Jean Rockel: Our littlest citizens need our attention

The mothering and childcare debate is not for the meek. It raises fears and uncertainties for us all. Parents have often taken the blame for society's ills but now there is a further scapegoat - organised childcare. However, it is important to remember that the quality of care varies in the home as much as it does in services outside the home.

Research has shown that good-quality early-childhood services can benefit young children. But extreme care is needed in taking it to the next stage as an economic policy. Any such policy must also acknowledge the valuable role played by parents who choose to stay at home.

Young children are not objects to be manipulated according to short-term economic goals. The early years are the foundations of learning, not just a means to functional productivity. There should be consideration of long-term goals, where the child is regarded as a repository of a society's histories, cultures, languages and knowledge.

We are not simply talking about the high proportion of 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in early childhood centres. The number of those under 2 in the centres is rising and Ministry of Education statistics show there are about 33,000.

This group is the most likely to be affected by an economic plan to get women back to work, yet this is the group that has made the least progress to date in the push for better standards.

One reason for this is cost. The cost of putting babies in care is so high that some governments have decided it is better to pay mothers or fathers to stay at home for the first 12 or 18 months.

Professor Jay Belsky, of Birkbeck University of London, says parenting at home is what most people say they want when their babies are born. He points out that for that reason the Scandanavian publicly funded infant daycare system has been replaced with paid parental leave.

The Government's strategic plan for quality education and care sets out to meet the requirements for those under 2 in early-childhood centres. Requiring staff to be qualified and registered is admirable. We should expect nothing less for the most vulnerable citizens in our society.

Likewise, the New Zealand curriculum, Te Whaariki, provides an excellent basis and sound principles for education and care of babies and toddlers. It envisions an early-childhood education - starting from birth - for every child.

The perception of babies as needy and passive has given way to an image of babies who are competent and confident learners.

The Italian educator Carlina Rinaldi put this succinctly: "The child is powerful from birth. A 6-day-old child is powerful because he wants to learn, because he wants to live with us." Contemporary research into the brain has created an attitude about infants that would once have seemed frivolous. Despite these shifts, it is not all okay yet for our youngest citizens. Care of under-2s can still resemble a babysitting service, with unqualified staff members expediently placed with babies to keep costs down. Practices are too often based on a pushed-down curriculum for older children and overlook the child's own competencies.

These competencies are in the important area of establishing positive relationships with others - developing a sense of self and exhibiting empathy for others. From birth, children are primed to interact warmly with others and have to have responsive and reciprocal interactions with adults to learn about empathy.

Too often the focus is on formal teaching rather than the development of identity. So many social problems today are about a lack of empathy with others. Healthy relationships between family, teachers and children are what count in developing competent children.

What is urgently required is more New Zealand research on these relationships and the impact of long-term care on young children. It is required so that parents will know what quality looks like. It is required so that teachers in charge of infants understand how their practices affect babies and their families. It is required so that tertiary educators can develop suitable courses in infant care and education.

Teachers of the very young require specialised knowledge about early learning, which is at present lacking in tertiary education courses. Courses need to be expanded, rather than condensed to give the required weight to knowledge and practice in this area.

There are many practical issues in the expansion of services for under-2s. Important policy work remains to be done to encourage mothers to continue to breastfeed while using education and care services. There is a real concern that working parents will not have the time and opportunity to learn essential skills unless staff and parents have discussion and education. There is the need for continuity in staffing, to avoid the constant high turnover of staff with infants.

The Government has now begun research projects in several early-childhood centres as part of its strategic plan. The Auckland early-childhood centre A'oga Fa'a Samoa is researching the effects on children's learning, including Samoan language and culture and of continuity in teacher relationships.

Three further "centres of innovation", with a focus on innovative practice for babies, start this year. One of them, in Upper Hutt, will provide discussions on the all-important parenting issues. Another study, at Massey University's childcare, centre will look at attachment relationships. It is a good start.

We are witnessing an important time of change for our under-5s. Until now, most of the focus in our society has been on children over 3. The debate on childcare and education provides an opportunity to secure the gains for babies that have been achieved for their big brothers and sisters.

* Jean Rockel is a senior lecturer in Auckland University's faculty of education.