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Policy, evidence & politics in ECEC

Policy, evidence & politics in ECEC. Professor Denise Hevey University of Northampton BERA/ TACTYC conference Winchester, April 30 th 2013. Overview. Outline current early years curriculum and pedagogy in England

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Policy, evidence & politics in ECEC

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  1. Policy, evidence & politics in ECEC Professor Denise Hevey University of Northampton BERA/ TACTYC conference Winchester, April 30th 2013

  2. Overview • Outline current early years curriculum and pedagogy in England • Consider the research evidence and other influences in relation to Early Years workforce policy • Critically examine the idea of ‘evidence-based policy’

  3. Living with constant change ‘Liquid life’ is a kind of life that tends to be lived in a liquid modern society. ‘Liquid modern’ is a society in which the conditions under which its members act change faster than it takes the ways of acting to consolidate into habits and routines. (Bauman 2007:1) The speed of change in government policies re: Early Years has been unprecedented

  4. ECEC in England • Mixed economy of provision in maintained schools and Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sector • Childcare Act 2006 effectively abolished distinction between education and care for under fives • All providers of ECEC must adhere to the Early Years Foundation Stage (birth to 5) – inspected by Ofsted • Compulsory primary schooling from September after child’s 5th birthday but reception classes take 4+. • Many schools also offer funded nursery education for 3 and 4 year olds (15 hours per week for 33 weeks) • Government now promoting free nursery education for 2 year olds in disadvantaged areas – including in schools

  5. Labour Government – direction of travel • 1997 Sure Start 2003 Every Child Matters • 2004 Children Act – entitlements in law • 2006 Childcare Act – abolished distinction between care and education • 2006 Children’s Workforce Strategy published • 2007 Early Years Professional Status (L6) Target: graduate leadership of all nurseries by 2015 • Graduate Leader Fund to enable thousands of EY workers to access Higher Education training

  6. Early Years Foundation Stage • First introduced in 2008 – essentially play-based and holistic (influenced by Every Child Matters) • Integrated learning and development, assessment and safeguarding and welfare framework for children from birth to five /end of reception year (primary year 1 under KS1 of National Curriculum ) • Two year old assessment plus outcomes assessed throughEYFS Profile- moderated and nationally monitored • Revisions for 2012 have increased emphasis on adult –led activities, formal teaching and school readiness • Little or no substantive research evidence for increased ‘schoolification’ of early years (see House, 2012 (ed.)‘ Too much, too soon’)

  7. Principles of the Revised EYFS (DfE, 2012) • Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. • Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships. • Children learn and develop well in enabling environments … a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers. • Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. EYFS covers all types of provision and is inclusive of children with SEN and disabilities

  8. Prime areas of learning • Personal, Social, Emotional development • Making relationships • Self-confidence and self-awareness • Managing feelings and behaviour • Physical development • Moving and handling • Health and self-care • Communication and language • Listening and attention • Understanding • Speaking

  9. EYFS 2012: Prime areas of learning • Personal, Social, Emotional development • Making relationships • Self-confidence and self-awareness • Managing feelings and behaviour • Physical development • Moving and handling • Health and self-care • Communication and language • Listening and attention • Understanding • Speaking

  10. Specific areas • Literacy • Reading, writing • Mathematics • Numbers, shape, space and measure • Understanding the world • People and communities; the world; technology • Expressive arts and design • Exploring and using media and materials • Being imaginative The devil is in the detail of how these are expressed and the target outcomes for EYFS Profile

  11. 2010 Coalition – direction of travel • Renamed DCSF to DfE • Abolished GLF and removed ‘ring-fence’ from Sure Start grant + cuts in Local Authority funds • Trebled university fees - £6,000 per annum for work-based FDEY - double whammy! • Abolished CWDC and target for Graduate Leaders in all full day care settings • Established 6 x policy reviews related to Early Years services • Suggested deregulation and market forces as way forward for Early Years

  12. Evidence–based policy reviews Reviews for incoming coalition Govt. • Health (Marmot 2010); (started under Labour) • Poverty and life chances (Field 2010); • Early intervention (Allen 2011); • Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum framework (Tickell 2011) • Child protection (Munro 2011) • Qualifications and EY workforce (Nutbrown 2012)

  13. Nutbrown Review • Drew heavily on Millenium cohort study and EPPE research – both of which predated the introduction of EYPS • Recommended new Early Years Teacher 0-7 (with QTS) on based on evidence of impact of teachers on quality of EY provision. • Final report of the Impact Evaluation of EYPS not available until after Nutbrown reported. • Ph.D. research by Lumsden (2012) and follow-up survey revealed Early years Professionals occupied new ‘professional space’ at intersection between teaching, health and social work.

  14. More Great Childcare • Only 5 of Nutbrown’s 19 recommendations accepted in full • New level 3 Early Years Educator award • New level 6 Early Years Teacher 0-5 (not 0-7 and without QTS) • Draft Early Years Teacher standards include specific requirements for direct teaching of mathematics and reading and ‘a clear understanding of synthetic phonics’ • EYFS profile changes already include expectations that children will be able to read sentences and do basic maths problems by end of reception year • Little or no substantive research evidence for proposed reduction in ratios of staff to children (see Elfer 2013)

  15. Technical-rational model of policy formation • Carry out a comprehensive review of the evidence • Use findings to inform policy • Public consultation to refine • Implement Assumption: If research not used to inform policyblame the researchers for failure to express implications clearly Assumption : If not implemented effectively as soon as possible, blame the practitioners for not understanding - issue more guidance or shout louder!

  16. Policy friendly research • Provide Executive Summaries that extract main findings in simple form (but lose important context and detail) • Provide digests and overviews that extract and highlight implications for policy makers (e.g. EU - NESSE, 2009; US- Waldfogel, 2006; CIS, 2012) • Focus on ‘what works’ but may exclude aspects that are less easy to measure. (e.g. EPPE research in UK) • Concentrate on bottom line of costs and benefits and value for money (e.g. Heckman curve (2000) - for critic see Campbell-Barr, 2012) • Commission government sponsored reviews in key areas and define scope/ remit. (see earlier list)

  17. Problems with evidence-based policy • Primacy given to positivist research - Randomised Control Trials (RCT)- that ignore cultural and socio-political context • Quantitative methods provide superficial understanding • Undervalues in-depth understanding from practitioner based studies (praxeological research - Pascal and Bartram, 2012) • The ‘facts’ do not speak for themselves – evidence requires an ‘effort of interpretation’ (Frost 2011) and may generate multiple policy options thatnecessitate political and moral decision making

  18. Moss and Van den Broeck’s critiques of evidence-based policy • Unfettered evidence-based policy suffers from a ‘democratic deficit’ (Moss 2012). • Disregards importance of a shared vision and values base – what sort of society we want • Causal fallacy in developmental neuroscience i.e. correlations used to justify causal relations (Van den Broeke et al., 2012) • Economic analyses construct children as human capital -‘adults in waiting’

  19. Conclusions • In England, ECEC is a political football – no long term strategy • Policy making is not a simple linear process based on rational decision making; it is heavily influenced by politics, ideology and events • Evidence-based policy is not all it’s cracked up to be and research is only a small part of the picture • Must raise awareness of ECEC workers to become policy literate (Simpson and Connor, 2011;2)- able to interpret relevance of policy for their setting and resist if necessary (Miller and Hevey, 2012)

  20. Web sites for government reviews etc. • http://povertyreview.independent.gov.uk/media/20254/poverty-report.pdf • http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/early-intervention-next-steps.pdf • www.marmotreview.org • http://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=conResults&consultationId=1747&external=no&menu=3(EYFS Tickell review and govt response) • https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/munro-review-of-child-protection-final-report-a-child-centred-system • https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Foundations%20for%20quality%20-%20Nutbrown%20final%20report.pdf

  21. References Bauman, Z. (2007) Liquid life. Cambridge: Polity Press Campbell-Barr, V. (2012) Early years education and the value for money folklore. European Early Childhood Educational Research Journal. Vol. 20. No. 3, 423-437 CIS (2012) The early years: what practitioners and policy makers need to know. Early Years Briefing. Paper 8. Feb 2012 Children in Scotland www.childreninscotland.org DfE (2012) The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/AllPublications/Page1/DFE-00023-2012 DfE (2013a) More Great Childcare: Raising quality and giving parents more choice (January 2013) Department for Education. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/page1/DFE-00002-2013 Elfer, P. and Page. J. (2013) Nursery Ratios and Babies under 12m in Nursery. Unpublished respponse to More Great Childcare from Peter Elfer University of Roehampton) and Jools Page (University of Sheffield) Heckman, J.J. (2000) Invest in the very young. Chicago: Ounce of Prevention Fund and the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies

  22. References Hadfield, M., Jopling, M., Needham, N., Waller, T.,Coleyshaw, L., Emira, M. anad Royle, K. (2012) Longitudinal Study of Early Years Professional Status: an exploration of progress, leadership and impact. Final report for the DfE. CeDARE, University of Wolverhampton House, R. (2012) (ed.) Too much too soon? Early learning and the erosion of childhood. Gloucestershire: Hawthorn Press. Lumsden, E.(2012) The Early Years Professional: a new profession or a missed opportunity. Unpublished Ph.D.Thesis of the University of Northampton. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/4494/1/Lumsden20124494.pdf Mathers, S., Sylva, K. and Joshi, H. (2007) The quality of childcare settings in the Millenium Cohort Study. Sure Start Research Report SSU/2007/FR Miller, L.K. and Hevey, D. (2012) (Eds.)Policy Issues in the Early Years. London: Sage Moss, P. (2012) Making democracy a fundamental value: meaning what exactly? Ch.7 in Miller, L.K. and Hevey, D. (2012) (Eds.)Policy Issues in the Early Years. London: Sage

  23. References NESSE (2009) Early childhood education and care: key lessons from research for policy makers. Brussels: European Commission. Owen, S., Sharp, C. and Spratt, J. (2012) Closing the gap: policy into action. Ch.3. in Miller, L.K. and Hevey, D. (2012) (Eds.)Policy Issues in the Early Years. London: Sage Pascal, C. and Bartram, T. ( 2012) European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. Vol. 20, No. 4. 477-492 Simpson, G. and Connor, S. (2011) Social policy for social welfare professionals: tools for understanding, analysis and engagement. Bristol: The Policy Press Vandenbroeck, M., Roets, G. and Roose, R. (2012) Why the evidence-based paradigm in early education and care is anything but evident. European Early Childhood Educational Research Journal. Vol. 20, No. 4. 520-537 Waldfogel, J. (2006) What children need. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Harvard University Press

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