Remember all the scorn and criticisms of those in their 'ivory towers' of academia?
I have recently had the privilege of being an external examiner for the validation of an Early Childhood Studies programme at the University of Cumbria, their first early years degree. Early Childhood Studies programmes are nothing new, and they, too, have come in for their share of criticism. However, the difference with this course has been ground-breaking, in the way it encompasses Every Child Matters in every sense.
The university has its own Every Child Matters working party. The vice-chancellor sits on the committee and strongly endorses an holistic approach to childhood. To this end, the university's Faculties of Education, Health, Medical Sciences and Social Care and Business, Social Sciences and Sport all have cross-faculty working.
In the past, those of us on the receiving end of trainees could not understand, for example, why the same campus delivered different and separate training to speech therapists and teachers. The opportunity to have shared inputs and experience of children's language acquisition and development seems obvious because we work with the same children and their families.
The early years team who have battled to put together the programme at the University of Cumbria are to be congratulated. Working in such an innovative way can be quite scary and the fact they have succeeded so far shows the tenacity of early years professionals wherever they are based.
This is the future. Children's centres and settings working with children and families desperately need well-qualified staff. Current qualifications do not necessarily carry the status needed. The fresh emphasis on research and child-led learning will lead to a new generation of reflective practitioners.
Let us hope that by increasing the currency of high-level qualifications there is a chance for politicians to seize the opportunity to introduce a better career structure with increases in pay and status.
