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Babyroom Workers: Care in Practice

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Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice

Abstract

What are we are asking of the young women employed in baby rooms in daycare settings? Globally, baby room workers find themselves in the unenviable position of having limited training, low status, poor pay and conditions but extraordinarily high levels of responsibility for babies for most of their waking (and sleeping) lives during the working week. Through a series of six research and development projects carried out between 2009 and 2015 in early years setting for under-3 year olds in England, evidence has emerged that baby room employees are concerned to increase and develop their knowledge but remain predominantly driven by the fulfilment of functional tasks. Using an interpretive, exploratory approach within a critical feminist paradigm, the projects identified the problematic expectations faced by people employed to ‘care’ for babies and young children within a policy context that devalues that care and accords baby room workers very little status in society. The chapter argues that the ‘value’ applied to babies and young children (and consequently to those who care for them) is currently not very high and the increased urgency to ‘professionalise’ childcare might be leading to an international side-stepping of the apparently contentious issues of affect, intimacy and nurturance, leading to uncertainty about the very nature of care for babies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The 6 projects were variously funded by: Esmée Fairbairn Foundation; Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex Local Authorities; The Froebel Trust; and The Ragdoll Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Children, Families and Communities, Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

    Kathy Goouch & Sacha Powell

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  1. Kathy Goouch
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  2. Sacha Powell
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Correspondence to Kathy Goouch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, Tauranga, New Zealand

    E. Jayne White

  2. Institute for Early Childhood Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Carmen Dalli

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Goouch, K., Powell, S. (2017). Babyroom Workers: Care in Practice. In: White, E.J., Dalli, C. (eds) Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice. Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three Year Olds: Cross-disciplinary Insights and Innovations. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2275-3_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2275-3_10

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2275-3

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