Early Childhood Education and Care - Case Study Example

Running Head: Early Childhood Education and Care Early Childhood Education and Care s In this report, early childhood construction and how institutions of United Kingdom (UK) and Sweden are constructed will be critically and comparatively analyzed. Methods, sources, reasons and limitations of comparative analyses method will be discussed in introduction. Referencing will be done using different sources such as the report produced by the ministry of education and science in Sweden (MOEASS) in December 1999, and UNESCO report, the case of Sweden in May 2002. Articles by Children’s Society have also been taken for background information. A case study on lone parents has also been used as a reference. Different areas of early education will be critically analyzed, and a concluding solution will also be given. Statements supporting different early education systems will also be provided along with its limitations. Differences in curriculum, welfare, readiness for school, learning for school and construction of early education institutions will be discussed. How childhood is constructed in both these areas will be the main discussion, in which different arguments will be supported or refuted using various sources. Childhood Education and Care: Critical and Comparative Analysis in UK and Sweden Introduction When two years of age, a child starts developing attachment with parents or guardian. Therefore, early childhood care and education carries great importance. At the same time, the child starts learning after he is seven months of age. Thus, providing children with right blend of education and care in early ages can help mould them in well educated and nurtured individuals. UK and Sweden, both countries provide pre-school nursing and education. However, differences lie in other factors such as curriculum, structure, welfare, family care and society. Comparative analysis is made of both the countries based on various articles by BBC, national and UNESCO reports, national surveys, journals and views/comments and articles of residents of UK and Sweden. Reports and surveys by authorized and trusted sources are used as they are authentic. While articles of residents and their views are considered as they provide first hand knowledge. Where national reports have a tendency to be biased, articles by individuals are expected to show a more realistic picture. While carrying out Comparative analysis, difficulties are involved, such as authenticity, relevance and contradictions among different sources. Some case studies used are quite old and there relevance maybe questioned, however, they are used in order to support other arguments. Childcare/Pre-schooling in Sweden Childcare in Sweden makes up the children belonging to the preschool age as well as those who already attend school. It is at seven years of age that children are required to start school and this is obligatory. As per the School Act, the authorities are under the obligation of providing child care to the kids of age 1-12 years such that their needs are fulfilled. The care provided to each child depends upon whether his guardians are self sufficient or not. Along with this the School Act includes an organization regarding the various types of preschool activities plus also the school age child care ones. In preschool the children are offered care and education. This is for the kids whose parents are working or studying. Registration of children is done and the expenses (the fee) are paid by their parents as per the decision of the authorities. Preschools are normally open the whole year round and the everyday opening hours are altered according to the children’s parents’ working hours. The preschool has now advanced and serves a bigger population now. in 1998 the number of students in Swedish preschool was 338,000 and this represented about 61% of the children in the nation who were of 1-5 years. Comparison Sweden, along with Britain, provides welfare education. However, child is still being forced to live away from the parents. Britain’s equality and human right commission has claimed that 85% women have full time jobs before they have babies, while the figure drops to 34% of those with pre-school children. Furthermore, the employment of lone mothers is only 40% in UK, while Sweden has 70% of lone mothers working. Additionally, UK has only 17% of lone mother working full time jobs, extremely low compared to 61% in Sweden, as found in a study by Bradshaw et al, University of York (1996). These statistics very clearly show that mothers are caring and responsible towards their children in UK. Even as single parents, they majority does part time or no work at all, thus giving more time to their babies. Attending playgroups and nurseries is something that is actively encouraged by the government of UK and Sweden. “Childcare in Sweden has been given high priority for nearly three decades and is one of the cornerstones of Swedish family policy” (MOESS, 1999, 8-13). Furthermore, municipalities in Sweden “are obliged to provide a place, free of charge, for children who demand it” as mentioned in UNESCO report, case of Sweden (2002, p.1). These reports suggest that there is strong welfare support in both the countries. As the early years are an important stage of children’s development and learning, the more learning they’re able to experience, the better start in life they gain. As a result, all children in England are currently eligible for 12.5 hours of free early learning classes each week, for 38 weeks of the year. There are various different forms of free early learning sessions available, including attendance at playschools and nurseries. However, in Britain, compulsory school age is 5 years of age, while the UK’s culture is to send kids to school at age of 2-3 (P. Moss, 2005). As a result, those who can afford, send their kids to private early child care institutes at early ages. This consequently creates a gap between childhood constructions of different classes. In Sweden, according to UNESCO report of 2002, government announced to lower pre-school fee and also provides free pre-schooling to 4-5 year olds since 2003. All families with children in Sweden are provided monthly child allowances, regular checkups in child health clinics during the pre-school period for all children and free meals in school, as stated in MOESS report (1999, pp.18-24)). Even though the facts suggest strong welfare support, the problem remains that children have to start schooling as early as 1 and half years old. This makes it difficult for the attachment to be formed between parents and children, and also the childhood is shortened. Much time isn’t left with children to stay at home and take advantage of primary education given by parents or grandparents. Sweden and UK both have joint family system as an important part of their culture. Thus, a child does not get enough time stay with his relatives longer and get educated about family norms and traditions. This may also lead to the loss of cultural norms in next few decades. State run nurseries are voluntary playgroups. Hence, skilled labor gets attracted to private nurseries which pay a rich salary. Parent’s inability to pay has made childhood education a responsibility of social welfare in UK (Moss, 2005). Sweden’s economic development, on the other hand, is faltering (Kangas, 1994). This has led to increased unemployment and reduced tax base. Hence, social welfare education in both the countries is effected. Staff training is the most costly expenditure of this industry. Hence, reduced expenditure suggests poorly trained and poorly paid workforce, effecting the child’s education and care. In Britain, according to Moss (2005), ‘present system of staffing… some with no basic childhood training, others with varying types including a 2 year post-16 training covering the full early childhood range’. This suggests that there are no set criteria for who should be an early childhood worker. This result in staff which may not provide education and care as required, making it difficult for children to cope with syllabus and requirements set for preschool All play school, nurseries and other forms of pre-school learning environments follow the foundation stage of early education in UK. This scheme is aimed at children aged from birth to five years of age, and ensures that, wherever in the country children are, they will get all the same basic learning approach. In these early years, a child gets acquainted and gets experience in six core areas which will help him in future. These “are personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; mathematical development; physical development; creative development; knowledge and understanding of the world” (Dean, 2006, p.52). On the other hand, Sweden also has a set curriculum. “Under the 1975 National Pre-school Act, municipalities were required to provide all 6 year olds with at least 525 hours of pre-schooling per year” according to UNESCO (2002, p.1). Furthermore, new national pre-school curriculum of Sweden has emphasized a lot on education, and the teachers feel that this is a new aspect which may be helpful in preparing child for school ahead. UK’s defined curriculum is very useful in order to mould child as an educated individual starting at an early age. On the other hand, in Sweden, the traditional culture is to let the child enjoy childhood, as it will not come again. Although UK’s curriculum makes the child competent, it also leads to parental pressure. UK curriculum instills in parents the belief that their child must know everything, and hence, they pressure the child to learn various things at a very early age. The character Bertie, in Alexander McCall Smith’s ‘44Scotland Street’ series of novels is a classic example of an over pressured 6 year old who is made to learn and speak Italian, play the saxophone and do yoga, when all he really wants to do is play with the train set. Its good to give a chance for kids to learn new things, but setting a schedule for them to always learn and no time to relax can make them rebel against the pressured environment. On the other hand, where Sweden’s emphasis on childhood learning through playing, they may lose on competency but build on internal growth. Hence, as children in UK are pressured to reach up to required standards, they may not feel very ready to attend school as they fear that pressure would increase. While in Sweden, children may be ready and excited for school as their early schooling is fun and enjoyable Learning so well in play schools and nurseries of UK, children are well prepared to start schooling. The set curriculum makes a base for these children to start their school as prepared individuals. According to the survey mentioned earlier, parents give more time to their children, and prepare them for school by building confidence. In Sweden, on the other hand, majority of female work along with men, kids do not get much time with parents and thus less time to talk about school. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that even though both countries have different childhood education and care, they are both suited to a certain extent in their respected societies. As Sweden has a very high percentage of working women in full time jobs, day care centers are important to exist in this country. UK, on the other hand, has low divorce rates and thus both parents look after a child, which eliminates, or reduce the need for government registered nannies. However, both countries need to emphasize on primary education of a child provided by families. Transfer of cultural values and norms is an essential part of every society. Furthermore, in early childhood years, love and direct care of parents is very important for a healthy growth. These basic necessities are a right of every child, and he deserves to have a family life along with play schools in childhood. It is indeed true that governments of both countries assist in financial matters and educational needs, but there needs to be awareness among parents to give time to children. Such as in Sweden, government is responsible for child’s health and education, yet it is one of the countries with highest percentage of lone parent working. Hence, awareness is very important to ensure early childhood construction in the best way possible. Early childhood institutions are commonly referred to as ‘services, implying the production and delivery of a product (Moss, 2005). This construction of early childhood institution needs to be addressed. Transfer of cultural values and norms needs also to be a part of the construction of early childhood institutions. References BBC News. (2006). Divorce rate lowest for 26 years. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7587641.stm [Accessed 26 November 2009] Bradshaw, J. (1996), Lone Mothers and Work. London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Dean, J. (2006). A teaching assistants guide to primary education. Routledge. Kangas, O (1994) The merging of welfare state models? Past and present trends in Finnish and Swedish social policy. Journal of European Social Policy, 4(2): 79-94 Moss, P (1999) Renewed hopes and lost opportunities: Early childhood in the early years of the labour government. Cambridge Journal of Education, 29(2): 229-238. Smith, A. M. (2005). 44 Scotland Street, Book 1. Polygon. Sweden. Ministry of education and science. (1999). The Minister for Schools, Mrs Ingegerd Wärnersson: "All Pupils Shall Reach School Targets - We have a Common Responsibility" (Press Release, 17 May). UNESCO. (2002). Integrating Early Childhood into Education: The Case of Sweden. [Online] Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137377e.pdf [Accessed 26 November 2009] Read More