So, following on from the previous article on the BBC News website regarding some difficulties faced by men in Early Years, June O’Sullivan from the London Early Years Foundation presents this interesting alternative view from the children. Thoughts please?
Opinion – Is there still a stigma?
I was reading an article a few weeks ago regarding a man’s experience in Childcare and how he only felt that the apparent “suspicion” from parents about a man in Early Learning and Childcare only subsided when he got married and “vanished” when he had children.
Here’s the article from BBC News:
I’m lucky that I don’t get that any more, possibly at the start of my career, but now I’m just accepted. In fact when I go off on annual leave I’ve had parents who are worrying about how their child will settle because I’m not there. It’s in no way a slur against my amazing and highly professional colleagues but to do with the bond I have with the children.
If you are a man in Early Learning and Childcare what’s your experience now, do you feel accepted by families and colleagues alike or is there still an atmosphere of doubt?
Is this true or not?
After my last post I thought I’d open up another line of debate amongst us Early Years Practitioners and Professionals.
One of my colleagues showed me this article from a recent edition of The Times which has heard from a Senior Church of Scotland Cleric who states that children now are totally unable to accept failure because parents and society has taken away the concept of losing and has “coddled” them. Do you think this is true?
Thought for the day.
And a worrying thought it is.
In Scotland there is a motion to bring in assessment of primary 1 children to test them on literacy and numeracy. Although any primary teacher will tell you that assessment is ongoing and done through observations the Scottish Government, in their wisdom, have decided this isn’t enough and want this test brought in.
Apart from the fact I think it is adding to the already overburdened workload of teachers it is also putting a great deal of unnecessary pressure on young children. However while listening to a report on BBC Reporting Scotland tonight something the reporter said made alarm bells ring with me.
They mentioned the curriculum. Yes, that horrible document that I don’t like. The alarm bells rang because primary 1 and early learning and childcare share the same Early Level of the curriculum. So, if primary 1 is under threat of these assessments how long before children in Early Learning are being out through this?
Are we forgetting they are children and not items of data?
