: Social Science Press Lubawy J 2012, Reflection, Empowerment and Practice in Early Childhood: Growing with the NQF, EYLF, NQS & QIP. Wagga Wagga: Joy and Pete Consulting
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Twitter can provide a discipline to ensure that the daily grind doesn’t become all consuming.
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Twitter can provide a discipline to ensure that the daily grind doesn’t become all consuming and open up a space for professional reflection. As it is a constant stream, you can simply view to keep up to date or be an active participant. There’s no pressure. Take centre stage There’s never been a better time for early childhood teachers to take centre stage. Research backs you. Leaders are getting the importance of the work you do but without your practitioner’s voice in the broader debate there’s a vacuum.
Tweet to be heard: a step-by-step guide B
eing a prominent voice in the conversation about early childhood education is critical if the profession is to thrive. Twitter can provide a fast way for time poor teachers to promote their work, Bedrock Journalist Suzanne Kowalski-Roth writes.
Steps to Become a Twitterer Personal or professional account? Why not both? If you are going to tweet about politically sensitive subjects it could be best to open a private account to avoid backlash from flighty committees. But if you’re blowing the trumpet for the work of your service and the early childhood profession use a professional account 1. Visit www.twitter.com 2. Register as a user – if you’re unsure about whether to have a personal or professional account then start a personal account (or use a created identity) to begin with.
Microblog site twitter.com is the perfect place to raise the profile of trained early childhood teachers. It’s a quick way to make a point, build relationships, have a conversation or pass on interesting information.
3. Dedicate 10 minutes a day for a week to look around. Search terms like early childhood, teaching, early years education and NQF.
Twitter has a high penetration in the Australian population with over 1 million people signed up. ‘Thought leaders’ and journalists use Twitter to shape debate and source stories. Many early childhood organisations already have Twitter presences. What’s missing is the voice of early childhood teachers.
A tweet is 140 characters in total. It can be a sentence, a reference or simply a link to a website.
A tool for reflection and engagement Early childhood teachers need to be better at articulating what they do, why they do it and how they use their expertise and professional judgement, says academic Fran Press. Twitter can complement this by launching the conversation into the general community.
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Some Twitter terms explained:
Follow = Click this button to ‘follow’ someone. You can search for others using the @ symbol and their ‘handle’ or name. RT = retweet .This is when you want to pass on to your followers what someone else has said. # = The hash tag enables users to comment on a particular subject. For example NSW IEU has a #teachersareteachers hashtag which identifies all comments on the NSW campaign.
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We have no rubbish that would go to landfill.
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to our guinea pig, chooks, worm farm or is put into the compost bins. We have no rubbish that would go to landfill,” she says. The introduction of waste-free meals has resulted in impressive waste reductions. The Centre has also introduced a native beehive of approximately 4000 bees.
NURTURING FOR LIFE I
dentifying the need to become more environmentally friendly has seen C&K Yamanto Community Kindergarten decrease its carbon footprint, with the help of the families and children who attend. Bedrock Journalist Fiona Stutz looks at the positive changes the Centre has made, such as introducing waste-free lunches, solar panels and native bees. Adopting a holistic approach and embedding sustainable practices into their kindergarten program on a daily basis has become a way of life for the families, children and staff at C&K Yamanto. Waste-free lunches, free range chickens, compost bins, a worm farm, solar panels and vegetable and herb gardens are some of the initiatives the centre has introduced to develop a sustainable culture. Director Leigh Thompson said the Centre, in Ipswich, Queensland, no longer produces any landfill because of their waste-free lunch policy. “The parents have been very supportive of packing waste free morning teas and lunches for their children. In consultation with the parents we decided to encourage non-packaged foods and foods with no plastic wrap,” Leigh says. “If foods need to be wrapped we suggested paper bags or paper wrap that can be put in the compost bins. All the rubbish from our meal times goes either
“The children can observe them flying out of their hive in the morning once the temperature reaches 18 degrees and then returning in the afternoon with their legs laden with white and yellow pollen from neighbouring flowers.” Leigh says the Centre strongly believes that early learning is important for shaping environmental attitudes, knowledge and actions. When introducing the new sustainable practices to the Centre, Leigh says they paid particular attention to one of the learning outcomes for the Early Year’s Learning Framework (EYLF) which states that: “Children are connected with and contribute to their world. Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment”. Children at the Centre are also embracing sustainable practices by using natural resources in their collage creations and numeracy and literacy learning experiences. “Children use many natural and recycled resources such as river rocks, seed pods, shells, flowers, leaves, pine cones, branches and bamboo. We store most of our resources in wooden bowls and cane baskets.” The installation of solar panels has also reduced the centre’s energy use and electricity bills, while chemicals and toxins have also been decreased with the installation of a water filter tap and chemical-free soap and chemical-free cleaning products now being used. Two large water tanks also provide enough water to keep the vegetable and herb gardens hydrated. Leigh said while they remind the children of water conservation, there was always enough for water play experiences in their outdoor learning environment. In the future Leigh says the Centre plans to add more bush tucker plants to their gardens. “We are hoping to educate the children now with practices they can take with them for life.”
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GIVEAWAYS
To enter one of these giveaways put your name, membership number and current address on the back of an envelope addressed to Bedrock Giveaways 1,2 or 3 – NSW/ACT IEU, 485-501 Wattle Street, Ultimo, 2007 by Friday 16 August. Envelopes not marked with which giveaway they are entering will be disqualified.
Giveaway 1
Three copies
Paper Giants: Magazine Wars ABC
This two-part series follows the queens of the glossies Nene King (Mandy McElhinney) and Dulcie Boling (Rachel Griffiths) as they try to make their magazine the best seller in Australia. “Filled with humour, tragedy and outrageous tactics” the series follows the “rise of cheque-book journalism”, the “age of celebrity power’” and of course Princess Di and the royals.
Giveaway 3 The Little Red Yellow Black Book: An introduction to Indigenous Australia (Third Edition) Author: Bruce Pascoe with AIATSIS Publisher: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies ISBN: 978 1922059 147
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Three copies
Giveaway 2
Learning Literacies Birth to Three Author: Laurie Makin, Susan Spedding Publisher: Pademelon Press ISBN: 978 18761 38349
This book aims to fill the hole in resources supporting literacy learning for children from birth to three. The authors offer lots of practical strategies to “support and monitor early literacy learning and provide resources that can be used to develop partnerships with families”. Literacy extends beyond reading and comprehension to include modern literacies like mobile phones, social media, music, drama and dancing, among many others. This book is a “must-have” for everyone with an interest in early learning and for those implementing the Early Years Learning Framework.
Three copies
This book is billed as an authoritative and enjoyable resource on languages, education, governance, sport, arts, resistance and activism. It’s used by tourists, schools and adults and by government for reconciliation and cross cultural training. The book aims to “facilitate understanding, respect and reconciliation between all Australians”. It is supported by a website with free resources and downloads at www.aiatsis.gov.au/lryb/ .
GREENOVER
Let’s get moving H
ave we become a nation of slobs? Bedrock Journalist Suzanne Kowalski-Roth explores how early childhood services can have fun, promote health and enjoy deeper community connections with active transport. Sobering statistics indicate that this generation of children may be the first to experience a life expectancy shorter than previous generations.
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Obesity and inactivity cost the Australian economy a staggering $4 billion annually and much more in immeasurable pain and suffering.
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Obesity and inactivity cost the Australian economy a staggering $4 billion annually and much more in immeasurable pain and suffering. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Parents with preschool aged children (particularly mothers) have been identified as one of the groups unlikely to get enough exercise. Lack of child free time to enable parents to exercise is a major problem. One way to circumvent this barrier is to make activities like walking, cycling or catching public transport part of the day. Active transport and the EYLF Physical activity during travel to and from services can set up habits for children that promote health and well being in line with Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) goals of enabling children to have the best start in life. Active Transport advocates point to the deeper connection with community and environment that slower forms of transport bring, another EYLF goal. A survey done across four Sydney services found 84% of parents drove as their most regular form of travel. Only one third of parents were doing the daily 30-minute physical activity NSW Health recommends for adults (60 minutes a day is recommended for children). Promote active transport at your service The following tips drawn from a resource developed for councils (http://bit.ly/117Mxmo) around the experience of four early childhood services will help get you started: • Have copies of local public transport timetables available at your service. • Produce a Transport Access Guide or ‘TAG’. The TAG should include public transport route maps and timetable information, recommended walking and cycling routes and available bicycle parking. The TAG can be used to promote the centre and can be used at orientation, open days etc. Here’s a guide to help get you started (you need to start at the end of the document) http://bit.ly/14L3Z4L.
Provide ‘end of trip’ facilities • Provide a secure space for parents to leave a pram or stroller during the day to enable them to walk to the centre and then continue to work by public transport • Consider installing bicycle racks at the service for parents, staff and children to use. Create an active transport culture • Take part in nationwide events like ‘Walk to school day’ www.walk.com.au, www.walk.com.au/ and ‘Ride 2 School’ day http://bit.ly/12QSirZ. • Plan ‘active transport’ excursions with children and parents eg. a walk to the local library, the park, or a trip on public transport. • Host a ‘bike day’ at the centre or at a local park. Cycling coaches could teach the children, parents and staff cycling skills. Find accredited coaches here: www.austcycle.com.au.
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