Childcare Educators' Understandings of Early Communication and Attachment

Abstract

Giving voice to the discipline-specific knowledge and pedagogical practices of childcare educators, this paper attempts to explore new ways of defining educators' work with young children, given the poststructural turn in Australian and international Early Childhood policy. Three focus groups (n = 8 children's education and care services; n = 19 educators) were held in metropolitan Adelaide (South Australia) to explore their professional understandings of early communication and attachment development. Childcare educators described the relational and communicative elements of their work that supported or constrained their capacity to understand individual children's socio-emotional needs at enrolment, during transitions and in day-today routines. Whether attachment relationships were forged or being built, these educators explained how emotional reciprocity and an understanding of the child through secure attachment relationships enabled them to notice young children's communication abilities and needs, and vice versa. While the findings illuminate the expertise childcare educators bring to their work, we argue that there is a need to further explore how this expertise shapes their programs, practices and professional development needs.

The Presence of Pedagogy and Care in Leisure-time Centres’ Local Documents: Leisure-time Teachers’ Documented Reflections

“…From that viewpoint, arguments on teachers' hardships to articulate the content of the educational setting, and their professionalism, decrease the argument's relevance. The neoliberal ideal of independency discussed by Wrenn and Waller (2017) chafes against the notion of care as mutual and reciprocal relationships, which Jovanovic et al (2016) claimed are fundamental when working with children and parents in early childhood settings. Such chafing is a significant challenge to the LTTs and is manifested in their written reflections; some strongly relate to neoliberal tendencies, while others relate to the care traditions in LTCs.…”

Care in Early Learning and Childcare Transitions

“…This was attributed to an increased understanding of the importance of supporting child development, particularly in the early years. Several studies referenced changing policies; both national and international which influenced the changes (Brooker, 2010;McShane, 2016) resulting in a more education focused provision (Jovanovic et al, 2016) and often associated with this, a greater level of bureaucracy (Douglas & Gittell, 2012;Lofgren, 2016).…”

“…While care remained in the title of other countries' documentation to varying degrees, several studies did comment on the tensions between care and education because of this shift (Brooker, 2010;Lofgren, 2016) and also on the standardisation of provision (Douglas & Gittell, 2012). When discussing the standardisation of provision, some reported on this neutrally (Jovanovic et al, 2016;McShane, 2016), while others were notably disdainful (Lofgren, 2016). Press et al (2015) provided balance in their discussion, suggesting that while quantitative data associated with standardisation could be deemed necessary to ensure policy changes are informed by more than political ideals, qualitative data, particularly in a complex field such as ELC cannot be overlooked, as it is often this quantitative data which illustrates the complexities and nuances which cannot be captured in quantifiable data.…”

Insights into Indian immigrant children’s and parents’ experiences of New Zealand early childhood education

“…Two other mothers commented positively on their children's spoken English. Research suggests there are clear links between young children's developing speech and language skills and secure attachment with caring teachers, particularly for bilingual children and those who may experience social disadvantages (Jovanovic et al, 2016).…”