'Why is it that we have a Father's Day and a Mother's Day but not a Children's Day?' asked one of the children in a pre-school session. The leader asked the children if they would like to have their own 'Children's Day'. They were thrilled to have their idea taken seriously, and worked with the adults to plan the event.
This pre-school in Wistanstow village in Shropshire features in a new review of listening and consultation with children under five (see footnote).
Listening, consultation and participation are popular terms, but what is actually possible with young children? This review examined what is happening in the UK and in Europe, focusing on listening to children within education and childcare settings. Two different types of listening and consultation were identified:
* Everyday listening by those who regularly work with young children, giving them opportunities for decision-making in routines and activities.
* One-off consultation about a particular issue, event or opportunity.
The findings show that 'everyday listening' is the best preparation for consulting young children about particular issues. Early years practitioners with experience of 'everyday listening' are in a good position for it. Gaining young children's perspectives can lead to changes in their everyday routines, boost their self-esteem and help policymakers make more informed decisions.
Starting points
Effective listening needs careful planning. Practitioners, consultants and researchers need to take into account the following factors:
* Be clear about the purpose of the exercise and to what extent the children's views can be incorporated
* Be committed to helping children of all abilities find different methods of expressing their views and experiences
* Be prepared and willing to involve parents and practitioners
* Design activities which are enjoyable and varied
* Pay attention to the best time of day, the amount of concentration needed and the appropriate person to work with particular children
* Feed back to the children the outcome of the exercise
* Continue 'everyday listening,' looking out for when children want to be listened to, as well as when adults want to listen.
Different approaches
Think about: What approaches are appropriate? How can experiences of non-verbal children be included? Which methods will lead to findings that can impact on practice?
Observation is an important starting point for listening to young children.
This builds on a strong tradition within early years practice of using observation as a tool for understanding young children's abilities, needs and interests.
Interviews are among the most popular methods for gathering the views of older children and adults. There is some concern about the appropriateness of interviewing as a tool for listening to young children. But some researchers have adapted formal interviews into a more informal approach for talking to children about their early years provision. Group interviews have also been used, taking a similar style to 'circle time'. And child-to-child interviews offer a different approach, where older children could act as consultants to younger children.
Questionnaires have been adapted where children have been asked to draw happy or sad faces to indicate how they felt about certain activities. This method, however, runs the risk of being tokenistic if it is the only means used to gather young children's perspectives.
Structured activities have been employed in several research projects to encourage young children to talk about their experiences. This has included role-play activities where adults have listed to children using a toy phone. Toys and puppets have also been used as 'intermediaries' in consultations. The Daycare Trust, for example, introduced a teddy to groups of children in pre-school settings and asked them to tell teddy about their nursery.
Visual and participatory techniques are more recent developments which play to young children's strengths. Cameras and photographs have proved a useful trigger for talking. This way has included projects where three- and four-year-olds have taken their own photographs of important places.
Child-led tours are another participatory tool where young children take adults on a guided walk around their centre. Art activities also offer possibilities for young children to express their views and experiences in a visual way.
Messages so far
Young children's views about their education and childcare have been recorded by a relatively small number of research projects and consultations. Only a minority of the childcare audits carried out by Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships during 2001-2002 focused on the views of children under five. However, key themes have emerged from the studies and consultations undertaken so far. Among these are:
* The importance of friends
* Taking responsibility for themselves and having access to food and drink
* Participating in the creative arts
* Freedom to play outside as much as possible
* Adults who can keep order but don't shout
* Opportunities to finish projects and not feel rushed
* Seeing their achievements recognised
* Feeling supported through transitions.
Further studies are needed to broaden the range of young voices which are being heard and include more about the experiences of children with special needs.
Promoting everyday listening
The review looked at examples of good practice across a range of early years provision:
* Wistanstow playgroup, Shropshire
* Fortune Park Early Years Centre in Islington, London
* Sure Start Blakenall and Sure Start Alumwell and Pleck, West Midlands
* Sure Start Great Yarmouth
* Coombes Infant and Nursery School, Berkshire
* Studenterradets Vuggestue, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hallmarks of good early years practice included:
* Prioritising time to listen to children talking, in groups and individually
* Using children's records of progress or 'profile books' as a daily listening tool
* Giving young children increasing control over their personal care
* Explaining, discussing and negotiating rules
* Seeking young children's opinions and solutions to problems that arise
* Opening more channels of communication with parents through developing new ways of listening to young children
* Designing personal 'passports' to listen to and empower young children with special needs.
Meaningful consultations
The case studies also illustrated practical ways of involving young children in one-off consultations about a particular issue, event or opportunity. These included:
* Involving a Community Arts team to engage both parents and young children in consultations about a new building
* Involving older children to inform decisions about provision for children under four
* Employing an action researcher to involve young children in the planning and reviewing of services for parents and children.
Training questions
This review raises questions about training for practitioners in promoting 'everyday listening' and consultation. These issues need to be discussed as part of initial teacher training, NVQ and other vocational qualifications.
There are in-service implications for early years practitioners and managers. The limited evidence gathered from Sure Start regional managers for this review suggests that listening to young children could be the focus for training across Sure Start programmes. Training should include time to reflect on current practice:
* How are young children listened to and involved in decision-making?
* How can a 'culture of listening' be promoted?
* Who else may be able to help us promote listening, for example a community arts team or a specialist organisation?
The review was carried out by Alison Clark, Susan McQuail and Peter Moss of the Thomas Coram Research Unit, within the Institute of Education, London.
It was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills. The full report ('Research Report 445: Exploring the field of listening to and consulting with young children') and a Research Brief are available as downloadable documents at www.dfes.gov.uk/research,orfrom DfES Publications, tel: 0845 60 222 60.
Further reading:
* Clark, A and Moss, P (2001), Listening to young children: the Mosaic approach. London: National Children's Bureau
Further information
Organisations involved in training or consultancy for listening to young children include:
* PLAY.TRAIN. Contact Jayne Brookes, tel: 0121 449 8221, e-mail team@playtrain.org.uk
* The Children's Society. Contact Julie McLarnon, tel: 020 7841 4610, Jzm@childsoc.org.uk
* Save the Children. Contact Sue Emerson, s.emerson@scfuk.org.uk
* Listening to Young Children, Coram Family. Contact Penny Lancaster, tel: 020 7520 0357, penny@coram.org.uk
* Triangle Services. Contact Ruth Marchant, tel: 01273 413141, ruth@triangle-services.co.uk
