Full Description
Amid increasing policy and funding pressures, and a dangerously overstretched workforce, the early years sector in the UK is facing a profound crisis. A focus on education at the expense of care has contributed to the complexities of childcare practice being overlooked and undervalued.
Drawing on 35 years of experience working in the early years sector, and supported by rigorous scholarly research, this book calls for a fundamental rethinking of how we care for our youngest children. Taking an ethics of care perspective, brought to life by practical examples, it demonstrates how ethical sensemaking and embodied care can support better, more inclusive, affordable and non-exploitative childcare provision.
Offering a compelling vision for change, this book is essential reading for students, academics and policy makers in early years education and care, as well as anyone seeking to create environments where young children, families and educators can thrive.
Contents
1. Why a Care Manifesto Is Needed for the Early Years Sector
2. Do Governments Care? The Problem of Marketisation
3. Can an Organisation Care?
4. Care Ethics in Childcare Practice
5. Caring as an Embodied Practice in Early Years Provision
6. Creating Caring Environments
7. Ethical Sensemaking and How Individuals Can Make a Difference
8. Making Childcare Sustainable: A Care Manifesto
