Professionalism and the Early Childhood Studies Graduate

1
Professionalism and the Early Childhood Studies
Graduate

• Carolyn Silberfeld
• Research to Reality Conference
• Woburn House 14th March 2006

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Professionalism and the Early Childhood Studies
Graduate

• Development of ECS Degrees
• Aims of the Study
• Research Strategy
• Research Design
• Sample
• Ethical Considerations

3
Professionalism and the Early Childhood Studies
Graduate

• Data Collection
• Questionnaire Response
• The Interviews
• Data Analysis
• Discussion of findings

4
Development of ECS Degrees

• better educated workforce, better equipped to
  provide quality experiences for children (Calder,
  1999)
• link between quality of provision level of
  education (Whitebrook et al 1990)
• Early Childhood Studies (ECS) degrees validated
  in the UK since 1993.

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Issues

• Rapid development ECS degrees
• Differences between programmes
• Graduate employment for those without practice
  qualification
• Benchmarking of ECS degrees

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Aims of Study

• To explore perceptions about the preparation of
  ECS graduates for employment/further study.
• To investigate the perceptions regarding the
  status of the ECS graduate.

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Research Strategy

• Flexible design to encompass qualitative and
  quantitative aspects.
• Qualitative paradigm narrative data,
  perceptions
• Naturalism (critical realism or post-positivism)
  - deeper social reality, needs qualitative
  enquiry (Holliday, 2002).

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Research Design

• Exploratory Case Study
• Can follow a naturalistic paradigm
• Allows both qualitative and quantitative data
  collection methods

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Sample

• ECS Degrees Network (past and present)
• Purposive sample to encompass range diversity
  taken from those who volunteer
• No need for generalisation

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Ethical Considerations

• Information to prospective sample
• Informed consent (informed refusal)
• Procedures of study
• Recording, storage and use of data
• Analysis and dissemination of data
• Confidentiality
• Anonymity as far as possible

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Data Collection

• Questionnaire to identify more detail about ECS
  programme and background of respondent.
• Semi-structured
• Open and closed questions
• Interviews with selected sample
• Loosely structured interview schedule

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Questionnaire Response

• Only 3 received by given deadline
• Email re-sent with new deadline
• 19 returned (16 institutions) 45.7
• 16 completed all willing to participate further
  in study

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The Interviews

• 9 selected for telephone interview
• Geographical spread
• Range of professional backgrounds
• Active interviewing (Holstein Gubrium (1999)
• Problems with equipment during pilot interview

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Data Analysis

• Questionnaires
• Matrix constructed to identify commonalities and
  differences
• Interviews
• Phenomenographic analysis - identifying
  conceptions, looking for underlying meanings and
  relationship between them (Entwistle Entwistle,
  1997)

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Questionnaire Analysis

• Questionnaires limited usefulness, other than
  to clarify diversity of programmes, statistics of
  students and range of graduate destinations

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Graduate Destinations

• PGCE Primary/Early Years/GTP
• P/G social work/law/midwifery/play
  therapy/speech therapy
• Masters/PhD
• Management/employment in EY Setting
• Sure Start/other EY projects
• EYDCP
• Classroom Asst./support worker/social work asst.
• Lecturer HE/FE
• Special Needs
• Other includes NGO, working/travelling
  abroad/librarian/mentoring

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Interview Analysis

• Six themes emerged from data
• influence of the respondents background
• preparation of students
• status of graduates within early years world
  and within wider world
• graduate concerns
• role of early years practice
• graduate skills

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Influence of Background

• 1- 10 years involvement in ECS Degrees
• Similarity in professional qualifications of 7
  respondents five teachers and two social
  workers but teaching and employment histories
  dissimilar
• Different reasons for involvement in ECS degree
• All positive about multidisciplinary and
  multi-professional nature of degree programmes

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Preparation of students

• Influenced by type of applicant and background
  of interviewees
• Practitioners wanting to increase knowledge
  understanding
• Promotion prospects
• Entry on to professional courses
• Interest in widening EY field

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Preparation of students

• Preparation for life skills
• Preparation for graduate skills
• As advocates for children and families
• Understanding of what childhood is about
  historically, socially, in a health context, not
  just child development
• Preparation for management

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Teacher Training

• High applicants wanted to do teacher training
  but found other options - perceived early years
  as a graduate type of specialism
• Teachers did not always encourage graduates to go
  into teaching - concerns regarding prescribed
  curriculum not thought to reflect or meet
  learning needs of children.

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Status of Graduate

• ECS degree gave graduates higher status within
  the early years world
• In wider world status was much the same as
  majority of those who work with children
• Status related to salary
• Awareness that childcare workers were at the
  bottom of the wage spectrum

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Graduate Concerns

• Finding suitable employment without practice
  qualification
• Recognition of degree within early childhood
  settings
• Recognition of graduate skills and status of
  degree for employment in field of early childhood

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Graduate Skills

• Recurring theme in all interviews reflective
  critical thinkers confident in knowledge and
  understanding of ECS good communicators
• I want to make them powerful, thinking,
  reflective, honestall sorts of traditional
  things you get from a good degree