Abstract
The current focus on ranking the academic performance of 4-year-olds in England (Bradbury & Roberts-Holmes, 2017) threatens to erase the value of relational pedagogy. The methods that measure progression according to set criteria discourage the idea of developing loving bonds with children (Noddings, 2005 and Cameron & Moss, 2007). I use the word cariño in a pedagogical context in England to emphasise the importance of the loving bond EYP (Early Years practitioners) develop whilst making sense of children’s behaviours during assessment. To understand how cariño fits within assessment processes, I explore the impact of current policy and practice. I also examine to what extent Saarni’s eight skills of emotional competence are being assessed whilst EYPs try to make sense of children’s behaviours. I take an interpretivist stance which influences the construction of a definition of a pedagogy which focuses on the spontaneous loving relationships between EYPs and children (Ortiz-Ocaña, 2013). I employ qualitative methods (focus groups, interviews and video-diaries) to explore how some EYPs identify and support the skills of emotional competence as building blocks for the development of other skills. I propose the CASEC model of assessment (Cycle of assessment for socio-emotional development based on cariño) after reviewing some of the recent literature related to the social-emotional impact of current assessment practices. This model is shaped following the explanatory cross case study analysis and the presentation of the findings as storyboard which illustrate that cariño can be naturally embraced whilst EYPs build affectionate relationships during observational assessment.
Presenters
Alicia Blanco BayoProgramme Leader/Early Years Lecturer, Early Years Education, Edge Hill University, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Love, Bonds, Relational, Pedagogy, Assessment
