A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF NEGOTIATING CHILDREN’S RIGHTS WITHIN AN EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION CENTRE IN IRELAND

Georga Dowling

October 2013

ABOUT THE RESEARCH The key research questions are

What are the challenges and tensions within an ECCE Centre regarding the implementation of children’s rights?

How are these challenges and tensions negotiated within an ECCE Centre?

Limited research into children’s rights within the ECCE sector in Ireland

Dialogue of children’s rights is pertinent after the Prime Time revelation in May 2013.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Benefits that investment in

Early Education brings (Hayes & Bradley, 2008;

Darling-Hammond, 1997;

Freeman & Veerman, 1992).

Variance between the systems in operation in Ireland when compared

with our European counterparts (Hayes & Bradley, 2008; Deegan,

Devine & Nic Ghiolla, 2004).

Children’s rights in a sociocultural context

•Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs•Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological

framework•Hart’s Ladder of Participation.

LITERATURE REVIEW Historical landscape of policies within the ECCE sector in

Ireland Ready to Learn, White Paper (1999) ‘National Children’s Strategy: Our Children their Lives’

(2000) UNCRC and it’s implementation Workforce Development Plan (WDP) National Framework for Qualifications (NFQ) Free preschool year Siolta Aistear Preschool Regulations

Government policy Funding Implementation of support systems Value added belief of early education

METHODOLOGY “GETTING AT THE INVISIBLE THROUGH THE VISIBLE” (GRAUE & WALSH, 1998).

Qualitative, ethnographic participatory case study approach

Co-inquirers

Class No of children Pedagogy

Class A – Morning class

13 Sessional children 10 full day children

Montessori

Class B: Morning class

5 full day children 6 sessional children

Emergent Play based

Class C – Afternoon Class

15 full day children (full time children from Class A and B)

Emergent Play based

DATA GATHERING Child Participants

Data Gathering TechniquesClassroom video observations and field notes Child conferencing Pictures from the children

Educators Data Gathering Techniques Semi structured interviews Informal chats

Parents Data Gathering Techniques

Focus group Organisation

Review of organisational documentation

RIGHTS ARE INTERRELATED, INTERWOVEN AND INTERDEPENDENT AND ARE IMPACTED ON BY CONTEXTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

rights

rights

RIGHTS ARE INTERRELATED, INTERWOVEN AND INTERDEPENDENT AND ARE IMPACTED ON BY CONTEXTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

All parents agreed - basic human rights would be the most important initially - the need for more abstract conceptual rights would become important.

Educator’s difficulty in prioritising rights and allocating a hierarchy to the rights therefore indicates that the educators view rights as interrelated and interdependent.

DEVELOPING A ROBUST COMMUNITY IS INTEGRAL TO FULFILLING CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TO BELONG

Educators, children and parents value the necessity for a cohesive community within the setting to exist

Children need to be valued as active participants

Parents are seen as an essential link by both

the educators and parents

DEVELOPING A ROBUST COMMUNITY IS INTEGRAL TO FULFILLING CHILDREN’S RIGHTS TO BELONG

“I've got too many friends, I can't even, I can't even remember what to tell” (Child Conferencing 1, Paragraph 42).

 

ORGANISATIONAL DEFICIENCY IS IMPACTING ON CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

The development of the vision and procedures for enactment of rights has been training led in this centre not strategically led through written policy.

Challenge of listening to children and completing the paper work due to the lack of non-contact time afforded to them.

The organisation needs to carry out a systematic review of its policies and procedure, which is outside of the scope of this study.

THE PERCEPTION OF ‘DUTY OF CARE’ IMPACTS ON THE ENACTMENT OF PARTICIPATION RIGHTS

You are not teaching them how to write or read because they are going to do that but we are preparing them to write and read…. Then the other things that children don't need for

going to school are their sounds and their numbers. What they need is

social skills, sense of themselves…..".

“The kids do know what they are doing for the day

because that's another thing we would say "Today we are going to do our snakes for the giant". So they know

what's coming”

THE INTERPRETATION OF PEDAGOGICAL THEORIES INFLUENCES THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS.

Interpretation of pedagogical theories differs from educator to educator

The interpretation of the pedagogy impacts the structure of the routine

This study has qualitative evidence to show that each educator operates their room through their interpretation of their chosen pedagogy.

This research recommend that the interpretation of pedagogies could be examined further in relation to rights.

RECOMMENDATIONS Intrinsic:

Further develop parental involvement to bridge the gap between the environments which circumnavigate the children.

Review the policies and procedures Explore school readiness

Extrinsic: The challenge of providing a quality service enabling children’s

rights without the necessary national support Paid mandatory CPD days Quality regulations Interdisciplinary Inspection team Paid non contact time

This study highlighted that children need to be in the centre of policy making on a National level in the future with investment and support systems in place to implement change.

FINAL THOUGHT

“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can

grow up in peace." -- Kofi Annan

Thank you for listening

Questions & Answers