Change of topic - Infants in Early Childhood

Through investigating the topic of children’s rights, I have found that I have a stronger interest in the concern of infants in an early childhood environment. Therefore my chosen social issue of children’s rights has changed.

Putting an infant into a centre or type of childcare is a difficult choice to make for any parent. And in todays’s society there is an ongoing debate on whether infants should be in childcare. Throughout this blog I am going to discuss the following:

• The governments influences on infants in childcare
• The mothers perspective
• primary caregiving perspective
• What policies are put in place for infants in childcare and what this means for management

 Ten tiny little fingers that always want to play,
That never stop exploring the wonder of today.
Ten tiny little fingers that from the very start,
Will reach out for tomorrow yet always hold your heart.                                                                                

 -- Author Unknown

I feel that infants should not be in early childhood, instead they should be at home having quality time with whaanau.  But in today’s society this cannot happen due to financial reasons. I believe that if the government is paying for infants and toddlers to go to childcare, then why not pay a parent to stay at home with the child.

The government has had a huge impact on the way society has had to deal with the issue of infants being put into centres. They have also had an impact on the quality in the centres as well. The government has cut the funding in early childhood by allowing less than one hundred percent of staff to be qualified. This has caused concern for parents as they may feel their infant, if put into childcare, is not getting one hundred percent quality care. According to a report by John Hartevelt, (Time to take under two's seriously: Report, 2011), the Children’s Commissioner, John Angus, claims to disagree with the government’s funding cuts due to the idea that infants and toddlers deserve one hundred percent qualified staff to care for them and that the government should look at current regulations and funding arrangements instead.

Helen May, (2008), states Jean Rockel; a member of the governments strategic working plan, has strongly argued since 2002 that the government needs to be inclusive to infants and toddlers in early childhood and this argument is still ongoing. The New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, (Ministry of Education, 1996) states that for the well being of the child, they are to experience a place where “their emotional well being is being nurtured” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 46). For this to be true the quality in early childhood needs to be respected and seen as essential. This proves that the government has influenced infants being in centres as they have impacted on the quality in an infant and toddler setting.

Reference

Hartevelt, J. (n.d.). Time to take under two’s seriously: Report. Retrieved March

            25, 2011 from http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/4791194/Time

to-take-under-twos-seriously-report.

May, H. (2008). Guest editorial: labours legacy. The First Years: Nga Tau

Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education. 10,

 3 – 4.

Ministry of Education. (1996) Te Whāriki: He Whāriki matauranga o ngā

mokopuna o Aotearoa / Early childhood curriculum.                                  

            Wellington: Learning Media.