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A friend recently shared his despair for a young boy's future. Walking through a grocery aisle, he saw a mother angrily tell her boy to stop fiddling. The boy cringed and asked 'Are you going to hit me?' Around the corner, in the next aisle, he saw a mother playfully chatting to her daughter, saying what a lovely girl she was. What is life like now and what will the future hold for these two preschoolers? This dramatic juxtaposition raised a sense of despair for the little boy's joyless expectation of life, and for the different promise that life held for him.
This incident highlights the relevance of environments that are generated through communicative interactions. The environment created can support a child's sense of self-worth, develop skills for making positive friendships and relationships, encourage an eagerness for learning and a keen inquisitiveness, and provide a sense of a rightful place in the world. Alternatively, it can threaten a child's development in all these areas.
Communication contributes multiple messages, weaving a psychological and cognitive environment that creates a 'special space' for a child. The quality of this 'special space' for the child depends on verbal messages (both covert and overt), the tone of voice they hear, the body language and facial expressions they see, and the emotional reaction they feel in response to the interaction.
During my recent international study tour on a Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship I visited early childhood programs in the UK, Italy and USA. Reflecting on this tour, the most salient feature was the quality and nature of the communication between the children and the staff. The interactions clearly indicated how their culture and program viewed the role and rights of children. It highlighted that while structural features such as physical design and equipment are important, the true story lies in the quality of that special place created for a child during communicative interactions.
Regardless of the context we work in, our adult–child dyadic and group interactions can make a positive difference to a child's development and resilience. This opportunity sometimes becomes lost in the focus on specific goals and completion of routine tasks in high-pressure environments.
At The Infants' Home Child and Family Services we have been working on developing a Children's Charter that holds central the role of validation of self-worth for each child and encourages a foundation for positive relationships to support learning through skillful communication. The development of the Charter has involved staff in reflective practices that challenged their individual as well as their teams' value systems, knowledge and skills.
Early childhood services have received significant attention in the three recent reports reviewing how Australia can protect its children and provide them with a safe, healthy and happy start in life (Council of Australian Governments, 2009; ARACY, 2008; NSW Government, 2008). These reports have endorsed a public health framework with cross-sector collaboration. This approach highlights the importance of robust primary and universal services available to all families supported by the provision of prevention and early intervention opportunities and access to more specialised services and supports as required. As we go forward to work on the implementation of the far-reaching recommendations of these reports, I urge you all to be mindful of the special environment your communication is weaving for each child you are serving.
Jennifer Evans
Chief Executive Officer
The Infants' Home Child and Family Services
Churchill Fellow 2008
References
Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth (ARACY). (2008). Inverting the pyramid: Enhancing systems for protecting children. Australia: The Allen Consulting Group.
Council of Australian Governments. (2009). Protecting children is everyone's business: National framework for protecting Australia's children 2009–2020. Canberra, ACT: Australia: Commonwealth of Australia.
Wood, J. (2008). Report of the special commission of inquiry into child protection services in NSW: Volumes 1-3. Sydney: State of NSW through the Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW.
Every Child magazine – vol. 15 no. 3, 2009, p. 3
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