Whether four-yearold children attend preschools or junior infants in regular primary schools plays a significant role in determining the quality of their lives. Because of this, there is an urgent need to determine how we should proceed from this pre-primary stage to ensure that all six-year-olds starting regular school do so with the same advantages.
"In Ireland it seems there are two different types of early childhood education, each with a different emphasis," says Noirin Hayes, head of the school of social sciences at DIT and one of the authors of a new report which examines the quality of early years' experiences of a sample of four-year-olds in pre-primary settings.
"How the findings are interpreted depends on what you believe about how children learn. However, it's generally held that at this stage children are learning about how to learn, through actions. The opportunity to explore, play and interact with peers consolidates this type of learning.
"Ideally the focus should be away from specific subjects and on developing positive attitudes about learning. It appears from our research that the pre-school setting affords more opportunities for play and social interaction. This seems to be a result of both the curriculum and the difference in group sizes."
This is an issue which the Minister for Education and Science, Micheal Martin, plans to address sooner rather than later. "I'm preparing a national convention on early childhood education to which all the partners will be invited," says Martin. "The purpose of this convention, which I would hope to see take place before the end of the year, will be to develop a national policy, leading to a Green Paper on early years education. We will address issues of curriculum, learning environment, training, learning methodology, and so on."
The report, A Window on Early Education in Ireland, looks at a sample of children experiencing all services available prior to the compulsory school age of six years, and finds little difference between designated disadvantage and non-designated disadvantage situations.
There are many differences in what young children experience at pre-school and junior infants settings. The social skills of fouryear-olds in pre-school settings are more developed than those of their peers attending junior infants, while children in junior infants score better in pre-academic skills.
In junior infants the emphasis is on adult-lead, whole-group activities. Teacher/pupil ratios are higher and there is a prescribed curriculum which focuses on pre-academic skills. Pre-schools tend to have more varied equipment, and an emphasis on mixed activities.
The variables in the report's findings arise partly as a result of the ad hoc manner in which early childhood education services have developed in Ireland. There is a big difference in teacher training levels. At pre-schools teachers have varied or no training, while all teachers at junior infants level are well-trained.
The research revealed an anomaly between what primary teachers believe fouryear-olds should be learning and what they believe their role is. "Teachers overall identified social skills with peers as one of the most important skills to learn at this stage," says Hayes, "but primary teachers believe their job is to teach pre-academic skills. As these expectations reflect on how the day is planned and spent, this issue needs to be examined further."
The report, written by Hayes and Julie O'Flaherty with Margaret Kernan, describes the quality of early years experiences of a sample of four-year-olds in pre-primary settings. According to Hayes, preschool education includes all services prior to the compulsory school-going age, which in Ireland is six. "For the purposes of this report we looked at four-year-olds in preschool and school settings, designated disadvantaged and nondesignated disadvantaged."
Compiled over two years, the report observed four-year-olds in the various settings, accumulated information on family characteristics, teachers and assessed child development status. "The results show quite a diversity of experience pointing to an urgent need to determine how to proceed from here, so we can ensure all four-year-olds share an equally enriching experience," says Hayes.
It is surprising that the report finds little difference between designated disadvantaged and nondeisgnated disadvantaged settings. Developments are already well in hand at junior infants level through the revision of the current 1971 primary school curriculum.
Lucy Fallon Byrne, assistant chief executive with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, says: "The new curriculum is now nearing completion. It synthesises all the most recent thinking on how chidlren learn. There isn't a huge change in the core subjects but the emphasis is more on hands-on participation.
"There will be a shift from the over-reliance on text books, rote learning and an undue emphasis on routine. There will be more pupil-topupil interaction and more discussion generally. The emphasis is on independent learning, it's more imaginative and it will offer teachers more of a challenge and an opportunity to teach more creatively."
Hayes points out that children are learning from the moment they are born. "In fact, they are never not learning, so the quality of their experience has an enormous impact on what and how they learn. We need to ensure that our children are learning in the most appropriate way possible so they become independant learners.
"The debate on early education has lost its way by having to focus on long-term benefits. In Ireland we need to take an in-depth look at how to ensure the early childhood experience is happy in and of itself."
