Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government

least 36 months of attendance at a daycaresetting and on into primary school.‘Quality’ is a value-laden concept whichmakes comparisons, particularly thoseacross national or cultural boundaries,difficult to interpret. It is possible that thedifferences in these findings may reflectthe contexts in which the studies werecarried out, but they may also indicate thatsome children need extra support frompractitioners in becoming a member ofthe setting’s community – in ‘belonging ‘there and perhaps some individualpractitioners and some national systemstake greater pains to ensure inclusion.Sadly, McGuire (1991) found that nurserystaff often failed to give the additionalattention a withdrawn child needed tohelp them become a member of thegroup, or to be engaged in play activities –since during her observations thesechildren were found to spend more timethan others apparently unoccupied.Further research which can providepointers to children’s sense of belongingin an ECEC setting are those concernedwith young children’s conflicts. Thefindings from these obser vational studiessuggest that such episodes help youngchildren to learn the cognitive skill of‘standing in someone else’s shoes’, to thinkin terms of multiple attributes and torecognise the consequences of theiractions (Sims et al 1997; Singer 2001).The ways in which adults manage suchepisodes can help children developeffective conflict resolution strategies.Sometimes, allowing children space andtime, in a supportive and safe atmosphere,means they resolve their own conflictswithout adult interference (Singer 2001).Children who learn to resolve conflictssuccessfully develop interpersonal skills,becoming more popular and interactingwith their peers more effectively.Further messages for practitioners canbe found in the detailed qualitativeresearch by Anning (1999).This researchfocused on parents’ and educators’interpretations of children’s meaningmaking in a group setting. While thechildren in her study were already threeyears old, Anning argues that they couldbe seen to be developing a sense of selfas members of a home community andof a pre-school community.‘What was impressive was the range andfluidity of the meaning making systemsthey were using. It was also quite clearthat their particular passions andpreoccupations shaped theirrepresentations and communications athome. In the nursery the adults weredriven by a national climate of pre-schoolsettings having to provide a ’foundationfor schooling’…imagine how childrenstruggle to make sense of the continuitiesand discontinuities between jointinvolvement episodes at home and in preschoolsettings, we can speculate that forsome children there may be someoverlap…But for many, the discontinuitiesmust be daunting.’ (Anning 1999:16-17)62 EDUCATIONAND SKILLS B I RT H T O T H R E E M AT T E R S