The Importance of Listening to Young Children - Research Paper Example

Introduction The adult world very often tends to conceive young children as immature, childish and unable to feel, think and behave on their own. However, researches have clearly demonstrated that young children do have their own individuality-their own priorities, capabilities, competencies, interests, emotions, feelings and thoughts. One should bear in mind that children are thinking, feeling and living their lives in the same way as adults and therefore it is imperative those children’s voices are paid heed to and that their participation and involvement are ensured even at a younger age. The question whether do we really listen to young children brings about a few thoughts to a person’s mind. Questions such as how much importance is provided to listening to children and how they have been they treated by the adult world needs to be unearthed. It is significant to note that children are least noticed or listened to at the earlier stages. In many circumstances the early intervention into the life of the children would lead to solving many issues related to their life. Moreover, the careful examination on the unique individualities of children will help others find out the mysteries that surround children, their feelings, thoughts and creativity during the early years of life. The characteristic attributes are attained at an early stage. So it can be said that the life of each children is highly valued and so the educators at the early years sitting should clearly listen to the activities of the children who are entrusted to their care. It is important to recognise that a number of factors has influenced the growing interest in listening to children. “Children’s rights have gone up the political agenda in the last ten or fifteen years, and participation – as you have heard – is very much a children’s rights issue – particularly Articles 12 and 13 in the UN Convention.” (Moss, p. 17). This paper seeks to explore the importance of listening to young children in early years sitting in the UK and in doing so the paper deals with the UN convention on the rights of children and its effects on listening to young children. Background: In many countries children are treated as having not much of importance. Much negligence was reported on children all over the world. This prompted various organisations and persons to look into the matter very seriously. In 1904 the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act was established in England and hence forward many laws came into force on the rights of children in the country. The UN assembly too shared its concern for the rights of children all over the world. 1979 was considered as the International year of children and the Assembly decided to pass a convention on the rights of children. It was adopted in the year 1989 and Britain ratified this law in 1991. The country stresses much importance on the well being of the children. Children under five are placed in babysitting and the government makes ample measures for the overall development of children at this stage. Many strategies are implemented for the total development of children in the country. All these necessitate the importance of children’s rights as subjects of the state. In the recent years, the government agendas in England have focused on the need to involve children in policy and service design. There has been a strong feeling that the provision and evaluation of services used by children, or which affect them, should be given priority. Whereas consultation with older children is given importance in the recent years, the case for younger children is much different and they are not given due respect for their opinions. Significantly, listening to children has been regarded as an integral part of understanding their needs and feelings from their early experiences. Linda Kinney maintains, “there were two key outcomes from our work on consultation with children: new understandings and insights about children and ourselves, and a deeper understanding of what it means to listen – ‘the pedagogy of listening’.” (Kinney, p. 13). In a reflective exploration of the current practice and experiences, perceptions and views of young children in the modern world, the significance of listening to children becomes lucid. Although listening to children can be troublingly complex process at times, the legislation and guidance in the U.K suggests that it is central to the future development of early year’s services in the country. Thus, these legislations and guidelines maintain that the adults and educators should listen to what children say and enable them to make and express their choices, plans and decisions. As The Importance of Listening to Young Children Schiller & Einarsdottir (2009) have made some remarkable studies on the significance of listening to young children’s voices. The researchers observe that the introduction of the Convention for the Rights of the Child in 1989 has brought about new dimensions regarding researches on the rights of children to express their views and feelings and to be a part of the decision making process on their own lives. Studies have shown that young children are capable, competent, and active thinkers and that they have their own perspectives regarding each and everything they experience which the adult world often conceives as childish or foolish. This understanding has facilitated a number of remarkable studies on children’s perspectives which resulted in a pedagogy of listening that fostered the role of children as participants and contributors and thus promoted positive outcomes in adult-child interactions (Schiller & Einarsdottir 2009, p. 125). Moreover, it is essential that the adult population resorts to meaningful ways to interact and collaborate with young children. It is therefore imperative to empower child perspectives and elicit responses from them through creative research methods whereby verbal, graphic and expressive responses can be obtained from young children. For this adult researchers need to be skilful listeners who can listen to children’s voice, document, analyse and authenticate the research outcomes. For Einarsdottir one can grasp young children’s perspectives through “participant observation, interviews with individuals, focus groups, children’s drawings, children’s photographs, map making and questionnaires through games” (Schiller & Einarsdottir 2009, p. 126). However, researchers should make special efforts not to misrepresent children’s voices and to grasp children’s perspectives in tune with the existing child-adult socio-cultural relations. One of the most effective ways of listening to young children is by ensuring their complete participation in the conceptualization, operation and evaluations of various child learning and empowerment programs. Similarly, teachers need to play a pivotal role in listening to young children by paying heed to their opinions, emotions, interests, view points, perspectives, inner thoughts and feelings. Listening definition: The term ‘listening’ can be understood as “valuing and responding to children’s thoughts, ideas and feelings, offering genuine choice and involving children in decisions that affect their daily lives” (Listening to young Children and the Early Years Foundation Stage p.1). In analysing the definition of listening it can be said that listening carries careful examinations of a person and here, of course, the careful examination of the children. The children are to be watched and listening indicates some deeper sense and meaning. The children who are put to one’s hands are not mere machines but life changing ones. They are the replica of the society that is around us. In children we can see the cherishing love to one another and elders have a lot to study from carefully listening of them. How a child shows his or her readiness to give something to others and how they show their unconditional love to each other really offer certain valuable lessons for the elders to practice such characteristics in their own lives. In several of the research papers on the importance of listening to young children, the word ‘listening’ is used as if its meaning and value are patently obvious and unquestionable. According to Carlina Rinaldi, listening is a part of a way of relating just of an ethic and she foregrounds her definition of listening as emotion and reciprocity, interpretation and meaning making, and openness and sensitivity to connections, differences and changes. In her definition, she emphasises that it involves many senses and languages: “listening to the hundred, the thousand languages, symbols and codes we use to express ourselves and communicate, and with which life expresses itself and communicates to those who know how to listen.” (Rinaldi, 2005, p. 20). The UN convention on the right (article 12): The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has been a landmark in promoting and fostering the views and rights of young children. The convention posed young children as rights holders just like the adults. Article 12 envisages the right of children in the International level. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) ensures children’s rights as a subject of all states of the world and is considered as an international law. The article says, “The Governments of all countries should ensure that a child who is capable of forming his or her own views should have the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting that child, and that the views of that child should be given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child” (Pascal & Bertram 2009, p.252). The United Kingdom ratified this law in the state in 1991 and hence forth this law has played a vital role in the state to protect the rights of each and every child. As Franklin remarks, it “embraces a set of civil, economic, social and cultural rights which it argues the global community of children should enjoy a minimum” (Franklin 2005, p.20). In all levels of this law children must not be marginalised from the other sectors of the society. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has prompted practitioners, educators, parents and the adult world to rethink the moral, ethical, social, personal and legal rights of children and to listen to them more closely and carefully. What had article 12 done? Article 12 envisages a child to the right of expression. The UN convention on the Rights of the Child laid much influence on the public awareness with regard to it. In almost all countries very soon this law was found to be effective. In dealing with children everyone should be bothered of their rights and so listening must be done effectively. This law helped immensely to prevent the atrocities on the children all over the world. More over much care was initiated on the children wide across the continents. Researchers views about it: Why must we listen? One of the most important questions in this discussion, why we must listen to children, focuses on an investigation of the benefits of listening to young children. Is listening really beneficial? If yes, who benefits from listening? These questions offer a clear idea about the various advantages associated with the practice of listening to young children. Firstly, we must listen to young children because it gives them the opportunity to exercise their right to be heard. It also gives them the positive realization that their views are taken into consideration by adults. In addition, many researchers believe that listening to young children helps adult understand a lot more about children’s world. In other words, adults can discover more and more about children’s concerns, preferences, feeling, and personality by listening to them. (Pascal and Bertram, 2009). Therefore, listening to young children helps in getting a clear understanding about their world, and it, in turn, helps adult improve the whole environment or surrounding for the children, including material and moral. Similarly, listening is important in that it establishes positive relationship between children and adults based on trust and respect. In other words, researchers point out the importance of listening to young children which creates a relationship of respect between children and adult. Therefore, it is essential to consider children as capable citizen who can articulate their opinion if respectful adult-child relationship should work out. In addition, adults can learn several things from the children if they are listened to. Consequently, parents, cares, and practitioners must believe in children’s voice and must encourage their children to express their views freely. By listening to young children, they are given the opportunity to develop themselves and it helps adults provide the services that meet the actual needs of children. Therefore, listening to young children’s views is important for young children as well as adults. As William Wordsworth states, “child is the father of man.” In listening to children a person must understand that they are not a category to ignore and omit out. They should be cared and observed well. A lot are there for the elders to learn from the children. The children must be listened well. For Forbes, listening to children’s ideas and opinions as Penny Lancaster did it with children over three necessitated “a respect and valuing of children’s own experience. It means their voices will be heard and their experiences will shape and perhaps change policy and practice” (Forbes 2004, p.130). It is sure that the better listening to children creates better understanding and thence the children can be directed to better growth. The innate qualities of children can be traced by this listening and this would lead them a better opportunity in accordance with their qualities. Young children are the constructors of ideas and materials and a careful listening on these children will lead a perfect way out in their life. So listening is a must by all means. The practitioners of these children at the sitting should see the activities of children who are entrusted on their hands. Importance of listening: In a reflective exploration of the significance of listening to young children, it becomes lucid that it is an essential method to influence the growth of the children in a positive way. Research evidences in the area suggest that young children improve their self esteem and identity when they are valued and listened properly. Listening to young children’s perspectives on their daily lives influence every type of their character development and it is fundamental to listen to children if we want to make sure their overall development. Listening is an important method as far as the growth of the children is considered. They need to be cared and listening establishes a firm relationship between children and the listener. It helps a lot to strengthen the self esteem in children. “For young children listening lets them know and feel they are valued-it is empowering and builds children’s self esteem” (Listening to young children and the Early Years Foundation Stage p.1). As Alison Clark maintains, listening to young children is a way to acknowledge their right to be listened to and it ensures that their views and experiences concerning matters that affect them are taken seriously. Similarly, listening can immensely help one in realizing the priorities, interests and concerns of children and about how children feel about themselves. Also, listening to young children is a vital part of establishing respectful relationships with the children we work with and is central to the learning process in early years of child sitting. “Listening is important for the children who are being listened to but also for the adults who are listening, whether at home or outside the home, in an early years setting, a school, at a local authority level or in national government.” (Clark, 2008, p.1). Who benefits: The answer to the question as to who benefits from such a meaningful interaction or listening with the young children is so simple. The children themselves and all those who interact with them can benefit a lot from such listening. As Clark (2008, p. 1) rightly points out: “Listening is important for the children who are being listened to but also for the adults who are listening, whether at home or outside the home, in an early years setting, a school, at a local authority level or in national government.” The benefits of listening to young children are many and varied. It can have a very positive effect on the everyday experiences of children. Similarly, meaningful and effective listening process can develop a positive self-esteem among young children and this can enhance their overall skills (personal or social) and understanding level (Clark 2008, p. 2). In the same way, listening to young children proves to be extremely useful to the practitioners and parents as well. Listening to young children can offer fresh insights to practitioners and parents regarding children’s capabilities, interests, priorities, expectations and can pose challenges to their own assumptions on young children. Similarly, listening to children helps parents and practitioners to build a strong and powerful reciprocal relations with them which will better equip them to nurture, mould and protect the younger ones. It is clear that by listening to young children’s views and taking what they say seriously gives them a massage that their opinions are valued, and giving them the chance to develop their confidence. This can be a vital part in helping young children whose voice has been ignored or who find that communicating is very hard. The children who are at the baby sitting are the ones who get maximum exposure if they are listened to well. It will cater their skills to develop and flourish. Often it is seen that the children who are engaging at different activities at a small age will have multi talented attributes. If unchecked these talents of the children can be hidden in them. It is the exposure that helps them move on to their interested area. Teachers and parents too have got many benefits. Clearly observing a child can make easiness in the learning strategies to be provided. Many instances are shown where listening has facilitated in implementing learning strategies for children who are specially gifted in the country. It has been observed that “parents and carers are the people who understand their children the most and are key to ‘tuning’ into the lived experiences of young children and their chosen methods of communication. Key distinctions do have to be drawn, however, between when parents and carers are offering their own views and when they are commenting on the communicated views of their child. This is why a multi-method approach is so important bringing together various strands rather than relying on the views of parents, carers or practitioners alone” (Listening to Young Children Strategy 2008, p.8). Parents too can understand the skills of their children and this surely would form the overall growth of them. Thus it can be said that listening benefits children, teachers and parents to have a better understanding in all levels. What are the benefits? In dealing with the benefits of listening one can undoubtedly state that the parents and teacher educators are the prime ones who are mostly benefited. It says, “ listening to children not only provides the teacher insight regarding what is going on in children’s minds, it also can provide very interesting and unique results, such as totally unexpected but sensible responses and totally novel explanations that make sense but you never thought of before.” (Martin 2008, p.23). A careful investigation of the benefits of listening to young children confirms that it can greatly influence the everyday experiences of the children. In other words, adults who are concerned with children’s behaviour can make changes to young children’s daily routines if the adults take seriously the views and experiences of the children. For example, listening to young children can enable them to help change their habit to water through the day by gaining open access to the outdoors. Listening to young children also can make immense contribution in raising self-esteem of the children. “If young children feel their views are respected and valued by adults then this can have a positive effect on their self-confidence. This can be of particular benefit to those children who find it hardest to communicate their perspectives or who have had limited experience of adults who listen to them.” (Clark 2008, p. 2). Similarly, listening to young children can help them in developing their skills and understandings of various matters. In other words, these young children gain new skills, including social skills, as their confidence improves. How do we listen? Clark (2008) considers listening as a way of life and the researcher’s article clearly demonstrates a deep understanding of why and how one needs to listen to young children. For the author, children have the rights to be listened to and such an understanding convinces one of the difference between their views and the adult view, the difference in children’s priorities, interests and concerns, a conviction of how children feel about themselves and all these will help one to establish a meaningful and respectful relationship with children (Clark 2008, p. 1). However, listening to children is not an easy process. As Clark observes, “it requires practitioners to show respect, honesty and patience, be sensitive to timing, be imaginative and work collaboratively” (2008, p. 3). Children need to be respected as unique individuals; both parents and practitioners need to understand the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of children and they should be open, collaborative and receptive to children’s perspectives. The effective tools of listening can vary from observation, individual and group interviews, still and moving films, performing arts and play to various visual arts. All these tools should be used judiciously taking into account the age and skills of the children, the environment, the skills of the practitioners, the duration or time, and the available resources. Methods of listening: Different methods are used to listen to children effectively and the most common method is observation and it is the oldest method too. The qualities of children are numerous and they can be trained well with clear cut methods. For Davies & Artaraz, approaches such as “photography and painting, as well as the more traditional technique of talking with children” and drawing can all be used with children to elicit their views and to interpret the results” (Davies & Artaraz 2009, p.63). Different methods are used to listen to young children. “Kathy Bartlett (1998) uses the phrase a ‘mosaic of perspectives’ for the process of listening to young children in her early years programmes abroad (Clark & Moss 2001, p.11). In this method according to the writer two stages are there-“Children and adults gathering documentation” and second, “piercing together information for dialogue, reflection and interpretation”( Clark & Moss 2001, p.11). According to this approach the practitioners make use of observation, child conferencing, and the like measures to gather information from children and this information that they draw can be used as a stimuli for the overall development of a child. It is found that children are very much inclined to cameras and videos now days. Practitioners using these two devices can easily create attention among the children and this would lead in the second stage of this approach. To sum up it can be said, “the Mosaic approach was chosen to represent the bringing together of different pieces or perspectives in order to create an image of children’s worlds, both individual and collective” (Kjørholt 2005, p.31). Early years sitting in the UK: The UK constitution has laid much stress on the rights of children in the state. Many baby sitting centres are working effectively in the country. Priscilla Alderson tells about the practice in Britain as, “In Britain, parents, and not children, are seen as the main ‘consumers’ of day care and education. Yet parents are usually absent, and so do not know exactly what is going on” (Alderson 2008, p 28). Children’s voice in the UK: Children in the UK are given equal importance as with the elders. The government stresses on the rights of children and so the voice of children is given maximum importance in the state. A careful analysis of the research on Children’s voice in the UK confirms that children and young people are valued citizens in the nation. For example, the evidences from Newcastle suggest that the government agencies are committed to promoting opportunities to engage children and young people in decision-making processes. Also, there have been efforts to give them as much influence as possible. “With the Listening to Young Children Strategy we are making a firm commitment to ensuring that the views, opinions and experiences of our youngest citizens will be heard. Newcastle City Council is proud of its reputation as a leading authority in participation work with children from birth to five.” (Listening to Young Children Strategy 2008, p. 3). There are also evidences to prove that there have been significant efforts by the governmental agencies to ensure that the children are given due respect in policy making. Thus, Sarah Davies and Kepa Artaraz maintain that “Recent Government agendas in England highlight a need to involve children in policy and service design, provision and evaluation of services they use or which affect them. While consultation with older children has become more common, this is not the case for younger children.” (Davies, and Artaraz 2009, p. 57). Conclusions: In conclusion, a careful review of literature and practice concerning listening to and consulting with children in early childhood suggests that listening to the young children has great relevance in the overall development of the children. Participation and involvement are the two key factors or means by which young children can effectively be listened to in early childhood institutions. In this respect, participation refers to the direct involvement of children in decision-making regarding those matters which affect their lives, whether individually or collectively. (Clark 2005, p. 491). It is fundamental to realize that listening to young children is an expression of rights as well as an expression of an ethical practice. In a reflective understanding of the topic, it becomes lucid that we should bring listening to young children into our work and our practice in order to make ethics and politics first practice in early childhood education. In short, listening to and consulting with young children brings about several benefits to the children as well as adults. References Alderson, P 2008, Young children's rights: exploring beliefs, principles and practice, 2nd Illustrated ed, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Clark, A 2008, Why and how we listen to young children, Listening as a way of life, National Children’s Bureau on behalf of Sure Start, London. Clark, A 2005, ‘Listening to and involving young children: a review of research and practice’, Early Child Development and Care, vol. 175, no. 6, pp. 489–505. Clark, A & Moss, P 2001, Listening to young children: the Mosaic approach, Illustrated ed, NCB. Davies, S & Artaraz, K 2009, ‘Towards an Understanding of Factors Influencing Early Years Professionals’ Practice of Consultation with Young Children, Children & Society, vol.23, pp. 57-69. Franklin, B 2005, The new handbook of children's rights: comparative policy and practice, 3rd ed, Routledge. Forbes, R 2004, Beginning to play: young children from birth to three, Illustrated ed, McGraw-Hill International. Kinney, Linda. “Small voices, powerful messages, many interpretations.” Let’s talk about Listening to Children. p. 13. Retrieved 11 January, 2011, from http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/Images/listeningtochildren_tcm4-324433.pdf Kjørholt, A.T 2005, Beyond listening: children's perspectives on early childhood services, Ed. Alison Clark, Peter Moss, and Anne Trine Kjørholt. Illustrated ed, The Policy Press. Listening to Young Children Strategy 2008, Newcastle Children & Young People’s Strategic Partnership (Adopted January 2008). Listening to young Children and the Early Years Foundation Stage, National Children’s Bureau. Martin, D.J 2008, Elementary science methods: a constructivist approach, Illustrated 5th ed, Cengage Learning. Moss, Peter. “Listening to Young Children – Beyond Rights to Ethics.” Let’s talk about Listening to Children. p. 17. Retrieved 11 January, 2011, from http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/Images/listeningtochildren_tcm4-324433.pdf Pascal, C & Bertram, T 2009, ‘Listening to young citizens: the struggle to make real a participatory paradigm in research with young children’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 249–262. Rinaldi, Carlina. “Documentation and Assessment: What is the Relationship?” Beyond listening: children's perspectives on early childhood services. Ed. Alison Clark, Peter Moss, and Anne Trine Kjørholt. The Policy Press. Schiller, W & Einarsdottir, J 2009, ‘Editorial- Special Issue: Listening to young children’s voices in research – changing perspectives/changing relationships’, Early Child Development and Care, vol. 179, no. 2, pp. 125–130. Read More