The Education and Care Divide: the role of the early childhood workforce in 15 European countries

Abstract

International reports on early childhood education and care tend to attach increasing importance to workforce profiles. Yet a study of 15 European countries reveals that large numbers of (assistant) staff remain invisible in most international reports. As part of the CoRe project (Competence Requirements in Early Childhood Education and Care) we conducted a cross‐national survey among experts in Belgium (Flemish‐ and French‐speaking communities), Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK (England and Wales). The survey explored professional and training profiles not only for formal ‘teaching’ staff, but also for the entire workforce, making visible the assistants who are often omitted from international reports. The proportion of assistant staff varies from a very small percentage in some European countries to half of the entire workforce in many others. Whereas job profiles for higher qualified staff often focus on ‘education’, profiles for assistants typically focus on ‘care’. Consequently a divide between care and education can be observed, both in split systems and in integrated systems. In these cases, the concept of ‘education’ may be narrowed down to schoolified learning and ‘care’ may be regarded as subordinate to education. In several cases, assistants also have less entitlement to ongoing professionalisation than educational staff. Consequences of the findings for practice as well as policy are discussed.

Gender balance in ECEC: why is there so little progress?

“…The history of childcare The historical development of ECEC, at least in the Western hemisphere, is connected to the traditional gender order and the position of women in society (Hard and Jónsdót-tir 2013;Van Laere, Peeters, and Vandenbroeck 2012;Van Laere et al, 2014). ECEC builds on two traditions: care and education.…”

“…The Core research project in 15 EU member states (Van Laere et al 2012) has demonstrated how in ECEC centers caring activities are executed by low-qualified auxiliary staff, whereas teachers are in charge of the educative activities. The results indicate that in many countries there is a divide between highly qualified and better paid women, who are responsible for the 'mind', and lower-qualified women with a more invisible position, who are responsible for the 'body' (Van Laere, Peeters, and Vandenbroeck 2012).…”

“…But it is impossible to work with young children without a commitment that could be described as 'passionate' (Moyles 2001, 81). This leads us to rethink the concepts of care/body and education/mind in ECEC services, which is materialized in staff profiles and practices (Van Laere et al 2012), and enables us to draw on a diversity of embodied experiences of both men and women in the ECEC workforce.…”

Lasteaiaõpetajate uskumused seoses laste üldoskuste arendamisega riikliku õppekava alusel: lisaseletus lasteaia koolistumise põhjustele

“…Need tendentsid ilmnevad hoolimata sellest, et Euroopa Komisjoni, UNESCO ja teiste rahvusvaheliste organisatsioonide konsensusliku arusaama järgi on alusharidus laiapõhjaline ja holistlik ning toetab laste õpetamist, kasvatamist ja arendamist tasakaalustatult . Mitmed uurijad tähistavad neid tendentse kokkuvõt-likult terminiga koolistumine (ingl schoolification) (Bennett, 2005;Clausen, 2015;van Laere et al, 2012). Koolistumist ning selle ohte traditsioonilisele laiapõhjalisele alusharidusele on praeguseks üsna üldiselt teadvustatud.…”

100 jaar leerplicht in België: en nu de kleuters?

“…Terwijl experts benadrukken hoeveel kinderen leren op de (kleuter)school, hebben ouders vooral vragen over de zorg: zal mijn kind begrijpen wat er van hem verwacht wordt, wat als hij niet zindelijk is, wat als hij niet eet,… (Vandenbroeck, De Stercke, & Gobeyn, 2013)? Het zou dus wel eens kunnen dat het onderscheid tussen zorg en educatie dat wij in onze kleuterschool maken (bijvoorbeeld, door zorgtaken uit te besteden aan kinderverzorgsters), het leren net niét ten goede komt (Van Laere, Peeters, & Vandenbroeck, 2012). Deze bedenking sluit aan bij het feit dat 10 jaar geleden het Comité van de Verenigde Naties voor kinderrechten het opsplitsen van het recht op leren, gezondheid en zorg van kinderen problematiseerde.…”