Gaps in the content of the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce, and a lack of rigorous monitoring of how it is delivered, need to be addressed according to early years training providers.
The calls come from trainers who have provided expert commentary on the new qualification for the 17-month long series of features in Nursery World looking in depth at the units which make up the award.
The diploma, the brainchild of the now defunct Children's Workforce Development Council, was the subject of controversy and debate in the sector even before its launch in September 2010.
The basic qualification is designed for people working with children aged 0-19. Learners then take mandatory units relevant to the sector they work in - such as early years - and also have a pick of specialist optional units.
Although there is a core mandatory unit covering child development from 0-19, critics are dismayed the units on working with and caring for babies and young children are optional - even for people working in the early years.
'I would say is there is a lot that is good in the qualification,' says Gill Mason, enterprise director for Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council, specialising in training and education for children's workforce.
'But there are a couple of gaps and areas where units could have been amalgamated. For example, issues such as inclusion, safeguarding and communication are core principles and should run through every unit.'
She believes that one of the big gaps is on the specialist knowledge of babies. 'This is an optional unit, yet there is a big problem looming as you have got people who, while they are qualified to work in the early years, have no experience of babies,' she says. 'You can find instances where you have very few people in a setting with real in-depth experience of working with this age group.'
However, Sally Eaton, education director at the Childcare Company, emphasises that quality of teaching is key to the overall effectiveness of the Diploma. 'All aspects of childcare are covered in the qualification, but if the assessor or tutor does not provide the learner with a really good understanding of the principles of childcare and child development, their knowledge and skills will not be sufficient for them to be high-quality practitioners,' she says.
GAINING THE BIG PICTURE
Gail Shenton, deputy to partners at the Jancett Group of Day Nurseries and JACE Training, says the qualification is pitched between a Level 3 and Level 4 award, but she has concerns about the way the knowledge outcomes are presented in some units.
'They can be a bit glib. For example in the optional unit on promoting creativity there is almost a throwaway line on theories, but there is a huge amount to go in there.
'We want to be sure students fully understand what they are doing and the implications of what they are doing when caring for young children. If you don't have in-depth understanding and knowledge of the theory, then you cannot be putting it into practice properly.'
'It is not a holistic qualification,' says Mine Conkbayir, senior programme manager for apprentices at the London Early Years Foundation. 'It encourages teachers to teach to the mandatory criteria as opposed to encouraging their students to explore around the units.'
She adds, 'This qualification is not giving students a wider overview as it does not encourage them to express their own thoughts and opinions. We added a great deal to our delivery of the qualification, for example, on the theories around child development and on childhood illnesses and on SEN.'
What is particularly worrying, she believes, is the lack of confidence shown by apprentices in certain areas. 'Our apprentices, when they come into contact with children with special needs, especially those with more physical needs, seem to lack confidence and can be quite scared and not know what to do,' she says. 'Therefore we have added a lot in on SEN, and especially autism, because children at our settings have these problems.'
Gail Shenton wants to see students undertaking more observations. 'I don't mean doing EYFS observations. I mean observing a child and observing child development over a period of time, so you really understand how children grow and develop. It might seem apprentices have got this, but when they start their foundation degree you discover they have not.'
MORE PLACEMENTS NEEDED
Gill Mason explains there is a problem with the way the apprenticeship scheme works now, in that young people coming into early years are starting as apprentices and employees from day one.
'In the old days, you could move trainees around and get them lots of different placements to broaden their experience, but that does not work today,' she says. 'Employers cannot release them like that. Our whole team has been involved in early years training for a long time and we were talking about NNEBs and how they used to go on many more different placements. While we know that is best practice you just can't do it if you are employed.'
Mine Conkbayir agrees that there is a problem with apprentices gaining experience. 'The syllabus and placements I undertook with the DCE sparked my passion for birth to threes and neuroscience - the focus of my masters degree - because it was delivered in such a brilliant way. However, with the L3 CYPW, students are only getting a little peep through the keyhole at the sector.'
Jancett Nurseries moves its apprentices though the different age groups, says Gail Shenton, so they work with every age, and they encourage other employers to do the same.
'Employment laws have changed and it can be hard to allow an apprentice time off for day release and study and give them a range of experience and maintain rotas and ratios,' she says. 'However, we do it. Although employed, apprentices are not fully qualified. They should be seen as a second pair of hands not as a main pair of hands.'
Trainers such as LEYF and Jace are concerned that delivery of the qualification is not rigorously monitored by the awarding bodies, and bring the debate back to Sally Eaton's point about effective teaching.
'There needs to be more monitoring of how the qualification is delivered,' says Gail Shenton.
Mine Conkbayir agrees. 'When you see advertisements saying "you can achieve this qualification online in three months" you know there are problems.'
While agreeing that a learner most definitely cannot acquire the necessary knowledge within three months, Sally Eaton believes that with high quality teaching the Diploma can be robust. 'It is important that the course inspires and motivates learners to want to improve their practice and, if well taught, the Diploma can achieve this,' she says.
QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE NUTBROWN REVIEW
- Does a Level 3 course that can be completed in a year provide practitioners, and potentially setting managers, with a proper understanding of child development?
- Does it provide the necessary experience of a variety of settings and understanding different approaches before qualifying?
- Is the content too broad, as it covers the 0 - 19 age range (although figures suggest two-thirds of the children's workforce hold early years posts)?
- Is there a sufficient focus on child development?
