Poverty and Inclusion in Early Years Education

Mark Cronin, Karen Argent, Chris Collett

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315511672
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Poverty and Inclusion in Early Years Education will help practitioners to understand the experiences of young children who are living in poverty. It examines the potentially devastating impact of poverty and social exclusion on children's chances in later life, and considers recent policy and practice reforms which have recognised the critical role played by early years settings and practitioners in guaranteeing a secure foundation for children's future attainment.

The book explores the historical, political and legal aspects of policy on poverty and social exclusion, before offering guidance on how practitioners can help to address the inequalities caused by poverty and break the cycle of deprivation. Chapters go on to address the practicalities of working with children, families and agencies to create an inclusive early years environment, and focus on issues including:

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• developing effective partnerships with families

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• collaborating with outside agencies

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• encouraging awareness of different socio-economic backgrounds.

With case studies, reflective questions and further reading included throughout to help the reader to apply the ideas to their own practice, the book will be an invaluable resource for early years practitioners, students, and all those wishing to promote social inclusion and tackle the impact of social exclusion and poverty in early years settings.

1

Introduction

Mark Cronin

The Early Years Education context has clearly been identified by recent governments as one of the preferred locations for addressing social inequalities. The extension of the free provision of early learning places for vulnerable 2-year-old children is clear evidence of an ongoing intention to position Early Years settings and practitioners at the forefront of attempts to maximise children’s potential, by providing a secure foundation for their future attainment and life chances. There are a number of external factors that can thwart that potential, including those relating to disability, gender and ethnicity, and since the end of the twentieth century the role of poverty has been highlighted. This book aims to provide a comprehensive but straightforward guide to the inclusion of children who are living in poverty that offers a clear policy context, exploring the rationale for this focus on Early Years settings, and also a comprehensive resource to support good practice.

Since the introduction of the Child Poverty Act 2010 and the requirement for the government to annually report on the prevalence of child poverty in the UK and the commitments made to reduce child poverty in respect of specific 2020 targets, social policy reforms have attempted to identify strategies for realising these goals. Subsequent government reviews, such as the Allen Review ‘Early Intervention: The Next Steps’ (Allen 2011), clearly locate interventions with children in the 0–3 age range as pivotal to breaking the cycle of deprivation, and the Tickell Review (2011) acknowledges the key role to be played by the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum in providing the essential foundations for their achievement through school. The rapid expansion of the free provision of early learning places for children from 2 to 4 years old is a key feature of the government’s attempts to reduce child poverty, both in terms of providing childcare for working parents and providing a foundation for children’s educational achievement. Alongside these developments, we have seen the proliferation of powerful negative media discourses in respect of the representation of poverty and social exclusion that need to be understood and critically challenged if practitioners are going to be prepared to work with children and families in these circumstances. This book, therefore, explores the context for these social policy reforms and strategies employed in Early Years settings which aim to reduce child poverty.

The book will begin by setting the policy context for poverty and inclusion in the Early Years, reminding readers of its historical origins in respect of children’s rights (UNCRC) and a focus on ‘Educare’ reforms, which located Early Years Education at the centre of attempts to tackle social exclusion and the effects of child poverty. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UNICEF 1989) was and is the most comprehensive statement of children’s rights ever produced and is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty in history. Therefore, it is an important benchmark against which we can review our progress towards meeting the needs of children and protecting their rights. This book will go on to look at both the current policy and practice reforms which guide Early Years providers, as well as examining and challenging the associated dominant discourses which inform practice. It will explain what can be done to create an inclusive Early Years environment that supports children and their families, in terms of tackling the impact of social exclusion and poverty. The book will also explore good practice in working with families and outside agencies in order to create an inclusive environment where children can reach their potential.

There are key themes throughout the book which underpin its approach to exploring the lives of children and families experiencing poverty and social exclusion and the nature of practitioner interventions:

Commonly held beliefs about the experience of poverty are increasingly affected by dominant discourses (media and policy), which identify poverty as a consequence of individual failure and which do not take adequate account of broader structural factors which impact on children and families.

The Early Years has been the subject of significant social policy focus, which has located practitioners in this sector at the frontline of early interventions in terms of tackling poverty and social exclusion.

There is a need to support Early Years practitioners to understand the values/ideas which are currently driving social policy approaches to working with children and families who experience poverty and social exclusion. Integral to this process is the need to engage in some critical self-evaluation, which aims to empower them to exercise their own professional judgements in respect of what represents good practice in this context.

Early Years practitioners are ideally placed to support children and families who are experiencing poverty and social exclusion and have the capacity to develop models of good practice.

The book has been organised into two distinct sections, the first of which is entitled ‘Understanding the Issues’ (Chapters 2, 3 and 4) and is designed to provide a clear context for working with children and families, both in terms of providing an understanding of the impact of poverty and social exclusion on children and families, and the legal and policy environment in which this work takes place. These first four chapters will also explore different explanations of the relationship between poverty and outcomes, for example, do people experience poverty as a consequence of making poor lifestyle choices, or does inherent inequality in society disadvantage some people? It will also explore to what degree these different explanations have been influential in defining the ways in which we are encouraged to work with the children and families experiencing poverty and social exclusion. A chapter will explore the impact of relative access to social and cultural capital in respect of social mobility and overall it intends to broaden the discussion to enable a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics involved in the experience of poverty and social exclusion.

The second section of the book, entitled ‘What can we do?’ (Chapters 5, 6 and 7), is designed to provide a practical guide to supporting effective interventions in the Early Years when working with children and families experiencing poverty and social exclusion. It will explore the nature of our professional relationships with children and families and the various ways in which they are influenced by policy and practice. It will consider good practice in terms of ‘partnership’ models, which enable the inclusion of children and families. This section will also consider the challenges and opportunities in the context of collaboration with outside agencies including those from statutory, voluntary and community organisations. Finally, this section will discuss the ways in which practitioners can make use of a wide range of resources to both increase their own knowledge and understanding of the issues as well as supporting children and families experiencing poverty and social exclusion.

The decision to separate the book into two distinct sections is driven by the desire to provide a space where practitioners can explore the context in which poverty and social exclusion interventions take place with children and families, as well as outlining what the challenges and opportunities are for effective interventions, with clear reference to good practice.

Early Years settings, unless otherwise specified, refers to non-maintained settings in the private, voluntary and independent sector, and where appropriate, maintained Early Years settings, that is, Local Authority nursery schools and nursery classes attached to schools. These are pre-school settings for children 0- rising 5 years. ‘Early Years practitioners’ refers to teachers and non-teachers working in the Early Years sector.

Chapter breakdown

Apart from the first two chapters, this book may not be one which you read from cover to cover but instead you make use of the appropriate chapter at the most relevant time. We have included here a brief summary of each chapter to provide an indication of their content to guide your selection.

Chapter 2: Why do we need to think about poverty and social exclusion?

This chapter will begin by exploring what we mean when we talk about poverty and social exclusion and then consider why we should be concerned about children and families who experience their effects. It will consider how the experience of poverty impacts on the lives of children and their families in terms of opportunity and outcomes. It will m...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword
• 1 Introduction