Nursery World - Don't judge parents by class, educator warns

The role parents can play as their children's educators, whatever their socio-economic status, must not be obscured by research which has identified an educational class divide in children as young as 22 months, a leading early years practitioner has warned. Pat Wills, national chair of Early Education, said last week that while social deprivation was a factor, it was 'too simplistic' to attribute educational achievement entirely to parental income levels. 'I know mums and dads who live in extremely challenging circumstances, but they are wonderful parents and that's reflected in their children and how they achieve despite their obvious disadvantages,' she said.

Pat Wills, national chair of Early Education, said last week that while social deprivation was a factor, it was 'too simplistic' to attribute educational achievement entirely to parental income levels. 'I know mums and dads who live in extremely challenging circumstances, but they are wonderful parents and that's reflected in their children and how they achieve despite their obvious disadvantages,' she said.

The issue of class division in educational attainment arose both at a Department for Education and Skills research conference in London on 12 November called 'Education - Breaking the Cycle of Deprivation', and in an article in The Observer of 10 November in which David Miliband, school standards minister, said, 'We continue to have one of the greatest class divides in education in the industrialised world, with a socio-economic attainment gap evident in children as young as 22 months.'

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