Jules

Ever feel like you’re missing something? For the last few years I have found assessment for children with SEND questionable. I continued down the path of setting SMART targets and planning next steps in line with reaching development goals, but I felt uneasy. I began to get the feeling I was missing the point somewhere. I found that much of the assessments I made demonstrated a negative view of the child, highlighted gaps in learning and described the things that many children could not do rather than celebrating what they could do and what unique abilities they had. Different areas of my assessments stood in isolation along with the interventions and therapy to support children’s learning. Was I only just reaching the tip of the iceberg? I wanted to develop a more holistic approach, with an understanding that learning differences in one area impact on other areas of learning and an understanding that areas are interlinked and must be considered together as a whole picture of an individual child’s learning profile. When Pen Green’s A Celebratory Approach to SEND Assessment in the Early Years was published in May 2021 I was keen to embrace the model. The notion that ‘children must not be defined by their needs, we need to be courageous and aspirational for all children, igniting curiosity and encouraging them to be all that they can be’ (Pen Green 2021) particularly resonated with me and reflected the shift I was hoping to make in moving away from a deficit model of children’s attainment. The ‘Celebratory Approach’ described the change in assessment culture I was hoping to bring about in Doncaster. I set about developing a strengths based holistic approach to assessment. Firstly reaching out to colleagues in my team and regional partners. After conversations with my team in Doncaster and attending regional meetings regarding assessment I couldn’t find a model which encompassed the range of areas that I wanted to cover for an individual child. My colleague Shelley Petta, who leads on assessment and moderation in Doncaster, had spoken to Stephen Kilgour at Tapestry about what I was seeking, and she connected us. Stephen brought his experience of developing the Cherry Garden Branch Maps assessment tool to the project. We worked together to design a toolkit that offered the opportunity for practitioners to reflect on a range of aspects for each child, lifting the lid of opportunity for individual children. Our collaboration led to sections including basic needs, inclusive practice, characteristics of effective teaching and learning, speech and communication, well-being and involvement, executive functioning, sensory aspects, belonging, schemas, and family aspiration. Prompting questions, and space to record reflections and actions, formed the basis of this Reflection Toolkit. Our regular meetings took us on a journey of professional development. As we began to devise and develop the Reflection Toolkit we were introduced to new vocabulary and concepts about ableism and neurodiversity - the beginnings of a necessary change in culture around SEND. As we learnt more, we were committed to ensuring that the toolkit was neurodiversity affirming, celebrating learning differences not difficulties and embracing the authenticity of every child’s play and learning. Stephen and I were keen to emphasise a strengths-based approach and a celebration of a child’s individual learning. We were led by the work of neurodiversity affirming advocate, Emily Lees (An Autistic Speech and Language Therapist). Emily’s advocacy for radical changes in therapy practices developed our thinking about the assessment process and the toolkit evolved to represent all forms of communication instead of focussing on speech and language. We thought more deeply about observation and about recognising children’s communication in all its forms. Emily’s advocacy of well-being and emotional safety also led to a reflection of our own practice. Historically the education sector interprets observations of children’s emotional states from a neurotypical perspective. For neurodivergent children, well-being could present very differently. We felt the toolkit needed to support practitioners to focus on knowing a child in depth and how they demonstrate well-being, not on how well-being looks for neurotypical children. Emily's collaboration with Stephen to develop A Beginner's Guide to Ableism was particularly influential in shaping the Reflection Toolkit. The Guide opened up more conversations between Stephen and I about our own practice. These included sometimes difficult reflections that we had not always got it right. We painfully had to admit that at times there may have been aspects of our practice that might have had a negative impact. We needed to reflect and unlearn some of the practice we had upheld for a long time. One of the most powerful aspects to consider was the notion of privilege, and the privilege of neurotypical people. A lightbulb moment came with Emily’s quote from David Gaider – ‘Privilege is when you think something isn’t a problem because it’s not a problem for you.” We reflected: had we, as part of an already established system, spent much of our careers trying to ‘fix’ children to be more neurotypical? Following on from Emily Lee’s influence, Stephen introduced me to the work of Kerry Murphy, an independent early years specialist and trainer. Kerry’s advocacy of neurodiversity affirming practice in the early years and her book A Guide to SEND in the Early Years also heavily influenced the content of the Reflection Toolkit. Kerry talks passionately about staying true to the authenticity of play for every individual child. Play happens naturally for neurotypical and neurodivergent children and we need to celebrate that individuality. Kerry’s insight into our sector’s role in continually making things in education be ‘normal’ and the notion that we are continually advocating power and privilege in the normality of our education systems, struck a chord with Stephen and I. We reflected that too much emphasis for too long has been placed on how a child fits into a school or a setting, when the real notion should be how do we, as early years educators, ensure children belong in the provision they attend. How do we make provision fit for the individual child? How do we enable true acceptance and value all children? We were keen for the Reflection Toolkit to be used to enable practitioners to consider a child’s learning profile in a holistic way, encompassing many aspects and using their depth of knowledge of the child to change their provision to create a sense of true belonging. Our collaborative journey so far has led us to develop and publish a final draft of the Reflection Toolkit. We hope it will aid practitioners in developing their provision for individual children and support the sector in recognising the need for cultural change away from stereotypes and existing historical practice entrenched in neurotypical perspectives. Kerry writes that ‘upholding the rights of the child’ is at the heart of her book ‘SEND in the Early Years’. We aim for the Reflection Toolkit to uphold those rights and enable reflection and knowledge, to change early years practice and ethos and move towards achieving true belonging for all children. You can download the free Reflection Toolkit from this link: Reflection Toolkit.pdf Ann and Stephen have also recorded a podcast episode discussing the Reflection Toolkit, which you can listen to here.

The power of community When I think about the power of community and the impact that educators have on children, it takes me back to the many magical moments I had as a little girl seeing my teachers (who also lived locally) outside of nursery ‘in real clothes’ doing ‘real things’. Like buying meat from the butcher's. I would often hide behind my mum when we spotted a teacher, as I had an innate feeling that I wasn’t allowed to see my teachers in this odd but clearly human capacity. Such seemingly small moments are both meaningful and empowering for a small child, as these are the kinds of things that help children develop a strong connection with their educators and a sense of belonging within their community. Community, according to the Oxford definition, is ‘the group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common’. Put even more simply (and as the word itself suggests) it’s people with a ‘common unity’. Being able to unify because of the things we have in common and our ‘particular characteristics’ is so important and not something we can afford to overlook in the early years. However, with equity in mind it hopefully goes without saying that it is equally important to recognise, appreciate, and celebrate, the characteristics that make every child different. Because representation, in relation to human characteristics, also cannot be overlooked! Working everyday with groups of children that (whilst in the same community) are all unique, provides a daily opportunity for educators to reflect on what makes us the same, what makes us different and what they need to know and do to authentically engage with families. Independent, community-based nurseries (such as pack-away nurseries) have a unique opportunity to decide how their knowledge of their locality can be threaded into the daily set up of their provision. The family support that these settings provide can also be tailored to the needs of the local community, according to the ever-changing local circumstances affecting them the most. Thinking about each child’s family being their first community, helps us to understand why establishing strong parental partnerships is so important. A strong collaboration between the family and the setting speaks to the very popular African proverb that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Similarly, phrases such as ‘you are a product of your environment’ speak to the importance of not only the connections we make but the quality of these. Now, thinking about the above phrase in relation to ‘cultural capital’ should hopefully highlight for educators the importance of being conscious and intentional about how and why they embrace the cultures, diversity and richness that exists as an accessible resource around them. It should also illustrate (when done right) how powerful community cohesion can be for children and families. The nursery down the road in the community hall With the above in mind, we must remember that the ‘little pack-away nursery’ down the road in the church/community hall, is well positioned to build on the many things that children who live locally have in common. Educators within these nurseries are loaded with local knowledge and insights about their area, and this enables them to tailor learning to ensure maximum impact on the outcomes of children within such localities. Growing up in Peckham, London during the 80’s was where it all started for me. This was my community, my special place and where everything was familiar to me. My early years education started with a childminder then I later attended a Pan-African pack-away nursery in the centre of Peckham (now Peckham library), so from a young age I was very fortunate to have been nurtured in an environment where I was both understood and represented. Everyone knows where their local places of worship or community spaces are (even if they don’t attend) and they are also likely to be familiar with the location of their local library, bakery and supermarkets. So, when educators arrange outings to these places, they are helping to add layers and further embed learning within spaces where children already feel confident and familiar. My own positive experiences of attending a pack-away nursery in my community has been a key driver of the passion I have for the early years. Despite having over 20 years' experience in this sector, I am still very intentional with my commitment to further explore and learn about the very special and unique learning opportunities that pack-away nurseries and childminders can provide for children and families in those first five years. I think many of us can agree that due to these educators being tucked away in a side road, they are often forgotten. Historically, and from what I have experienced throughout my career, the partnerships and transition arrangements that happen between childminders or pack-away nurseries and schools are not as strong as they could be. I have often (but not always) observed a snobbery against pack-away nurseries by schools (and oddly, this has appeared to happen less towards the bigger nursery chains). This apparent reluctance to engage and respect these community-based nurseries is unfortunate, and often results in the loss of what should be a central part of the information educators need to understand and plan for the holistic needs of the unique child. However, it is my hope that with the focus on a reduction in paperwork (DfE, EYFS 2021, Section 2.2) this will mean educators are afforded more time to properly connect with previous educators to ensure information gathered about the first five years of children’s lives can become a springboard for the design of the curriculum in the year ahead. Creating safe spaces through truly thoughtfully planned provision Pack-away nurseries are often the pillars and helpful hubs within communities. Educators who work in these spaces have the opportunity to look through the lens of each unique child and consider which experiences children need that may not be afforded to them at home or within their local surroundings. The knowledge educators hold about children who live locally enables them to be the bridge between home and the setting that can create meaningful, safe spaces which reflect the familiarity and comfort of home. Despite the challenges of running a pack-away nursery - which often includes the additional set up time, sharing the space with other community groups and ‘playing tetris’ with the storage cupboard! - there is no doubt that the advantage educators have to think critically about how they design their environment daily, outweighs these challenges. Whilst maintaining a level of consistency is an important part of providing children with a high-quality continuous provision, the flexibility that pack-away nurseries have to renew their set up is a powerful springboard for inspiring creativity and critical thinking in children that nurseries who have a static environment aren’t always privy to. Social mobility at the heart of the pack-away setting To summarise, the DfE publication ‘Unlocking talent, Fulfilling Potential’ provides educators with some important and key considerations for what and how all education providers can do to positively impact social mobility. Below are some short extracts and a few questions I have written that I hope educators will use to reflect on within their settings: Levelling up opportunity - ‘Talent and hard work alone should determine how far people can go in life, whoever you are, wherever you are from’. Q - How do you recognise and celebrate the unique talents and abilities of children in your setting? A plan for improving social mobility through education - ‘To make a real difference, we must align our work and relentlessly focus our energy and resources to where it can have the greatest impact.... where it is most needed to unlock talent and fulfil potential’. Q - How do you assess where the greatest need is in your setting and what are some examples of the targeted responses you take? No community left behind - ‘In Britain today, the community where you grow up will shape your chances of attending a good school and your wider educational and career outcomes’ Q - How do you ensure that efforts to enhance ‘cultural capital’ are meaningful and properly take account of and include the unique needs of each child and their family? Tackling the injustices that hold people back at each life stage - ‘Even in good schools, disadvantaged pupils underperform; and even when they succeed in education, they achieve poorer career outcomes than their more affluent peers with the same qualifications’. Q - What is an example of how you provide equity for children in your setting? Ambition 1: Close the ‘word gap’ in the early years - ‘Disadvantaged children are less likely to experience a home environment that can best support their early development, particularly with regard to early language’. Q - How do you both work in partnership with parents/carers and design your setting to ensure good opportunities for early literacy?

I arrive at my son’s day-care and through the window, I see that he is having a great time with his Early Years Practitioner and the other children in the role play area. The day-care setting is language rich, and high frequency key words and labelling are situated on the walls and creatively hanging from the ceiling. A very organised and well utilised space, with the different learning areas, thoughtfully arranged to provide the children with an environment to explore and play. It is a home from home; happy, warm and welcoming, the best choice for our son and his needs. My son attends the day-care part-time, therefore I am still able to provide him with an early years education at home, within my well-resourced home-nursery. Between the two early years settings, there is a continuation of his learning. The synergy between the parents (myself as an Early Years Educator and Tiney childminder) and the Early Years Practitioners at the day-care. This synergy also extends to my son's support network of his grandparents, who are involved in his upbringing and learning. Communicating with my child and the Early Years Practitioner As the day-care door opens, my son excitedly tumbles out from behind this rainbow bright rectangle, into my arms. The playground is dimly lit as it is the late afternoon and the sky is darkening, but my son is the ball of light, bursting with energy and joy. He's so excited, that when asked about his day, this usually chatty boy has no words to communicate to me what happened at the day-care. Instead, he stuffs his pages of art into my hand, points to his hair and then runs around the playground, flapping his arms like a bird. The Early Years Practitioner has a short conversation with me about his day and explains that he has a head full of brightly coloured clips because he was at the ‘hairdressers’ with his friends. He wanted to undo his braids, to have his curls fluffed out to put these clips in. He loves his long afro hair, and I didn't mind the fact that he chose to undo his hair (which took me close to half an hour to create in the early morning!) to take part in a role play activity with his friends and Key Person. Hair care is a Caribbean cultural, bonding tradition that encourages talk and I have passed down this tradition to my son. In this diverse multicultural day-care, there would be other children who can relate to this as part of their own hair care routine. It’s moments like this - a simple everyday task that is carried out at home and is then recreated in the early years setting and opens up various opportunities to expand upon his understanding of the world, communication & language, social and emotional skills. My son didn't want to verbally communicate to me that he had a great time, but I knew it was a special day for him. With great pride he wore the clips until bedtime. I've written about this experience of my son's day-care, to highlight that communication is integral between the childcare provider and the parent/guardian. This level of importance should be the same between the childminder and the parents/guardian. There are other methods of communication that the day-care utilises. They include the digital journals on ‘Tapestry’, journal books and newsletters. I am invited to contribute to these journals by providing evidence of fun activities carried out at home and photos of family life. Myself and my partner also provide the day-care staff with any updates about family life, new routines and interests or changes which may affect my son’s behaviour. The day-care staff supported us during the early days of our son's toilet training. We worked collaboratively to keep the successful methods consistent. Our son is now a confident little boy, who proudly wears pants and can independently use the toilet. As a childminder, I curate my home-nursery, as a space where the children see themselves. My home-nursery is a representation of the children in my care. Representation equates to a child knowing and feeling valued. I talk to the parents/guardians to learn about their at home routines, their culture, faith, traditions and interests, to then use it within my daily planning and running of my home-nursery. It is detrimental to assume that every child has the same home life/ routine, therefore it is important to include key information that is provided by the parent/guardian. Continuity and consistency are key when working collaboratively. Let's also highlight the importance of the child communicating their needs, whether it be verbal or non-verbal; we listen. The process of finding families and children choosing me as a childminder I have been able to gain interest from families, through word of mouth, and social media. Tiney is a trusted Ofsted registered, early years agency, that gives me extra prominence in this sector. An Ofsted registered independent childminder, is a trusted childcare option, who can provide excellent care. An independent childminder will need to work on ways to stand out to build a credible reputation within their community. An idea would be to have a specific niche and to showcase childcare experience, education knowledge, background, skills and interests to stand out amongst other childminders and childcare providers. All childminders have to be savvy at the various ways that they can promote and market their services. A great way to promote childminding is by advertising on childcare websites and producing flyers to pin up on bulletin boards at venues that host parenting classes or children’s activities. I have friends who found their childminder by coming across a flier on a bulletin board at the local supermarket. You can market yourself in the most unexpected ways. For example, my excuse to release my inner child at the park with my son, meant that all of a sudden I became the "Pied Piper" with the children gathered around me to engage in play. This then became an unexpected opportunity to talk about my childcare service (and then became an opportunity for the adults to have fun with the children on the massive slide!). You are your business and brand. It's important to remember this in your local area, so that you can become that trusted childminder who is popular and will be the talk of the town! Nowadays the settling-in period (to limit footfall in the home, due to the pandemic) might be carried out over a video call where the childminder, parents and children can introduce themselves and get to know each other. This is where a short Storytime can take place, or a family art activity facilitated by the childminder is a lovely way to break the ice and begin the rapport between all involved. Important conversations about the child's needs and interests take place during this visit. My favourite and most recommended way of getting to know families is at the park, because children love the outdoors. It is an EYFS statutory requirement, that all children play outside on a daily basis; therefore it will demonstrate how you will interact with the child away from the childminding setting. The outdoors is a wonderful place for a child's development and mental health. You really get a good insight into the child's imagination (and your own) and creativity when in nature. Finally, after the play date or/and video call, arrangements for the introductory visit to the nursery will take place. Over a consistent few weeks, the childminder will have more time with the child without the parents present, to establish a strong rapport with each other and to gain reassurance and confidence. This is when you can then establish if it is a good match for all. Here, I have outlined the Tiney protocol for the settling in period, but some independent Ofsted registered childminders may have a different way of settling in (for example, over a few days consistently in the same week). The settling in period is a gradual process that should not be rushed, and the purpose is to ease everyone into this new routine with the child as the central focus. If the childminder and the parent/carer feel as if the partnership is a good fit, it is down to the child to choose the childminder. Contracts and fees are discussed to establish the type of childcare needed. For example, morning school drop offs, after care, full day or half day, flexible contract etc. The contract talk I can honestly say can be an awkward part of the process, but it is necessary for the childminder and parents to be precise with the expectations, rules and regulations. As it's a professional service, this is a process that should be as thorough as getting to know each other. Both parties also agree on the boundaries of communication and discuss aspects of the contract that are unclear before signing the agreement. In my home nursery setting I use the Tiney app to enable parents to access the observations written about the child on the digital journal, along with anything relating to billing, payments, contracts, policies and Tiney community news. As it is my own business, I send out a digital or hard copy newsletter to the parents as a way to inform them about the fun and exciting activities that take place and will be taking place in the future. The children will most likely have produced an art piece or written work to take home to show their family. Most parents want to be updated daily via a text message just so that they are kept in the loop with what fun activities their child is engaged in. This would usually be once a day and I feel this is a nice way to reassure the parents who may feel anxious about not being present with their child. I know exactly how this feels during the first few weeks of this new change and I want to best support all parents and to gain their trust, that I will provide excellent childcare for their child in my home that is full of love. Trust is a wonderful thing. When you see that the child fully trusts and feels safe and confident within the setting, this is where the magic resides. We cannot reach this without the communication between the child, parent/ guardian and childminder. The child's trust is a foundation that opens up a whole new world of opportunities for them to flourish.

Tim Gill, one of the UK’s most reputed experts in play, has a great ability to look at life through the eyes of children: how they experience life, benefit from it and suffer it. In his well-known book, No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2007), Tim argues that risk averse behaviour in childhood can damage and endanger children’s lives. Rather, he would like to see a freer environment for children with more of a balance between protecting them from real threats and enabling them to pursue nourishing and challenging opportunities. In his recent book, Urban Playground: How child-friendly planning and design can save cities (RIBA Publishing, 2021), Tim draws on cities around the world to see how they can be healthier, more sustainable, and more inclusive, for all ages. It informs us how urban designers and city planners can make cities better for everyone, and the planet. What would you think was the main cause of formerly ‘normal’ play opportunities being labelled dangerous or irresponsible? I think it was a shift in the way our British-Anglo culture saw children and the adult role in children’s lives. It’s what I call in No Fear the development of a philosophy of protection: the adult role being to protect children from all possible sources of harm. In previous generations parenting was more focussed on children being resilient and learning how to overcome obstacles. Do you think there is a social class and / or cultural heritage aspect to risk aversion? I think it’s complicated. I haven’t seen studies that compare children from different social classes. It’s interesting that the vast majority of parents who I have contact with, in setting up Forest Schools programmes or getting play streets happening, are middle class parents who feel that their children’s lives are too scheduled. Regardless of social class or cultural background, most of the adults that I speak to have very positive memories of the value of some freedom and being away from adult anxieties during their own childhoods - that sense of the importance of having everyday freedom comes through. In terms of culture, as lots of research shows, you can certainly see families of Chinese and Pacific Asian origin have a very strong focus on formal education from a pretty early age, so very little free time. I could see that in the countries I visited – Korea’s the most dramatic. One of the things you say about risk aversion is that it ‘corrodes children’s relationship with adults’ - can you say more about this? The growth of fear of predatory adults drives a mistrust between adult and adult, and between children and adults. For children, they start from a position of doubt and suspicion. For adults, there’s less willingness to get involved if they see children in difficulty. It wasn’t so long ago that if someone saw a child in a difficult situation, they would offer to help, but now there’s definitely some anxiety. Conversely, children don’t feel the adults around them are, by and large, well disposed towards them. Was there any backlash to No Fear? Were you accused of being irresponsible? There was hardly any backlash. I felt that, on the whole, the book gave voice to a lot of anxieties that adults had been having. Not only teachers and parents, but also business leaders who were worried about the next generation of entrepreneurs. Do you think risk aversion is more of an issue in urban environments? I actually think - and there is some evidence for this - that it’s more of an issue in rural environments. This reflects the fact that rural lives can be quite isolated, and parents have to be more involved in everyday freedoms, for instance the parental taxi service. We might think that rural families have the countryside on their doorstep, but it’s frequently not the case. The greenery that’s around them is often not readily available – it might be fenced off or cut up by busy roads. Sometimes I talk of childhood as being a journey from dependence to independence. That journey is best made in a series of gradual steps. In a rural context the steps can be really quite big – once you get beyond your own garden where do you go next? If your friend is in the next village or the play area is across a busy road, that journey can be harder. How does your work on risk aversion link with your more recent focus on urban play design? Well, it comes back to the case that I make for a good childhood. That is, the need for a rich diet of childhood experiences. If children don’t have this then they’re less happy, but also less able to grow. One of the reasons why children’s lives are more constrained is because of their built environment and features of that built environment, crucially the dominance of the car. It’s also about the quality of parks and play spaces, and how safe and welcoming they are for children. In No Fear I essentially said, ‘here’s the problem and this is why it happens’. The two things we need to do are to shift to a philosophy of resilience, and to create more child-friendly neighbourhoods where children can enjoy more freedom. So, the urban playground argument unpacks what a child-friendly neighbourhood is. Of the many countries you’ve visited, where would you most like to raise a child? I’m going to say The Netherlands. I think the Dutch are known as a culture where children are respected and cared for. They’re also a country that does a really good job of designing and planning towns and cities. They are the world’s leaders at humane, sustainable, equitable planning. Levels of cycling in the Netherlands are enormous and that’s not just because it’s flat or because the Dutch have always cycled, but because it’s been a focus of their planning ethos. They’ve recognised that cycling is a healthy way to get around. Coming back to that journey of childhood, cycling is a wonderful next step from walking. In the Netherlands it’s a step that most children make. In the UK it’s extremely rare to make that progression from walking to cycling. If children do cycle here, it’s often recreational rides with their parents in a park. It isn’t a surprise that the Netherlands are always top of those league tables of children’s wellbeing. What would you say are the three most important aspects of urban planning? (i) Taming traffic and reducing the dominance of the car. That includes both moving and parked cars. Parked cars are less understood as problematic, but essentially they are big chunks of metal occupying space that we could otherwise do other things with. Also, cars are getting bigger, which should give us pause for thought. (ii) Welcoming and attractive and playful public spaces involving playful nature. I did a little bit of work around trees - if you ask children to draw their favourite neighbourhood or park it’ll be full of trees. There seems to be something particular about trees, for adults too. (iii) Compactness. It’s a Goldilocks thing, not too dense but not too sprawling. If you live in a sprawling neighbourhood it may be three miles to the nearest shop. If you live in a dense neighbourhood it often goes with shortage of space. But there’s also the issue of the way that buildings relate to or speak to the space outside. If you’re on the fifteenth floor of an apartment block you can’t check your kids playing on the swings. Things need to be close to hand. What would your main message be to EYFS practitioners and parents reading this interview? I would invite parents and educators to think about that journey of childhood and what a good diet of experience might be. For me a lot of it is about outdoor play. I talk about ‘triangle of play’: space, time and a supportive or permissive adult attitude. We can get hung up on the physical space and forget about the time aspect. The final thing is that I would invite managers to think about those bigger questions: cars, pollution, sustainability. I’m not asking them to join Greenpeace or Extinction Rebellion, but to think about ways they can make a difference. For instance, encouraging parents to allow their kids to walk or cycle or setting about implementing a school street. In all, I’d encourage any steps that parents or educators can take - for themselves, on behalf of their children, or with their children - to tread more lightly on the earth.

Are you sitting comfortably? Depending on your age those words either take you back to ‘Listen with Mother’ or more recently, cBeebies. I make no apology for the fact that should you choose to read on, it is highly likely that your comfort will turn to discomfort. I have come to terms with this now, none of us are immune, we are all on a learning journey. For too long we have been comfortable in society and in the education sector regarding matters of race. For too long the status quo has remained. After all we are good people, we care about children, we are certainly not racists, and we want to improve lives. We are the good ones… aren’t we? However, as Nova Reid writes in her 2021 book ‘The Good Ally’: ‘Society has become really good at dehumanising: ‘racists’... racism has got nothing to do with being a good or bad person. It means facing up to the fact that what we’ve been taught to believe about ‘racists’ – being exclusively abhorrent, probably unintelligent and definitely violent individuals – is false.’ In summary, people who want to intentionally cause harm are in the minority. Well intentioned, kind-hearted, well-meaning people are in the powerful majority. People like you. Right from the outset it is important that I make it clear that it is my belief that if we are committed to positive action and change, then we must become accustomed to being comfortable with being uncomfortable. So, are you sitting uncomfortably? Then I’ll begin. Since the 2015 ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign there has been a growing Decolonisation of the Curriculum (DTC) movement. The caught-on camera murder of George Floyd in the US sparked mass support into an already growing Black Lives Matter movement and opened people’s eyes to the racial inequalities that are entrenched in Western society. As is all too familiar, there was a British exceptionalism viewpoint, watching on in horror at our cousins over the pond struggling with systemic racism. I say exceptionalism as only a matter of weeks ago in December 2021, West Mercia Police Force issued an apology, yes, an apology, for killing former footballer and Black man Dalian Atkinson after tasering him and kicking him in the head at the time of his arrest outside his father’s home when suffering a mental breakdown. The officer in question, found guilty of the unlawful killing, is currently serving a jail sentence for manslaughter. The killing took place in 2016, the apology offered in 2021. ‘I can’t breathe.’ Systemic and structural racism is entrenched in British society. The kind of systemic racism and inequality that results in it taking 19 years to convict Stephen Lawrence’s murderers. The kind of systemic racism that means you are 40 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police as a Black or Brown person (Townsend, 2019). The kind of systemic racism that means you are four to five times more likely to die in childbirth as a Black or Brown mother (Summers, 2021). The kind of systemic racism that means sending 80-90 per cent more job applications to get a positive response from an employer because of your ethnic background (Siddique, 2019). Race is a social construct, it is not real, but the impact of racism is very real. Education, and in particular early childhood education has a crucial role to play in addressing this inequality, but in order to make a change, we must also change, we have to be open to learning and here is where the journeys starts. Let’s deal with the elephant in the room. We are all, regardless of ethnicity and heritage, a product of a colonial past. As a result of this we all harbour both conscious and unconscious biases. On my own learning journey, I have come face to face with the uncomfortable truth that as someone of dual heritage, I harbour anti-blackness. As upsetting as this was to become aware of (I’ve always been and remain immensely proud of my Nigerian ancestry) it is perhaps not exactly surprising when looking back at history. From the enslavement and sale of human cattle to the colour coding caste system, it has always been a consistent message - white good, Black bad. It is innate. It is embedded in our everyday lives, when we consider: what is beautiful, whom to fear and who to trust, even in our language; ‘blacklist, blackmail, black market’, to name but a few. In fact, research from Houghton and Houghton (2018), found that this kind of terminology not only reflects racist attitudes but also serves to reinforce and perpetuate them. Their study demonstrated the word ‘Whiteness’ has 134 synonyms, 44 of which are favourable and only 10 appear to have mild negative implications. However, the word ‘Blackness’ has 120 synonyms, 60 of which are negative, and none are positive. None of us are immune from this. Not even young children. In 1940’s America, during a time of segregation and the Civil Rights movement, Kenneth and Mammi Clarke developed a psychological test, now referred to as the ‘Doll Test’. They found that given a choice between Black dolls and white dolls, most Black children had a bias towards the white doll. They associated positive characteristics to the white dolls but negative characteristics to the Black ones. In the final question, children are asked to identify which doll most looks like them. Having watched this play out thousands of times, like in the link in the reference list, I still find it impossible to not become upset. The learning from this? We are all a product of colonisation. None of us are immune. ‘Whiteness positions itself as the norm, it refuses to recognise itself for what it is, it’s so-called objectivity and reason is its most potent and insidious tool for maintaining power… it is a problem as we consider humanity through the prism of whiteness’. Eddo-Lodge, 2019 It is likely most of us have a single-story narrative in many aspects of our lives. We may have now finally said our last ‘Happy New Year’ greetings and our thoughts have likely turned to losing the excess Christmas pounds (maybe that’s just me) but the festive period still brings about a blatant example of our colonial past. How about the first record I ever bought, the one that is still played on our air waves year after year - Band Aid. Where we all sing along on our Christmas nights out, asking if ‘they’ (important word to remember) know it’s Christmas? That’s the continent of Africa, home to 54 countries, a population of 1.3 billion and 700 million Christians being asked if they know about the birth of Christ. Keeping with a chart theme, the top 10 Christian countries, as in largest number of Christians has three African countries in it, one of which being Ethiopia, the country whose famine made Bob and Midge recruit the pop stars of the time, so yes, I am going to stick my neck out and confirm ‘THEY’ know it’s Christmas. I could go on and unpick the whole song, ‘where nothing ever grows’, except tea, coffee, cocoa, countless fruits and vegetables we export constantly, but you see my point. It would be foolish to think that the damage that images and words from this song and the Western aid industry have done to stigmatise an entire continent are not felt today. When I say Africa, what is the first image that springs to mind? Decolonise or diversify? Shall we start with doing that on our radio waves? Or what about the national treasure that is the antiques roadshow, as Dan Hicks pointed out in his Tweet here: This ring ‘somehow found its way to the charity shop’. A bit like the tens of thousands of items sat in our museums found their way there? Aka stolen from Benin for example after a violent invasion. So, decolonise or diversify? Shall we start with our TV programmes? The wonderful writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009) describes the effects that labels can have on how we think about ourselves and others in her Ted Talk entitled ‘The Danger of The Single Story’. To decolonise or diversify? First, we need to learn and unlearn. ‘Usualising diversity has significant power in relation to all forms of diversity issues. For example, teachers need not create ‘shrines to people’ in the corners of their classrooms but rather to ensure all people are represented alongside others; integrated; ever-present. The same applies to the Black Scientists posters… This attempt at promoting diversity can actually just reinforce the othering effect. Diversity isn’t something you stick a label on and make room for on special occasions: here comes a dose of diversity…. now, back to normal. No. Instead, you usualise it. It’s always there, woven into the fabric. In so-doing, we educate children about people who are different to them; we tackle ignorance, break down barriers and prejudices. The gallery of ordinary people, families, characters, rulers, authors, scientists, politicians, heroes and villains, artists and professors that children encounter consists of a diverse array of people representing different ethnicities, genders, LGBTQ identities. Embedded, everyday, usual.’ Kara (2020) This is a process, and the first part of that process is acknowledging that we are likely going to need to unlearn some of what we thought we knew. It begins with a journey of self-education. We would not enter our settings ready to facilitate learning and play opportunities about early language, number or indeed any area without knowing about it ourselves. Decolonising and diversifying is no different. It is not a question of which, it is a question of being open to learn. Thankfully there is help at hand. I am proud to be part of a working group for MixEd who are looking at how we can support both the decolonisation and diversification of the curriculum movements at a practical level. The aim is working towards ‘usualisation’. We have developed a free resource to help navigate the journey. There are a wealth of excellent texts which help us come face to face with our own implicit biases, however in my opinion and that of my MixEd colleagues, there is no better place to start than Nova Reid’s ‘The Good Ally’, more essential than recommended in my opinion. When it comes to making practical change support comes from Dr Pragya Agarwal and her book ‘Wish We Knew What to Say; a toolkit for talking to young children about race’ and Bennie Kara’s ‘A Little Guide for Teachers: Diversity in Schools’. To be part of the change we must move beyond performative allyship. We have all been accustomed to seeing the world through the prism of whiteness (Eddo-Lodge, 2017). To change that will take a commitment that goes further than what has gone before. Dr Martin Luther King said ‘I have almost reached the conclusion that the stumbling block toward freedom is the white moderate… who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of action”…’ It is time that we take action.

Mathematics should come easily to us. Mathematical thinking developed from human brains as our ancestors sought to make sense of their world. Hard-wired mathematicians, we’re able in infancy to differentiate between groups of different sizes; to subitise and identify errors of addition and subtraction in small numbers of objects; and to make connections between a number of sounds and the same number of objects. And yet maths is often thought of as being a hard subject. This is in part because it is a highly abstract area of learning – the moment you talk of two or five, you’re in the realm of abstract thought. It is also widely considered hard by a large proportion of the population of this country because of the way mathematics has been taught. Even in the early years, mathematics is often mistakenly thought of as an area of learning that must be learnt and taught through direct instruction, in a particular order, and according to a fixed set of rules. While of course there is a place for instruction, as a general rule of thumb the younger the child the less effective it is to rely on it as a teaching tool. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) CLT was initially developed in the 1980s. Its starting point is that since our working memory is limited in both time and capacity, in order to maximise learning, new information must be transferred to long term memory as efficiently as possible. That is best achieved, the theory argues, by avoiding any potentially confusing or non-essential information (reducing extraneous load); presenting information that aligns with the learners’ prior knowledge or understanding (managing the intrinsic load); and building on processes which are believed to aid conceptual development such as practice and memorisation (maximizing the germane load). Ofsted suggests that CLT has an important contribution to make to our understanding of learning processes. However, the theory is not without critics and Ofsted is careful to point out that in developing pedagogy, it is important to draw on a wide range of evidence bases and approaches. This is particularly important in early childhood education. Considering extraneous and intrinsic cognitive loads when supporting young children’s mathematical development Minimising distractions (or extraneous load) is not unfamiliar to early childhood practitioners. Young children have in-built mechanisms for ignoring anything that gets in the way of what they are currently engaged in. No chance of counting steps or flowers if there’s a snail on the path. Similarly, an adult’s clumsy attempts to count red cars can result in the child simply wandering away or zooming off with a blue one. Successful early childhood educators know that to avoid becoming the distraction, they must start from each child’s own focus and level of understanding. Interesting research from Sussex University shows a link between extraneous and intrinsic load since over-simplified and under-stimulating materials may themselves act as a distraction. In the absence of an engaging or stimulating focus, the learner’s attention may move away from the intended focus towards other things of greater interest. Across much of the curriculum, early childhood specialists intuitively reduce intrinsic overload by keeping things simple. Evidence drawn from decades of work on language development shows that adults (and older children) instinctively simplify what they say to babies and toddlers – raising the pitch of the voice, stressing key words and keeping utterances short. In relation to maths however, there may be a tendency to underestimate children’s competence. Lucy, not yet two years old and with an unreliable hold on the order of numbers (counting for example 1, 2, 9, 4, 3) was asked if she wanted one or two small spoonfuls of ice cream quickly replied three! Matching learning opportunities to learners’ needs can be difficult in the early years. By definition, young children’s experience is limited and specific to their way of life. Some for example will have a lot of experience in dealing with money because it’s often discussed and carefully counted at home. Others may have a strong conceptual grasp of weight because they enjoy cooking but never go shopping because food is delivered and paid for by direct debit. In any group of young children there will be novices and experts in many different aspects of mathematics. What are needed are open-ended materials and planned activities that allow children to build on what they already know. Careful observation of children engaged in such open-ended play and activities can provide adults planning future learning opportunities with vital information. Balance the cognitive load – focus on the germane Within CLT, the function of the germane load is to make learning more effective. The teaching strategies employed will be designed to make strong links between existing knowledge and new learning. One of the strategies indicated is dual-coding, using both oral and visual stimuli. This is important in the early years but may be more effectively thought of as multi-modal learning. At this stage learning relies on sensory stimulation. In order to build a mathematical brain, children need physical action and exploration, untold opportunities to touch and smell, as well as seeing and hearing, the world around them. Their ability to master the abstract subject that maths is relies on handling concrete materials, exploring physical space, talking about mathematical characteristics and symbolising concepts such as quantity, dimension, similarities and differences through mark-making, construction and movement. Much of the CLT literature refers to ‘worked examples’ – redolent of days in front of a blackboard. It may be more appropriate in early years practice to think of modelling. Ofsted suggests that worked examples are most useful for novice learners – and that experienced learners require opportunities for exploration. There is a danger that this could be interpreted as meaning that modelling is only for the least experienced and exploration for the more experienced. In fact, for young children these two aspects must go hand in hand. They must see adults modelling sharing fruit fairly but also have opportunities to find out what happens when that doesn’t work out. CLT argues that teachers should avoid including overly complex or unnecessary information. However, to take the snack-time example further, when working with young children, deliberately adding what are sometimes called ‘provocations’ can strengthen learning. For example, making sure that there are not enough pieces of fruit to give everyone the same amount can promote important mathematical discussion as children explore the problem. Similarly, it is sometimes suggested that to provide different arrangements of groups of five dots or different types of triangles may confuse children. Provoking thinking by challenging expectations promotes learning. Maths is not about one right way – but about solving problems. Rehearsal (or practice) is recommended as part of the germane load. For older children this often means worksheets – but for young children it should mean time and space. Given that, young children will practise endlessly and even build in their own challenges. In her efforts to perfect her walking skills 13-month-old Maria pushes and pulls her buggy around the garden. She tries the same route at first, up and down the path but then attempts pushing it on the grass. Over a matter of days, she gets increasingly adept at that but then begins adding loads to the buggy – at first a doll or two, then a ball that intriguingly rolls off, then a hoop that’s too big and restricts the wheels. This process enables her to develop understanding of distance and weight, of comparison, sequence and pattern. Every day, on arrival, four-year-old Amin goes to the block area. The challenge he sets himself is to build a series of towers, of increasing complexity and using increasing numbers of blocks. With his teacher’s encouragement he begins to draw his structures, exploring in these processes a range of concepts including number, addition and shape and space. Visualisation is a key element of CLT strategies but it is also an increasingly foundational element of maths education. In the past there was a feeling that initially mathematical thinking had to be concrete before young children could move on to more abstract thinking. Better understanding of mathematics and of learning development now suggests that the two things must go hand in hand. There has been a strong move towards using story to teach mathematics, towards actively encouraging very young children to imagine objects and events and towards drawing mathematical ideas in order to clarify thinking. In conclusion Although the terminology (and starting point) adopted in CLT may be unfamiliar (and in some cases uncomfortable) for early childhood practitioners there are aspects that can lead us to reflect on theories common within mainstream early childhood pedagogy. It is important to recognise that CLT is but one of many theories of learning. It’s a theory that links human learning to that of computers and may lead us to think of children’s brains as empty buckets to be filled with knowledge drawn from a content heavy curriculum. This conflicts with the young learner portrayed in the 2021 EYFS handbook - powerful, playful, active and creative. Let’s not lose sight of that! You can read another of Linda's articles, Counting on Strong Foundations!.

Millie (4) has a satisfied radiant glow. She is admiring her work after spending two hours in the woodwork area where she has been engrossed constructing a bed for a princess. It was a complex process, first designing then making, adapting and resolving problems as she went. She used creative and critical thinking skills throughout and applied her mathematical thinking skills, such as when getting the legs the same length. Millie finished by elaborately decorating the bed with beads and buttons. Yes, Millie made a wonderful bed, but what was really ‘made’ was within Millie. Personal development is at the heart of woodwork. Seeing her sense of agency flourish as she puts her ideas into action, and seeing her confidence grow as she mastered the tools were both clearly visible. We also know by applying a multitude of creative and critical thinking skills involved in the making, new neural connections and pathways will have been established. This is the wonder of woodwork. These are exciting times. In recent years there has been a surge of interest in woodworking in Early Years education. In some cases this will be settings starting from scratch, in others, it’s a case of dusting down the workbench and digging out the tools after many years of neglect. This is very welcome as the benefits of woodwork for children's learning and development run deep across all areas of learning. Teachers who provide woodwork regularly observe exceptional levels of sustained engagement, with deep focus and concentration accompanied with persistence and perseverance with challenging tasks – especially with complex problem solving. It is not unusual for children to spend all morning at the woodwork bench. Woodwork really engages hands, minds and hearts. The rise in the popularity of woodwork is not surprising given the levels of children’s enjoyment and the fact that it provides such a profound learning experience. The renewed interest is perhaps in part a reaction our increasingly digital world, where children currently in nursery schools have learnt to swipe before they can walk, and the fact that now ‘making’ is back in fashion, with a renewed interest in craft and upcycling, perhaps a reaction to our overly homogenised world. Woodwork also gives children the experience of making and repairing, countering the prevalent culture today of consuming and disposing. The rise of Forest School movement has also been encouraging and advocating working with tools in a woodland environment. Perhaps the biggest factor though, has been the shifting attitudes moving away from risk aversion and over-zealous health and safety measures. Following on from Lord Young's review of Health and Safety 2010: Common Sense Common Safety, and subsequent guidance from the Health and Safety Executive(2012), the DoE (2013) and recently from Ofsted (2017), schools have felt encouraged to take a more balanced attitude towards risk, with many settings feeling more confident to embrace woodwork once again. This is a significant culture shift and whilst still in its infancy, should be wholeheartedly celebrated. There is something really special about woodwork. It is so different from other activities. The smell and feel of wood, using real tools, working with a natural material, the sounds of hammering and sawing, hands and minds working together to express their imagination and to solve problems, the use of strength and coordination: all go together to captivate young children’s interest. We observe children working with their hands, tinkering, constructing models, and working on projects, but in fact the real transformation is inside the child – personal development is at the heart of woodwork. Woodwork is a powerful medium for building self-esteem and confidence. This is for a combination of reasons. Children feel empowered and valued by being trusted and given responsibility to work with real tools. They accomplish tasks that they initially perceive to be difficult, and they problem-solve and persevere with challenging tasks. They show satisfaction in their mastery of new skills and take immense pride in their creations. This sense of empowerment and achievement provides a visible boost to their self-esteem and self-confidence. Children have a natural desire to construct and build. They learn how things work and discover that they can shape the world around them by making. This imparts a can-do attitude and imbues children with a strong sense of agency – having a proactive disposition towards the world – a belief they can shape their world. When we analyse a woodworking session it is extraordinary to see just how much learning is involved. It encompasses all areas of learning and development and invites connections between different aspects of learning. It supports current thinking on how children learn best, embracing all the characteristics of effective learning and thus fostering confident, creative children with passion for life-long learning. Woodwork really can be central to curriculum. It incorporates mathematical thinking, scientific investigation, developing knowledge of technology, a deepening understanding of the world, as well as physical development and coordination, communication and language, and personal and social development. Woodwork provides another media through which children can express themselves. Creative and critical thinking skills are central both in terms of imagination and problem-solving as children make choices, find solutions, learn through trial and error and reflect on their work. Children are drawn in as they explore possibilities, rise to challenges and find solutions. Woodwork is really unrivalled in terms of providing children with problem solving opportunities and challenge. I know no other activity that promotes creativity and critical thinking in quite the same way that woodwork does and I believe this is really at the heart of woodwork’s appeal and success. Some children particularly flourish when working with wood, enjoying working three-dimensionally and working with their hands. It is hard to predict who will respond particularly positively as the skills are so different from those usually used in early years. The experience of woodwork can really be the key that unlocks some children’s learning. The confidence to work with tools provides a skill set for life. Many children will need practical skills for their future work and woodwork in the early years could well be children's only experience of working with tools. Fortunately working with tools leaves a deep memory – so even if early childhood education is their only experience of working with wood it will leave a long lasting impression. Many adults recount that experiencing woodwork as a child is one of the memories from early childhood that still really stands out. With woodwork children can develop their learning at their own pace and find their own challenges. Once they have mastered basic skills, they move into open-ended exploration - tinkering, exploring possibilities and then start making unique creations. Their imagination, creative thinking and problem-solving skills really flourish as they meet and conquer new challenges. Some teachers and parents are surprised that we introduce woodwork to children as young as three, but it must be emphasised that it is a low risk activity when introduced and monitored correctly. We have been successfully woodworking with pre-school children for many years with no significant incidents. As children make with wood they are learning skills that will empower them to shape their world. Woodwork is certainly a very popular activity and incorporates so much learning – a real win-win. It would be wonderful for all children to have this opportunity to flourish at the woodwork bench. Pete’s new book ‘Learning Through Woodwork: Creative woodwork in the Early Years – Routledge 2018 – goes into considerable depth and makes for a wonderful resource for any school. “Every so often a book is written that helps practitioners to develop their work in deep and far reaching ways. This is that sort of book.” Tina Bruce CBE, Professor – Roehampton University

Many of you may have noticed the way children interact in front of mirrors in your setting with mirrors placed in the home corner or in children’s bathrooms. My interest in children’s mirror play came from my own Nursery children’s interest in selfies and their play in front of a mirror, including different expressions they tried out. Seeing this, as well as how children often find the camera function on iPads and posed with their friends and with other adults in the setting, inspired my MA research. I found that children’s interest in mirrors, or ‘mirror play’ was a consistent part of children’s everyday lives, however there was very little research available looking at mirror play as a way for children to develop their sense of self. Much of the previous research looked particularly at self-recognition and self-awareness stages through a one-dimensional psychoanalytical lens. My research looked at mirror play through the development of identity and holistic development of oneself through indicators of self-regulation and metacognition. Current practice alludes to the use of mirrors for physical purposes - light, space and interior design of classrooms. Mirrors are often placed in the home corner with the intention to support role play and imaginative play, but little attention may have been paid to the idea of what exactly children might be thinking as they look in the mirror when they are dressed up. Who do they see? Who are they becoming? What are they ‘trying out’? Identity plays an extremely important role in this context, encouraging me to consider the various identities in my classroom and how children are represented in this space. Mirrors can feel like they reflect what we see in ourselves, and often conversations about eye colour, skin colour and hair were brought up. To ensure you are able to have these conversations about racial identities with children that are respectful and leave children feeling beautiful and valued you may wish to explore other articles to support you - for example Liz Pemberton's article here on the FSF How do I talk about race with children in the Early Years setting? or watch the recording from the Tapestry Education Conference: Reflecting on Anti-racism in the Early Years. The reflection that children see in the mirror is, however, not a true reflection of themselves; it is how the world perceives them. Muller (1985) writes about the mirror showing a ‘documented self’ and possibly providing a deeper understanding of self-awareness. We might see children talking to themselves and making faces which can be identified as ‘private speech’ a characteristic of self-regulation and metacognition. To explore this topic, I set the following research questions: - In what ways do children use mirrors in my setting to explore their sense of self? - What do children think of their mirror play? I answered these questions by observing children interacting with a mirror and videoing the interaction. I then shared with children their video of their interaction and recorded their response to their play and asked further questions about their mirror play – this method is described as a Reflective Dialogue (RD). RDs have been used in various areas of practice with adults and with children to reflect on pedagogy and practice. These RDs give insights into what children are thinking and provide opportunities for reflection and to understand their metacognition. To encourage you to apply my research in your settings, I have formulated my findings into 3 possibilities for practice. Mirrors are often not commonly used to explore identity, however reframing and highlighting the possibilities of a mirror may present an alternative view for the children to explore and of your perception of the children you work with. Possibilities of a mirror: Place a mirror in the home corner Many settings will have a mirror in the home corner to support dressing up and role play, however I hope to bring to the forefront of practitioner’s minds the careful observation that can enlighten us in understanding our children. By having props and a mirror we encourage the ‘trying out’ of identities, acting out different family members, and re-enacting experiences. Through this symbolic play, children use imitation or de-centring skills to understand other perspectives. By introducing the mirror into this space, we look to connect the idea of ‘self’ and ‘other’ to children. This then would support their role play and secondary representation in their play, demonstrating the interrelation of pretend play and the development of children’s understanding of oneself. Possibilities of a mirror: Notice self-regulatory aspects of mirror ‘talk’ When observing children engage in mirror play you may notice characteristics of self-regulation and metacognition, such as children talking to themselves; this is described as ‘private speech’. The idea comes from Vygotsky’s idea of internalisation and what adults would call our consciousness or internal monologue. The theory suggests that children’s private speech are children’s inner thoughts and support them in self-regulation and are eventually internalised. Incidences of private speech are increased when children are role playing, or completing challenging tasks such as puzzles. By understanding the characteristics of self-regulation we may be able to apply this to the new area of the new Early Learning Goals which are introduced in September 2021. Possibilities of a mirror: Use Reflective Dialogues in everyday practice Many settings use video recordings for observation and assessment of children. In my setting, this is an embedded part of our practice and the children are very familiar with it. When completing this research, I showed the children the videos of their mirror play, and recorded their responses to my questions. The children used metacognitive language such as ‘thinking, learning and knowing’ about their own play and gave deeper insights to their play and understanding. Often I assumed what children were playing, learning or thinking however following the RDs, the children clarified and surprised me with their deep understanding and knowledge. RDs can be a tool for listening to children’s perspectives. By revisiting video observations children are given the opportunity to engage in higher level thinking and articulate their metacognitive language that may not have been so explicit before. This research comes at a turbulent time in the Early Years with Covid-19, the introduction of baseline testing and the Early Learning Goal reforms. I hope to redirect to what is important and refocus on the child and how we can support in developing the essence of oneself. Mirror play refocuses the narrative towards the child and understanding the individual child in the setting, in that moment in time. I hope to encourage moments of reflection, time to stop and consider what is occurring when children are looking in a mirror and engaging with themselves and others and how does this impact of their identity, or developing their identity of sense of self. By bringing the holistic child to the forefront, we centre ourselves towards the child that is at the core of early childhood education. This piece provides an overview of research I did as part of my Masters at the University of Roehampton in 2020, and may not provide as much detail; there are 1,500 words here and 10,000 in my dissertation! I’m happy to continue the conversation and go into details – feel free to reach out via social media or the comments section. Thank you to Early Years Direct, who currently have mirrors available to purchase. You can get 10% off anything on the website using the code FSF10.

“He wouldn’t comment on their lovely smiles if they were guys,” rebuked my friend during the Women’s US Open tennis final. Emma Raducanu and Laylah Fernandez were playing nail-biting tennis, yet the male commentator drew our attention to their appearances. Whilst gender is not explicitly stated in the compliment, as with a comment like ‘good girl’, it is nonetheless gendered. Despite agreeing with my friend, I also felt a certain uneasiness. Who am I to call out gendered compliments when, surely, I’m not immune to making them? The majority of us are party to such remarks, wittingly or not: gendered language is deeply engrained. Behaviours that happen unknowingly are especially worthy of examination. Presumably the smiles comments were meant well. This points us to the question, does it matter if compliments are gendered as long as they are positive and well-meant? This is a significant topic for all those who work with young children. The power of gendered language Professor Averil MacDonald is emeritus professor of science engagement at the University of Reading. She has done a lot of her work on getting girls into science. Averil says, “We create gender identity pre-birth and the expectations that go along with it. The most powerful way this happens is through language.” Pre-birth gendering is a fascinating notion, though not unfamiliar to us. How many of us have never seen the bedroom of a forthcoming baby decorated according to their assigned sex? Who has never heard the future dad of a son to say, “I’ll have someone to go to the football with!” Averil elaborates this theme, “If we look at the English language there are certain words that are associated with feminine and masculine.” It is not difficult to ascertain which of the following lists of words are associated with masculine and feminine: · Cheerful, committed, considerate, co-operative, dependable, empathic, honest, kind, loyal, modest, nurturing, people-focused, pleasant, polite, quiet, responsible, sensitive, supporting, trustworthy, understanding, warm. · Adventurous, analytical, autonomous, challenging, confident, courageous, decisive, determined, forceful, impulsive, independent, individual, intellectual, logical, objective, outspoken, persistent, principled, superior, self-confident, self-sufficient. Averil continues, “These words appear in job applications and affect whether the person applying feels alienated or that they belong there. Careers in science and engineering will use very different language from those in the early years or nursing.” This clearly makes the case for the power of gendered language per se. Gendered compliments Gendered words and attitudes are part of our everyday language and habits. As such, they are implicit to how we praise and compliment young people and will have a potentially significant impact on them. Terri Coles’s article, The 10 Best Compliments for Kids That Aren't 'Pretty' Or 'Handsome (HuffPost 28 /06/2017) looks at compliments that are non-appearance focussed. Coles says, “Kids are pretty cute ­- and it's hard not to let them know it. And most of the time, we mean well when we tell our children how beautiful they are. But when our compliments to our kids focus too much on appearance, they can backfire”. This is endorsed by parent Laurie Turner, “When you focus on how they look, what does that say to them if they ever have a disfiguring accident or develop severe acne as a teenager?" Laurie makes compliments to her children based on what they do as opposed to what they look like. Coles argues that it is more beneficial to the child’s self-worth to focus compliments on process and effort. Commenting, for instance, on the kindness a child shows to their friend or the effort they put into a painting, helps to reinforce their positive qualities and boost their self-confidence. These, too, are things the child has some control over, unlike their amazingly curly hair or long legs. It is important to consider: · what is it we want to draw attention to when complimenting a child? · how will it serve them? Challenging gendered practice. Gender Action is a programme all about challenging gender stereotypes. Its vision is to transform school and nursery environments. “There are no inherent differences between the genders that should limit anyone’s interests, capabilities or ambitions. Nurseries, schools and colleges can encourage young people to be individuals and can be places where choices are free; not edited through a gender filter.” Georgina Phillips, representing Gender Action, points out, “Some problematic compliments are obvious, such as complimenting young girls’ appearances and the importance of their looks. Some are more innocuous. Research indicates that girls are disproportionately praised for neatness. This can encourage them to value their neatness over creativity and exploration”. She adds, “We work with many early years practitioners who indicate that they don’t think they compliment children in different or gendered ways. However, once they (or their colleagues) start to note the compliments, they are shocked to see just how often they do.” Making a start Gender identity is a growing discourse, and a complex one. People can get nervous about causing offence where ‘issue-based’ topics are concerned, especially if they say things inadvertently. This is, of course, understandable in an era of vicious social media. However, if we want to implement change, we need to start by developing an awareness of our personal habits and predilections. This does not mean being self-critical, or judgemental of oneself and others. Rather, there needs to be a space where staff can be open and honest: exploring their biases in a way that will be helpful and progressive. It is then that learning can happen, and change be affected. Georgina Phillips spoke about the change one EYFS teacher made, “He noted how young girls would often seek compliments for their clothes or appearance. He encouraged his team to acknowledge them without giving praise: “Look at my wellies!” “Yes, they are wellies”. He admitted that it initially felt strange!” Georgina went on to point out that, using different terms of endearment for boys and girls, is one of the ways we can unintentionally reinforce difference, and that difference is important. The BBC 2 documentary, No More Boys and Girls: can our kids go gender free?, focusses on trying to make a school gender-neutral. One of the teachers asked his Year 2 pupils to point out when he called the boys ‘mate’ and the girls ‘sweetheart’. Taking these seemingly small steps will make a difference. The prevalence of the binary Fundamental to any discussion about gender is the binary model where gender is assumed to align with one’s genetic or assigned sex at birth. So, if a baby is born with two X chromosomes they will be assumed to grow up female with female characteristics and traits. Basically, binary is the classification of two distinct forms – in the case of gender this is feminine and masculine. Most gendered words are binary in that they apply to two genders: girl/woman and boy/man. This can lead to misgendering - that is, referring to a person using a word that does not reflect their gender. In other words, it makes assumptions about them, and their gender identification. Using more inclusive language, on the other hand, does not pressure children to fit into certain stereotypes. Fifi Benham, says on her blog, ‘Regardless of individual experience, we as practitioners must acknowledge the gender binary, and the way it attempts to dictate different aspects of life.” (Gender Inclusive Practice 27/10/2020) It is quite simply a fact that we no longer live in the age of gender binary. This is something we have to get our heads round. Yes, it will turn much of our embedded thinking and attitudes upside down, but necessarily so if we are to do justice to ourselves and those around us. Finally, … I remember on my tenth birthday I wore my new yellow flowery dress to school. My teacher smiled, ‘What a pretty dress for your birthday.” This compliment worked for me. In fact, it made my day. The same comment may, however, have been a sore point or very troubling for another child. Maybe they didn’t want to wear a pretty dress on their birthday, let alone have it highlighted. Over the years, many of us will have taken gendered compliments positively, and many quite the opposite. We cannot know how a compliment might be received. Good intentions are not always enough. This is precisely why it matters and is an area worthy of our exploration. Finally, I want to end with something my mother, who has four daughters, said, “I only wanted girls because I wouldn’t know how to talk to little boys.” A minefield …

Early childhood settings and schools are becoming increasingly diverse due to children from different ethnic, cultural, religious, linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds accessing childcare provision. This is a result of global movement of families with young children to move from war zone areas to safety and sometimes for better job prospects. Early childhood settings and practitioners are responsible for meeting the unique and individual needs of all children. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness of diversity and develop knowledge and understanding, acknowledge and respect differences across various racial, ethnic and religious groups in the society. They must be provided with opportunities to share knowledge between practitioners and families. This article will illustrate two models discussed in the book – Promoting diversity and inclusion in early years settings – the wheel of inclusion and the model of awareness of diversity. This will enable practitioners to provide better experiences for all children, thereby providing the best opportunities to develop. The practitioners supporting the children must be aware of the individual needs of children and acknowledge them. It is important for these needs to be met and identify all the needs of the children, considering the visible and invisible diversity rather than homogenising the child’s needs under the visible category. Diversity is visible due to the obvious physical characteristics such as facial features, skin colour that may be different to the majority population. Bias and prejudice can be avoided by being open and engaging in dialogue to be able to relate to invisible diversity. Considering the wide range of backgrounds of visible and invisible diversity it is important to be aware of both visible and invisible forms of diversity. Some people are visibly different to the majority population by their external appearance and characteristics. Based on the differences, these children are easily labelled, and therefore stereotyped and prejudiced and their needs may not be met. However, some children who may appear to be like other children, such as skin colour and facial features, may be believed to have similar needs, but there may be invisible diversity where some of the categories may not be obvious and that might also mask the individual needs of the child. Invisible forms of diversity include attributes or characteristics related to cultural diversity, religious beliefs, poor socio-economic backgrounds and educational levels that may not be explicit initially to the practitioner and may lead to stereotyping. The adults supporting the child must collaborate with the families to know more about the child and be aware of visible and invisible diversity rather than homogenising under the child’s needs. Bias and prejudice can be avoided by being open and engaging in dialogue to be able to relate to invisible diversity. The needs of children may be overlooked due to ‘invisibility’ from limited information on children’s background, ability and skills, inadequately prepared and trained practitioners; and thus impacting on teachers’ perceptions of diversity. Wheel of Inclusion – strengths-based model Inclusion as a concept has been evolving in the last few decades - emphasising weaknesses influenced by the labels. Perceptions relating to inclusion in early childhood contexts have changed, especially concerning those from diverse backgrounds. The wheel of inclusion helps to illustrate this concept. The wheel must be on the move constantly ensuring everyone in the community – i.e. children and their families, teachers, administrators, policy makers, researchers – is included. In order for the wheel to be moving constantly and ensuring inclusion of everyone, the focus must be on strengths rather than weaknesses. It is important for the wheel of inclusion to move forward consistently. The symbolic wheel consisting of spokes holding the wheel together are the major influences. The spokes represent the attitudes of people towards inclusion, commitment, knowledge and understanding relating to the needs of the child, resources available, as well as training and skills to teach children from a wide range of backgrounds. It is important to focus on strengths and build on them to overcome the weaknesses. But there is a tendency to highlight the weaknesses of an individual and overlook the strengths. For example, when a child is looked at through the lens of the medical model of disability, a child with a disability is unable to perform routine activities on a daily basis and needs support. The strengths of the child might be overlooked. This child may also have strengths that may not have been tapped. Who drives the wheel of inclusion? A wide range of people are involved (active or passive) in the process of inclusion and thus would be responsible for ensuring the wheel of inclusion is moving forward. Some of them are active at the grassroots level in early childhood settings while others at different levels such as politicians and policy makers are indirectly responsible by developing policies and legislation influencing inclusion. The wheel of inclusion might gain momentum with involvement of stakeholders at different levels, resulting in positive and effective inclusion. It will be crucial to ensure everyone has a key role in moving the wheel of inclusion forward by including children, parents, practitioners/teachers and support professionals and administrators at all levels. The commitment and positive attitudes of people involved at different levels towards inclusion will drive the wheel forward. Further, consistent updating of knowledge and understanding and regular training and skills relevant to the changing face of diversity is needed. Lack of the right attitude and commitment might result in tokenistic inclusion. This will impact on the wheel, causing it to lose its momentum short term or even long term. This will lead to a breakdown of the momentum in the process of inclusion, impacting on the child’s holistic development. Model of Awareness of Diversity The Model of Awareness of Diversity will enable teachers, practitioners and professionals working with children and their families from diverse contexts and backgrounds in raising awareness about diversity. This model was developed by adapting the model of Johari Window, which focuses on emphasising and acknowledging the heterogeneous nature of diversity and identifying the differences in the individuals. This model will also help to identify and confront one’s own stereotypes and prejudices. The model contains four quadrants. You can see these in the image below, but to emphasise: Known by others and Known by self on the left side top box - open and free (stereotypes and prejudices) – what we do know is open and flexible to adapt to new information. Visible diversity – what is politically correct, attitudes to diverse population. In the top right box, Unknown by self but Known by others – refers to the Blind Spot – you are prejudiced and do not necessarily believe you are prejudiced, for example towards religious diversity, ethnic minorities, EAL, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families. This is perceived by others – especially the members of diverse communities. Known by self and Unknown by others in the bottom left box shows a façade or mask (so hidden) – you are prejudiced, but do not like to admit to your prejudices because they are not acceptable in society. Attitudes towards specific diverse groups – Gypsy, Roma and traveller families, ethnic minority groups, specific religions. Finally, Unknown by self and Unknown to others in the right-side bottom square is where you do not know that you hold some stereotypes because it is unconscious. Invisible diversity – ingrained by society, lack of awareness. This is perceived by others – especially the members of diverse communities. This model can be used by individuals or organisations to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding of diversity prevalent in society and may also enable them to identify their own stereotypes and prejudices. It can inform training, discussions and workshops in unlearning, relearning and raised awareness of diversity among practitioners and teachers in early childhood settings. Adapted Johari Window model to develop an understanding of challenges to relate to the perspectives of diversity. Figure I.3: Model of awareness of diversity Adapted from Luft, J., Ingham, H. (1955) ‘The Johari window, a graphic model of interpersonal awareness.’ Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles. Children are the foundation of every community. In the current context, all early childhood settings have a huge responsibility to provide best care and education to all children to support their holistic development irrespective of their diverse backgrounds and unique needs. Good inclusive practice in early childhood settings will enable young children to perform to the best of their potential. The wheel of inclusion and the model of awareness of diversity will enable settings to identify challenges and the barriers to good practice, resulting in inclusion and holistic development of children, positive communication and links with families, and development of the community. You can listen to Chandrika talking about the Wheel of Inclusion and the Model of Awareness of Diversity in one of our podcast episodes.