What are some pedagogical implications for teachers in early childhood centres?

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 9^th 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.

Child Forum. (2013). Government Decides ECE Participation is a Social Obligation. How People and Services May Adjust and Respond. Retrieved from http://www.childforum.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1023:government-decides-ece-participation-is-a-social-obligation-how-peoople-and-services-may-adjust-and-respond&catid=64:news-for-early-childhood-education-&Itemid=172

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2007). Recognising child abuse and neglect: Signs and symptoms. Retrieved from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/signs.cfm

Clark, B. & Grey, A. (2010). Āta kitea te pae- Scanning the horizon. Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson.

Georgieff, M,. K. (2007). Nutrition and the developing brain: Nutrient priorities and measurements 1,2,3. Retrieved from http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/2/614S.long

Heart Foundation. (2013). The Healthy Heart Award for early childhood education. Retrieved from http://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/programmes-resources/schools-and-eces/healthy-heart-award

New Zealand Teachers Council. (2004). Code of Ethics for registered teachers. Retrieved from http://archive.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/required/ethics/codeofethics.stm

Nutrition and the brain. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/nutr.html

O’Neill, K. (2010). Stress: The good the bad the ugly. Retrieved  from http://www.brainwave.org.nz

Power, S. (2011). Bill to protect children from abuse one step closer. Retrieved from http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/bill-protect-children-abuse-one-step-closer

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.