We now understand the Legislations and Law that
stands within New Zealand, but how does this affect early childhood teachers? Earlier
within this blog there was a blog post surrounding the implications child abuse
had for children’s brain development. Some of the discussion points where: health
and nutrition, raised cortisol levels, and positive learning environments. The
research provided within that blog post clearly outlined the implications that
child abuse had for children. In regards to pedagogical implications, the
discussion within this blog post will be shaped by The Code of Ethics for
Registered Teachers (2004), the evidence given in the earlier blog post ‘Implications
For Children’s Brain Development’ and implications from the introduction of White
Paper for Vulnerable Children.
In many early childhood centres teachers are
encouraged to build strong, trusting and reciprocal relationships with children,
parents, and whānau. In some cases parents and whānau could approach a teacher
for suggestions about child behaviour management which could lead to a
discussion to situations that have occurred at home. This could also lead the
teacher to directing the parent to the appropriate intervention agencies that
could help relieve some stress within the home environment. In some cases
teachers could be reacting on their gut instinct and in that case it is imperative
that teachers take the appropriate approach when dealing with this issue. Some
children can spend up to 10 hours a day at an early childhood centre, upto 50
hours each week, so it is important that teachers are to be able to recognise
the signs of child abuse. Child Welfare Information Gateway (2007) provides a fact sheet to recognising some signs and symptoms of child
abuse and/or neglect. “The presence of a single sign does not prove child abuse
is occurring in a family, but a closer look at the situation may be warranted
when these signs appear repeatedly or in combination. If you do suspect a child is being harmed, reporting
your suspicions may protect the child and get help for the family” (Child
Welfare Information Gateway, 2007, para. 1). Why do teachers need to recognise
this? Government Legislations and Policies are why. Teachers are required by
Law to report suspicions of child abuse and/or neglect. Section 139 AE(g) of
the Education Act 1989 requires that The New Zealand Teachers Council (2004) has an authorised obligation
to develop a Code of Ethics
for all teachers working in New Zealand. This document guides and shapes some
of the centre policies that many centres with uphold on a daily basis. The Code
of Ethics for Registered Teachers (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2004) states “teachers
registered to practice in New Zealand are committed to the attainment of the
highest standards of professional service” (para. 1).
This document is regulated by four fundamental
principles:
- Autonomy
to treat people with rights that are to be honoured and defended,
- Justice
to share power and prevent the abuse of power,
- Responsible
care to do good and minimise harm to
others,
- Truth
to be honest with others and self.
The achievement of this professional duty is attained
through “collaboration with collegues, learners, parents/guardians and
family/whānau, as well as members of the wider community” (New Zealand
Teachers Council, 2004, para. 2). Section 2: Commitment to
parents/guardians and family/whānau states “d) respect their rights to
information about their children, unless that is judged to be not in the best
interests of the children” (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2004, para. 12). This means that teachers
are required to communicate with parents about information regarding their
child, unless they believe this information could be detrimental to the child
once they had left the early childhood centre environment. This document also
states that “professional decisions must always be weighted towards what is
judged to be the best interests of learners” (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2004, para.
8). With this statement and the fact that the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) was
passed in 2011, making it now an offence to fail to take reasonable steps to
protect children from harm (Power, 2011), it is imperative that teachers are
always acting professionally in the best interest of the children.
This leads to the discussion of teachers providing
equal opportunities for all children within the early childhood centre, and
some of the pedagogical implications this could have in regards to children who
have been subjected to child abuse and/or neglect. As stated earlier the pedagogical
implications discussion will be guided by the effects child abuse has for
children’s brain development.
Health and
nutrition: As many know a healthy diet ensures a
healthy body. But not everyone knows that a healthy diet for children also
ensures healthy and optimum brain development. When a child eats a healthy and
well balanced diet the body produces and releases many chemicals essential to
assisting the brain with learning and with memory (Nutrition and the brain,
n.d; Georgieff, 2007). Implications for children can be a lack of
concentration, self-control, problem solving skills, emotional well-being, and
attention span. These can all have an impact on a child’s social and emotional
needs (Sunderland, 2006). There are many implications for teachers in regards
to children and their diet. It is important for teachers to understand the
effects of diet so that they can help educate children and their families on
nutrition by promoting healthy eating habits similar to 5+ a day. Teachers can
provide families with healthy eating guides and pamphlets provided from Plunket
and local health organisations about healthy lunch boxes. It is also equally
important for centres providing children with food that they ensure they are
offering a well-balanced, nutritious diet that provides a variety of all the
essential vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats that are ideal for optimal
growth and development (Thompson, 2008).The New Zealand Heart Foundation,
funded by the Ministry of Health, now offers early childhood centres the
opportunity of being part of the Healthy Heart Award programme. The Healthy
Heart Award programme not only focuses on centres providing healthy
well-balanced meals for children but also about promoting fun active movement experiences
with children (Heart Foundation, 2013). Teachers should also be aware of the
emotional climate at meal times in the centre. This can have a powerful impact
on a child’s eating behaviours. Meal times should be an enjoyable, relaxed, and
a social event in the centre for children to develop positive attitudes towards
healthy food (Berk, 2012).
Raised
cortisol levels: As discussed earlier in the blog constant
raised cortisol levels can be detrimental to a child’s brain development. When
a child has consistent high levels of cortisol being released into their body,
due to abuse and/or neglect, the child will constantly be living on a high
level of alert. This could result in an unsettled and anxious child. When a
child is neglected in the early stages of life, development is interrupted and
a deficit is formed for that child. Waldergrave & Waldergrave (2009) suggest that
this deficit will stay with the child throughout the stages of development. You
can physically see this deficit by looking back at the PET (Positron emission
tomography) scans on the blog post ‘Implications for Children’s Brain
Development.’ Constant high levels of cortisol can have a dramatic affect in
regards to the development of the brain. Areas that could be affected of the
brain are areas that involve cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and social
functioning (Waldergrave & Waldergrave, 2009). It is clear to see that
teachers need to have an understanding of how abuse impacts on the brain to be
able to reflect an understanding within their practice. Due to the effects high
cortisol levels have on the brain, this can present many pedagogical implications for
teachers. An unsettled child could mean that they are unable to self-regulate.
If a child is unable to self-regulate this could result in the heart rate being
raised, more cortisol being released into the blood stream, and the child
becoming more anxious and unsettled. This could then in turn cause stress
levels within the teaching team to rise as well as their cortisol levels too. Cognitive
development also relates to concentration, problem solving skills, and
attention span (Sunderland, 2006). A child with significant cognitive delays
due to child abuse and/or neglect would need additional assistance from
teachers to successfully achieve tasks within the centre. This could include
many tasks such as sitting on the mat for even short periods of time, persistence
with working out problems, being able to participate in group experiences, and being
able to manage their emotions. Some children with constant high levels of
cortisol can also have problematic sleeping patterns. Teachers need to be able
to provide children with uninterrupted peaceful sleeping environments that are
easily accessible when a child requires sleep. By responding to a child’s sleep
needs before a child becomes over tired and stressed, could help to reduce the
amount of cortisol being released into the body.
Positive
learning environments: Learning and development of the
domains (cognitive, emotional, social, and physical domains) are inter-weaving.
If one area of the domains is affected, in either a negative or a positive way,
this will have a direct impact on the development of the other domains (Clark
& Grey, 2010). Section 1: Commitment to learners, of the Code of Ethics for
Graduated Teachers, states that all teachers should “e) cater for the varied
learning needs of diverse learners” (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2004, para. 8).
This requires teachers to take in account all of the children’s learning needs
within the early childhood centre, especially those with learning difficulties
from being subjected to child abuse and/or neglect. Providing an environment
that embraces quality focused attention and care that is responsive to the
children and their needs helps to reduce stress for those children experiencing
on-going high cortisol levels. O’Neill (2010, p. 1) supports this by stating “a
history of secure relationships and a committed adult able to meet the child’s
emotional needs most of the time will contribute to a lasting positive impact
for the child”. Thompson (2008, p. 6) reminds us that “sensitive interactions
with adults does more to promote brain development than any toy”. This suggests
to early childhood teachers that they need to ensure they are providing
children with rich interactions to promote their cognitive, emotional, social,
and physical domains.
Although the White Paper for Vulnerable Children is
an amazing document that has many positive implications for children, there are
some negative implications that the government may have chosen to overlook or
have not yet planned for. The Social Security Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament
on April 9th 2013. This now means that parents, who rely on
financial help through benefits from the Government to provide for their child,
will face a 50% cut in their payments if they do not use and pay for early
childhood education that they are instructed to enrol in (Child Forum, 2013). This
could cause many implications for teachers, families, and for children. Many of
these children are probably not coming from abused and/or neglected homes and
are now being forced as a “social obligation” (Child Forum, 2013, para. 10) to
attend an early childhood service. Who is this benefiting? The parents who
choose to stay at home with their children, the children who are now forced to
enter the early childhood sector, or the early childhood centres who will be
pushed to the child: teacher ratio limits, and what about the increase in
stress and cortisol levels of the families, children, and teachers. Maybe the privately
owned early childhood centres would benefit from the increased role, and in the
long run the children and teachers could become ‘used to’ their working
conditions. But would the early childhood centres this affects still be able to
claim they provide a quality educational service with this major role increase?
Let’s also think of the fact that these are the families that are financially
struggling to keep on top of bills and the day to day living, and now they have
to pay for early childhood education on top of that! The objective behind this
Bill comes from the notion of wanting all beneficiaries to be back into the
work force. This new Law was put into place to also “break intergenerational cycles of disadvantage by giving a strong work message to parents combined
with ensuring that their children from 3 years were educated outside of the
family” (Child Forum, 2013, para. 6). Has it really come down to parents being
forced to enrol their children at and early childhood service, with no say in
where or when they will attend? I wonder where the government places the word
equity in this situation.
References
Berk, L. (2012). Infants
and children: Prenatal through middle childhood (7th ed). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Clark, B. & Grey, A. (2010). Āta kitea te pae- Scanning the horizon.
Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson.
Sunderland, M. (2006). What every parent needs to know. New York, NY: Doring Kindersley
Limited.
Waldergrave, C., & Waldergrave, K. (2009). Healthy families, young minds and developing
brains: enabling all children to reach their potential. Wellington, New Zealand: Families Commission.
