Children express themselves in many ways and so to be effective a consultation process must reflect that diversity of expression. The Mosaic approach offers such a framework, using interviews, mapping, tours and photography as just some of the ways to find out what children think.
The approach was developed with three-and four-year-olds at Coram Community Campus as part of a project by researchers at the Thomas Coram Research Unit in London.
The approach aims to be inclusive, enabling children of different abilities to contribute to our understanding of their lives. It may be useful:
* in regular audits
* as part of an introduction for a new member of staff
* in a review of individual children, including those with special needs
* for planning changes to inside or outside space.
Most of all, we hope that it is a framework that will encourage a culture where children, early years professionals and parents can listen and be listened to.
FRAMEWORK
The Mosaic framework for listening is:
* multi-method. It recognises the different 'voices' or languages of children and so includes 'listening' to different types of communication, such as body language, words and images.
* participatory. It treats young children as experts in their own lives.
* reflexive. It includes young children, early years professionals and parents in reflecting on meanings.
* routine. It focuses on children's everyday experiences.
* adaptable. It can be applied in a variety of early years settings. It can be used for regular audits, as part of an introduction for a new member of staff.
* embedded into practice. It can become an integral part of how young children and adults communicate.
STAGES
There are two stages to the Mosaic approach:
* Stage One: children and adults gather material
* Stage Two: children and adults discuss children's perspectives
STAGE ONE
For Stage One, we built up a 'living picture' of every day life in the nursery by observing, child conferencing, cameras, tours, mapping and role play.
Observation
* Listening needs to include watching, so observation is important too. Early years practitioners have an important part to play in watching and recording how children use the space available to them and the relationships they form.
* We based our observations around two questions:
* What is it like to be here?
* Do you listen to me?
* We combined short observations of particular episodes with all-day observations, focusing on children in groups and individually.
* Excerpts from these observations, or 'narratives', became the first piece of the Mosaic to discuss with children, parents and other early years professionals, and to ask, 'What is happening here?'
Child conferencing
* Listening needs to include talking to children in formal and informal ways, so we used child conferencing, a short interview schedule focusing on children's perceptions of their everyday experiences.
* We adapted our interview questions from those already developed by Bernadette Duffy, head of the Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre:
* Why do you come to nursery?
* What do you like best?
* What don't you like about being here?
* Who are your favourite people?
* Who don't you like?
* What do grown-ups do at nursery?
* What should grown-ups do at nursery?
* Where is your favourite place in the nursery?
* Which part of the nursery don't you like?
* What do you find difficult?
* What is the food like?
* What has been your best day in your group?
* What do new children need to know about nursery?
* Is there anything else I need to know?
* We then looked at different venues for conducting the interview. Some children enjoyed answering the questions in a formal setting, sitting at a table. Others preferred to show us their favourite places, so the interview was conducted 'on the move'.
Photographs
* 'Listening' can include using images as well as words. Photography provides young children with a way of communicating, of which they can be proud. Three-and four-year-olds in the study were introduced to single-use disposable cameras, and given a short explanation of how to use the camera. Working with children in pairs or groups of three children, they were then asked to take photos of what was important to them about their nursery.
* Children also used photographs to give their perspectives of the lives of the under-twos in the setting.
* When using photography, bear the following tips in mind:
* Look out for offers on single use cameras (with flash for inside and outdoor shots) or invest in easy-to-use, durable cameras.
* Give the children small shoulder bags so they can carry the cameras and take photographs as they play.
* Make an individual book of children's photos - the originals or photocopies.
* If possible, order a second set of prints for the children.
* Note that while some children will want to take a whole film, others will be happy taking six or fewer.
* The meaning of all the photographs was not instantly apparent, so with each, it was important to ask the children to 'tell me about it', just as if it were a drawing they had produced. Children's drawings of important things could also be included in the Mosaic.
* Photographs reveal important insights into children's priorities, while the process of taking them provides an opportunity for talking and listening to children:
* Listen as they take the photos.
* Listen as they discuss their photos and choose important ones.
* Listen to what other children say about friends' photos.
* Reflect on the children's photos and listen to what parents say too.
Tours
Listening can happen 'on the move'. We asked children to take us on a tour of their nursery to show us the important things. They were given control of where we went and how it was recorded at the time and later documented. They chose to take photographs, draw and use a tape recorder. We chose a lightweight tape recorder with a clip-on mike so children could choose who did the talking.
Children included visits to rooms where their siblings 'lived', and adult-only spaces, such as the staff room.
The tours showed the value of using a multi-method approach. Material gathered during the tours clarified information gathered using the other tools and revealed other priorities.
Mapping
Listening can involve making things together. Mapping provided one way of recording the information provided by young children during their tours of their nursery. Children discussed the photographs and drawings and used these as the basis for making maps of important people and places.
There was a close match between the information gathered on the tours and that revealed in the maps.
Children who had not been involved in the tours began to take a great interest in the map making. Thus the maps provided a further opportunity to listen to other children's views and experiences.
Role play
Listening to children's imaginative games can give clues to their feelings about their childcare. We explored the use of role play with under-threes using 'small world' figures. The activity could be adapted to use with older children, using small-world resources or puppets and models of rooms in the nursery to see how children act out being in that space.
The activity could also be adapted to fit the interests of individual children. For example, a shy child who likes playing in the sand may be more vocal if the figures are placed in the sand. These episodes or 'narratives' could be added to observation accounts and the other pieces of the Mosaic.
Be flexible
Our aim was to use a variety of different tools, but our list of tools is not an exhaustive one. Individual children, early years professionals or parents may have other skills which would enable children to express themselves. Music could form another piece of the Mosaic. For example, a South African early years group practised at making up songs are including songs about their nursery as another listening tool.
Parent and practitioner views
We were keen to acknowledge the importance of parents' and practitioners' perspectives on the lives of the children. Interview schedules looked at similar issues to those explored in the child conferencing, including impressions of what would be a good or bad day for individual children. Practitioners and parents had similar views about children's favourite activities and friends.
STAGE TWO
In Stage Two we drew together material from the individual pieces of the Mosaic to gain a greater understanding of young children's priorities. Observation notes, photographs, maps, tape recordings of tours and child conferencing can provide the opportunity for discussion about what childcare is like for young children.
These pieces of the Mosaic can provide the opportunity for discussion between children, practitioners, visitors and parents, or any combination of them.
We refer to this process of dialogue starting from gathered material as 'documentation', a process developed in the pre-schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy and described by Carlina Rinaldi, former pedagogical director of the municipal early childhood centres there, as 'visible listening'. The priorities revealed by this approach to listening are:
* friends and changing friendships, including relationships with important adults and with siblings
* favourite spaces, including 'hidden' spaces outside
* conflict and knowledge about how adults will deal with it
* feelings about the past and the future; memories of important people who have left, and aspirations about the future.
Each of the tools used in the Mosaic may help us to understand children's priorities for their childcare, but in bringing the pieces together a richer, more detailed picture can be built up. This approach requires time, skill and patience - listening is time consuming, especially if we are not relying on a quick response from our most articulate children. But the benefits are worth it.
* Listening to young Children: the Mosaic Approach, by Alison Clark and Peter Moss, published for the Joeseph Rowntree Foundation by the National Children's Bureau, is available from NCB, priced 11.95 (or 8.85 for NCB members), tel: 020 7843 6028/29.
