I really enjoyed reading this article and also looking through all of your posts! Its so interesting to hear about different approaches across the settings. Just for a bit of context, I’m still quite new at my setting and getting a feel for how things are done.
I really like the point about children’s competence. Children are worth listening to and their voices contribute to our communities, in our settings and beyond.
How well does my setting listen to children? I think the picture is quite mixed. SST is not yet something I’ve heard staff talking about. That doesn’t mean there aren’t effective interactions with children but the quality of interactions definitely varies. The article also puts forward a really compelling case for listening to children while evaluating provision. I’d really like to suggest this at my setting but I’m also aware that as a new member of staff, not all employees’ voices are listened to in the same way.
How does listening connect to British Values? Listening plays a key role in democracy, the rule of law, freedom and tolerance which all manifest themselves in the day to day life of a nursery. Making children feel heard is the first step.
It seems to me that listening to children’s voices has a complex relationship with the government’s notion of the role of cultural capital in education. The DfE describes cultural capital as ‘essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for success.’ I suppose the big follow up question is who decides what classes as essential knowledge? The government’s use of cultural capital in an educational context has been criticised for being a narrow, top/down approach, prioritising white, middle class values. It doesn’t seem to come from a place of listening and valuing children’s voices.
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