Pen Green's conference on 29 January promises a valuable opportunity for practitioners to explore the importance of relationships between babies, toddlers and adults and use new insights to inform their practice.
Pen Green assistant director Felicity Norton says, 'With the free entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds, the sector will need more practitioners who are skilled in looking after this age group. It tends to be the least well-qualified who do this work and there is a perception that it is about a basic model of care. We want to help develop a more responsive, stimulating approach.'
Relationships with both peers and adults are fundamental to children's healthy development and thinking. The conference aims to address these themes in the light of current research and stimulate the way practitioners support these key relationships.
Professor Colwyn Trevarthen, Professor Emeritus of Child Psychology and Psychobiology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, will talk about the importance of companionship, 'mother-ese' speech and musicality in development and how pedagogy can support them.
Ms Norton says, 'There is a tendency to focus on the adult-child relationship, but this presentation will underline how practitioners can plan for opportunities to encourage peer relationships.'
Other keynote speakers include Dr Suzanne Zeedyk of the School of Psychology at the University of Dundee, who will talk about brain development and the importance of reciprocity in relationships from an early age.
The afternoon's sessions include case studies from psychotherapist Robin Balbernie and Sure Start programme leader Sian Larrington. Speakers will outline their respective practical strategies in supporting child-to-child and adult-to-child relationships, and how it is important to think critically about existing approaches.
The conference is intended to provide a springboard for Pen Green's new three-day training course, Are You Making a Difference to Two-Year-Olds? This course will include training, practical application of what has been learned and feedback.
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