PROFESSIONAL LINKS
This chapter addresses the following:
Department for Education (2017) Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage: Setting the Standards for Learning, Development and Care for Children from Birth to Five. London: DfE.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter you will understand:
what is meant by the concept of resilience;
how to develop resilience in an early years setting.
INTRODUCTION
The first overarching principle of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework is that ‘every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured’ (DfE, 2017, p 6). The second principle is that children should ‘learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships’ (DfE, 2017, p 6). Both of these principles reflect current discourses on childhood that position children as strong and capable social actors who are able to ‘bounce-back’ from adverse childhood experiences. However, perspectives on childhood have changed significantly over time and discourses on childhood have shaped perspectives on resilience. This chapter will explore some of the tensions associated with resilience and highlight strategies for developing resilience in the early years setting.
PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDHOOD AND RESILIENCE
Over 20 years ago it was argued that:
Children are arguably more hemmed in by surveillance and social regulation than ever before. In the risk society (Beck 1992) parents increasingly identify the world outside the home as one which their children must be shielded and in relation to which they must devise strategies of risk reduction
(James et al, 1998, p 7)
Discourses that have emphasised safeguarding and child protection in recent years have minimised children’s exposure to risk. It is interesting that childhood was not always conceptualised in this way; in the 1800s young children worked in the factories and coal mines and suffered injuries and death from exposure to risk. Discourses around safeguarding are relatively recent, as are perspectives on agency. Historically, children were silenced and not given a voice, in stark contrast to current perspectives on childhood. As an early years practitioner, you have a legal duty to safeguard children and protect them from harm. However, eradicating risk from children’s lives in the context of the early years setting is a dangerous move because children will encounter risk in their daily lives outside of the setting. Wrapping children up in cotton wool will not help them to assess, problem-solve or negotiate risk. Children need to be resilient to a range of risks and they need to be able to manage and negotiate risk. Children also need to take risks in their learning and experience ‘failure’, learn from it and recover. This will support their subsequent learning and development. Children need to be able to try out challenging tasks and not be worried about getting things wrong.
Exposing children to ‘safe risk’ is a useful way of developing their resilience. ‘Safe risk’ does not put children in danger but allows children to problem-solve and manage risk.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
How can risk be integrated into outdoor learning?
Have safeguarding and child protection policies wrapped children up in cotton wool by providing them with safe, sterile and risk-free environments?
Why is exposure to risk important in children’s lives?
Research by Tovey (2010) found that risky play provides children with opportunities to develop decision-making skills and assess risks. Tovey found that through engaging in risky play, children may sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. Failures, however, can enable children to learn from their mistakes and approach things differently in the future. Tovey argued that in today’s increasingly regulated and controlled society, safety concerns have resulted in reduced opportunities for risky play.
CASE STUDY
A nursery provided the children with a weekly outdoor learning session in the local woods. The children walked to the woods in all weathers and participated in a range of activities. These included using branches, logs, fabric sheeting and other natural materials to create dens. The children played on the rope swing that was attached to a tree. They walked through the river in the woods and examined the wildlife in the river. They climbed trees and they walked across uneven ground. The wood was used as an opportunity for children to learn about habitats, animals and plants and about mathematics. The children collected branches to make different types of triangles, rectangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons and octagons. The children re-enacted stories in the wood and they explored the mini-beasts that lived under the logs.
Adverse childhood experiences include stressors such as poverty, abuse, neglect, being in care or family breakdown, loss, family violence and responsibilities of care (Roffey, 2016). Research demonstrates that stressful and negative life circumstances impact detrimentally on self-worth, concentration, attendance, behaviour and mental health, all of which will affect children’s learning and development across all areas (Mani et al, 2013). It has also been argued that long-term stressors are more damaging to mental health than acute, sudden events (Roffey, 2016). Research indicates, for example, that poverty is predictive of depression and anxiety (Fell and Hewstone, 2015). In addition, experiences of abuse and neglect can result in aggression, other forms of anti-social behaviour, poor self-worth and a wide range of mental health problems (Jutte et al, 2015). Psychological and behavioural disturbances are also associated with the experience of child sexual abuse (Roffey, 2016). Research demonstrates that children who experience domestic violence are more likely to be harmed themselves but are also at risk of multiple developmental problems (Roffey, 2016). Family breakdown can have a detrimental impact on children’s learning and development and their mental health, although the way in which children experience family breakdown is dependent upon their age and how the breakdown is managed in the family (Dowling and Elliott, 2012).
Roffey has argued that ‘when risks to wellbeing are chronic and on-going, resilience may need to be thought about differently’ (Roffey, 2017, p 2). Practitioners cannot simply expect children to ‘get over’ these adverse experiences. Many adverse childhood experiences can have long-term detrimental effects that extend well into adult life. Practitioners must recognise the factors that result in children’s moods and behaviours and address these with sensitivity and empathy.
A national survey in England in 2013 revealed that 48 per cent of adults (aged 18–69) have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, with 9 per cent experiencing four or more adverse childhood experiences over their childhood.
(www.aces.me.uk/files/2215/3495/0307/REACh_Evaluation_Report.pdf) |
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) has been influential in understanding the influences on childhood development. It positions the child within the following systems, all of which influence development.
Microsystem: these are contexts that directly impact the child’s development, including family, the educational setting, religious institutions, peers and the community.
Mesosystem: these are the interconnections between the microsystems, such as the interactions that take place between parents and practitioners.
Macrosystem: the macrosystem describes the cultural contexts (or societal norms) that shape children’s lives.
Other systems are identified in Bronfenbrenner’s model but are not covered here. Adverse circumstances could have their origins in one or more of these systems. The model helps us to recognise the interconnectedness of different elements in the child’s life. For example, if there is breakdown in the relationship between the child and their primary carer, this is an adverse circumstance that occurs in the microsystem. Other elements of the microsystem can attempt to counteract this negative experience; for example, through early years practitioners establishing strong, positive relationships with the child. However, although this can reduce the effects of the adverse experience, it is not sufficient to compensate for the breakdown of the relationship between the child and their primary carer and this can have long-lasting effects that extend into adulthood.
93,000 children live in care;
24,300 children are in need of protection from neglect;
1 in 20 children experience sexual abuse;
50,000 children are in need of protection from abuse;
42 per cent of marriages end in divorce;
it is estimated that 130,000 children live in homes with a high risk of domestic violence.
(Roffey, 2016)
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
It has been argued that ‘children do not achieve resilience by their own efforts in “pulling themselves together”’ (Roffey, 2016, p 33). Their resilience is affected by the social contexts in which they are situated. The support of families, practitioners, community and religious organisations can help children to be resilient and cope better with adversity. According to Doll, ‘resilience is a characteristic that emerges out of the systemic interdependence of children with their families, communities and schools’ (Doll, 2013, p 400). Resilience is a complex, multifaceted and dynamic construct. For example, some children may be resilient learners but not resilient in social situations or vice versa.
Although social context can influence resilience, so too can individual factors. For example, children with high levels of intelligence might be more able to rationalise their experiences, thus enabling them to cope better during times of adversity. Children who are confident are more likely to be able to talk about how they feel and how adverse experiences are affecting them. Talking about their experiences can help to develop resilience. However, it has been argued that confidence requires a context in which mistakes are accepted (Roffey, 2016) and as an individual characteristic it is therefore influenced by the social context in the child is positioned.
Young children need to be resilient in their learning so that when faced with challenging or unfamiliar tasks they do not simply give up. Resilience enables them to persevere with tasks in order to achieve mastery. They also need to learn to be resilient in social interactions when developing social relationships. Children need to learn to resolve conflicts, and practitioners play a critical role in enabling children to talk through conflicts. They need to learn that situations will arise within friendships that result in disagreements. Social resilience will enable children to resolve disputes so that friendships can be maintained. Children need to develop physical resilience during tasks that are designed to develop their gross and fine motor skills; for example, demonstrating stamina during physical activity. They also need to demonstrate emotional resilience by managing their own feelings and emotions in various situations.
These examples illustrate that resilience is not straightforward. Children can demonstrate resilience in one aspect but lack resilience in another aspect. As a practitioner, your role is to observe children in a range of contexts so that you can identify which aspects of resilience require further development.
Rutter (1987, p 317) argued that ‘resilience is concerned with individual variations in response to risk. Some people succumb to stress and adversity whereas others overcome life hazards’. Rutter also argued that resilience is not a fixed attribute, in that the same people who react adversely to a particular life stressor might cope well with the same stressor at another point in time. Therefore, resilience in relation to a specific stressor is not static and can be enhanced or weakened.
Bonnet and Bernard (2012) identify three aspects of resilience:
resilience is seen as an emotional reaction when faced with problematic or stressful situations;
the ability to calm down from a difficult situation within a realistic time frame;
the capacity to recover and continue with what they were doing before the stressor.
Taket et al (2012, p 39) argue that ‘resilience is more appropriately conceived of as a human capacity that can be developed and strengthened in all people’.
These perspectives all focus on an individual’s ability to ‘bounce-back’ from a negative experience but while this is important, recovering from an experience is only one aspect of resilience. Resilient individuals are able to acknowledge how they feel. They are confident in knowing how and where to seek help by talking to others or seeking other forms of support. As an early years practitioner, you play a critical role in helping children to talk to adults about how they are feeling. Adults will interpret situations differently to children, so what a child may find stressful, an adult may not. It is important to acknowledge how children are feeling and to demonstrate empathy, even if the situation that results in the stress or anxiety appears to you to be relatively minor. If very young children (for example, babies) or children with special educational needs have not developed verbal communication, you will need to observe them to ascertain how they are feeling.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
DEVELOPING RESILIENCE IN THE EARLY YEARS
It has been argued that although some protective factors are within the child, many are located within the social environment in which individuals live and learn (Roffey, 2017). This has significant implications for you as an early years practitioner in relation to your role in developing resilience in children.
Establishing warm, positive, trusting and supportive relationships is critical to enable children to become more resilient (Roffey, 2016). Roffey argues that ‘for children to thrive they need at least one person who they can trust, thinks they are worthwhile and lets them know that they are lovable and capable’ (Roffey, 2016, p 34). As Bronfenbrenner says, ‘In order to develop, a child needs the enduring, irrational involvement of one or more adults in care and joint activity with the child. Somebody has to be crazy about that kid’ (2005, p 262). The key worker plays a critical role in developing children’s confidence and self-worth and these factors will impact positively on their ability to be resilient in a range of situations. As a practitioner, you play a crucial role in teaching children to persist and learn from their mistakes when they experience ‘failure’. You should emphasise to children that making mistakes is a normal part of learning and children should not be afraid to try things, make mistakes and learn from this experience.
Experiencing a ‘sense of connectedness’ or belonging to the setting is a recognised protective factor for mental health (DfE, 2015). Children need to feel included in the setting, and establishing friendships will facilitate a sense of belonging. After all, social connection is essential for optimal development (Roffey, 2017). You should support children to develop multiple friendships through giving them opportunities to socially interact and collaborate. Play-based learning is an effective tool for facilitating social interactions and enables children to learn in a variety of contexts. As a practitioner you will model appropriate social behaviours, including demonstrating respect, kindness and empathy towards others. These behaviours may not have been modelled in the home, but as children learn to understand the rules of positive social interactions they will be able to develop positive and long-lasting friendships.
The following factors will aid the development of resilience:
inclusive belonging and connectedness to the setting;
a strengths- and solutions-based approach;
high levels of social capital across the setting rooted in positive social values, such as kindness, trust, respect, fairness and acknowledgement;
high-quality interactions between children and practitioners;
positive peer relationships;
an emphasis on social and emotional learning.
(Roffey, 2017)
If these are embedded within the setting, children will develop confidence, self-worth and resilience. A strengths- and solutions-based approach focuses on practitioners demonstrating to children what they know and can do, thus providing positive acknowledgement of their abilities and character traits. Some children will arrive in the setting with feelings of low self-worth. Your role as a practitioner is to help children to recognise their strengths rather than their weaknesses. If children start thinking from a position of strength, they are more likely to try new activities and take risks in their learning. If they experience feelings of low self-worth they are less likely to be resilient to new challenges. The explicit modelling of the skills of social interaction and emotional regulation in both adult-directed tasks and through adult interactions in child-initiated play will support children. They will develop the skills they need to form positive social relationships with others and enable them to regulate their own feelings. It has been argued that the direct teaching of social and emotional skills supports the development of positive mental health in children (Durlak et al, 2011).
Providing children with agency increases both confidence and a sense of responsibility (Dobia et al, 2014). Children who are more confident and have a sense of responsibility are more likely to be resilient. Play-based learning provides a crucial vehicle for providing children with agency because it enables them to initiate their own learning. Additionally, providing children with regular opportunities to talk about how they feel and to identify from their perspective their strengths and areas for development allows them to have a voice. This builds confidence and in turn this will support the development of resilience.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
CASE STUDY
A range of problem-solving tasks were planned to develop the children’s resilience in a nursery. In one task the children were asked to design a bridge using paper and card that was strong enough to support the weight of the three goats in The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They explored different ways of strengthening the material using folding techniques, including corrugation.
SUMMARY
This chapter discussed the overarching principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and demonstrates how these reflect current discourses on childhood. It highlights how perspectives on childhood have changed significantly over time and it illustrates how discourses on childhood have shaped perspectives on resilience. The impact of adverse childhood experiences is presented within the context of children’s resilience and the tensions associated with resilience are explored. The chapter also suggests some strategies for developing resilience in the early years setting.
CHECKLIST
This chapter has addressed:
FURTHER READING
Robinson, M (2014) The Feeling Child: Laying the Foundations of Confidence and Resilience (Foundations of Child Development). Oxon: Routledge.