International Perspectives in Childhood - Essay Example

?International Perspectives in Childhood Critical Evaluation of UK and International Childcare Practice Introduction Preschool is collective of three types of activities that are available to young children: family daycare homes, open preschool, and preschool. Like childcare for the children of school, in total, preschools have two primary goals. In the first place, they help children to provide the stimulation for the development of the child and their learning, and secondly, they enable parents to combine parenthood with the studies or work (Sweden.Se, 2011). Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom provide a diverse range of social, economic and political contexts. Including this, they have various policies directed towards the education and care of young children. In this paper, an evaluation between the pre-schooling practices in Sweden, Italy and United Kingdom, exploring the social, political and economic factors influencing pre-schooling in these countries and to critical analysis of the role of children’s right in pre-schools these countries is discussed. Sweden, Italy and U.K are rank in the most top 21 developing countries in the world in childcare well-being Sweden 5.0, Italy 10.0 and U.K 18.2. The UNICEF report card 7 (The United Nations Children’s Fund, 2007). It is discussed in the paper that Sweden offers a maximum fee policy, which lets parents to spend between 1% and 3 % of their family’s income on the childcare. It depends on the number of children they have. Whereas the government of the United Kingdom offers 12.5 hours of free early learning in a week, which is applicable to all form of childcare for at least 28 weeks of the year (Guardian, 2008). The paper also discusses the structure of the classes and the approach of teaching adopted by the three countries. The discussion ends on the conclusion where it decides the Swedish nurseries to have the best approach and providing more freedom for the children to play and explore new things. This way, without forcing children, they become geared up to learn new things at appropriate time (Bennett, 2001). Political factor surrounding these countries In Sweden the maximum rate is LIMITED to ?102 a month which is ?1224 a year, families pay less for a second child and a third is around 0.025% or 1% of the family income (Sundelin, 2008). This is because In Sweden, preschools can either run privately or publically. Municipal government of Sweden is responsible for providing preschool, after three to four years. The government made sure that the places are provided at a reasonable price, including meals. For Swedish children, the maximum cost for the preschool is SEK 1,260 per month for every child. (Sweden.Se, 2011). In the U.K the average yearly preschool parents spend for 25 hours per week stands at ?5,028 per child (Daycare Trust, 2011). The childcare provided in UK is expensive and most of the times parents cannot afford it. Same is the case with Italy, where the daycare centers are not only expensive and limited but offer less number of hours per day, which makes the parents’ job a difficult task. Thus, when the statistics are compared, it is seen that the preschool educators of the three countries are trying to provide facilities to the young children; likewise they are promoting educational structure in their countries. However, the stability that is provided by Sweden is the best. Parents may want to go back to work but good quality childcare is not really affordable for most people that work in the U.K and Italy, some people may find it more beneficial not to go back to work and get help from the government for childcare, which have a huge impact on the economy. The government policy in Sweden makes it affordable for their people to go back to work and still have quality childcare. The government not only shares the economical burden of the children’s education, they also give children best day care facilities that can help the parents to continue their job while the children are in safe hands. In Sweden the maximum fee policy means that everyone has affordable childcare (Sundelin, 2008). Clearly, Sweden has a well-developed educational system in comparison to the United Kingdom and Italy. Social and economic factors The aim of the Early Years Foundation stage in the UK is to ensure children aged 0-5 benefit from a safe, happy and secure environment where they can play and develop, setting the foundation for the primary curriculum (INCA, 2009). Wikstrom (2009) states that the assessment and educational system in Sweden, Italy and the UK have underlying differences, but have similarities as well. Both countries’ educational systems have been subject to reform which affect both countries, “English moved toward centralization and increased regulation and Sweden towards decentralized and de-regulation” (Wikstrom, 2009 p255). For Italy, it has moved towards centralization. The U.K and Sweden may seem different but both countries were introduced to the national curriculum around the same time with England a few years earlier than Sweden (Wikstrom, 2009), however pre-schooling in Sweden is considered one of the best-developed practices around the globe (Korpi, 2007). In Italy, Along with private study, the Italian schools also offer religious studies. For the primary students, these classes are compulsory. But Sweden and United Kingdom do not have such implications, and the international students do not face such problems (UN report, 2001). It may be the informal approach which the Swedish have adopted that ranks them as one of the best education practice in the world. Sweden have a more relaxed approach to children’s learning (Sweden Early Years, 2006). “In Reggio Emilia the child is viewed as a powerful partner who ‘actively co-constructs’ the content of the curriculum with a more able ‘other’ ” Soler and Miller (2003, p 66). The key word in this quote is the ‘child’ not the practitioner or parent, the child is the one that co-constructs the curriculum. By allowing the child to be active and creative in their own time rather than enforcing a constructive practice on a child gives them the chance to learn through play and creativity, when children are given opportunities to choose activities, learning becomes more meaningful and memorable. According to the UNCRC treaty by the United Kingdom on the children’s rights, it believed that every child has the right to survive, develop and live. They have the right to have their own views. The government of Italy, under the act of UNICEF gives the children right to get education and enjoy; for the refugee children, it gives special protection (Directgov, 2011). As compared to this, the Swedish government offers their children the opportunity for development; by protecting children against harm and neglect, and supporting their parents in a better way that encourages them to participate in the community effectively (Ministry of Health and social Affairs, 2010). This shows that all these countries give the basic rights of health, security, and education to their children, so that they can develop their future in a better way. Providing that environment and support for children is the approach that Sweden has taken, the pre-school environment is more like a family home (Lewis, 2008). Children are made to feel more relaxed and at home in Sweden’s pre-school, with lots of room to play both indoors and outdoors compared to the UK where class rooms are overcrowded with furnishings and less outdoor play. In Italy, as well, children are not comfortable in exploring their ideas. Other than this, the childcare options that are available for the working parents are more limited than in other EU countries. In the United Kingdom and Sweden, parents can decide whether they want to use a combination of part time jobs and childcare or they should use parental leave. They also have the right to choose among the private, public and informal services. However, services available for the Italian parents are more limited; they use less private and public childcare options and less part time jobs as well (Del Boca, 2011). This attempt makes the job difficult for the Italian parents whereas the parents from the UK and Sweden have more opportunities and flexibility to work. In Italy, as compared to the United Kingdom and Sweden, the childcare opportunities are limited. Thus, the parents have to use informal care for their children. The data from EU-SILC shows that about 20 % of the children in Italy use childcare. In the United Kingdom, childcare availability is also poor. However, unlike Italy, there are a large number of part time jobs that are offered, which makes it easier for the parents to work and take care for their children at the same time. In Sweden, childcare facility under the age of 3 is available. Such availability helps the parents of young children to combine their family and professional responsibilities. In Italy, the proportion of children in public childcare is 12%; in Sweden it is between 35% - 40% (Del Boca and A. Rosina 2009). Conclusion For parents, the British pre-school options consist of toddler groups, day nurseries and pre schools. In Sweden, the childcare is organized in a similar way with pre-school, family day care homes, open pre-schools and leisure time centers. All the pre schools working in Sweden are assessed by the government and they have to meet certain standards. In Italy, the daycare facilities offered are less as compared to the other two countries. In the United Kingdom and Italy, the preschool and childcare is provided by private sector, which makes it very expensive for the parents to afford it. However, since the United Kingdom offers flexible part time jobs for the parents; the problem resolves easily. On the other hand, the Swedish nurseries are financed partly by the parental fees, partly by the tax revenue and partly by the central government grants. Though, in the United Kingdom, community and council nurseries also exist but they are not as commonplaces as the private nurseries are (Guardian, 2008). Under the Italian law, working mothers are paid maternity leave for the first six months of the child’s age. Later, for the age of six months to two years, there are government-subsidized day care centers (Straughan, 2007). The U.K. and Italian policy makers need to take a page or two out of Sweden’s book by starting with affordable childcare service for parents who would like to go back to work and still have quality childcare without the worry of paying half their salary in childcare. Sweden’s fee policies make it affordable for everyone to afford childcare. The educators, politicians and social scientist in the U.K and Italy need to reflect upon the successful practice in Sweden that makes them one of the best developed practices, by providing a more homely environment with lots of room for children to be creative with a less centralized approach. References Sweden.Se. (2011) Ages 1-5 –preschool. Accessed on 10th May 2011 from http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work/The-Swedish-system/The-Swedish-education-system/preschool/ OECD, (2001) OECD Country Note. Accessed on 10th May 2011 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/17/33915831.pdf UN Report, (2001) The Right of Children in Italy. Accessed on 10th May 2011 from http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.32/Italy_ngowg_report.pdf U.S. Department of States (2006) Italy. Accessed on 10th May 2011 from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61655.htm Del Boca D. A. Rosina (2009) Famiglie Sole Il Mulino Bologna 2009 Del Boca. D. (2011). 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