The Importance Of Sense Of Community In Early Childhood Services

What is community involvement in early childhood years service?

Discuss about the Sense of Community in Early Childhood Services.

“It takes a village to raise a child”, is an Igbo and Yoruba proverb that is known and is accepted by many. This phrase cites the collective responsibilities of the entire community in supporting the development and growth of a child into an active citizen. This paper is going to elaborate on a critical reflection of the importance of sense of community in the early childhood services. It will shed light on the benefits of community involvement for the young children in their early years and will also address some practical approaches that one can implement within his service.

Before starting with the importance of the development sense of community within a child, I would like to give a brief insight on what is community involvement and why it is so important for an overall development of a child. As suggested by Brillante and  Mankiw (2015), community involvement in early childhood years service could take various forms, right from proactively pursuing the amenities, opportunities and resources that are available in a community like sports clubs, local parks, library, shops etc to initiating and developing networks and a working relation with other organizations such as of health services. Also according to the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education, a quality or standardized approach to a community involvement factors in all of the above. I think a community is always more than just a collection of people or just a mere location where a group of people live together and work together. When we talk in context of ‘sense of community’, we generally mean a connection and quality relationships that binds us together. We all are well aware of this  fact that the learning and development of achild takes place in social context and therefore, the ever evolving learning of the children occurs not only in their respective families but also in their society and community. The statements of Urie Bronfenbrenner (1989) in his book Ecological Systems Theory, reminds us that children never exists alone. In fact, there are a huge number of interdependent networks and relationships, which supports their growing and developing. Each of the contacts that a child has influences on his view of the world. If such interactions are taken into consideration and the children feel supported, they automatically achieve an understanding on how the world operates.

Why is developing a sense of community important for a child?

Along with this, Malone et al. (2016) have argued that having a close relation with their communities also plays a very important part in developing children’s identity and belonging by enabling them to feel as a part of the society and to ultimately become an active citizen within their community. Just like for us, the sense of belonging makes us feel valued and complete, a child too feels valued and it enhances his sense of who he actually is, if he knows well where he belongs to. It gives children the confidence in forming relationships and in trying out new things. It will also have a long term impact on the emotional and social well-being of the child (Touhill, 2012). The earlier the importance of community in the life of a young child is recognized by his parents, the better the possibilities that the children shall have of successfully achieving at their schools and in their lives.

We live in diverse and multicultural communities in today’s era and so does our children. Therefore, for them to appreciate this diversity, it is very important to develop a sense of identity within them. This sense of identity of theirs can be supported and enhances by the community of a child being represented within the early years of service. Hence, creating or developing a ‘sense of community’ is a very crucial part of what we must do. Creating a sense of community among the young children in their early years is fundamental to the core themes of identity and belonging, which runs through the EYLF (Early Years Learning Framework), which states that- “Children learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the context of their families and communities” (Guo, Kuramochi & Huang, 2017). While the above mentioned Igbo and Yoruba proverb may have become a platitude or truism, the idea behind it, which is that the children grow as a part of their communities, has always remain a principal one.

For the children, sense of community really plays a very crucial role in the growth of their feelings of security and belonging (Kids Matter, 2014). I think children prosper and flourish in an environment of caring and supportive relationships. Hence, because of this reason the development of a sense of community within the young children is very important. Along with this, what I feel is that it is also very important for the children to feel as a part of wider and broader community, which extends beyond the learning environment. Along with the growth and  development of children, their connections with the outside world helps them in developing an understanding of how the society works, in finding their own place in the world and in recognizing the shared values which brace our society. According to Rogoff (2012), the early childhood settings ordinarily supply their first contact with a broader community afar the home for most of the families. Due to this, the early childhood services could act as a crucial connection points for the families. The early childhood services could promote supportive relationships in between the families and could connect the families with other services and organizations in the local community.

How does community involvement help in developing a sense of identity?

With the same, we also need to note that an effective community engagement is dependent on nature of community with which we work. The thing that actually matters the most is that we have a genuine approach. Community engagement needs to develop from and must respond to every context. For example, there are many services that participate in local events and festivals as a means of community engagement. However, this is not the only way to do so.  The smaller connections are also equally important. For example, a child who knows the postman by name and run to the fence very day in order to collect the letter too is participating in local community. Some other examples of everyday engagement with the local communities include that of going to a local shop, going to post offices or engaging with any delivery man. From the point of view of a child, such an everyday connections is more important that the once a year participation in the local pageant. As stated by Ben-Arieh (2013), the sense of community is important for a child because of its affect on the well-being and learning of the children. If we want the children to learn the value of connections with others and that of the communities, we need take into consideration the examples that we set as well as the opportunities that we provide them for such learning to take place. Furthermore, Malone (2013) has also demonstrated his view in regards to this subject by stating that participating in community events, going for local excursions, inviting the members of the community into our services or houses will all help the children to get connected with their community. However, we also need to monitor that whether or not such connections are ongoing and are taking place on a regular basis or not. This is because community involvement will be beneficial for a child only if it becomes a part of their everyday experiences (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). We also need to look after that the daily connections with the local communities are visible to the children. If we seek for the children to enhance or to build their connections with their communities, the services need to take into consideration the examples they are setting as well as the opportunities that they are providing for such learning to happen. Involving the child wherever there is any chance of such connections to take place, makes the experience relevant in the eye of the child and is  much more beneficial than the once a year participation in any local functions.

Hence, to sum up, I can say that a positive sense of community within the early childhood services fosters the well being of a child. It exists only if everyone respects and acknowledges diversity and promotes wellbeing and mental health. It exists when everyone has a sense of belonging within the setting and hence, feel valued for who they are. During early childhood days, children learn skills and experience relationships which support their mental condition or mental health for the rest of their lives. Children usually learn in the context of their relationships with the others. When they experience caring, warm, secure, responsive and supporting relationships, it builds a confidence level within them along with the sense of identity and faith in the world. Establishing of the connections and networks could take times but the long lasting benefits and advantages for the early years services are huge. Hence, I think in collaboration with the community and families, early childhood services are one among many best places in order to support the children through this crucial growth and developmental period of theirs.

References:

Ben-Arieh, A. (2013). Measuring and monitoring children’s well-being (Vol. 7). Springer Science & Business Media.

Brillante. P., Mankiw. P. (2015). A sense of Place: Human Geography in the Early Childhood Classroom. Young Children. 70(3), 16-23.

Guo, K., Kuramochi, K., & Huang, W. (2017). Learning and learners in early childhood curricula: Australia, Japan and China. Curriculum Perspectives, 37(1), 39-49.

Kids Matter: Australian early childhood mental health initiative. (2014). Connections with the National Quality Framework: Creating a sense of community.

Malone, K. (2013). “The future lies in our hands”: children as researchers and environmental change agents in designing a child-friendly neighbourhood. Local Environment, 18(3), 372-395.

Malone. K., Hill. A., Dyment. J., & Cutter-Mackenzie. A. (2016). Reconsidering Children’s Encounters With Nature and Place Using Posthumanism. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 32(1), 42-56.

Rogoff, B. (2012). Fostering a New Approach to Understanding: Learning Through Intent Community Participation. Learning Landscapes, 5(1), 45-53.

Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Positive psychology: An introduction. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 279-298). Springer Netherlands.

Touhill, L. (2012). Community Engagement. NQS PLP e-Newsletter No.47.