Citizenship may not be a term that practitioners immediately associate with the Foundation Stage. It does not appear in the curriculum guidance document and it is not widely used within early years literature. However, when we consider what citizenship, or being a good citizen, actually means in relation to young children, it is very easy to see how important the early years are in laying the foundations for the future.
For a young child, being a 'good citizen' means developing self-awareness and self-confidence, learning how to play and work well with others and recognising one's place in the wider community.
Even young babies are actively seeking to develop relationships with parents or carers by turn-taking during their early communication and use of gestures, expressions and body language to engage with the world around them. As they grow from infant to toddler to Foundation Stage child, their interaction with the world blossoms and grows. During this phase, 'they are constantly re-evaluating their "sense of self", and, therefore, their social and emotional competence and their ability to establish meaningful relationships with others' (Gandini and Edwards, 2001).
Many of the skills and dispositions formalised within the curriculum definition of citizenship are demonstrated daily by the very youngest members of our society. How we help young children to develop their self-awareness and self-esteem, to make friendships and build relationships, and to appreciate how their behaviour and actions affect others, will all influence how they develop in future.
At Key Stage 1, citizenship is part of the broader framework of 'personal, social and health education and citizenship' and aims to 'give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active, responsible citizens'.
This framework is made up of four interrelated strands designed to support children's personal and social development. These are:
* developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities
* preparing to play an active role as citizens
* developing a healthy, safe lifestyle
* developing good relationships and respecting the differences between people.
FOUNDATION STAGE GUIDANCE
These four strands build directly on young children's experience in the Foundation Stage. Reviewing the curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage identifies the following aspects of learning which underpin citizenship:
* dispositions and attitudes
* self-confidence and self-esteem
* relationships
* behaviour and self-control
* sense of community
* language for communication
* language for thinking
* exploration and investigation
* cultures, beliefs and imagination.
Looking in more detail at the Foundation Stage guidance, it is then possible to highlight the following skills, dispositions, attitudes and experiences that will support children as developing citizens:
* The provision of appropriate learning opportunities will ensure that children are interested, excited and motivated to learn. Children will be confident to try out new activities and initiate new ideas.
* Through growing self-confidence and self-esteem, children will be able to develop an awareness of their own needs, views and feelings and a sensitivity to the needs, views and feelings of others. They will develop respect for their own cultures and beliefs and those of others.
* As they become increasingly independent, children will be able to manage their own personal needs in the setting and learn how to select and use resources appropriately.
* In forming positive relationships with adults and their peers, children will learn how to work as part of a group and understand that there need to be agreed values and codes of behaviour for groups of people to work together successfully. Through achieving early learning goals for behaviour and self-control, they will understand what is right, what is wrong, and why, and consider the consequences of their words and actions for themselves and others.
* Finally, through developing a sense of community, children will understand that people have different needs, views, cultures and beliefs which should be treated with respect.
DEVELOPING CITIZENSHIP
The early years setting is often the first experience a child has of making the transition from the immediate family environment to the wider community.
In the setting they may experience, for the first time, expectations and values that are different from those they have experienced at home. The quality of this transition between the home and the early years setting is crucial, as it lays the foundation for much of the child's future cognitive, social and emotional development.
Developing citizenship in the early years setting is a challenging task. As adults, we all need to recognise the important role we play in supporting children in their journey of discovery about who they are, how they feel about themselves and how they relate to others and the wider world around them. We should take time to reflect on these important issues in relation to ourselves and be conscious of the image we present both to the children and to the adults with whom we interact.
To support the whole process it is essential that the setting has agreed its vision and values, and that these are regularly revisited and reviewed by the whole staff team. In addition, it is important that staff remain aware of, and sensitive to, the values that parents and carers hold and that staff involve parents in the review of the vision and values of the setting. This provides a firm foundation for day-to-day good practice, helps to ensure that children receive consistent messages and contributes to the overall 'quality' of the setting.
BEING A ROLE MODEL
The relationships between the different adults in your setting and how they work together will convey important messages that the children will pick up. These include how they model positive dispositions such as creativity and enthusiasm, and how they avoid displaying negative dispositions such as bossiness or self-absorption.
How adults speak to one another, to children and to parents, how they listen and display curiosity and interest, and how they handle conflicts, underpin all the different interactions and activities that take place in the setting.
During the early years, the quality of adult intervention and support is of paramount importance in the processes of children's learning. To encourage children as responsible citizens and independent learners, it is important that all the adults in a setting pay particular attention to:
* establishing interesting and stimulating learning situations
* providing opportunities for children to make choices
* promoting independence and self- reliance
* giving opportunities for children to work together in pairs or in larger groups
* providing as many opportunities as possible for children to experience other cultures and beliefs
* taking all children's ideas and theories seriously
* using children's conversations as a basis for questions
* asking good open-ended questions that provoke discussion
* expecting all children to participate and ask questions.
It is important to reinforce positive dispositions and attitudes with acknowledgement and encouragement. But remember to praise children's enthusiasm, questioning and challenging as well as their quiet, 'good'
behaviour. Don't fall into the trap of appearing to value different types of behaviour in boys and girls.
In the next section we will look in more detail at practical opportunities to support these aspects of nurturing young children as citizens.
References
* Citizenship. Teacher's Guide - A scheme of work for Key Stage 1 and 2, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), 2002
* Bambini - The Italian Approach to Infant/Toddler Care edited by Lella Gandini and Carolyn Pope Edwards (2001), Teachers College Press, ISBN 0-8077-4008-X
CITIZENSHIP: A DEFINITION
* 'Citizenship is concerned with the issues of right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, fairness, rules and laws, power and authority, equality and difference, communities and identities, democracy, conflict and co-operation.'
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), 2002.
