Understanding Transitions in the Early Childhood Years - Essay Example

Current Early Years Issue Background: Taking the best care for toddlers has been quite an issue across the country for parents especially the working mothers the best care for their toddlers. For this, parents approach different solutions such as hiring nannies or caretakers at home, leave them with the baby sitters or they have to leave them in the day care centers before going to work. Parents and specially mothers are never satisfied with the idea of leaving their babies with these care takers as to what may happen behind the closed doors. While day care seems to be a better option comparatively, where the caretakers have many eyes on them to keep a check. But, then again is it a conclusion beneficial enough in the long run? The question comes to mind. These toddlers are spending a huge part of the day in the day care, but they will not receive an academic certification (Connor, 2012). Introduction to the Policy: Keeping this issue in mind, the UK government has designed a policy for children as young as two-years to start schooling. According to this, nursery schools will be encouraged to prolong their opening hours so that parents will be able to leave their younger children for a longer time throughout the week days. This will help prevent problems and crises faced in the day care centers. Through legislation the government will intend to diminish all the restrictions to schools and allowing them to keep toddlers for a longer day without a separate registration (Gaunt, 2014). It is going to be very beneficial for parents as well as children in many ways. Mothers will be able to work for longer hours without worrying for the kids. It will also save them from spending additional money on nannies or caretakers. Moreover, schools have the capacity to accommodate children age wise, so this is an additional advantage regarding providing children care and activities according to their age level. Schools are restricted to register with Ofsted before they could admit a toddler in their nurseries. It will be taken off now by the government legislation. The government has announced that a sufficient amount will be granted to each school in order to approach best techniques regarding the education and care of two year olds. Schools from all over the country including the rural and urban areas with collaboration to each other will be able to perform better by sharing their researches, and studies and will also encourage more schools to pursue (BBC News, 2014). Concept of Diversity within the Policy: This policy has proven to be a diverse program as this is applicable and at the same time very advantageous for all the families. It is hugely beneficial for single parents, father or mother who is obliged to work and leave their young children with someone else. And for other families where mother and father both are working. Young children suffer a lot if their mothers are working and they are left at home and it is difficult for the mothers also to work leaving their toddlers behind. This will help middle-class families to afford a good child care during the working days. They will not be bound to waste their children’s early years as well as their money in day cares where they will not get any certificates; instead they will enroll in a school directly and start their academic education along with a proper care all day long throughout the five working days. Even disadvantaged or low income families will be able to provide good education and care to their toddlers (William, 2000). Impact and benefits on Care Delivery: The Department of Education has clearly suggested that if a child has a chance to get quality education at the early age or if a child’s education base is strongly built it will result in ever lasting impact on the child’s development. It will also be helpful in building a strong relationship between teachers and students. The children will learn to interact with others at an early age. It helps them in their social development. According to an educationist and philosopher Nell Noddings, ethics of care emphasize on the relationship’s concern. It can be called as relational ethics. Noddings believes that caring is based upon interest, connectivity, sensitivity, and responsiveness. This is only the sensible way to approach ethics. When a person becomes a teacher he/ she enters a very special relationship with the students, a relation of intense care. When the teacher asks a question and a student answers, it is no more a matter of right or wrong for her. Response is what is important for the teacher. The one she cares for means to her. A teacher bears a strong responsibility towards students to build their morals and ethics (Noddings, 1984). A lot of criticism has been posed on the fact that a 2-year-old child is being admitted in a 3-year-old child school setting. This is one of the reasons of little children feeling insecure when they find themselves miss fit in an older children setting. They are not able to adjust with the older kids, as well as it is difficult for the staff also. According to Foucault theory of power, power cannot be considered as exploitive or a negative force only. Instead it can prove to be very productive for a society, as it reveals the reality and brings out the truth. A person’s values and beliefs should be based on truth. It is really important for an education system to deliver the knowledge based on truth. For whatever is learnt in the early years have a loud and long lasting effect (Foucault, 1991). As a parent or teacher they have a strong power to control a child’s life whether to turn it into a disaster or festive. Having children as young as two year old in a nursery school setting can be very effective as to feed them the truth and taking out the best out of them while building their character since such an early age (Ginnot, 1993). It cannot be optimistic for every child though. As a government being a dominating power over a country the government of UK has made a very affective decision by allowing schools to take two year old children for longer hours. Moreover, under this policy Education ministers have established a more advanced program EYTS (Early Year Teachers Status). This is because they acknowledged that more high quality graduates are needed to work in early years. This is good news for these graduates as it will result in the appraisal of their salaries and will prove to be an achievement in their career. More chances will be there for jobs as admissions in the nursery schools will increase rapidly. However, Early years professionals (EYP) state that the government’s plan of replacing EYP with EYTS is not helpful professionally in regards of their career growth as they will not be considered qualified enough to teach children at early years until they pass the specific test. EYTS will specially train the teachers for childhood development and childcare. This has grown a big concern and a sense of insecurity among teachers; according to Ofsted, they are suddenly not qualified and professionally recognized to meet Quality Teacher Status (QTS). This directly means that they are not eligible for the pay and conditions as other teachers (Gaunt, 2013). Where it is beneficial for the children as well as the parents leaving their child in safer hands and care on the other side it has put the teachers and their career at risk. On the other hand, there are families, which do not agree with the idea of sending children to school at such an early age or to keep them away from home and their families for the whole day. 10 hours a day is quite a long time for a two year old to stay away from his parents. It will affect their bond with their parents and other family members. The long hours in nurseries result aggressiveness and insecurities in young children. It can be damaging for a child’s personality being away from home and parents for so long (Staples & Cochran, 2007). Disadvantaged family: Do they need the policy? Having a disadvantaged family in mind, a family where both parents are working sending their child in a nursery for the whole day during all the weekdays, results into a weaker bond between them. Moreover, a family that is low in income and they need to work to increase it indicates that there is no use of nursery in that case. As a consequence, they will be paying a fee to the school and working hard for it while their children will be spending a huge part of the day away from. There will be less time for the parent children interaction. However, in the modern times, it is not acceptable for most of the families to send their children of two years to the school but once there will be a trend, people will start following it. As they will come to know the advantages of the policy and how practical it is in their lives (Griffiths & Davies, 2012). List of References BBC News, 2014. Schools urged to take two-year-olds into nurseries. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 March 2014]. Connor, A., 2012. Understanding Transitions in the Early Years. Washington: Routledge. Foucault, 1991. Discipline and Punish: the birth of a prison. London: Penguin. Gaunt, C., 2013. Anger at proposals to replace EYPs with EYTs. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 6 march 2014]. Gaunt, C., 2014. Nursery World. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 5 march 2014]. Ginnot, H., 1993. Teacher and Child: A Book for Parents and Teachers. New York: Scribner Paper Fiction. Griffiths, M. & Davies, C., 2012. In Fairness to Children: Working for Social Justice in the Primary School. New York: Routledge. Noddings, N., 1984. Caring, a Feminine Approach to Ethics & Moral Education. London: University of California Press. Staples, R. & Cochran, M., 2007. Early Childhood Education. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. William, C., 2000. Parents and Schools. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read More