Opinion

Falling on deaf ears

Small children don’t necessarily listen to advice, but as adults we should be better at listening too, says Sue Cowley

Small children don’t necessarily listen to advice. ‘Roll up your sleeves, so you don’t get paint on them,’ you say, but still they trail their clean sleeves through it. ‘Watch out for the nettles, they sting!’ you warn, but still the children come crying to you when they get stung. Children need to learn through experience and by making mistakes. It’s not enough for us to give them advice; they have to understand why the advice was important in the first place.

As adults, we should be a bit better at taking advice – at listening to those who know what they are talking about. But the DfE has a remarkable track record of not listening to the people who have to put their policies into practice. When the Reception baseline was mooted, many of us advised against it. Millions of pounds and thousands of teacher hours later, the DfE says that the baseline is not reliable enough to measure progress: the very thing that we pointed out in the first place.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here