Beginning With Workshops On Children's Learning Through Play And With The

Beginning with workshops on children's learning through play and with the Getting Started Course the Alliance presents people with an opportunity to train in childcare. This is the first step that can lead to the awards laid down in the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's National Qualifications Framework, including those that refer to the CPP and DPP. The charity has developed its own programme of training to ensure pre-school practitioners meet all of the relevant regulatory requirements and achieve satisfactory or better outcomes in the OfSTED inspections of pre-school settings. More than a million parents have successfully accessed and completed adult educational courses as a result of involvement in pre-school settings. This has resulted in both a better-qualified workforce and greater opportunities for pre-schools to expand and diversify their provision. It also means that in areas of economic disadvantage, the successful completion of courses provide opportunities for more people to find paid work. Training such as this includes what this paper considers to be essential elements for those who wish to work in the early years sector. That is they place considerable emphasis on the importance of play and how play and the learning environment need to be compatible. They make explicit the power relationships at work in the educational process and they emphasise the importance of role models and also of modelling what is acceptable behaviour and language in the learning environment. Not least such training emphasises the importance of inclusive behaviour and practice.
Cultural Awareness
Milner (1983) has argued that children learn about positive and negative racial responses from a very early age and that positive acceptance of others depends in part on whether they have been allowed to develop a positive self-concept and acceptance of themselves. Where this is lacking, and where significant adults display racial preferences then children as young as three can act in accordance with adult prejudice. Siraj-Blatchford (1996) contends that cultural identity should be an area of concern both in curriculum formation and in teacher training. This is especially relevant in the early years sector where negative experiences with others can result in children rejecting their own cultural identity. Practitioners need to be sensitively aware of a child's cultural background and make an effort to show all the children that difference is something to be celebrated and enjoyed rather than shunned. A critical element in the training of those who desire to work in early years education is thus the development of cultural sensitivity and awareness.