Taking Out of School Services Seriously

International Perspectives and Values

Pat Petrie

Centre for Understanding Social Pedagogy

Staten- Generaal Opvang en Vrije

Tijd van Schoolkinderen

Brussels 24 April 2014

Taking Out of School Services Seriously – Some International Perspectives and Values

• What are the parameters?• Why look at other countries?• Out-of-school and the school• Staff Roles• Values and the image of the child

2

Legal and economiccontext for out of school services

3

Children must go to school and

parents to work

A balancing act for families

Economic and political contexts

• The part of the market and of the state in providing out-of-school services

• Childcare and education: public or private responsibilities?

4

School sets parameters for out of school services

• School hours

• School holidays

• Age for starting school

• Transport – provided/not provided

• School dinners – provided/not provided

5

Employment sets parameters for out of school services• Is parent available for childcare?

One parental income or two needed?

Other benefits of employment

Equality issues

Entitlement to flexible working hours

Annual leave entitlement

6

Values and understandings underlie out of school services• What image of the child, the family and

society inform services?

• Do the values that inform services in other countries inspire us?

• How could they inform our out-of-school services?

7

France: the school plays a large part• School bus

• Hours 8 30 – 16 30 / 17 30

• Up to 2 hours lunch, full meal provided, play/ organised activities

• After school: homework, play or activities then school bus takes children home

8

But rather few school days

• 160 days per year

• Wednesdays/Wednesday afternoons free

• Public and voluntary leisure centres on Wednesdays

• Colonies de Vacances – residential holidays

9

Values

• Entitlements

• Rights and duties

• Citizenship

• ‘Circadian biorhythms’

10

England• Private, market-based system, tax credits for low earners

Average: £50 (61Euros) per week: after-school care

£109 (133 Euros): holiday care• Parental entitlement to request flexible working hours• Schools may extend day and provide (or house) school-age care • Compulsory registration and inspection where a child under 8 years is present

Registration requires minimum qualification levels for some staff only

• Qualifications11

Values• Childcare is a private family matter, provision is best

left to the market• Getting poor parents into work• Little discussion of pedagogic issues• Little consideration given to specific groups, e.g.:

older children and young people

disabled children

12

Nordic countries

• High levels of maternal employment (most children have been in state provided nurseries)

• Universal subsidised provision up to 11 in school-based ‘free-time homes’ before and after school

• School-based and other clubs for older children

13

14

Why school? • Pedagogical principles: continuity, holistic view

of child, deriving from early childhood and ‘free time’ pedagogy

• Welfare: services on one site better for families

• Cost reduction: bringing ‘free time’ services into school - although traditionally outside the school

Free-time pedagogues (out-of-school staff)• Sweden: a common education for teachers,

preschool teachers and free time pedagogues• Denmark: common education for free-time

pedagogues, early childhood education and care and e.g., children’s residential homes

• Norway: school-age care qualifications less developed

15

Denmark: proposed changes

• Proposals to lengthen school day and shorten free-time provision so as to increase academic achievement and cut costs of free-time provision

16

Sweden: integrated care and education• Pre-schools attached to schools with one ‘head

teacher’• Common curriculum for compulsory school, pre-

school class and ‘free-time home’ • Free-time pedagogues as part of the classroom team

17

18

Sweden‘The purpose of increased integration of pre-school – school - fritidshem is that all pedagogical services for children and youth can be seen as a unity and as a part of life-long learning. These services should be more closely linked to each other in order to promote that a common view of learning and development can grow in the meeting of different pedagogical traditions’Skolverket/National Agency of Education 2006 p.31

Sweden : extended role for free-time Pedagogues• More contact with parents than teachers have•Special knowledge of children because they meet them in different contexts• During school day may focus more on social and emotional development, and creative work than teachers do

19

Sweden: Position of free-time pedagogues

• Difficulties about their status in the classroom team

• Recently, one third of rektors have been preschool teachers or free time pedagogues

• Somewhat less favourable employment conditions than for teachers

• Shortage of free-time pedagogues

Value base and the image of the child(1)

• Education in the broad sense. Free-time provision a benefit in itself, moving on from ‘mere’ childcare

• Valuing democracy and collective life

– Public provision – sharing responsibilities and entitlements

– Good for children to be with their peers21

Value base and the image of the child(2)

• The whole child: head, heart and hands

• Staff bringing their own head, heart and hands to relationships with children

• Children as co-constructing knowledge with pedagogues and peers; dialogue

• Social agents – not passive recipients

• The importance of play & creative activities22

Taking Out of School Services Seriously

International Perspectives and Values

Pat Petrie

Centre for Understanding Social Pedagogy

Staten- Generaal Opvang en Vrije

Tijd van Schoolkinderen

Brussels 24 April 2014