Early Childhood Education and Care: A Comprehensive Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of early childhood education and care (ECE) in the UK, examining various facets that contribute to a well-functioning system. It emphasizes the significance of the human element, particularly the educators and the crucial role of parental involvement. The report discusses the importance of teacher training, the challenges associated with funding and qualification requirements, and the impact of parental leave policies. It draws comparisons with the ECE system in Sweden, highlighting the benefits of extended parental leave and adequate teacher compensation. The report also addresses legal and financial challenges faced by ECE institutions and proposes policy changes to improve the quality of early education, including increased government support for training, equitable teacher salaries, and flexible funding models. The conclusion underscores the need for a holistic approach to early childhood education to ensure the best possible start for young children.

Running Head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
1
Early Childhood Education and Care
Professor
Institution
Date

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
2
The Human brain develops most rapidly during the first 8 year of life. It has been proven that
it is in this stage that character and intelligence is determined. At this stage, children are merely
but sponges, absorbing all they behold. As such this natural curiosity, if not properly steered,
may prove to be their downfall. For this reason, it is imperative that children receive the greatest
level of attention during this stage of life. This is the purpose of early childhood education,
(ECE).
There are many components in the creation of a proper functioning ECE system. These
include; facilities, resources, faculty education, funding, social education and many others. This
report shall focus only on what is arguably the most important; the human aspect, most
especially the people tasked with providing this education.
Primarily, the duty of educating a child falls on the parents. It is our mission to make sure that
parents participate as much as possible in the training of their children. It is imperative in
forming the self-esteem of the child. Notwithstanding the same, the national policy regarding
parental leave makes this difficult. The same shall be discussed more later on in this paper.
Studies have cast an ambiguous shadow on the importance of having graduate level people
teaching young children. While some seem to suggest that it is imperative to the development of
children to have well-educated staff teaching them, other studies suggest that it is unnecessary.
But one thing that we have come to discover is that training the faculty always aids in the quality
of service that we offer our students. For this reason we conduct periodic workshops and other
training camps to help out faculty gain understanding and knowledge in the latest theories
surrounding ECE. Much like any science, such as medicine, social science required constant
advancement of knowledge. We understand that there is no one right way of developing a child’s
brain since all children are different.
We excel at this aspect of training our staff to understand the needs of each individual child
and how to solve each child’s unique problems. Furthermore, we understand the need for a hand-
on, one on one approach and as such we emphasize on keeping the teacher to student ratio as low
as possible. A study into the effects on one on one style teaching outlined 8 principle benefits to
one on one teaching. All evidence suggests that such kind of teaching results not only in the

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
3
heightened intelligence of the child but also a boost in self-confidence and self-esteem. (8
Reasons Why One-On-One Instruction Benefits Students, n.d.)
However, these training sessions are often in-house training. Though there are government
training session available, these have proven difficult to attend as they often require payment.
(TEACH, 2018) This is difficult as our institution is non-profit and the salary given to our staff is
often not adequate to cater for cost of living and the attendance of these seminars. Furthermore, a
good number of these seminars run for several days and the expenses attached to such a venture
disables our faculty from being able to participate. (TEACH, 2018) The same can be said for
training sessions run by private establishments. (Childcare Expo, 2019)
Further yet, we face legal challenges. The 2014 qualifications requirements drastically
reduced the employment pool, and since the majority of our faculty did not have the required
qualifications, this put us in quite a conundrum. Unfortunately, this is not unique to us. There is a
shortage of early education teachers as a direct result to the decline in salary. (Lloyd, 2015)
Whereas I agree it is important to vest the responsibility of early education on highly educated
people, the implementation of the same has brought about negative consequences.
Aside from academic qualifications, the physical requirements of teaching very young
children requires fit and active teachers to be with them. This in-turn demands that these teacher
be young men and women. This is yet another challenge.
As stated above, the education of the young is essential. For that reason, those entrusted with
task of educating the young must be afforded the same respect as those who teach at the higher
levels. The system as adopted in Sweden should be copied and implemented in the UK. Sweden
ranks very high in the quality of childhood education its system offers. (West Central Initiative,
n.d.) It is important to note that the first teacher in a child’s life is his/her parents. Sweden grants
both parents 480 days of paid parental leave upon the birth of a child. (Childcare in Sweden,
2018) In the UK parents are entitled to 18weeks (126) unpaid parental leave. (Uk Government,
n.d.) This shows a policy problem. Where Sweden sees value in the time parents spend with their
children, the UK does not. Studies continue to show a link between childhood development and
parental leave. (POL, 2017) In a study conducted in 2015, research showed that maternity leave

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
4
had an impact on the health of the infant both cognitive and physical. (Barbara Broadway, 2015).
The UK need to implement this policy for the wellbeing of the children.
Aside from parent, as discussed above, the training of staff is essential together with the
remuneration. The Average early childhood educator in the UK is £17,518 per year. (Payscale,
n.d.) The same for a primary school educator is £25,150 per year. (Payscale, n.d.) This disparity
as discussed above has caused potential trainers seek other forms of employment. This policy
needs to change to equalize the payment of teachers. Furthermore, the government needs to make
training sessions more available and affordable. This should include the dispatch of trainers to
facilities country wide.
Finally, it would to be our benefit should we open up our centre to donation and outside
funding. It has long being our policy that funds be sound through government grants and school
fees but it is clear that this is not enough.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
5
References
8 Reasons Why One-On-One Instruction Benefits Students. (n.d.). Retrieved from Christa McAuliffe
Academy School of Arts and Sciences.
Barbara Broadway, G. K. (2015). The Effect of Paid Parental Leave. IZA Discussion Paper series, 17.
Childcare Expo. (2019). Seminar Programme. Retrieved from Childcare Expo:
https://www.childcareexpo.co.uk/london/seminar-programme-london/
Childcare in Sweden. (2018, Novemebr). Retrieved from Expat: https://www.torfx.com/ppc6/best-
exchange-rates.php?
adloc=Google&keyword=ContentKeyword&adcmp=UK_Search&adnwk=content&adst=www.exp
at.com&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItvv0l-
mh4gIVjMZRCh3gFA1QEAEYASAAEgI9wPD_BwE&utm_expid=.DyEtfv4zR6Cd8tN1noeT4Q.0&ut
m_referrer=https%3A
Lloyd, E. (2015). Early childhood education and care policy in England under the Coalition Government.
London Review of Education, 145 - 152.
Payscale. (n.d.). Average Primary School Teacher Salary. Retrieved from Payscale:
https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Primary_School_Teacher/Salary
Payscale. (n.d.). United Kingdom Job Early Childhood Educator (ECE). Retrieved from Payscale:
https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Early_Childhood_Educator_(ECE)/Salary/
691d0b69/London
POL. (2017, November 8). Early Years Development. Retrieved from Education Policy Institute:
https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/analysis-developing-early-years-workforce-
evidence-tell-us/
TEACH. (2018). Training Courses. Retrieved from Early Education:
https://www.early-education.org.uk/book-course
Uk Government. (n.d.). Unpaid parental leave. Retrieved from GOV: https://www.gov.uk/parental-
leave/entitlement
West Central Initiative. (n.d.). Early Childhood. Retrieved from West Central Initiative:
https://www.wcif.org/what-we-do/programs/early-childhood/nancy-jost-in-sweden.html

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
6