Early years practitioners must take care to indulge and maintain the natural motivation that children show from babyhood, says Marion Dowling.

We hear a great deal today about the problem of affection in society. Many adults become disaffected with their partners, hence the high rate of family break-up. People in all walks of life grow to be dissatisfied with their jobs. Disaffected adolescents are accused of being demotivated towards study, lacking persistence and initiative. There is also a worrying trend of children being excluded from and truanting from primary schools.

Yet as the term 'disaffection' implies, at one time there was a positive attitude towards what is now being rejected. All partnerships start on an optimistic note; most people feel positive when starting a new job; at the start of their lives, children's brains are very alert and they are strongly disposed to find out about the world.

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