Building equity by validating childhood
Nov 20, 2014
Raising social equity is central to professional purpose, and the language used by childcare practitioners to discuss it is pivotal in creating inclusive environments in which children can flourish. The development of respectful language can be a powerful tool for change when it validates other people’s experience. In dialogue with others, childcare practitioners can find new ways of understanding and debating inequality. In turn, the new ideas generated in dialogue may help children secure greater participation and deeper belonging. Care workers in children’s services may become more effective by being able to talk with greater courage, or ‘heart’, about equality issues. Without meaningful engagement (in other words, the true validation of others’ experience) and driven solely by professional expertise, practice is likely to continue to be seen as an add-on, dependent on goodwill and benevolence. On the one hand, tweaking the system to accommodate an increasing number of individuals with different experience may comply with imposed laws and policies. On the other, it does little to address the community’s need for a commitment to changing the core purpose of organisations. This paper explores how we might arrive at more respectful ways of working together by challenging the way people talk together about their experiences.
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Welcome
•Powerful language.
•Professional purpose.
•Validating experience.
•Not a add-on.
Culture Change• Tackling inequality is best understood as a
practitioner’s ethical commitment to realise every learner’s rights in full.
• Cultural change takes both time and innovation: it is neither immediately available nor instantly achievable.
(Adapted from Chapman, L. 2010)
Context of Children’s Services
• Pressure from society and education.
• Worth of human contribution.
• Failure to secure employment.
• Negative attitudes towards marginalised groups.
• Need to value child's voice
• Appearance of engagement: A divided response.
Language & Communication
• A bridge between people.
• Words can hinder or empower.
• Links Professional, personal, and private.
• Avoid ‘them’ and ‘us’.
• Childhood identity – multiple.
• Validates: active and engaged participants.
What’s fair?Inequality is best explained as a powerful social force that generates community divisions and oppression.
Inequality weakens community life, reduces trust and increases violence across populations.
Reaching for EquityAs stated by Prof. West-Burnham:
The principle of equality has to be reinforced and extended by the practice of equity.
• Equality: every human being has an absolute and equal right to common dignity and parity of esteem and entitlement to access the benefits of society on equal terms.
• Equity: every human being has a right to benefit from the outcomes of society on the basis of fairness and according to need.
• Social justice: justice requires deliberate and specific intervention to secure equality and equity.
(West-Burnham & Chapman 2009)
Challenging Ideas of Status
• Learning and Development. • Trust and intimacy.• Vulnerable: needs arise from critical stress.• Those whose needs are repeatedly ignored
or whose concerns are trivialised. • Oppression lack of full entitlement due to
wider social divisions and no control over same adult priorities.
Dialogue as community intervention • Personal: inner, reflective, analytical, synthesizing. The way issues
are internalized. A process that makes sense. [Private voice]• Social: family and friends, deep, open, direct, love and unconditional
acceptance. [Personal voice]• Professional dialogue: a closed ‘expert’ language - ‘jargon’ to the
outsider. The writer, the journalist and the professional communicator… the questioning of technique and practice. [Public voice]
• Learning dialogue: process of mentoring, coaching, and tutoring. Enquiry, discovery, questioning, affirming. [Expert voice]
• Community dialogue: process of debate and shared decision taking. Trust, convention, shared understanding and protocol. [Shared voice]
West-Burnham, J. 2009, pg 122
A Tool in Practice:
• Between children, practitioners and
parents.
• Trust: time and space.
• Growth and thinking.
• Respectful challenge.
Building Professionalism
Kretzmann, J. and McKnight, J. 1993
Learning and Development
We must put into practice our socially just ideologies.
We must move from passive discourse and involvement to conscious deliberate, and proactive practice in educational leadership that will produce socially just outcomes for all.
Marshall, C. et al, 2006, P.27
Culture ChangeWelcomeToleranceSingle /otherDeficitBarriers Rigid rulesComplianceImprovement
InvitationAcceptanceDiverse Assets BoundariesFlexible PrinciplesCommitmentTransformation
Chapman, L. 2010 pg. 26
Good bye!
…on Facebook or Twitter
For free materials:www.equalitytraining.co.uk
Related Documents
