Giving Children a Voice: Accessing The Views And Interests Of 3 -4 Year Old Children In Playgroup 10/04 [NI]
Written by Julie Cunningham, Glenda Walsh, Jill Dunn, Denise Mitchell and Mary McAlister
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The study “Giving children a voice: accessing the views and interests of three/four year old children in playgroups� began in April 2004 for a period of six months. The project was funded by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland. The research sought to access the voice of three-four year old children in playgroups in an attempt to determine what young children have to say about their early years experience and to ascertain how such information can be used effectively to inform childcare policy and practice in the context of Northern Ireland.
An array of data collection methods such as detailed observation, child puppet interviews, and the use of digital cameras were employed as a means of accessing the young child’s perspective of the playgroup experience. Structured staff interviews and parent questionnaires were also used in order to capture the views of the other main stakeholders involved, as well as gaining an insight into the importance they accredit to listening to the voice of the young child.
The study also considered other important factors such as the quality of the playgroup environment using the Quality Learning Instrument (Walsh, 2000) as the main assessment schedule. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used throughout the study to gain an overall picture of the views of the children, staff and parents.
The key purposes of the study detailed in this report were as follows:
.... To evaluate whether young children have a voice in playgroup and if so what do they have to say;
.... To examine whether their voice is being heard by considering whether staff:
....are in tune with the children’s thinking?
....access the views of the children already and if so, how is such information being used to inform practice?
....value the importance of accessing the views of their children?
.... To discover what parents have to say about their child’s experience at playgroup and to evaluate whether parents are in tune with their children’s thinking.
Altogether 84 children in total were chosen from 14 randomly selected playgroups throughout Northern Ireland. Children within the playgroups were selected according to their birth date. All of the participants were between the ages of three – four years old.
KEY FINDINGS
Children
.... Children as young as three can express their views and interests about their playgroup experience if a range of appropriate media are used;
.... Young Children appear to be better at voicing their likes rather than their dislikes;
.... The favourite areas of play most photographed by the children were those that allowed the children to use their own initiative, to use their imagination and to be physically active;
.... Areas where the children had to sit for long periods of time were photographed by many as areas of dislike;
.... The most popular area of play for the females appeared to be the home corner;
.... The most popular area of play for the males tended to be the construction / table top area and the sand tray;
.... Children appear to be more content when they have attractive resources and materials to play with, there is good interaction on the part of the staff and the environment is well organised.
Staff
.... Staff tend to be in tune with the thinking of young children but sometimes can over-emphasise the end-product, rather than the process of learning;
.... The majority of staff, in particular the playgroup leaders, expressed confidence in accessing the views of the children. However this was not always evident in practice;
.... Almost all staff chose to focus on verbal methods of accessing children’s views and appeared unaware that non verbal methods can be used to access young children’s views such as digital cameras and observations;
.... Many of the staff in playgroups feel undervalued, due to poor pay conditions, lack of funding, and negative press.
Parents
.... A large majority of the parents appeared very satisfied with the playgroup experience their child/ren was receiving;
.... The most popular response as to why the parents liked the playgroup was due to the attitude of the staff towards them and their children;
.... Like the staff, many of the parents over-emphasised the outcome of learning as being of importance to their child, rather than the process;
.... Some parents emphasised the need for better outdoor provision;
.... Any changes recommended by the parents tended to focus on their own direct needs such as longer sessions, holiday provision, and earlier starting times perhaps to accommodate working parents;
.... The majority of parents did not appear aware of the importance of accessing their own child/ren’s views.
Quality of playgroups
.... Overall the quality of the learning experience was rated satisfactory – high in the majority of playgroups; however a large minority was rated as satisfactory or less;
.... The observations suggested that it was particularly in the area of challenge that many playgroups needed to make improvements.
Published Stranmillis University College, October 2004
Contacts:
Glenda Walsh
Stranmillis University College
Stranmillis Road
BELFAST
BT9 5DY
Tel: 02890 384 432
Fax: 02890 664 423
E-mail: g.walsh@stran.ac.uk
