Infants and Toddlers right to Qualified Teachers
“States
Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible
for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards
established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety,
health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent
supervision”
(Children's Commissioner, 2005, p. 8).
I’ll be honest, up until now I
have not taken much interest in political and legislative issues. I had felt
that I did not need to know about these issues until I was working in paid
employment! Boy was I wrong!
My research has led to
uncovering the role the government has in the care and education of very young
children in early childhood settings throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. It has
shown me that every single adult, whether they are working in early childhood
or not, are responsible for the care, education and well being of every child in
our country.
The United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child (Children's Commissioner, 2005) in Article three describes how the
“States Parties shall ensure
that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or
protection of children shall conform with the standards established by
competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the
number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision” (p.
2).
What this means to me is that
the Ministry of Education as the representative of our Government (State) in
all areas of education, especially early childhood, is responsible to ensure
that all early childhood institutions and adults working within those institutions
are of a high quality and ensures the provision of high care and education for
all infants and toddlers enrolled (Children's Commissioner, 2005).
I look back on my initial research
questions and I can see how as a teacher and as a voter I need to be aware of
my responsibilities under the UNCROC document. Articles 28 and 29 state that
all children are entitled to an education and that there should be no barriers
for any child to receive a good quality education regardless of gender, race or
age. That education is for the purpose of developing each child’s individual personalities,
for the discovery of talents and the building of strong mental and physical
abilities (Children's Commissioner, 2005).
My initial research questions
were; should very young children be engaged in group care and education; and if
infants and toddlers must be in institutional care then what optimizes the
quality of care for them?
Thinking back on all I have
read and written. I believe that quality of care can be attained in early
childhood settings. I believe that every single adult working with infants and
toddlers is responsible for the quality of care they give. But also that the
settings management are ultimately responsible for the people they choose to employ,
qualified over non-qualified. The setting policy makers have the choice to
follow the minimum ratio of one to five set out by the government, or choose to
provide ratios that support qualified teachers to give the quality of care and
education to every child in the setting as set out in the early childhood
curriculum Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996).
Te Whāriki document is closely
intertwined with the Licencing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care
Centres (2008) which clearly sets out the minimum expectations of the Ministry
of Education. This criteria applies to most centre based ECE services under the
Education Act of 1989. But what I noticed is that the licencing criteria does
not cover ‘qualifications, ratios and service size’ (p. 3). These are linked
into Education Regulations 2008 (Early Childhood Services).
In my centre I am a teacher
and a learner. I get to experience an environment that supports and encourages
quality learning for two to five year olds. I can see Te Whāriki strands and
goals in action. The teachers and management recognise their role in the care
and education of young children. The teachers are working in ongoing
partnership with children, parents and whānau, and recognise the community as
integral to the setting philosophy and teacher pedagogical practices.
The Ministry of Education
([MOE], 1996) describes how Te Whāriki is a document that reflects the
importance of early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. The curriculum
emphasises that ‘learning is a lifelong process that begins at the very start
of life’ (p. 7). So if children are recognised as learning from the very
beginning of their lives, and they are in institutional care (MOE, 1996). Then surely
children have the right to be cared for by highly trained, qualified teachers
that know how to foster and support infant and toddler growth and development
without compromising the quality of care.
Links to resources
Te
Whāriki
http://www.educate.ece.govt.nz/~/media/educate/files/reference%20downloads/whariki.pdf
United
Nations Human Rights
Licencing
Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008 and Early
Childhood Education Curriculum Framework
References
Children's Commissioner. (2005). The united nations convention on the rights of the child.
Children's Commissioner. (2005). The united nations convention on the rights of the child.
Retrieved from
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspxMinistry of Education. (2008). Licencing criteria for early childhood education
and care centres 2008: And early childhood
education curriculum
framework. Retrieved from
loads/Lead/Files/Criteria/2008LicensingCriteriaForEarlyChildhoodEduca
tionAndCareCentresBookletv1.pdf
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: Te Whāriki mātauranga mō ngā
mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood
curriculum.
Wellington, New
Zealand: Learning Media.
