A foundation degree course's first graduates welcome the possibilities it has opened for them, but have had to resist being steered into teaching. Barbara Millar reports
The first graduates to complete the two-year part-time foundation degree in Early Childhood Studies and Practice awarded by the University of Sunderland are clearly elated at achieving their goal. The photographs of their graduation ceremony show a group of jubilant women in the requisite caps and gowns, surrounded by proud family members.
The Government intended foundation degrees to offer early years practitioners pathways into senior prac- titioner roles and teaching, as students can progress to an honours degree with only 15 months' further study. However, some of this year's 11 Sunderland graduates express disappointment that the qualification has not led to their taking up nursery nurse jobs at senior practitioner level, because the money is simply not available in school budgets to create these posts.
Gillian Hunter, a nursery nurse for 27 years, says, 'The degree course was great. We have all gained enormously in confidence and skills as a result of doing it.'
Gillian, 45, started the degree because she was hoping 'to be able to achieve senior practitioner status and a commensurate salary increase'.
But instead she has left her nursery nurse position of 11 years at a small Church of England school and started a new career as a community practitioner with Sunderland Teaching Primary Care NHS Trust.
'I would probably have stayed in my old job, had I believed Government funding would be forthcoming,' she admits. Her new starting salary is 13,500, rising to a maximum of 16,500. 'My new role is totally different from my last one, but I really value having been given this opportunity and see my future now in healthcare, rather than the education sector.'
Fellow graduates have also taken different career directions. Former nursery nurse Cath Heavisides, 36, now works as an early learning and play project officer with Tyne and Wear Sure Start, and Gillian Jones, 42, is deputy manager at a Neighbourhood Nursery. Lisa Askins, 26, Sam Ali, 33, and Kay Smith, 24, plan to go into teaching. But Bernie Turnbull, 38, who originally wanted to become a teacher, now hopes to work in the probation service or in community outreach. Alison Hicks, 35, sees herself working in training and development. Helen Owen, 33, hopes to pursue a Masters degree and work in childcare in the community.
All of the graduates, bar one, plan to continue studying at Sunderland towards a BA degree in Childhood Studies and completed a bridging module in critical thinking during the summer.
However, the foundation degree was not without its problems. Students had to fund themselves in the first year because there were no grants available. Alison Hicks says, 'In the second year, funding was available, but we had already had to make a considerable financial commitment.'
The workload was also more intense than the students expected. 'Some nights I did not finish college work until 2am,' recalls Sam Ali, 'and I haven't had time to clean the bathroom for two years!' Lisa Akins adds, 'It was two years of giving up most weekends. Some modules took place during our holiday periods and we had to go in on Saturdays too.'
All graduates had the added strain of continuing to work full-time during the course. Those who did not want to become teachers became increasingly concerned that they were being pushed in this direction.
'I did not do the degree to become a teacher,' says Gillian Hunter. 'It was for my own professional development and, hopefully, to get the financial rewards for my work responsibilities. The pressure put on us to consider becoming a teacher made me look at taking a sideways move into healthcare.'
Sam Ali adds, 'I do want to go on to become a teacher, but I still felt pushed in this direction and, consequently, I felt I was undervalued as a nursery nurse. To me that is defeating the object of the original intention of setting up the foundation degree, and it is a real pity.'
Whether or not senior practitioner jobs are out there, the demand for and growing popularity of early years sector-endorsed foundation degrees is not in doubt. Courses are now offered at 16 universities and colleges throughout England, and 120 students at Sunderland University are about to start their second year.
Overall, the Sunderland graduates feel that the foundation degree has been a positive experience. 'I am much more analytical in the way I think about issues,' Helen Owen points out. 'I question and challenge things more than I did in the past.' Sam Ali agrees. 'I feel I now have a voice I did not previously have.'
Gillian Jones gives it a final endorsement. 'I would recommend that nursery nurses do a foundation degree. It has changed me and has become the stepping stone to a completely different professional life.
