'Working together to develop the 3Rs' - an exploration of roles, responsibilities and relationships between ECCE students and teachers in Irish primary school infant classrooms

Abstract

In recent years, several key policy documents have advocated the need for further collaborative working among professionals in the area of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) to provide more cohesive and coordinated provision in this sector. A more streamlined approach to ECCE in Ireland has been recommended by policy statements and reports such as the National Forum on Early Childhood Education (Coolahan, 1998), Ready to Learn - White Paper on Early Childhood Education (Department of Education and Science [DES], 1999b), Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Ireland (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2004) and the National Economic and Social Forum [NESF] Report, Early Childhood Education and Care (NESF, 2005). Ready to Learn, White Paper on Early Childhood Education acknowledged that "other teaching professionals will also have developed skills which may be particularly suited to the needs of infants in primary school." (DES, 1999b: 76). More recently, Towards a Framework for Early Learning (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment [NCCA], 2004), has clearly documented the continuum of education from birth to six years of age. The literature also supports the importance of multiprofessional teamworking to comprehensively support and facilitate the education and care of young children from a holistic perspective (Powell, 2005). The NESF advocate a role for ECCE personnel with degree level education within the formal education system (NESF, 2005).