Understanding and achieving quality in Sure Start Children's Centres: practitioners' perspectives

TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding and achieving quality in Sure Start Children's Centres:

T2 - practitioners' perspectives

AU - Cottle, Michelle

N1 - Author note: the attached document (embargoed until 5/08/2013) is an author produced version of an article published in the International Journal of Early Years Education,Volume 19, 2011. The final published version (version of record) is available at the publisher's website. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. I suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

PY - 2011/12/5

Y1 - 2011/12/5

N2 - This article focuses on some of the issues that shape understandings of professional practice in the rapidly expanding children’s centre context in England. Drawing on data from an ESRC-funded project exploring practitioners’ understandings of quality and success, the perspectives of 115 practitioners working in eleven Sure Start Children’s Centres are presented. The findings indicate that the practitioners’ definitions of quality and success are influenced by contextual elements, such as the organisational climate in which they work, as well as the wider political agenda and their individual histories. Putting practitioners’ understandings of quality into practice presents challenges on various levels as they search for new ways of working in order to provide ‘joined up’ provision that will work for children and their families as required by current policy.

AB - This article focuses on some of the issues that shape understandings of professional practice in the rapidly expanding children’s centre context in England. Drawing on data from an ESRC-funded project exploring practitioners’ understandings of quality and success, the perspectives of 115 practitioners working in eleven Sure Start Children’s Centres are presented. The findings indicate that the practitioners’ definitions of quality and success are influenced by contextual elements, such as the organisational climate in which they work, as well as the wider political agenda and their individual histories. Putting practitioners’ understandings of quality into practice presents challenges on various levels as they search for new ways of working in order to provide ‘joined up’ provision that will work for children and their families as required by current policy.

U2 - 10.1080/09669760.2011.638859

DO - 10.1080/09669760.2011.638859

M3 - Article

SN - 0966-9760

SP - 249

EP - 265

JO - International Journal of Early Years Education

JF - International Journal of Early Years Education

ER -