It was good to read the call in Nursery World for early years practitioners to ‘act now to protect childhood’ and to learn that ‘more than 200 experts are calling for action to protect children from the ‘erosion of childhood’ by commercial forces and modern technology’.
As those experts come from such a broad variety of backgrounds and academic disciplines it seems that all agencies are now working together. Twenty-three of them have attempted to set aside party politics and join forces to write the book ‘too much too soon’ which emphasises our constant demands for a play based curriculum in nurseries and schools for children under six.
After much hard talking by all of us in the early years, there now appears to be a clearer understanding about ‘play’ and what we mean by family support, specialist training and early intervention. At last our young children, their families and teachers are being listened to. But are we listening to them enough?
Young people aged 14 have made very clear to me in my recent research with them that we need to listen even more. One had just heard about a new reading test proposed for five-year-olds and questioned what is meant by readiness. He was concerned about it because his little sister aged four is already having nightmares about reading and wants to leave school. His intelligent questioning is the purpose for this article.
GETTING READY FOR WHAT?
Even with the best intentions, such as to prevent future failure, in Britain we frequently lose sight of our young children and their needs and strengths as they are now. My research with four-year-olds has shown how frequently (and often unwittingly) we put undue pressure on them, their families and ourselves especially about reading.
People who do not have a deep knowledge of early childhood development appear to focus on getting young children ready for the next stage in their lives. They are now expected to read, write and be numerate by the age of five or six when children in the rest of Europe have not even started the formal part of those processes. In recent years we have heard politicians (from all parties) and the media emphasise the cost effectiveness of early preventative work with disadvantaged children in terms of saving money in the future by keeping adolescents out of trouble or out of prison.
With our knowledge of how young children develop holistically and how we can more accurately diagnose their difficulties we are now able to link with others (including their families) to guide, support and encourage them as learners for the whole of their lives. With reference to young children learning to read, I take the view of Urie Bronfenbrenner (1) that ‘interconnections can be as decisive for development as events taking place within a given setting. A child’s ability to read may depend no less than how he/she is taught than on the existence and nature of ties between the school and the home.’
Bronfenbrenner is not the only person to suggest how positive relationships are the key to unlocking the door to children’s development and learning. At the beginning of their formal or institutional learning (2) harmonious links with their families provide a very good start. As part of our culture in the early years, we invariably focus on the positives in young children and know why the prevention of any feelings of failure are of fundamental importance. We also know how and why to encourage children to stretch their own boundaries and risk making mistakes but know it’s all right to try, try, try again! That is how we all learn and feel good about ourselves.
This was pointed out to me by one of the 14-year-olds recently. He still remembered his first days at school when he and his friends spent a whole day building a bridge in the garden out of wooden beams and blocks, every time it collapsed ‘we tried again in a different way…then it stayed up…I’ll never forget that feeling!’
In light of the riots in our inner cities last summer I had been thinking a lot about the young people involved and wondered whether they had ever felt that kind of feeling about themselves. I asked the 14-year-olds their views. They recognised there are no simple reasons or excuses for such behaviour but the most significant thing they spoke about was they think nobody really cares about them so they don’t even care about themselves or anybody.
It is interesting that their long discussion turned to feeling failures: ‘Some of the young people involved probably see themselves as failures…feel bad about themselves.they come on all tough…join gangs…nothing to lose...families in trouble for years…poverty...bored at school...thrown out of everywhere...no hope for the future...maybe there’s a connection here...maybe they felt failures right at the beginning…getting ready to read too soon can set a pattern of failure…did anybody have time to listen to them?’
I had heard that thought provoking question before from a young person who took part in the ‘World Conference on Research and Practice in Children’s Rights’ at the University of Exeter in 1992. Groups of teenagers helped all the delegates with their workshops and wrote evaluations. A young group enjoyed playing throughout my 'empowerment and autonomy from babyhood' (3) workshops based on Treasure Basket and Heuristic Play of Elinor Goldschmied (4). Afterwards one asked a lot of questions and talked to me about childhood. Her written evaluation was very reflective: ‘Childhood in Britain? We have to keep reminding ourselves that childhood starts at birth, not when babies become old enough to say things for themselves, babies and young children speak to us in all sorts of ways and it's up to us to give them time to express themselves...maybe when they look at us...and wriggle around...and laugh and cry...then when they can talk we've got to listen to them and act on what they're telling us...that's what they need at nursery...people who know about these things...people who take time to listen.’
Luckily for our children, more and more teachers in a majority of early years settings do try to take time to listen. However, as part of my current research, adolescents and early years teachers alike have told me how much they are being pressurised by an education system which focuses mainly on tests, targets and league tables. Colleagues in the primary and secondary sector inevitably blame those in the early years for their pupils’ inability to read. They too are under a lot of pressure to produce good results and it is hardly surprising to read in the press how some allegedly teach to the tests and are even tempted to bend the rules.
Of course, it is essential to care about reading but when I listened recently to so many young people in very poverty stricken dilapidated areas of Britain, I felt even more concerned about their lack of confidence as communicators. Too many of them who have English as their first language found it very difficult to use language to express their points of view. Those points of view were very strong and their emotions ran high but I felt they needed much more practice in talking things through with people who have the time and are able to listen and guide them.
REMEMBER TO LISTEN TO CHILDREN
For me, a pre-occupation with their emotions and the workings of children’s minds long ago replaced readiness to read. I am still inspired by the work of Professor Margaret Donaldson (5) and her former researcher, my friend and mentor Professor Martin Hughes (6), who died in June. The gentle, patient and modest Martin guided my years of analytical research into the relationship between the talk of young children and their early learning. In his memory, that research will continue.
With evidence from hundreds of tape recordings of them in a variety of contexts, including at home., I have been able to include in all my writing the powerful voices of the children themselves. Their development and early communication have provided the basis of many conference presentations, workshops, training courses and my first book (7).
As I have become the ‘Honorary Elder’ or Jacqui-Nan at my local Sure Start Centres there is the opportunity to extend that listening even further. Just as they did on my first project in 1986, a majority of the children aged four continue to focus predominantly on the positives, such as the sheer joy of playing with friends -especially in the garden-and their love for all their teachers who help us find out all sorts of things. They are still very interested in beautiful books and have a wonderful variety to choose from. They also go regularly to the library for stories.
But, despite the reassurance of staff, a minority of the children and their families expect them to be able to read. One worried little boy became very tearful when I offered to read him his story book. He had assumed I expected him to read it. Recently, anxious parents have asked me more questions about how to teach phonics assuming that the sooner the better will prevent later problems with reading. Reading readiness is on their agenda and I will return to this shortly because a group of articulate 14-year-olds became very heated on that subject.
CHILDHOOD TODAY
There are other aspects in their daily lives which still ring warning bells about the realities children encounter. Family breakdown and resultant tension clearly has an effect. Many more children have been in childcare settings for long periods since babyhood. Most significantly, there are children who show signs of tiredness or express dismay about not being allowed to play for long enough or feel pressure or time constraints. They reminded me of the little girl who long ago told me: ‘All the time it’s hurry up! Hurry up! Like in the morning, it’s hurry up and get in the car…hurry up we’re late…then it’s hurry up…it’s time….what’s it time for? packing up!.....I hate hurrying up!’
More children seem to have picked up the national or global concerns of adults about finance and lack of work. One boy aged only four years and five months said how worried he was about his family, ‘cos daddy lost his job and mummy’s been crying ‘cos maybe we can’t live here any more…and I feel sad ‘cos I love it with my friends…’
We the adults are the cause of so much stress and anxiety in our children. In a nutshell, we expect children to get ready for the next phase in their lives and to grow up too quickly. I remember the old warning, you can’t put an old head on young shoulders. In effect, that is what we are doing as a worried mother of a four year old said to me we are robbing them of their childhoods!
LISTENING TO 14-YEAR-OLDS
In their own way, the young have been telling us this for years. But have we been listening to them with the respect they deserve? Part of my professional responsibility in the past has been to link or network with others to provide evidence for various committees, including those associated with the United Nations. Although some of those 'voices' have been expressed through the creative arts, in the main, that evidence has included the views of young people and their families about their education, care and emotional well being.
My curiosity had been aroused by those adolescents who discussed Childhood at that 1992 conference in Exeter. But it is not an easy matter for an aged stranger to engage immediately with the young and vice versa. So I went back to some of the families who had already taken part in research with me; quite an easy task as many of us had kept in touch.
I had just co-ordinated an early years ‘experiential learning’ design project with children at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, so spent a day there with a group of ten now aged 14. They were joined by ten friends from a large secondary school who were engaged in a project to redesign their school’s science curriculum. As we explored that wonderful environment and had lunch together I hoped to find out what they remembered about starting school at the age of four and how they feel now about their own education and learning.
Their conversations were enlightening. In detail they all remembered their first days at school - especially their reception teachers. They also spoke in depth about the excitement of their early learning in which favourite activities included ‘playing with friends…digging in the garden...magnifying glasses for proper science…and beautiful story books’.
As might be expected, they compared all those early ‘first hand’ experiences with the boring time they had spent at secondary school. That feeling of boredom was most noticeable with the highly intelligent and articulate group re-designing a more appropriate science curriculum for young people of 14+ They were sympathetic towards their lively young teacher but felt he was constrained by the system and the exam driven curriculum. They all wanted to spend more time working with scientists and remembered well all the visits they had made to interesting places in their early years; especially the Science Fairs held in the Plymouth Guildhall.
Though not asked directly about literacy or the process of reading they introduced that topic.Six girls who had learnt to read when young said how easy they had found it. They did not remember any specific methods or stress but remembered bedtime stories at home and in a cosy book corner in the class. One spoke enthusiastically about playing a lot of phonic and word games. Bucking the current trend, they said how much they still enjoy reading but how much more they did on their computers. They used computers or mobiles for information but also said they knew they played too many games and that caused a lot of family arguments.
Twelve boys who had struggled hard to start to read became very emotional and spoke heatedly of their early anxiety, sense of failure and embarrassment. They said it was their families and not their teachers who seemed to put pressure on them. Knowing that I have also worked across Europe they asked why in Britain we need to justify play and expect children to read and write so young.
Another said she had heard we come near the bottom of an international literacy league and suggested it was because we were too busy getting the young ones ready to read too soon! Based on his first hand experiences of his youngest sister one of the boys who read fluently by the age of five talked sensitively about her change in attitude about school and her daily unhappiness because she could not read. She had told him she was rubbish at reading. He tried to reassure her that some children need more time. He was very upset that she felt a failure.The proposed testing of ‘reading readiness’ of children at the age of five was considered by this group of young people to be rubbish! Children learn differently.
LISTENING TO FAMILIES
Not only boys experience reading difficulties. Children do all learn differently. It is that individuality which challenges teachers. As this mother of a girl who was reading fluently at four elaborated, ‘She taught herself… always curious about words on packets and in her books. In the car she began to read the signs....she kept asking what the words said. Suddenly one day I realised she was reading her story book........I gave all the children in my family the same chance to become readers but it didn't work like that. Her sister didn't start to read until she was six....then she just flew with it as she was really interested...’
Similarly, many mothers spoke about the differences between their children. One spoke of the real difficulties of one of her daughters who did not manage to read fluently until she was almost eight, despite every encouragement. With hindsight she questioned whether it might have been better to wait because she had noticed that, at around the age of seven, the child began to compare herself unfavourably with her friends and became depressed because she always tried hard but could not crack it.
Poignantly, her mother said, ‘I wish we'd spent more time in chatting and playing...her need to try so hard meant she simply wasn't ready. Her brain...something hadn't developed yet...I don't know how to explain it, but I think keeping on going over and over it like I did with her was stupid. I wasn't worried really, but she got very uptight. She reads perfectly now...it suddenly clicked with her...I think we put too much pressure on children to read too early...some can and others can't...and they begin to feel like they've failed...that's a real problem!’
No doubt that mother would agree with the statement attributed to a specialist in literacy intervention, Professor Greg Brooks (for details see Nursery World,19 November 2010). He spoke at a Literacy Interventions meeting held by a House of Commons Select Committee and included this opinion, ‘I think we induct children into formal school too young in this country. I think there is a case for having a much more play-based pre-school phase that would last from age three to age six, in which there would be very little or no formal teaching of literacy. That would start at age six.’
I too believe politicians misuse science or research to promote their own agendas. Even as good and thinking parents they cannot be expected to know as much as we do about early childhood development or managing the demands of large groups of lively learners. It is a fascinating but very time consuming subject. In tune with David Whitbread, a Cambridge early years specialist and developmental cognitive psychologist, I find it unacceptable of them to dismiss findings from neurologists simply because a few have been found wanting. In studies of the emotions and their effect on learning, not everything can be proved or measured.
Early years teachers have to be able to trust their sound common sense, intuition, experience, years of study and astute observation. Diagnosis of early difficulties needs to be very accurate if early intervention is going to be effective. We now have a wealth of international research to guide us. The early years sector in Britain has shifted considerably in the past decade because of the specialist training and recognition of our need for more knowledge and higher qualifications.
Small scale teacher ‘action research’ is supported now by longitudinal studies of our own. The tendencies of the past to marginalize our research by ridicule are fading. Politicians have begun to listen to us. However, as a nation we have to give children proper time and show respect for their childhood. It is time for all of us to listen to young children even more.
(Throughout this article the term ‘teacher’ is used because that is how most young children refer to the adults in their settings irrespective of any academic qualifications.)
FOOTNOTES
- Bronfenbrenner, U (1979) The Ecology of Human Development.s Harvard University Press
- Cousins,J (January 2005) All about children’s learning. Nursery World
- Johh, Prof Mary (ed1996) Children in Charge:The Child’s Right to a Fair Hearing. Jessica Kingsley
- Hughes, A (2011) Developing Play for Under Threes: Treasure Basket and Heuristic Play. David Fulton
- Donaldson, M (1978) Children’s Minds. Fontana
- Hughes, M (2002) Learning in and out of school. University of Bristol
- Cousins, J (1998) Listening to Four Year Olds. National Children’s Bureau
