The New Early Years Professional: Dilemmas and Debates

206 Pages·2007·1.27 MB·English

by  Angela D. Nurse

The New
Early Years
Professional
NNeeww EEaarrllyy YYeeaarrss PPrroo--

ffeessssiioonnaall
Also available:
Sound Beginnings
Learning and Development in the Early Years
Pamela May, Erica Ashford and Gill Bottle
1-84312-422-X
Developing Early Years Practice
Linda Miller, Carrie Cable and Jane Devereux
1-84312-317-7
Planning Children’s Play and Learning in the Foundation Stage
Jane Drake
1-84312-151-4
Every Child Matters
APractical Guide for Teachers
Rita Cheminais
1-84312-463-7
The New
Early Years
Professional
Dilemmas and Debates
Edited by Angela D. Nurse
First published by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USAand Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor &Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Copyright © Angela D. Nurse and the contributors 2007
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Acatalog record has been requested
ISBN 0-203-93518-7 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN-10: 184312 4238 (Print Edition)
ISBN-13: 9781843124238

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised,
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Contents
Preface vii
About the contributors ix
Introduction: dilemmas and debates 1
Chapter 1 Putting the Early Years into context 9
Angela D. Nurse
Chapter 2 Multi-agency development and issues of communication 19
John Powell
Chapter 3 The family in context 32
Angela D. Nurse
Chapter 4 Child development and psychology 44
Alan Bainbridge
Chapter 5 Children’s learning 55
Alan Bainbridge
Chapter 6 Children learning: a practical point of view 68
Pamela May
Chapter 7 Birth to 3 82
Pamela May and Angela D. Nurse
Chapter 8 Play and creativity 95
Pamela May
Chapter 9 The new health visitor 111
Sally Robinson, Jane Arnott and Jane Greaves
Chapter 10 Safeguarding children 122
Angela D. Nurse
Chapter 11 Inclusion and special needs: Can education successfully
encompass both? 136
Sue Soan
Chapter 12 Leadership in the Early Years 153
Gill Bottle
v
Contents
Chapter 13 Research in the Early Years 166
Gill Bottle
Chapter 14 International perspectives
Angela D. Nurse 178
Index 191

vi
Preface
I would like to thank all of the contributors to this book and to acknowledge their
support in working with me to produce it. Essentially, it is the work of a number of
people from a variety of professional backgrounds who have striven together to
develop programmes at Canterbury Christ Church University, which we hope are
interdisciplinary in nature and value the child in his or her social context. We have
welcomed into our writing team Dr John Powell from Manchester Metropolitan
University, who has also, with his institution, been at the forefront of developing
early childhood studies programmes since the early 1990s. Dr Gill Bottle worked
with us at Canterbury for a long period and I am delighted that she has found the
time to write with us while she settles into her new university and home.
The broad brief the team was given was to reflect upon their experiences as
children; members and creators of families; practitioners; and now lecturers in
higher education, and to identify the major dilemmas and debates in the field. These
are both personal and also in the minds of the students with whom they have
worked. It is not a ‘what’ and ‘how to’ book, of which there are many excellent
publications now in this field; rather, we hope it is one which asks ‘Why?’ and ‘What

for?’ I estimate that there are more than one hundred years of professional experi-
ence within the team. This embraces backgrounds in health, teaching, psychology,
social work and research, but added to this is our wealth of experience in dealing
with children and families, our own or other people’s. The team also brings another
dimension to the book; all the writers are passionate about their work and reflect
deeply upon it. They recognise that the lives of children are complex, just as are
the situations in which they live. In a world of fast communications it is easy to min-
imise differences when we should be alert to the richness and variety of human
experiences, especially as children. The authors revel in this richness and strive to
instil their passion into those they work with, whether students at all levels, or
practitioners and colleagues, locally, nationally and globally. I hope that this book
demonstrates this passion and communicates it to all who read it.
As well as acknowledging my gratitude to Tracey Alcock of David Fulton
Publishers, and my colleagues, I would also like to thank all those who have
vii
Preface
supported me throughout my career in the Early Years field. They are many, but
I would like to single out a few who have been especially encouraging: Audrey
Curtis, who was my MA tutor at the beginning of all this; Tricia David, who
entrusted me with our Early Childhood Studies degree; and Pam Calder, whose
enthusiasm, passion and energy as Chair of the Early Childhood Studies Degrees
Network has encouraged us all when the pace of change has seemed overwhelming.
Finally, this book is also a tribute to my family, without whom it would never have
come to fruition. Rebecca and Eleanor initiated my interest in young people and
Callum has continued it. Some of their stories appear in the book. They have all
confronted my book-learnt theories and made me think.
Thanks go also to my husband, Phil, who is often my researcher and critical friend
and who has suffered alongside me.
Angela D. Nurse
June 2006

viii
About the contributors
Jane Arnott is a senior lecturer in Community Nursing at Canterbury Christ
Church University and the Continuing Professional Development Lead for Primary
Care. She has a background in health visiting and workforce development. She
teaches a range of topics across the pre- and post-registration Interprofessional
Programmes which include public health, person-centred care and community
specialist practice.
Alan Bainbridge is a senior Lecturer in the Department of Childhood Studies at
Canterbury Christ Church University. Before this he taught for 18 years, both in this
country and abroad, and has a general interest in the psychological basis of teaching
and learning. He places particular significance on using psychodynamic principles in
research and is presently working on the motivational experiences of adult learners
and how new professionals develop their workplace identity. He is a principal A-level
examiner for Psychology and Education and is a school improvement consultant.
Gill Bottle is a senior lecturer in the Department of Education at the University
of Gloucester. She teaches on a range of QTS courses and is responsible for

those courses based on the Foundation Stage. She has worked in primary education
for over twenty years. She is particularly interested in Early Years, and her
doctoral studies interrogated the links between early mathematical experiences
in the home and those at school. She has written about early mathematics for
several academic and practitioner journals and is the author of Teaching Mathematics
in the Primary School (2005, Continuum). She is co-editor of Sound Beginnings:
Learning and Development in the Early Years(2006, David Fulton Publishers).
Jane Greaves is Senior Lecturer in Community Nursing and the Programme
Director for the Community Specialist Programme, leading the Health Visiting
pathway at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has practised as a health
visitor in Kent for many years and as an educator in a variety of organisations.
Pamela May is a senior lecturer in Early Years at Canterbury Christ Church
University. She teaches on foundation degrees and Early Childhood Studies
ix