Sharing Good Practice
Why the Foundation Phase of Learning
is Essential to Child Development
By Patricia Mezu
challenged at their own level(s).
• The UAE’s Ministry of Social Affairs
(MOSA) defines and outlines some
of its expectations for ‘excellent
nurseries’. This includes raising
awareness, within the community,
about the services that nurseries
offer; and adopting community
values (section 2, MOSA, undated).
Further directives on quality
provision include:
I
t amazes and alarms me when I
sometimes hear non- kindergarten
(KG) staff disdainfully dismiss KG
and preschools in a manner that
suggests that ‘all they do is play’; or
‘how easy it must be teaching in KG’. On
the contrary, the early childhood years
can be challenging years for teachers,
although they are also very rewarding.
Preschool teachers, have the honour
of introducing children to their first
school experience and this requires a
plethora of skills including sensitivity,
empathy, an ability to differentiate
at an extremely high level, as well as
the ability to plan rigorous and robust
activities based on a well-researched
and developmentally appropriate
curriculum. That is, if one is working
within a quality setting.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (‘OECD’)
promotes policies that improve the
economic and social well being of
people around the world. A part
of the OECD function is to review
and monitor quality in early learning
and development. With the benefit
of a global perspective, the OECD
recognises that early childhood
education and care is a critical
foundation for future learning and
assists with the development of both
cognitive and non-cognitive skills,
which is vital for the success in school
and in later years (OECD website,
August 2014).
As with many nations, the UAE
recognises the significance of having a
good quality early childhood provision.
The early childhood years have been
defined as the period from zero through
age eight, (UNICEF, 2013 and Shonkoff
and Philips, 2000). In Dubai, the
Knowledge and Human Development
Authority (‘KHDA’) is the main regulator
of educational establishments. It
defines early childhood as the period
from zero through age six years and it
is commonly agreed that these years
represent the foundation for lifelong
learning. The government in Dubai has
recently signaled the need for a quality
provision within the early childhood
education sector, KHDA (2014). This
fact establishes the significance of
early childhood educators in the area
of child development.
How can teachers respond to the need
for quality provision, within the early
childhood sector in the UAE?
There are a number of ways to answer
this question. I choose to focus on
‘quality’:
• The Dubai School Inspection
Bureau (DSIB 2015) provides quality
measures and indicators that inform
practice within pre-schools in the
Emirate and provides a baseline
for assessing the quality of the
pre-school provision. This includes
teaching, assessment, curriculum
design and adaptation, and the
quality of the learning environment.
• ‘Equal Balance of Child and Adult
Initiated Activity’ – This is central to
any effective preschool setting and
enables the children to participate
in their own learning and to be
• Implementing a suitable curriculum
that is appropriate for a child’s age
and stage of development
• Teaching skills that cover the
overall well-being of the child such
as personal, social, emotional,
cognitive, physical, creative and
cultural skills
• Combining freely chosen instructive
play within an informal setting, while
incorporating a strong academic
and social/behavioural element of
learning
• Knowledge of Child Development –
this is an area that is often overlooked,
and yet constitutes the foundation of
a healthy learning environment.
In conclusion, unequivocally, the early
childhood years matter.
References
1. Knowledge And Human Development
Authority, ‘Early Childhood Education and Care in
Dubai: An Executive Summary 2009’, Government
of Dubai
2. Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) undated
‘Standards of Quality Services Provided in
Nurseries’:
3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) website ‘Review of
Policies and Practices for Monitoring Quality in
Early Learning and Development’ -available from:
http://www.oecd.org/edu/monitoringquality.htm
accessed on 2 August 2014
4. Shonkoff, J. P. and Phillips, D. A. (Eds.);
Institute of Medicine (2000). ‘From neurons to
neighborhoods: The science of early childhood
development’.
Washington,
DC:
National
Academy Press in Klein, L. and Knitzer, J. (2006)
Pathways to Early School Success Effective PreSchool Curricula and Teaching Strategies, Issue
Brief No.2 National Center for Children in Poverty
5. UNICEF [2013] ‘The Importance of Early
Childhood Development to Education; Prepared
for the Global Meeting of the Thematic
Consultation on Education in the Post-2015
Development Agenda’ Dakar March 18-19, 2013
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