3.2 Strengthening early child development programs
Consider…
Early childhood education options
Carlana lives in downtown Halifax and is five-years-old. She goes to Primary (Kindergarten) in the local public school every morning… Read more
Children do not come to an early childhood setting merely to do their “learning”. They “live” in these settings for many hours each week. Just as they discover at home how the toilet flushes, how round things roll and square things stay put, or how soothing it is to hear dad’s voice sing them to sleep, each hour in an early childhood setting is filled with new information and experiences.
Pages 2.2 and 2.3 of this module look at research findings related to early childhood programs for young children. Now we consider what currently exists and what needs to be done to strengthen early childhood development programs to ensure that they provide optimal environments for young children. Three Canadian reports follow.
First, to highlight some of the general considerations about Rethinking Early Childhood Education, read the Chapter 5 summary from the Early Years Study 4 (McCain, 2020).
The Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) compiles and publishes data on early childhood education and care in Canada. The CRRU reports have been published since 1992, allowing longitudinal analysis and comparisons that look at trends, demographics and policies across the country. The following document highlights key findings from the 2021 report.
Click on the following link to see the 2021 full report as well as background information on the series and past editions.
The final 2020 report, from the Atkinson Centre, reviews early childhood education policies across Canadian jurisdictions. Explore their website to learn more about the report and findings.
What is the state of the child care system in Canada?
What issues are identified in the three reports? What are the similarities and differences in their findings?
In the following reading from the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, Dr. Rianne Mahon, from Carleton University, makes the point that decades of research have identified what is needed to create a good system of non-parental child care. She highlights common issues identified by researchers and provides an analysis of what this means for government support.
Think about the system in your jurisdiction or community. What is the role of government? What are the policies in your jurisdiction? Do they reflect research findings?
There are many variations on the types of programs and services that can sustain and improve the lives of young children. Those available will depend on the communities in which they are serving, the goals of the program/service, the partners working to offer the program/service (parents, community, government and non-governmental partners) as well as the cost.
The Shirley G. Moore Laboratory School at the University of Minnesota is sponsored by the Institute of Child Development. It demonstrates exemplary early childhood education practices, prepares educators, and is involved in research and child study. Sheila Williams-Ridge is the director of the lab school. Watch the next video to learn more about how this lab school creates a welcoming, calming and non-institutional environment for children and families.
Pat Furman is the executive director of Inspired by Wonder, an early learning and child care centre within Specialized Services for Children and Youth (SSCY), a unique facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Listen as she describes the partnership of various organizations and professionals involved in supporting children with additional support needs. Furman highlights practical examples of how this arrangement has benefited children and families.
The benefits of a “seamless day” were introduced earlier in this module, on p. 2.3. Watch the video below to learn more about the seamless day approach for four and five-year-old children in Ontario.
Adults who are around infants and young children play a vital role in supporting communication and learning. When planning educational programs for young children, educators can most effectively nurture children’s learning if they are guided by the context of children’s lives. The following review sheet from the Canadian Child Care Federation is a tool that educators can use to improve their practices that support each child’s cultural identity.
The next video highlights a program that focuses on helping children “walk two cultures”. Beatrice Alvarez, a registered early childhood educator at the Tumiralaat Centre in Ottawa, is also the Inuit liaison, Indigenous Centre of Excellence for Early Years and Child Care. The Tumiralaat centre, a licensed full day, year-round child care centre for Inuit children ages 18 months to 6 years, focuses on children’s early learning based on Inuit values. Listen to the video to learn more about this unique program, and how staff adapt and incorporate activities to support Inuit culture.
Tove Mogstad Slinde, senior advisor in the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research discusses the importance of working within and respecting local communities.
Filmed in a village in northern Mozambique, the next video highlights how local community members were consulted on the development, and are involved in the community ECD program. As you watch, notice the aspects of the program that are characteristic of the local culture – for example, the call and response that occurs throughout the morning.
The next video profiles an innovative kindergarten program for young children in Kyrgyzstan developed to accommodate families’ farming migration patterns of moving to mountain pastures in the summer.
Releasing Confidence and Creativity (RCC), which began in 2002, is an initiative coordinated by the Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan designed to address the access to and quality of ECD programs and early primary classes. The RCC program encourages innovation and has developed techniques that can be replicated by government and NGO partners. The timing of RCC in 2002 coincided with the government’s decision to recognize katchi classes (a form of preschool or kindergarten class) as part of the education system. RCC strives to create several sustainable, replicable models that both the government and other NGOs can draw on as they institutionalize child-centred katchi classrooms as well as grade one and grade two.
Think about these children’s lives – their culture, the landscape in which they live, their educational opportunities and the economics of the area. In what ways do the programs meet the particular needs of these children and families?
Early childhood workforce
Adults in the early childhood education programs care for and educate each child. They build responsive relationships, respectful of the child’s growing competence. Early childhood educators ensure children’s needs for food, physical safety, sleep and toileting are met as they develop settings that encourage play among the children.
Dr. David Butler-Jones, former Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, discusses the importance of these relationships.
Reflective and well-informed early childhood educators do not assume there is one best practice which suits all, but are able to recognize, explore, and discuss the arc of human possibilities (Penn, 1999, p. 4).
The late Dr. Clyde Hertzman comments on the value of skilled early childhood educators in children’s lives. He points out the need to understand young children’s social development and how to adapt the environment to support their emerging abilities.
Infants and young children need opportunities to explore and gather information from their immediate surroundings. They can feel, taste, smell, see and hear what they can actively explore and practice sensory perceptual skills. They see the world with fresh eyes. Opportunities to explore can include opportunities to organize, plan and solve problems in an environment that is set up with things to discover. Exploration helps young children learn to tolerate frustrations and wait to have their needs met or goals attained.
Watch the following clip. Dr. Ray Peters, professor emeritus of Psychology at Queen’s University, explains what is important for early childhood educators to know.
As we progress through the 21st century, it is very encouraging to see the creation and expansion of many kinds of early childhood programs. However, at times it seems that the focus of investment is on building facilities and opening new programs while the development of a strong and effective workforce may not get enough attention. Dr. Reuben Ford, research director at the Social Research Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), explains why a robust workforce strategy is so important.
The quality of the workforce is the most critical element in determining the quality of programs. In order to have real improvement, policymakers must allocate resources accordingly. Strengthening the early childhood workforce is a major challenge for nearly every country. The next article, published in Apolitical, provides an interesting perspective.
A competent early childhood workforce is essential for effective early childhood and family programs. In large-scale programs, ongoing recruitment and training strategies become part of the institutional capacity to ensure a consistent focus on early childhood goals and pedagogy.
Dr. Susan Prentice, professor of Sociology at the University of Manitoba, reflects on the system in Denmark, which has high quality child care programs without substantial regulations. She points out the impact of both well-trained staff and program resources.
Dr. Thomas Boyce, distinguished professor emeritus in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, recommends that public policy recognize the need to close the gap of early childhood educators with teachers working with older children. (Boyce does reference Kindergarten teachers as lower paid than other teachers because he is speaking about the American context. Kindergarten teachers may not be at the same pay levels as teachers in higher grades. The intent is relevant to early childhood educators in the Canadian context.)
How is early childhood education becoming a defined and recognized professional occupation in Canada?
What might integrating early education and child care mean to the workforce?
In your community, what efforts are being made to support the early childhood workforce?
