Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government

1996; Pugh et al 1994; Smith and Pugh1996; Smith 1996;Utting 1995; White andWoollett 1992).PRACTITIONERSMost of all, we conclude thatpractitioners need commitment.In order to be effective in theirrelationships with babies and youngchildren they need to be loving andknowledgeable, and because they workin positions of great responsibility, theyneed to be professional,accountableand trained in ways which keep theminformed about research and able toreflect on that research in the light oftheir own observations of children.As one practitioner in an Americanresearch report said:-‘I was at a party recently, whensomeone asked me what I did.“I’m aninvestor,” I said. People gathered roundme asking about stocks, mutual funds,and so on. I explained that I wasn’tdealing with any of those products.“I’m investing in America’s future, ”I told them – “America’s children andtheir families.” Kay Mayo, Family ChildCare Provider Austin, TX’ Galinsky et al(1994:96).Practitioners require knowledge ofresearch about child developmentin order to be able to articulate whycertain practices are important.In particular they need informationand training about young childrenwith special needs. This means theyneed time for that ongoing training.Support to develop more effectiveinter-agency working in the interestsof young children and their families.(The main factors relating to thiseffectiveness are detailed in Atkinsonet al 2002).POLICY MAKERSEvangelou and Sylva (2002) reported onthe evaluation of the PEEP (Peers EarlyEducation Partnership) based in Oxford.The project, which involves work withadults (parents, carers and pre-schoolstaff) who live and work with some 2,000children from birth to five years in an areaof low socio-economic status, set out toeffect positive change in educationalachievement, especially in literacy. Theresearchers found that the project didindeed have a positive effect on children’sliteracy, numeracy and self-esteem butthat at this time it is impossible to claimthat there will be long term gains.As Brooks-Gunn (2000:12) has argued,‘If policy makers believe that offering earlychildhood intervention for two years oreven three will permanently and totallyreduce SES disparities in children’sachievements, they may be engagingin magical thinking’Thus, with this research in mind, togetherwith that reviewed earlier, we concludethat policy makers’ priorities must be:-141