‘Wasted down there’: policy and practice with the under-threes

Abstract

Although frameworks now exist for quality provision for under-threes, discourses underpinning policy remain conflicted. The split between care and education is still firmly entrenched in provision and a gap remains between rhetoric and practice. This paper explores how Early Years Professional Status, which requires practitioners to engage meaningfully with babies and toddlers, can support the development of ‘thoughtful agents’ as shared learning enables new insights and understanding to emerge. In particular it offers a context which transforms practitioners’ sense of themselves as professionals and provides opportunities for child-centred practice to exert an upward influence. The theoretical basis for this paper is the concept of learning communities whereby EYPS becomes a cultural ‘tool’ and the means by which learning is mediated. Conclusions are that experience with infants empowers practitioners to engage in the high-level critical reflection necessary to challenge political prescription and an emphasis on early years as preparation for school.