Key personal attributes and relevant experiences need embedding throughout early childhood

Preparing children for the rigours of formal education has roots within the earliest stages of life.  A process often grossly misunderstood, demands for children ‘ready to learn’ arouses deep tensions, flying as it does in the face of deeply held beliefs regarding children’s holistic learning needs and abilities to learn from birth. 

The term ‘school readiness’, originally introduced in England as a performance indicator for Children’s Centres, has more recently become equated with assessment at the end of Reception year at school when children are typically five years old.  Such narrow views of what constitutes an ‘ideal learner’ raises several questions;

How can assessment at the end of Reception indicate readiness for formal schooling which has, in many significant ways, already begun?

In what context are judgements being made, and by whom? 

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Can all significant achievements be effectively judged within prescribed goals?

Can any set criteria be meaningfully matched to all children regardless of background and early childhood experiences? 

What impact could this have on practice and priorities?

As we consider the overwhelming influence of effective beginnings on children’s futures we must explore practice beyond learning goals and government directed assessment targets to consider deeper attributes of holistic learning in the support of children and their families. By recognising children’s diversity and the wide-ranging abilities and skills required within the formal classroom we can begin to challenge the current rhetoric of children starting from deficit positions, seen somehow as potentially ‘unready to learn’.

Being ready and able for an auspicious start to school life is the right and need of every child. Preparing children for this transition, into an environment with many developmental, individual, interactional and contextual challenges, is a holistic process spanning all preceding years, involving home, school and setting. With adult prospects recognisable within skills and abilities already established at 22-months-old, the influential impact of effective parenting, the home environment, maternal and child health and early childhood care and education is clear.  With direct impact on language acquisition, self-regulation and confidence, early influences are felt throughout children’s school experience and into adult life, effecting employment, social integration and criminality with effects felt throughout the family structure.

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However, school leaders in disadvantaged communities often report weak parenting skills, impacted through negative parental experiences, mental health issues and low aspirations for their children. Limited life experiences offered to these children results in complex challenges including low levels of social skills and communication. These challenges must be met by understanding the relative ease with which vital early experiences can be offered to all children within sensory experiences and environments ready to adapt to their needs.

Born eager to learn, children react to all lessons offered to them as basic brain architecture and the systems deployed within its development sees growth with every sensory experience.  Demonstrating its potential most eloquently within situations that matter, such as encountering problem solving scenarios, it does not do as well within demonstrated displays of knowledge, as in rote learning or test conditions.  Predisposed to engaging in multifaceted, hierarchical, cyclical and spiralling learning processes more complex and important than the simple bestowing of information, these lay the building blocks for more complex functions of problem solving, reasoning and planning to follow. 

However, these capabilities are in danger of being lost if natural attempts at learning are undervalued or superseded by other demands.  Children disengage as opportunities to make decisions and self-direct diminish.  If their earliest experiences are unmatched to their learning needs or are out of context with their reality, as is often experienced by children living in difficult situations, or where there is an emphasis on pre-determined outcomes within pre-determined timeframes, such deeply unfulfilling and frustrating learning experiences can introduce a sense of failure.  Psychological and social issues often follow, specifically disadvantaging the children whose experiences beyond school limit their ability to succeed within this model – the very children we most need to reach.  If children’s natural learning processes are denied, limited, devalued or continuously interrupted, the message is introduced that their natural attempts at learning are simply not worth their efforts.

Children need;

A voice – Opportunity to express their opinions and feelings, meaning, reasoning and thinking as children learn to vocalise ideas and experiences, through imaginative discussions, listening and responding others in increasingly sophisticated ways

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To be encouraged – Supported, challenged and stimulated, children will rehearse, adapt, revisit, improve and perfect understanding in ways meaningful to them, becoming independent learners.

Quality relationships – through social, cooperative play, social skills and behaviours, self-confidence, independence and the ability to cooperate with others flourish, supporting feelings of belonging and well-being. 

Risky challenge – allowing for careful judgment where possible harm is balanced against potential benefit children learn through their errors, misunderstandings and conflicts.

Creative opportunities – free from adverse stresses of conformity or imposed sense of failure.

All set within self-motivated, diverse, accessible and practical experiences of real-life problem solving and exploration.  Set within children’s own timescales, they are permitted freedom to initiate and combine experiences, to practice and explore intellectual processes, together with time to wallow and consolidate.  As intrinsic motivations, interest, confidence and self-regulation blooms, diverse thinking and reflection found in symbolic and abstract thought has an opportunity to flourish.  Meaningful opinions, stories and perspectives shared through their own narratives are more easily shared and deeply understood within cooperative situations as contextual and interesting environments allow for an emotional togetherness. 

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Children who start school well, happy to explore, to take risks and experiment, even when making mistakes, start school with a belief in their own abilities. They have a greater chance of future success, unlocking their potential with repercussions felt throughout a lifetime.  But to realise this, key personal attributes and relevant experiences need embedding throughout early childhood, securing the building blocks needed for future success. 

For more information and practical guidance on developing the features of lifelong learning please access my book, Developing School Readiness, Creating Lifelong Learners or get in contact at www.kathrynpeckham.co.uk. 

About the author:

Kathryn Peckham MA (Ed) AFHEA is an Early Childhood consultant and author. She has many years of experience bringing about progressive change throughout a wide range of early childhood settings and environments.  Active participation with All Party Parliamentary Groups, lecturing, writing and research in early childhood, she works with a range of settings, helping them implement best practice from around the world, combined with knowledge of delivering practice in the real world.

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