Establishing a positive emotional climate in an early years setting

• Main Author: Byrd, P. P.
• Published: University of Worcester 2012
• Subjects: 370; L Education (General)
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665698

This qualitative study provides new insight into how the sensitive management of the emotional climate of an early years setting contributes to a beneficial context for child development by focusing on enhancing the emotional well-being of the workforce. This action research centred on the experiences of staff employed to care for young children and explored the wide range of skills and responsibilities that are required of managers and staff teams in settings that provide day care and early education. It also considered the extent to which the needs and best interests of children are being adequately addressed. This enquiry contributes to the ongoing debate over how well young children are served by the use of early childcare and education settings and whether some young children may be at risk of emotional neglect if relationships and interactions in the setting are not sensitive and responsive to the emotional needs of the children and their carers. This research approach provides insight into how management actions and organisational practices in early years settings can impact on children’s well-being, learning and development, and draws on many viewpoints using a variety of research tools. After an initial survey of early years staff and managers of a range of settings in the East Midlands, the focus moves to data gathering activities arising in one main setting based in the region. The findings from the preliminary survey and the main setting raise important questions about the experiences of young children. Reflective management tools have been developed and successfully piloted in the main study setting. The findings demonstrate a significant link between the implementation of beneficial organisational practices in early years settings and the development of a positive emotional climate through addressing issues affecting the staff and children’s well-being. Although this study is located in one region with data collected from one main setting in particular, the research tools and findings have relevance to the organisational practices in other early years settings v Personal well-being and team morale of early years staff are shown to contribute to the quality of interactions that impact on children’s well-being. The issue of ‘being valued and appreciated’ is revealed as a key factor to be addressed in order to raise and maintain staff morale. Practitioners in the main setting identified positive leadership and management behaviours as contributing to feeling valued and appreciated. The development of a management style that empowers and motivates staff, is recognised here as compensatory in overcoming the inherent low pay and the sense of being undervalued often associated with early years work. A nurturing management style is shown to contribute to a positive emotional climate by improving staff retention and team stability. A positive emotional climate is described as an environment that supports children’s emotional development, cognitive development and subsequent educational achievement and social integration. The task of providing early years care and education at a level that promotes children’s emotional well-being is one that requires training in an holistic approach to care and development and high professional standards for those with a leadership responsibility. A young child’s positive emotional well-being is identified as a major factor in helping children to establish themselves as life-long learners and this study concludes that the development of critical reflective management skills is essential if early years settings are able to provide an environment in which children can thrive. The concept of a beneficial childhood is defined and the study recommends that a focus on child emotional well-being is the top priority that underpins local and national policy. The teamwork skills of staff are extended to include the child’s parents or main carers such that the adults collectively take responsibility for creating a coherent and consistent community of practice within which the children can thrive. The development of an identifiable and supportive group culture is regarded as the responsibility of the most senior person involved in the setting and this research identifies that this role requires assistance and support from others internal and external to the setting. The overall conclusions and recommendations focus on the following areas: · Recognition of the impact of adult well-being on children’s experiences; · Description of a beneficial leadership style for early years settings; · Clarification of specific organisational practices to be developed; · Consideration of parental involvement and shared responsibility for childhood; · Proposal of specific training activities to support development of practice.