Action Plan
Title:
The importance of Playgroups for children and the impact the SSSC qualification requirements may have on them.
Aim:
My aim is to investigate and show the benefits that playgroups have for under fives in Scotland and I would like to analyse the impact that the SSSC qualifications requirements may have on practitioners and how it may affect the service they provide to children and stakeholders. I will aim to link my research to the following Units F56Y 35 Childhood Practice and Social Services: Developing Leadership DN1H 35 Managing Quality in Early Education and Childcare Settings F56B 35 Developing Professional Childhood Practice
F56A 35 Integrated Working and Collaborative Practice
Rationale
The basis for this research is down to the amount of changes that we as child practitioners have gone through when it comes to qualifications. I am on the PDA Childhood Practice Course and on starting the course was informed that the regulations had changed and all managers were required to go on and achieve a Degree. In my mind as well as other managers I have spoken to, they felt that this would bring about a change in the future of playgroups. This in turn has led me to research the importance that playgroups hold in communities for children and their families, and to try and establish exactly how managers and practitioners feel the changes will affect playgroups . What I would like to find out from my research is 1. how playgroups help our children to develop
2. What influences parents on choosing playgroups
3. Current thoughts of practitioners and managers on the new qualification requirements 4. the levels of qualifications held by managers and practitioners 5. Once qualified, whether managers and practitioners leave of stay in their setting. In collecting the above evidence I will have to set out questionnaires for parents and send them out to as many playgroups in the Lothian region and Edinburgh as well as gather some personal views from managers and their practitioners in the playgroups.
I aim to do this by interviewing them and some will have an email sent out to them. This will help me to get a general feeling from practitioners regarding the qualifications and using qualitative measures will give me a better insight with regards to this. I feel that to convey exactly how people feel having opinions, experiences and understandings of managers and practitioners will provide a better view than figures will. Some of the theorists that I will integrate into my research will include Vygotsky, Bowlby, Bandura – Social Child Development
Piaget – Cognitive Child Development
Pavlov and Skinner – Behavioural Child Development
The different theories that they produced with regard to development all work well together in playgroups. There is no need to use one theorist over another and I will be able to show this when I am discussing the importance of playgroups in child development. Action Plan – Timescale
Task
Week of
Discuss Graded Unit and timetable
15/05/13
Complete the 14 questions from handbook
22/05/13
Individual tutorial on 14 questions @ 7pm
29-05-13
Individual tutorials
05-06-13
In College to hand in Case Study
12-06-13
Begin literature research
26-06-13
Continue research for articles
03-07-13
Research questionnaire building sites
10-07-13
Gather information from SSSC site
17-07-13
Holiday
24-07-13
Holiday
31-07-13
Devise questionnaire to parents
07-08-13
Devise questions to ask practitioners/managers
14-08-13
Contact Early Years Dept at East Lothian Council
21-08-13
Type up action Plan
28-08-13
Submit Action Plan
04-09-13
Await questionnaire results
11-09-13
Collate as much information as possible
18-09-13
Chase up outstanding information
24-09-13
Individual Tutorial
02-10-13
Start writing up investigative report
09-10-13
Continue writing report
16-10-13
Evaluation Report
23-10-13
Go over report
30-10-13
Submit Graded Unit
06-11-13
The literature that I will use for my research will give
Brophy J, Statham J(1991) Early Child Development and Care, Taylor & Francis
Bruce, T and Meggitt, C (1996) Child Care and Education. London: Hodder & Stoughton Condie, Rae and Seagraves, Liz and Fee, J. and Henry, Jacqueline (2009) Continuing professional development of early years managers and practitioners working with children under 3 years of age: technical report. [Report]
Devereux J, Cable C, Miller L (2005) Developing Early Years Practice, David Fulton Publishers
Isles-Buck, E. and Newstead S., (2005) 3rd ed. Essential Skills for Managers of Child-Centred Settings. Manchester: David Fulton Publishers
Learning Teaching Scotland (2010) Pre-Birth to Three – Positive Outcomes for Scotlands Children and Families. Glasgow Lindon, J. (2010) Reflective Practice and Early Years Professionalism: linking theory and practice. London: Hodder Education
The Scottish Executive, (2009) National Care Standards. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: RR Donnelley
East Lothian Council (2008) Guidelines for working with Children Under Three. Haddington. QAA Scotland (2007) Scottish subject benchmark statement – The Standard for Childhood Practice. Mansfield: Linney Direct
Murphy L. (2010) Meet the Masters (retrieved 15 July 2013) http://www.ooeygooey.com
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Vygotsky. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html [ August 2013]
SPPA, First Five Publication, Issue 65;Autumn 2012, pg9
SPPA, First Five Publication, Issue 67; Spring 2013, pgs 8-11,16-18
Scottish Government; The Framework for Continuous Learning in Social Services; Dundee
