Knowledge and Understanding for Childcare Awards

Well, I am back, so the first article could not have been too bad!

This month’s article is titled, Knowledge and understanding for childcare awardswhat candidates could and should know who are undertaking NVQ Awards against the new standards.

The revised NVQ standards have brought much more clarity in enabling everyone to understand them; which is a great outcome for all.  The revised standards have been written in plain English which stops much of the ambiguity that used to exist.  The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the awarding bodies are to be congratulated on this achievement.

However, what the new standards have is a broader and deeper knowledge and understanding requirement for candidates to achieve.  This can only be to the good for the main aim is to ensure that childcare workers know and understand what they are doing and why, and can prove their competence across performance and scope; which is the interpretation of their knowledge and understanding.  If they know and understand then they will perform better.

The knowledge that childcare workers now need has been spread across a range of topics which include the following:

  • Values that we work to in social care and especially with children and young people – the principles of good practice
  • Communication, equalities, rights and choices and positive reinforcement of life skills
  • Theories and practice of care and child care work
  • Human growth, development and behaviour
  • Legislation, policy and procedure
  • Child protection and providing a safe and nurturing environment

This list is not exhaustive and I have tried to give a flavour of the new requirements.

However, what this does mean is that training providers and organisations now need to provide knowledge development that supports practice in greater depth and breadth than we have before.

Organisations could look at their induction programmes and begin to introduce workers who are new to this field of work with enhanced programmes of learning and development and could develop some self-study materials that would enable new workers to explore the knowledge that they will be expected to have to undertake their roles.  These could be extended further for staff that may have been in post longer for them to continue to develop their current knowledge.

A training intervention will only have value if it enhances – and if necessary changes – the practice of those who attend it.

Learning should be made interesting and, for me, fun.  If you have enjoyed undertaking any learning then it will be remembered.  If you have not enjoyed it, it will not.

Learning is energy of life.  If I cannot learn one new thing a day, then it is my loss, as there is always at least one thing to be learnt.

The importance of learning was first put forward by a Chinese philosopher, Confucius (551 – 479 BC). He believed that everyone should benefit from learning.

  • “Without learning, the wise become foolish; by learning, the foolish become wise.”
  • “Learn as if you could never have enough of learning, as if you might miss something.”

Hope you all learn one thing out of this article.

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