A Home Away From Home

Would you live where you work?

If you consider the child who spends anywhere from 8-10 or more hours a day in a centre, five days a week, then it becomes obvious that they are not simply filling in a few hours each day in an ECE centre. They are living there.

With this in mind, how then do we plan the environment?

Our solution is twofold. The first is to make it as homelike as possible. Throw out the fancy catalogues geared at institutions such as school and early childhood centres when purchasing furniture and shop where you would for your home. Some of the things that we have done include purchasing knitted and crocheted blankets from second hand shops (much nicer to wrap babies in); using real cups and plates (most adults would prefer to drink out of a glass rather than a plastic cup – so why not our children?); making the centre beautiful with flowers, candles and soft furnishings; and making it more like a home and less like an institution.

Music too is important. Children’s songs have their place, but do we really need to listen to Barney or The Wiggles for eight hours every day? We tire of it – and I think children do too. Introduce different styles of music. We have noticed that when classical music is played as background music our children are calmer and more settled. Teachers too. We have had children who only fall asleep to Beethoven!

The second is to make the most of the outdoor environment. Think back to your childhood. In all likelihood you spent it outdoors, barefooted, playing in mud, amongst trees, picking flowers and pretty weeds, studying the clouds, making what you could out of what was available, and only going inside for meals. Recreate this for your children. Provide decent wet weather gear so that children can be outside in all weather and remain clean and dry.

Yes, we need to consider health and safety, but surely there are ways and means of providing an environment that allows children to freely explore while also minimising the risks?

A recent New Zealand study has shown that today’s parents are possibly the last generation to have experienced “free-range play” unless something happens soon within our centres and society. Let’s make that change.

More On Throwing Out Rosters

This excellent article from Massey Childcare Centre talks about burning the rosters. It was on a visit to this centre that our team was first introduced to the [then scary] concept of no rosters. To see it working in practice and to hear the Massey Childcare team passionately articulate the value of no rosters inspired us to give it a go. And we haven't looked back!

Please take a few moments to read the article.

Children's Needs Verses Teachers' Structured Timetabling

How to best meet children's needs? Throw out teacher rosters.

And the clocks.

Rosters – and clocks – can become barriers to relationship. When we have them, teachers time caregiving moments such as putting a child to bed by whose turn it is or by the numbers on the clock rather than paying attention to the child’s cues and responding appropriately.

This is not to say there are no routines or structure at all. There are predictable routines – children wash hands before sitting down to eat for example, karakia or grace is said before each meal, faces are washed after a meal with a warm lavender-scented face-cloth, morning tea comes before lunch – but teachers do not have rosters for changing nappies, putting children to bed, nor even for going on their own lunch break. It’s all about the child and the relationship.

If this sounds scary, it is! I can remember when I was first introduced to this concept six years ago thinking, “Oh great, I’m going to end up doing all the nappies all the time. No one else is going to remember or bother.” In fact, I think I even seriously considered changing jobs! At that time I lacked two things: one, an understanding of how such an approach could work and, two, trust in my colleagues. What I discovered was that I didn’t end up doing all the nappies – or all the other tasks no one else enjoyed – and that I could trust my colleagues to step up and take responsibility. [In fact, these days, as Team Leader I probably change less nappies than any of my colleagues!]

No rosters or clocks means that teachers are guided by the child’s cues. If a child indicates they are hungry or tired, then the teacher responds accordingly, rather than thinking that it’s too early or soon and making the child wait. As adults we have days when we’re hungry or tired before the clock says it’s meal time or bed time, so why not children? Responding to their cues promptly reduces frustration (for child and adult since the child’s needs are met and the adult is not making a child wait and perhaps having to listen to an unhappy child in the meantime) and builds trust.

But if there are no rosters who does the nappies? And who ensures they get done?

Generally it is the dedicated teacher who changes their child’s nappy when it’s soiled or needs changing, although it doesn’t need to be the dedicated teacher. It could be the secondary or even another teacher. Sometime during the session a teacher who is not busy might check and see who needs changing and do it or gently inform the child’s dedicated caregiver. This is where a team that communicates well is crucial and what is known as team-tagging: a teacher might begin with nappies and then someone else takes over when the first teacher is needed by his/her children.

But back to nappy changing since this is a vital care moment. The child is always invited for a nappy change and then if the response is no (we’re working with almost two year olds remember: “no” is their favourite word), the teacher has several options. If the teacher is not the dedicated caregiver then they most likely will suggest to the child that they might like their dedicated caregiver to change their nappy, and then the teacher informs the dedicated teacher as soon as possible. In most cases a child will go happily to have their nappy changed with their dedicated caregiver when they've refused to allow another teacher to do it.

If their teacher is not available, or you are the teacher, and the child says “no” what can you do? First, suggest that you’ll come back in five minutes. If they still refuse after that time, you could ask them if they would like someone else to change their nappy or would they like you to come back in a few minutes? The third time, you don’t ask if they want their nappy changed. Instead you say something like this: “I need to change your nappy now. Would you like to walk and climb the steps or shall I carry you?” Of course, if the nappy is badly soiled, you might skip the second invitation and go straight to the last.

When we change nappies there are no toys as distractions. This is a one-on-one caregiving moment that is focused, unrushed, and respectful. Most teachers forego gloves for wet nappies, and some of us don’t even bother with them for soiled as the glove provides a barrier between teacher and child that some teachers would prefer didn’t exist. It’s a personal choice. However, what is more important is that children and teachers enjoy these moments. [With new Health and Safety legislation in New Zealand we may have to reconsider whether gloves remain an option or become mandatory.]

When it comes to other caregiving routines, it is generally the dedicated caregiver who gives bottles and puts the child down to bed. Yes, we may have two teachers in the sleep room at one time but it works since the teacher puts the child to bed according to the child’s individual needs and not some rostered schedule. Generally this means children fall asleep quickly and the teacher can leave the sleep room.

No rosters means that teachers are also sensitive for what is a happening for another key teacher. A conversation often heard amongst teachers is: “Your child needs you; my children are settled: I can finish off here” or “Your child needs nappy change/ bottle / to go to bed / etc. Would you like me to do it or would you like to do it?” The dedicated teacher’s response will depend on a number of factors, including their knowledge of the child, how comfortable the child is with the secondary teacher or other teachers, how pressing the child’s needs are, even how much time they as a teacher have had to be fully engaged with the child that day. Can you imagine teachers wanting to change a soiled nappy because it gives them a chance to be fully engaged with their child and build relationship? I see it happening regularly.

Related to no rosters or clocks is throwing out high chairs. This was probably the scariest and longest journey for us - but well worth the effort. We went from replacing highchairs with low chairs, to finally doing away with even the low chairs and having children sit on cushions on the floor. The advantages of this is that it reduces the risk of falls, the children are able to get themselves onto cushions, the table is at a suitable height for children to feed themselves, and, the children use the cushions as a means of telling us they are hungry. Often a child will get a cushion, put it next to the table, sit on it and wait patiently for a teacher to realise they are communicating that they are starving and want food now! Children are also involved in putting the cushions away and so develop independence and autonomy.

Younger children not yet able to sit independently or feed themselves always sit on a teacher’s lap - generally away from the communal table - and are fed according to their needs (i.e. slowly and not rushed and when they indicate they are ready for another mouthful).

When parents ask about the absence of highchairs we explain that highchairs have their place in the home if they choose to use them as they place the child at the same height as family members if everyone is eating together – which is a valuable experience in a family setting – but in ECE settings highchairs are a barrier to relationship and to the child’s developing autonomy. If we are honest, we can admit that in an ECE setting highchairs can become a means of feeding children quickly and efficiently, more like animals than human beings, and confining children so that teachers can perform their duties without children underfoot.

So throw out rosters, clocks, and highchairs; embrace the fear that comes with removing these props and overcome it; and enjoy the difference it makes being able to respond to children's cues and build relationship!

Dedicated Caregiving

Some call it key caregiving or primary caregiving. I prefer the term dedicated caregiver or dedicated teacher. Whatever you choose to call it, it is the critical element to forming the relationships that are pivotal to a Piker approach.

Pikler herself had something to say about day care centres in an interview that she gave in 1981. In her own words: “Day care can be made much better all over the world if we learned from the experiment of Loczy. At most day care centres, children are cared for randomly, picked up by one person and fed by another. Children are cared for as objects. What the child needs is relationships with the least possible number of stable adults.

“We have to play, to invest – both at home with the child and in day care centres. Infancy is a very complex time. But the one thing we seem to not want to give is time. If you are really there, you become quite vulnerable, because infants touch the infant within us. That can be quite scary.”

Dedicated caregiving is not an exclusive relationship but rather a team approach. A dedicated teacher is appointed to a child before they start. It is their role to build relationship with the child and family through respect and trust. A secondary teacher is also important - someone who provides consistent care to the child when the dedicated caregiver is absent or busy. Children know and trust their caregiver. They look forward to those care moments when they have one-on-one time – i.e. full attention – with their caregiver.

Occasionally both dedicated and secondary teachers could be absent. This is when you’ll discover how well your team works. Children observe and download information so while they have been cared for by their dedicated caregiver they have also built an overall picture of the team. If they see teachers engaging respectfully, then they learn that they can trust all teachers. When their caregiver is away, they usually settle quite well with another teacher, even if they rarely have much to do with that teacher on a daily basis. It’s sometimes cited as one of the reasons for not adopting a primary caregiving approach – that children will be too attached and become unsettled if their teacher is away - but we’ve not found it to be the case. What we have discovered is that if the child’s teacher is present, then the child usually chooses that teacher – sometimes letting you know in no uncertain terms that they want “their” teacher – but if the dedicated teacher is away, the child will settle quite happily with another teacher because they have learnt to trust all teachers.

Recently I have been working in a room not my own, where a child had transitioned from my usual room. I was not his dedicated or secondary teacher in the old room. In fact, I wasn't even his tertiary teacher! He would never voluntarily choose for me to change his nappy or put him to bed. But in the new area, I am the familiar face, the one he has seen week in and week out since he was three or four months old, the one whose voice and ways he has become accustomed to. In his early weeks in this new area, I am his teacher of choice because he trusts me. This does not in any way diminish the work of the other teachers in the new area who are building a relationship with him but from the child's point of view, I am someone he has known and has observed working with those teachers who are his dedicated or secondary. They trust me, so therefore he knows he can too. On the other hand, when either his dedicated or secondary teacher visit the new room, he immediately gravitates towards them. He trusts me but he has a relationship with them.

Never underestimate the power of relationship.

Do we ever change caregivers? Sometimes it's unavoidable as when a child's hours might change and no longer fit with a teacher's working hours. Or sometimes the child shows a preference for another teacher. Occasionally a family might request a change (often because a certain teacher cared for an older sibling). As adults we accept this and don't allow hurt feelings. We respect children's preferences and, as much as possible, family preferences, since dedicated caregiving is not just for the child but the whole family.

What Does This Look Like In Practice?

It's all very well discussing peaceful curriculum, respectful curriculum, and natural curriculum. But what does this really look like in practice? And how do we practice these ways of being in a busy centre?

How can teachers provide a peaceful curriculum where respectful relationships are central and children are encouraged to develop according to their own timetable when there are already so many demands on their time and resources?

I would like to suggest three simple strategies:

Throw away the timetables and rosters;

Dedicated caregiving; 

Create a home-like environment.

Natural Curriculum

He has made everything beautiful in its time”. Ecclesiastes 2:14

“… I am fearfully and wonderfully made …” Psalm 139:14

Do we trust that the Creator knew what He was doing when He created infants - when animals are mobile virtually from the moment of birth but human babies are not? Do we need to “teach” children to move or are they so intricately and wonderfully made that these skills will develop in their own time?

Pikler believed that babies and toddlers who are allowed to move according to their own developmental timetable display increased balance, coordination and physical skills. Thus babies and toddlers are not put into positions they cannot get into by themselves. They are allowed to move naturally, at will, and freely, and to learn and move according to the unfolding of their own timetable (known as "Free Movement"). So you will not see walkers or highchairs, infants being placed on their stomachs for “tummy time”, or babies being propped up into a sitting position. If they cannot get into a position without adult assistance then they are not yet ready to be in that position.

Respect the child’s own developmental timetable.

Teachers also respect the child’s ability to resolve their own conflict. Obviously if a child is about to be hit over the head with a metal bucket, the teacher intervenes, but generally teachers wait and allow children time to solve their own interpersonal problems. And they can! At times a teacher might guide, for example, “Are you able to find another toy the same for A?” or “C was playing with that. Do you think she might like it back?” Teachers removing a toy from a child who has taken it off another and returning it to the first child does not build the necessary skills for resolving conflict.

Teachers slow down and observe more. This is one skill new teachers or students on practicum often find most difficult. It can feel as if we’re “doing nothing” but this is not the case. Often a teacher is waiting for a sign from the child that they are being invited into the child’s world to wonder and explore. The natural environment is the perfect place for this to happen, but it can happen anywhere. This slowing down goes hand-in-hand with providing a calm and peaceful curriculum.

Any discussion of Natural Curriculum would not be complete without mentioning the natural environment. Use it. Enjoy it. Make the most of mud and bugs and wind in the hair and rain on the face and sun on bare skin. Turn over every stick and rock and rotting log and search for worms and creepy crawlies. Observe the clouds, and leaves moving in the breeze, and raindrops on glass. Explore. Get dirty. Have fun.

Respectful Curriculum

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others”. Philippines 2:3-4

“Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 6:14

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another.” Romans 12:10

As Christians we know and understand that what makes our religion different to all other religions is that we can have a relationship with the Living God. Jesus Christ modelled relationship based on respect and value for the other person. It should be something that we strive to do every day with every person with whom we come into contact.

The Pikler approach strongly emphasises the importance of a respectful relationship between teacher and child. When teachers intimately know the child and his needs, they are able to respond to those needs in a sensitive and respectful manner. Teachers do all in their power to build, nurture and protect the relationship between a child and his/her key teacher. Caregiving moments are not seen as routines or chores to be gotten through quickly but as opportunities to build trust and relationship.

Infants and toddlers are respected as individuals who are able to communicate and understand. Teachers do things with the baby or toddler not to them. Teachers tell children what they are about to do, rather than rushing in and doing to the child. Teachers look for and respond to children’s cues, and invite children to be active participants in their care. Teachers use an open hand invitation and wait for a response. An example of this might be “Do you want to be picked up?” “Do you want a cuddle?” Teachers never pick up a child without first asking and receiving a response.

[And when you consider that most adults don’t like it when someone comes up and grabs them unexpectedly from behind, why would we ever consider doing this to children?]

Teachers tune into children’s cues and respect the messages that children convey. If adults only paid more attention they might be surprised at how much even a very young baby communicates. Full attention or engagement shows children that they are valued and that they have importance as individuals. For teachers, it requires being fully present, slowing down and engaging in sensitive observation. Care routines are times of full attention, but there will also be other times when teachers sit back and observe and wait for the child to invite them to participate in their learning. It is preferable to give full attention for a small period of time, than divided attention for a longer period. Divided attention brings confusion and gives the child the message that they are not important enough to have your full attention.

Respectful curriculum is not just for children. In fact, respect is for every individual. Thus teachers show respect to other members of the teaching team. Teachers show respect to parents and families and whānau. Teachers show respect to every person – young or old – who comes through the door.

Respect. It’s for everyone.