In my view, there are likely to be problems recruiting suitable 'experts'
to work in the regional teams, and the director would have to have credibility as a trainer. There is also a real fear that training will become standardised and lead to set training packages being produced.
As an experienced trainer myself, I am not prepared to deliver prescribed training packages and, if this were to be the outcome of this initiative, I would no longer be willing to work for LEAs (at present I work for quite a few running Foundation Stage training, which early years teams and I plan together in response to local needs). I suspect other well-established trainers will take the same view. Effective trainers have high expectations of practitioners, plan their courses carefully with the needs of participants in mind, and are able to work flexibly, in response to trainees' needs.
Those who can still remember the original nationally-scripted Foundation Stage training will know how ineffective and patronising this was for practitioners at all levels.
If my fears are realised, this initiative, rather than raising the status of the Foundation Stage, could well lead to its dumbing down.
Margaret Edgington, early years consultant, via e-mail.
