Elfer P. Emotional Aspects of Nursery Policy and Practice – Progress and Prospect
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Elfer P. Emotional Aspects of Nursery Policy and Practice – Progress and Prospect // Preschool Education Today. 2016, Issue 8 -
p. 68–79.
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Abstract
This article argues for a turn in early years policy towards more serious attention to the emotional dimensions of nursery organisation and practice. The article describes three developing bodies of research on emotion in nursery, each taking a different theoretical perspective. The central argument of the article is that these three bodies of research converge in their findings on the importance of staff feeling cared about and understood in enabling staff to more effective in thinking about and responding to the individual children with whom they work. The article illustrates how emotion might be taken more seriously through reference to a number of developing practical initiatives arising from these bodies of work.
References
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3. Belsky, J., M. Burchinal, K. McCartney, D. Vandell, K. Clarke-Stewart, and M. T. Owen. 2007. Are There Long Term Effects of Early Child Care? Child Development, 78 (2): 681–701.
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7. Brooker, L. 2010. «Constructing the Triangle of Care: Power and Professionalism in Practitioner/parent Relationships.» British Journal of Educational Studies 58 (2): 181–196.
8. Brooks-Gunn, J., A. Sidle-Fuligni, and L. J. Berlin, eds. 2003. Early Child Development in the 21st Century: Profiles of Current Research Initiatives. New York: Teachers College press.
9. Centre for Social Justice. 2012. Transforming Childcare, Changing Lives: Making Sure that Work Pays. London: CSJ October 2012.
10. Colley, H. 2006. «Learning to Labour with Feeling: Class, Gender and Emotion in Childcare Education and Training.» Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 7 (1): 15–29.
11. Cooke, G. and Henehan, K. 2012. Double Dutch: The Case against Deregulation and Demandled Funding in Childcare. Institute for Public Policy Research.
12. Dahlberg, G., P. Moss, and A. Pence. 1999. Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. Postmodern Perspectives. London: Falmer Press.
13. Datler, W., M. Datler, and A. Funder. 2010. «Struggling Against a Feeling of Becoming Lost: A Young Boy’s Painful Transition to Day Care.» International Journal of Infant Observation 13 (1): 65–87.
14. Degotardi, S., and E. Pearson. 2009. Relationship Theory in the Nursery: Attachment and Beyond. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 10 (2): 144–145.
15. Department for Education. 2012. The Revised Early Years Foundation Stage. London: DfE.
16. Department for Education. 2013. More Great Childcare: Raising Quality and Giving Parents More Choice. London: DfE.
17. Department for Education and Skills. 2002. Birth to Three Matters: A Framework for Supporting Early Years Practitioners. London, DfES: SureStart Unit.
18. Department for Education and Skills. 2004. Effective Provision of PreSchool Education (EPPE) Project. Findings from Preschool to end of Key Stage 1. Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. & Taggart, B. DfES (1997-2004). Report 18596.
19. Department of Health. 1991. The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations, Volume 2: Family Support, Day Care and Educational Provision for Young Children. London: HMSO.
20. Drugli, M. B., and A. M. Undheim. 2012. «Relationships between Young Children in Full Time Day Care and their Caregivers: A Qualitative Study of Parental and Caregiver Perceptions.» Early Childhood Development and Care 182 (9): 1155–1165.
21. Elfer, P. 2009. 5000 hours: Facilitating intimacy in the care of children under three attending full time nursery. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of East London, UK.
22. Elfer, P. 2012a. Psychoanalytic Methods of Observation as a Research Tool for Exploring Young Children’s Nursery Experience. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 15 (3): 225–238.
23. Elfer, P. 2012b. «Emotion in Nursery Work: Work Discussion as a Model of Critical Professional Reflection.» Early Years: An International Research Journal 32 (2): 129–141.
24. Elfer, P., and K. Dearnley. 2007. «Nurseries and Emotional Well-being: Evaluating an Emotionally Containing Model of Professional Development.» Early Years: An International Research Journal 27 (3): 267–279.
25. Emmerson, C., and G. Tetlow. 2012. Autumn Statement 2012: More Fiscal Pain to Come. London: Institute of Fiscal Studies/ESRC.
26. Hochschild, A. 1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.
27. Hopkins, J. 1988. «Facilitating the Development of Intimacy between Nurses and Infants in Day Nurseries.» Early Child Development and Care 33: 99–111.
28. House, R., ed. 2011. Too Much Too Soon: Early Learning and the Erosion of Childhood. Glouchestershire: Hawthorne Press.
29. Jackson, E. 2008. «Work Discussion Groups in Educational Settings.» Journal of Child Psychotherapy 34 (1): 62–82.
30. Jaques, E. 1955. «Social Systems as Defence Against Persecutory and Depressive Anxiety: A Contribution to the Psycho-analytical Study of Social Processes.» In New Directions in Psycho-Analysis: The Significance of Infant Conflict in the Pattern of Adult Behavior, edited by M. Klein, P. Heiman and R. E. Money-Kyrle, 478–499. London: Tavistock Publications Limited.
31. Laevers, F., ed. 2005. Well-being and Involvement in Care. A Process Orientated Self Evaluation Instrument. Leuven: Leuven University Department of Educational Studies.
32. Leach, P., J. Barnes, M. Nichols, J. Goldin, A. Stein, K. Sylva, L. E. Malmberg, and the FCCC team. 2006. «Child Care Before 6 Months of Age: A Qualitative Study of Mothers’ Decisions and Feelings About Employment and Non-maternal Care.» Infant and Child Development: An International Journal of Research 15 (5): 471–502.
33. Leach, P., and C. Trevarthen. 2012. Early Childhood: Let’s begin at the Beginning. Nursery World Magazine. 15th October 2012.
34. Lee, S. Y. 2006. «Infant-caregiver Relationship Development in a Childcare Context.» Journal of Early Childhood Research 4 (2): 133–151.
35. Mathers, S., K. Sylva, and H. Joshi, with K. Hansen, I. Plewis, J. Johnson, A. George, F. Linskey & Y. Grabbe. 2007. Quality of Childcare Settings in the Millennium Cohort Study. Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford and Institute of Education, University of London. London: HMSO.
36. McGurk, H., M. Caplan, E. Hennessy, and P. Moss. 1993. «Controversy, theory and social context in contemporary day care research.» Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34 (1): 3–23.
37. Melhuish, E. 2004. Child Benefits: The Importance of Investing in Quality Childcare (Facing the Future, Policy Papers).
38. Menzies-Lyth, I. 1989. Dynamics of the Social: Selected Essays (Volume 2) Day Care of Children Under Five: An Action Research Study. London: Free Association Books.
39. Ministry of Health & Ministry of Education. 1945, December 14th. Nursery Provision for Children under Five. (Circular 221/45). HMSO.
40. Moss, P., and H. Penn. 2003. Transforming Nursery Education. London: Paul Chapman.
41. Moss, P., and P. Petrie. 2002. From Children’s Services to Children’s Spaces: Public Policy, Children and Childhood. London: Routledge-Falmer.
42. Music, G. 2011. Nurturing Natures: Attachment and Children’s Emotional, Sociocultural and Brain Development. Hove and New York: Psychology Press.
43. National Institute for Clinical Excellence. 2012. Guidance on Social and Emotional Well being in the Early Years. October 2012.
44. Nutbrown, C. 2012. Foundations for Quality: The Independent Review of Early Education and Childcare Qualifications – the Nutbrown Review. June 2012.
45. Office for Standards in Education. 2012. Annual Early Years Report. Ofsted, 2012.
46. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2006. Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: OECD.
47. Osgood, J. 2004. «Time to Get Down to Business? The Response of Early Years Practitioners to Entrepreneurial Approaches to Professionalism.» Journal of Early Childhood Research 2 (1): 5–24.
48. Osgood, J. 2010. «Reconstrucing Professionalism in ECEC: The Case for the ‘Critically Reflective Emotional Professional.» Early Years 30 (2): 119–133.
49. Page, J. 2008. «Permission to Love Them…but not Too Much!.» In Working with Babies and Children from Birth to Three, edited by C. Nutbrown and J. Page, 184–190. London: Sage.
50. Palmer, A. 2011. «Nursery Schools for the Few or the Many? Childhood, Education and the State in Mid-twentieth-century England.» Paedagogica Historica 47: 1–14.
51. Penn, H. 2007. «Childcare Market Management: How the United Kingdom Government has Reshaped its Role I Developing Early Childhood Education and Care.» Contemporary Issues in EarlyChildhood 8 (3): 192–207.
52. Phillipsen, L. C., M. R. Burchinal, C. Howes, and D. Cryer. 1997. «The Prediction of Process Quality from Structural Features of Child Care.» Early Childhood Research Quarterly 12: 281–303.
53. Piper, H., and H. Smith. 2003. «Touch in Educational and Child Care Settings: Dilemmas and Responses.» British Educational Research Journal 29 (6): 879–894.
54. Price, H. 2001. «Emotional Labour in the Classroom: A Psychoanalytic Perspective.» Journal of Social Work Practice 5, 15 (2): 161–180.
55. Pugh, G. 1988. Services for Under Fives: Developing a Co-ordinated Approach. London: National Children’s Bureau.
56. Rustin, M. E. 2009. «Esther Bick’s Legacy of Infant Observation at the Tavistock – Some Reflections 60 Years On.» International Journal of Infant Observation and its Applications 12 (1): 29–41.
57. Rustin, M. J. 1989. Observing infants: reflections on methods. In Closely Observed Infants, edited by L. Miller, M. E. Rustin, M. J. Rustin and J. Shuttleworth, 52–75. London: Duckworth.
58. Rutter, M. 1995. «Clinical Implications of Attachment Concepts: Retrospect and Prospect.» Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 36 (4): 549–571.
59. Rutter, M. 2002. «Nature, Nurture and Development: From Evangelism, through Science towards Policy and Practice.» Child Development 73 (1): 1–21.
60. Schon, D. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. London: Temple Smith.
61. Shuttleworth. 2002. «Turning Towards a Bio-psycho-social Way of Thinking.» European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling 5 (3): 205–223.
62. Smith, C., and J. Vernon. 1994. Day Nurseries at a Crossroads. Meeting the Challenge of Child Care in the Nineties. London: National Children’s Bureau.
63. Stanley, K., G. Cooke, and K. Bellamy. 2006. Equal Access? Appropriate and Affordable Childcare for Every Child. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.
64. Sylva, K., and G. Pugh. 2005. «Transforming the Early Years in England.» Oxford Review of Education 31 (1): 11–27.
65. Taggart, G. 2011. «Don’t We Care?: The Ethics and Emotional Labour of Early Years Professionalism.» Early Years 31 (1): 85–95.
2. Bain, A., and L. Barnett. 1986. The Design of a Day Care System in a Nursery Setting for Children Under Five: An Abridged Version of a Report of an Action Research Project (Document No. 2T347). London: Tavistock Institute of Human Relations.
3. Belsky, J., M. Burchinal, K. McCartney, D. Vandell, K. Clarke-Stewart, and M. T. Owen. 2007. Are There Long Term Effects of Early Child Care? Child Development, 78 (2): 681–701.
4. Bion, W. R. 1963. Learning from Experience. London: Heinemann.
5. Bowlby, J. 1969. Attachment and Loss. Vol. 1: Attachment. London: Hogarth Press.
6. Brehony, K. J., and K. D. Nawrotzki. 2011. «From weak social democracy to hybridized neoliberalism: Early Childhood Education in Britain since 1945.» In Time Policies of Child Care, Preschool and Primary Education in Europe, edited by K. Hagemann, K. H. Jarausch, and C. Allemann-Ghionda, 237–256. New York: Oxford Berghahn Books.
7. Brooker, L. 2010. «Constructing the Triangle of Care: Power and Professionalism in Practitioner/parent Relationships.» British Journal of Educational Studies 58 (2): 181–196.
8. Brooks-Gunn, J., A. Sidle-Fuligni, and L. J. Berlin, eds. 2003. Early Child Development in the 21st Century: Profiles of Current Research Initiatives. New York: Teachers College press.
9. Centre for Social Justice. 2012. Transforming Childcare, Changing Lives: Making Sure that Work Pays. London: CSJ October 2012.
10. Colley, H. 2006. «Learning to Labour with Feeling: Class, Gender and Emotion in Childcare Education and Training.» Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 7 (1): 15–29.
11. Cooke, G. and Henehan, K. 2012. Double Dutch: The Case against Deregulation and Demandled Funding in Childcare. Institute for Public Policy Research.
12. Dahlberg, G., P. Moss, and A. Pence. 1999. Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. Postmodern Perspectives. London: Falmer Press.
13. Datler, W., M. Datler, and A. Funder. 2010. «Struggling Against a Feeling of Becoming Lost: A Young Boy’s Painful Transition to Day Care.» International Journal of Infant Observation 13 (1): 65–87.
14. Degotardi, S., and E. Pearson. 2009. Relationship Theory in the Nursery: Attachment and Beyond. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 10 (2): 144–145.
15. Department for Education. 2012. The Revised Early Years Foundation Stage. London: DfE.
16. Department for Education. 2013. More Great Childcare: Raising Quality and Giving Parents More Choice. London: DfE.
17. Department for Education and Skills. 2002. Birth to Three Matters: A Framework for Supporting Early Years Practitioners. London, DfES: SureStart Unit.
18. Department for Education and Skills. 2004. Effective Provision of PreSchool Education (EPPE) Project. Findings from Preschool to end of Key Stage 1. Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. & Taggart, B. DfES (1997-2004). Report 18596.
19. Department of Health. 1991. The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations, Volume 2: Family Support, Day Care and Educational Provision for Young Children. London: HMSO.
20. Drugli, M. B., and A. M. Undheim. 2012. «Relationships between Young Children in Full Time Day Care and their Caregivers: A Qualitative Study of Parental and Caregiver Perceptions.» Early Childhood Development and Care 182 (9): 1155–1165.
21. Elfer, P. 2009. 5000 hours: Facilitating intimacy in the care of children under three attending full time nursery. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of East London, UK.
22. Elfer, P. 2012a. Psychoanalytic Methods of Observation as a Research Tool for Exploring Young Children’s Nursery Experience. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 15 (3): 225–238.
23. Elfer, P. 2012b. «Emotion in Nursery Work: Work Discussion as a Model of Critical Professional Reflection.» Early Years: An International Research Journal 32 (2): 129–141.
24. Elfer, P., and K. Dearnley. 2007. «Nurseries and Emotional Well-being: Evaluating an Emotionally Containing Model of Professional Development.» Early Years: An International Research Journal 27 (3): 267–279.
25. Emmerson, C., and G. Tetlow. 2012. Autumn Statement 2012: More Fiscal Pain to Come. London: Institute of Fiscal Studies/ESRC.
26. Hochschild, A. 1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.
27. Hopkins, J. 1988. «Facilitating the Development of Intimacy between Nurses and Infants in Day Nurseries.» Early Child Development and Care 33: 99–111.
28. House, R., ed. 2011. Too Much Too Soon: Early Learning and the Erosion of Childhood. Glouchestershire: Hawthorne Press.
29. Jackson, E. 2008. «Work Discussion Groups in Educational Settings.» Journal of Child Psychotherapy 34 (1): 62–82.
30. Jaques, E. 1955. «Social Systems as Defence Against Persecutory and Depressive Anxiety: A Contribution to the Psycho-analytical Study of Social Processes.» In New Directions in Psycho-Analysis: The Significance of Infant Conflict in the Pattern of Adult Behavior, edited by M. Klein, P. Heiman and R. E. Money-Kyrle, 478–499. London: Tavistock Publications Limited.
31. Laevers, F., ed. 2005. Well-being and Involvement in Care. A Process Orientated Self Evaluation Instrument. Leuven: Leuven University Department of Educational Studies.
32. Leach, P., J. Barnes, M. Nichols, J. Goldin, A. Stein, K. Sylva, L. E. Malmberg, and the FCCC team. 2006. «Child Care Before 6 Months of Age: A Qualitative Study of Mothers’ Decisions and Feelings About Employment and Non-maternal Care.» Infant and Child Development: An International Journal of Research 15 (5): 471–502.
33. Leach, P., and C. Trevarthen. 2012. Early Childhood: Let’s begin at the Beginning. Nursery World Magazine. 15th October 2012.
34. Lee, S. Y. 2006. «Infant-caregiver Relationship Development in a Childcare Context.» Journal of Early Childhood Research 4 (2): 133–151.
35. Mathers, S., K. Sylva, and H. Joshi, with K. Hansen, I. Plewis, J. Johnson, A. George, F. Linskey & Y. Grabbe. 2007. Quality of Childcare Settings in the Millennium Cohort Study. Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford and Institute of Education, University of London. London: HMSO.
36. McGurk, H., M. Caplan, E. Hennessy, and P. Moss. 1993. «Controversy, theory and social context in contemporary day care research.» Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34 (1): 3–23.
37. Melhuish, E. 2004. Child Benefits: The Importance of Investing in Quality Childcare (Facing the Future, Policy Papers).
38. Menzies-Lyth, I. 1989. Dynamics of the Social: Selected Essays (Volume 2) Day Care of Children Under Five: An Action Research Study. London: Free Association Books.
39. Ministry of Health & Ministry of Education. 1945, December 14th. Nursery Provision for Children under Five. (Circular 221/45). HMSO.
40. Moss, P., and H. Penn. 2003. Transforming Nursery Education. London: Paul Chapman.
41. Moss, P., and P. Petrie. 2002. From Children’s Services to Children’s Spaces: Public Policy, Children and Childhood. London: Routledge-Falmer.
42. Music, G. 2011. Nurturing Natures: Attachment and Children’s Emotional, Sociocultural and Brain Development. Hove and New York: Psychology Press.
43. National Institute for Clinical Excellence. 2012. Guidance on Social and Emotional Well being in the Early Years. October 2012.
44. Nutbrown, C. 2012. Foundations for Quality: The Independent Review of Early Education and Childcare Qualifications – the Nutbrown Review. June 2012.
45. Office for Standards in Education. 2012. Annual Early Years Report. Ofsted, 2012.
46. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2006. Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: OECD.
47. Osgood, J. 2004. «Time to Get Down to Business? The Response of Early Years Practitioners to Entrepreneurial Approaches to Professionalism.» Journal of Early Childhood Research 2 (1): 5–24.
48. Osgood, J. 2010. «Reconstrucing Professionalism in ECEC: The Case for the ‘Critically Reflective Emotional Professional.» Early Years 30 (2): 119–133.
49. Page, J. 2008. «Permission to Love Them…but not Too Much!.» In Working with Babies and Children from Birth to Three, edited by C. Nutbrown and J. Page, 184–190. London: Sage.
50. Palmer, A. 2011. «Nursery Schools for the Few or the Many? Childhood, Education and the State in Mid-twentieth-century England.» Paedagogica Historica 47: 1–14.
51. Penn, H. 2007. «Childcare Market Management: How the United Kingdom Government has Reshaped its Role I Developing Early Childhood Education and Care.» Contemporary Issues in EarlyChildhood 8 (3): 192–207.
52. Phillipsen, L. C., M. R. Burchinal, C. Howes, and D. Cryer. 1997. «The Prediction of Process Quality from Structural Features of Child Care.» Early Childhood Research Quarterly 12: 281–303.
53. Piper, H., and H. Smith. 2003. «Touch in Educational and Child Care Settings: Dilemmas and Responses.» British Educational Research Journal 29 (6): 879–894.
54. Price, H. 2001. «Emotional Labour in the Classroom: A Psychoanalytic Perspective.» Journal of Social Work Practice 5, 15 (2): 161–180.
55. Pugh, G. 1988. Services for Under Fives: Developing a Co-ordinated Approach. London: National Children’s Bureau.
56. Rustin, M. E. 2009. «Esther Bick’s Legacy of Infant Observation at the Tavistock – Some Reflections 60 Years On.» International Journal of Infant Observation and its Applications 12 (1): 29–41.
57. Rustin, M. J. 1989. Observing infants: reflections on methods. In Closely Observed Infants, edited by L. Miller, M. E. Rustin, M. J. Rustin and J. Shuttleworth, 52–75. London: Duckworth.
58. Rutter, M. 1995. «Clinical Implications of Attachment Concepts: Retrospect and Prospect.» Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 36 (4): 549–571.
59. Rutter, M. 2002. «Nature, Nurture and Development: From Evangelism, through Science towards Policy and Practice.» Child Development 73 (1): 1–21.
60. Schon, D. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. London: Temple Smith.
61. Shuttleworth. 2002. «Turning Towards a Bio-psycho-social Way of Thinking.» European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling 5 (3): 205–223.
62. Smith, C., and J. Vernon. 1994. Day Nurseries at a Crossroads. Meeting the Challenge of Child Care in the Nineties. London: National Children’s Bureau.
63. Stanley, K., G. Cooke, and K. Bellamy. 2006. Equal Access? Appropriate and Affordable Childcare for Every Child. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.
64. Sylva, K., and G. Pugh. 2005. «Transforming the Early Years in England.» Oxford Review of Education 31 (1): 11–27.
65. Taggart, G. 2011. «Don’t We Care?: The Ethics and Emotional Labour of Early Years Professionalism.» Early Years 31 (1): 85–95.