Summary
The rights of participation for children in child care programs have not received strong attention. This is because the primary purpose of such programs is not to serve the needs of children. Government in many western countries support and promote child care primarily to serve economic imperatives related to parental participation in employment. The nature of many child care programs act against the recognition of the rights of young children in these institutional settings unless adults appreciate that children are agents of their own learning. This paper reports an empirical analysis of child care workers’ understandings of toddlers’ learning, within centre-based child care programs. The analyses draw on responses from 21 child care workers to questions about how children learn, how they know when children have learnt something, and examples of learning by young children which they had observed in their practice. The analyses provide insight into child care practices as the child care workers explain their experiences and understandings about children’s learning. The analyses revealed a sense of mutual engagement in learning between adults and children. Children’s participation is encouraged by collaboration between adults and children, shared understandings, and adult respect for children’s autonomy and independence.
Résumé
Les droits de participation des enfants aux programmes de garde à l’enfance n’ont pas été l’objet de beauccoup d’attention. La raison est la suivante: la fonction principale de ces programmes n’est pas de répondre aux besoins des enfants. Les gouvernements de nombreux pays occidentaux soutiennent et favorisent la garde à l’enfance d’abord pour des impératifs économiques liés à la participation parentale à l’emploi. La nature de bien des programmes de garde à l’enfance va à l’encontre de la reconnaissance des droits des jeunes enfants dans ces institutions, à moins que les adultes ne reconnaissent que les enfants sont les agents de leur propre apprentissage. Cet article présente une analyse empirique de la compréhension de l’apprentissage des toutpetits par les éducateurs, à l’intérieur de programmes centralisés de protection de l’enfance. Les analyses se basent sur les réponses de 21 éducateurs à des questions sur la façon d’apprendre des enfants, sur leur manière de savoir quand les enfants ont appris quelque chose, et sur des exemples d’apprentissage par les jeunes enfants qu’ils ont pu observer au cours de leur travail. Les analyses donnent une idée des pratiques en matière garde à l’enfance, les éducateurs expliquant leur expérience et leur compréhension de l’apprentissage des enfants. Les analyses ont révélé un certain engagement mutuel dans l’apprentissage entre adultes et enfants. La participation des enfants est encouragée via la collaboration entre adultes et enfants, la compréhension mutuelle, ainsi que le respect par les adultes de l’autonomie et de l’indépendance des enfants.
Resumen
Los derechos de participación de los niños en programas de asistencia infantil no han recibido la atención que se merecen. Esto se debe a que el objetivo principal de estos programas no es atender las necesidades de los niños. El gobierno de muchos países occidentales apoya y fomenta la asistencia infantil principalmente para que los padres puedan trabajar y favorecer así la economía del país. La mayoría de estos programas se opone al reconocimiento de los derechos infantiles en el ámbito institucional. El único modo de que esto no ocurra es que los adultos comprendan que los niños son responsables de su propio aprendizaje. Este documento recoge un análisis empírico acerca de cómo interpretan los profesionales la enseñanza de los pequeños dentro de programas que se centran en la asistencia infantil. El análisis refleja las respuestas de 21 educadores a preguntas acerca de cómo aprenden los niños y cómo saben cuándo el niño ha asimilado los conocimientos. También recoge ejemplos de aprendizaje que han podido observar en algunos niños. Estos datos nos permiten comprender los métodos de asistencia infantil utilizados, ya que los maestros nos explican sus propias experiencias en este sector y su interpretación sobre el modo en que los niños aprenden. El análisis pone de manifiesto la necesidad de que exista un compromiso mutuo entre adultos y niños para que el proceso de aprendizaje se Ileve a cabo con éxito. La participación de los niños aumenta cuando existe colaboración y comprensión mutua entre niños y adultos, y los adultos respetan la autonomía e independencia de los niños.
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Berthelsen, D., Brownlee, J. Respecting children’s agency for learning and rights to participation in child care programs. IJEC 37, 49 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03168345
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03168345