An Analysis of Irish Pre-school Practice using the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales

GERARDINE NEYLON MON 13TH OCTOBER WESTPORT CO MAYO IRELAND

PARISH PEDAGOGIES

The University of Western Australia

ECERS-R

Based on observation 7 sub-scales:

Space and furnishings Personal care routines Language reasoning Activities Interaction Programme structure Parents and staff

Harms, Clifford & Cryer (1998)

ECERS-E

Based on observation 4 sub-scales:

Literacy

Mathematics

Science and environment

Diversity

Sylva, Siraj-Blatchford & Taggart (2003)

Two Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales

The University of Western Australia

ECERS/R/E Irish Research.

• Ethical Approval

• Second researcher came on board (findings shared across two PhD’s)

• Training - use of the instrument

• Pilot study X 2 ECERS-R/E

• To get cohort of 26 as a random sample applied Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)

• Pre-school services only visited, one in each county.

• Data collated

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Method: Application of the International Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales - Revised and Extended

• Researchers observe pre-school practice from greeting to departure.

• Within each of the 11 categories there are sub-categories (61) in total.

• Sub-categories are rated as inadequate (1), minimal (3), good (5), or excellent (7).

• Scores are based on the situation observed.

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Qualifications How Staff described pedagogy Description of Building

1 7/5 Group play Community building 2 7/7/5 Montessori/play Private home – garage extension 3 5/5/- Play-based Extension to community building4 7/5/ Montessori/play House in estate catering for age 0–5

5 -/-/- Play-based Rented house 6 7/8/5 Montessori/play Private home – garage extension

7 7/5 Play/care Community building8 5/-/ Group play-based Community building9 6/- HighScope/play-based Commercial unit in shopping centre10 7/5 Steiner/play-based Community building11 -/-/ Group play-based Disused classroom

12 7/5/5 HighScope Community building 13 6/5/- Play-based Community building

14 8/7 Montessori Private home – garage extension 15 6/-/-/ Play-based Rented house 16 5/-/- Play-based Community building 17 5/-/- Play-based Community building 18 6/-/5 Play-based Private home – garage extension 19 6/5/- Montessori Private home – purpose built extension 20 5/5/- Play-based Private home – garage extension

21 7 Montessori/play Private home – garage extension22 6/5 Play-based Community building23 6/6/ HighScope Purpose built large prefab24 6/5 Play/HighScope Purpose build

25 8/5/- HighScope/Aistear Private home – purpose built extension26 7/6/5 Reggio Emilia Purpose build commercial setting

The University of Western Australia

“quality of care” What was know of ECEC Assessment?

The term Quality has proved harder to define than one might expect. “ECERS rating scale is an Imperfect but useful way to measure ECEC”

Kathy Sylva Pre-school inspectorate - Inspection reports (26) Pre-school HighScope Program Quality Assessment (PQA) (5) Registration guidelines for Montessori schools – includes Self and Assessor

assessment (1)

The University of Western Australia

Context: December 2009 – ECERS data collection began – finished May 2010

• April 2009 - Supplementary Budget Free Pre-school Year (FPSY) announced

• Great uncertainty, concerning payment rates, accreditation levels?

• Strong feelings of lack of consultation with the sector

• FPSY was welcome in some settings depending on their circumstance: existing pre-school charges/rent/accreditation etc…

• Observed 8 children's ‘first day’ in pre-school – mid-term.

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•United Kingdom (Ex N.I) 2004 Northern Ireland 2006

The University of Western Australia

The study cohort findings

Inadequate (1-2), minimal (3-4), good (5-6), excellent (7)

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

Family inclusion: Parents, Personal and Professional Development, Staff Interaction, Evaluation & Opportunities for Professional Growth

The University of Western Australia

Parent Involvement in Early Learning

• A lot easier said than done - Questions of power and openness - Parents often unsure of their role both at home and at school

Findings• ECEC services are assuming an increasingly important role in supporting

families.• ECEC as a parenting support measure needs to be embedded in training,

practice and policy at local, regional and national levels. • Greater recognition in pre-service and in-service training – good ECEC can

reduce stress in families and lives and enhances child outcomes.• ECEC practitioners need to be knowledgably about community resources so

as to support learning at home & in the neighbourhood. • Research Skills(International Child Development Initiatives ICID, 2012 Bernard Van Leer Foundation,)

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

The Graduate Led Practitioner = Automatic Quality = Myth

• Competence Requirements in Early Childhood Education and Care (CoRe) (2011)

• Importance of a graduate led workforce combined with local, regional and national systems to support educators.

Mixed Market – Mixed Messages

• Practice managed at a distance by owner without training - Set the routine

• Trained ECEC staff taking direction from manager

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Early Childhood Educators as an Emerging Profession

The ECEC workforce: Carers or Educators? Or Family

Support Workers?

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How did Mayo come to have first-rate quality pre-schools where other counties have failed?

The University of Western Australia

The success of HighScope makes a strong case for …

• Those working on delivering quality in ECEC - City and County Childcare

• Committees, Family Resource Centres, and TUSLA to explore HighScope

• HighScope fits well with National Early Years Learning Framework, Aistear.

• The Mayo services run under the National Free Pre-school Year Scheme

• One drawback is that payment to staff is paid only for contact time with children. Time spent preparing and working on family support is, at the moment, unpaid work. The reliance on unpaid work is a worrying sign if this project is to be extended nationwide. And is central to the debate concerning the professionalising of the Early Years Sector.

• In 1968, writer John Healy published No One Shouted Stop: Death of an Irish Town –Charlestown, Co. Mayo was devastated without regional and national support.

• 25 years later In 1993 A group of dedicated professionals and community members shouted start, by building on existing pre-school services, introducing the HighScope model.

• This research indicates that these services offer better quality services than available elsewhere

The University of Western Australia

bibliography

Collins K (2014) Evaluation of HighScope in Co-Mayo

Harms, T. Clifford, R. and Cryer, D. (1998) Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale –

Revised, New York: Teachers College Press

Harms T (2006) Video Observations for the ECERS-R [DVD], Teachers College Press

Melhuish, E. Quinn, L. Hanna, K. Sylva, K. Sammons, K.I. Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. (2006) Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland

Sylva, K. Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. (2006) Early Childhood

Environment rating scale (ECERS-E) Extension (ECERS-) Four Curricular Subscales, Staffordshire England: Trentham Books

Sylva, K. 9 February 2009 Imperfect but useful ways to measure quality:

research findings using the ECERS-R, ECERS-E and the

CISDepartment of Education, University of Oxford University of East London

Van Leer Foundation (2012) International Child Development Initiatives ICID Bernard Parent

Involvement in Early Learning A review of research, poicy and good practice

The University of Western Australia

Bibliography

Environment rating scale (ECERS-E) Extension (ECERS/E) Four Curricular Subscales, Staffordshire England: Trentham Books.

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia

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