Play Strategy For Scotland: Learning About Play - Investigating Play Through Relevant Qualifications In Scotland

Section C: Summary Of Interviews

1. SUMMARY OF INTERVIEWS

Themes from Interviews:

Individual interviews were conducted with a number of key individuals representing Caledonia University, General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS), Glasgow Clyde College, Play Scotland, Scottish Child Minding Association (SCMA), SkillsActive, Scottish Pre-school Play Association (SPPA), Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) (2 interviews), the Universities of Dundee and West of Scotland. Both researchers conducted those interviews, which were informal and contained wide ranging discussions about play, education, regulation and roles. Further email correspondence and interviews were conducted with additional representatives from Creative Star Learning, SkillsActive, the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Leeds Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam.

The people interviewed provided valuable insights and views, as well as useful pointers to more in depth information, we are both grateful for their time, and follow up information received.

No individual's views are specifically attributed here, and they are not necessarily the views of the researchers, but the following themes cover most of the issues discussed. It should be clear that there is a wide range of opinions, as well as factual information in this section.

Is play covered in qualifications or not?

On the fundamental question of whether the main qualifications available to the workforce contain enough about play there were contrasting views; ranging from play underpins every relevant qualification or NOS, to the view that play is only in qualifications (other than playwork or specialist play modules) in terms of play as instrumental to learning.

There was also a view that the focus on outcomes, often tied to funding, puts pressure on play providers to try to measure and demonstrate results, yet this is contrary to the whole ethos of playwork.

Playwork qualifications

There was agreement, across different organisations, that playwork qualifications are perceived not to be promoted and supported enough in Scotland and the responsibility for that remains with the relevant Sector Skills Council (SkillsActive).

In one view, missing from playwork NOS are elements about protecting vulnerable individuals, observing, assessing, recording and reporting, and there should be more awareness of child development in playwork, and to have differentiated play (appropriate to age and ability) - it always needs to be about the individual.

In another view, child development is in playwork, however, it is to be remembered VQs are training, not learning qualifications, so that would then depend on the knowledge points from the NOS and how this is supported, delivered and assessed by the college or assessor. In discussion with SkillsActive it was learned that the Playwork NOS will be reviewed in 2015.

Units in VQs, given the workplace role, also have to fit within that, it not a matter of picking and choosing units, as the selection must relate to job function.

The playwork, or play, content of higher level qualifications are often delivered by course providers with a background in education, rather than playwork, therefore a gap is identified at the highest levels in terms of the question of who trains the degree course providers in playwork at this level?

Some views expressed said that, at the moment, Universities in Scotland might not have competency to deliver degree-level play qualifications in play in Scotland.

Recommendations to solve this issue could be:

• Funded play Doctorates (Professional doctorates)
• Academic play research network
• Professional Doctorates and Part-Time PhDs

Most Scottish universities will offer these advanced level degree options. Both of these particular qualifications are research-based and lead to the conferring of the title 'Dr' on graduation. Fees for a sample university for 2014/15 are:

M.Phil. part-time - £2050 per year

Ph.D., part-time - £2050 per year

Professional Doctorate - £3160 per year

Quality - SVQs route

SVQs require quality control and for there to be enough properly trained internal and external verifiers. There have been some changes to improve this process, and all must meet SQA QA standards. External verification of centres is now more robust. In the past if there was a problem you could only put a hold on the entire centre, so it had to stop operating, even if the quality issue was only about one unit. Now delivery of specific units, or specific qualifications etc., can be put on hold, so sanctions are now in place.

Differences in delivery routes can also be an issue. Some people will gain SVQs through a college or other provider and some people will gain SVQs through their own workplace (i.e. workplace is also the provider of qualifications). Those gaining qualifications through their workplace will have little external input- arguably this could be positive or negative, it depends on the quality of provision; this is highly dependent on the quality and knowledge of the deliverer.

Childhood Practice level 9 & above qualifications

Training into practice- this is often dependent on the attitude of the managers- the manager might not allow change although the practitioners and support workers are up for change. This is why below, the skills of critical reflection and change management are in the Standard for Childhood Practice, and qualifications based on this are primarily about leadership and management skills. The Standard for Childhood Practice (QAA, 2007) is also currently being reviewed and it might be expected that recent or new legislation and guidance such as the National Play Strategy and Action Plan (Scottish Government, 2013a) GIRFEC (Scottish Government, 2008a) and the Children and Young People Act 2014 will be covered.

SSSC National Occupation Standards (NOS)

It is important to note that all future qualifications, e.g. when playwork NOS/ Qualifications are renewed in 2015, should meet the NOS standards set out by the SSSC to ensure that the qualifications can be used for social care workforce registration purposes with the SSSC.

In some opinions, there should be a common core of qualifications covering the CYP social care workforce, and then specialist units. There are also opportunities to use the NOS as a foundation for the development of training - linking to them helps achieve consistency and credibility. (See more information in the contextual background section).

As a Sector Skills Council, it is the SSSC's role to promote their qualifications and to gather statistical information on them.

NOS, lifelong learning and responsibility for individual learning

As mentioned above, NOS can be used to map gaps in individuals' knowledge and learning either by developing training relating to the NOS, or by undertaking additional units after individuals have become qualified. It was further stated that qualifications should be seen to be not the end but the start of an individual's professional learning journey, which should embrace lifelong learning and Continued Professional Development (CPD).

The individual professional should take responsibility for their learning to ensure that their skills and knowledge fit with their role and setting- if it becomes apparent that there are gaps in knowledge and skills due to a shift in setting or role then the individual should take responsibility to ensure that this is addressed.

However, the employer must also take responsibility and ensure that employees are provided with the resources and opportunities to allow their employee to meet the gap in their skills or knowledge. Both the roles and responsibilities of the individual and employer are covered by the SSSC Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers and Social Service Employers.

Of course, whilst legislation and registration requires this it was also argued that resources (financial and other) must be provided locally and nationally to allow this to happen in practice. It was suggested that without the additional resources to employers, and subsequently individuals, it would be very difficult for this to be implemented; alternatively, childcare providers would have to raise the cost of services, which are already perceived to be high, in order for this to happen.

Whilst the increased professional development and knowledge of the sector was recognised to be a good thing, it was felt that national policy and legislation in terms of qualifications and continued professional development needs to be backed up by appropriate resources.

Teaching / Early Learning and Childcare

The strong view from education background interviews that early learning and childcare settings should still have teachers involved, and one felt there was unwarranted tension between having two different regulatory bodies for managers. It was also noted that qualified teachers are increasingly being moved away from working in early learning and childcare settings, although there will be more Level 9 Childhood Practice qualified managers in place.

Local authorities can also set their own criteria for early learning and childcare staff, some for example, will not accept SVQs but require HNC/D qualifications, although the SSSC point out that now the VQ/ HNC/D units have a common core, thus local authority criteria may have an effect on what qualifications people choose to do, depending on their career progression plans.

It is important to note that teacher education is not supposed to be static, but ongoing. There are moves, since the Donaldson report, (Teaching Scotland's Future, Scottish Government, 2011) for more teachers to be MA qualified, and there are now wider teacher training courses which provide an academic route to MA specialisms (and provide academic communities of practice for teachers). Indeed, it was announced at the end of February 2015 by the Scottish Government that a master's qualification for head teachers will be introduced later in 2015 and will be become a mandatory requirement for all new head teachers from 2018/2019.

One reason why it was difficult to get detailed information on courses is that a lot of them are new and at higher academic levels than previously available.

GIRFEC and the UNCRC are also in the standards teachers must meet and their role is wider than delivering learning opportunities, they have to consider the child holistically, and meet their wellbeing and development needs overall. This is a fundamental aspect of a teacher's role and should be reflected in their training.

There was a view that there is not enough about play in teacher education but that there are many ways to address this; however, this raised the question whether teachers would want to have more knowledge about play? If we consider CfE, it does include play throughout the primary school years, especially in First stages, so it can be argued teachers should learn about play. This however could be done in a variety of ways: for example, it is possible to create (like the outdoor learning awards, see GTS section) professional update resources for teachers which could include a play based award for accreditation.

It was also suggested there are units from a variety of qualifications, teachers (as well as PSAs) could take to improve their knowledge of play e.g. NPA - National Progression Award (Playwork and Childcare) SCQF Level 5- A teacher, wrap around care worker, crèche workers, students working in holiday schemes... could do units from NPA; HNC (L7) - Facilitating Play Unit; PDA Childhood Practice (L8) - Leading & Managing a Playwork Service; PDA Childhood Practice (L9) - Childhood Practice Playwork (Teacher... playwork focus). However it was also highlighted that with the focus for teachers on master-level qualifications, it was doubtful that they would take a lower-level qualification unit.

Classroom Assistants/ Out of School Care/ Early Learning and Childcare

In general, PSAs are not required to register with any regulatory body; however, some local authorities request that PSAs register with the SSSC, if they also work in daycare of children setting. For example, Fife local authority requires PSAs to register with the SSSC as they are also employed to work in local authority-run out of school care services and nurseries; in this way, PSAs are meeting recognised standards and qualifications and can be deployed across settings as needed.

Fife is the 3^rd largest local authority in Scotland in terms of population. Although there is no requirement for PSAs to register with any regulatory body, in Fife Council all PSAs are required to register with the SSSC; the reason behind this is that many PSAs are also employed within early year's establishments and out of school care services. Fife Council is unusual in that it is the largest sector providing out of school care within the local authority; indeed there are few local authorities which are direct providers of out of school care. From an employability point of view, this provides PSAs with job flexibility and also meets the registration requirements with the SSSC. In terms of the PSAs in Fife, they are potentially play-trained and qualified workers who are able to work in early learning and childcare services as well as out of school care and can also bring these skills and knowledge into the school setting, particularly in terms of children's play times and the use of the playground from a play perspective. Play trained PSAs could also help bring this philosophy into the classroom.

Across Scotland it is not uncommon for out of school care staff to also work as PSAs or in other childcare roles since out of school care offers part-time hours, staff members work in other capacities at other times: there is a real potential/need to apply skills and knowledge learned in one setting to another.

Outdoor Learning/ Risky Play

Every school, indeed every head teacher and teacher involved in outdoor learning, through play and nature-based activities, brings a different perspective and experience: some may be risk-averse and others may be fairly relaxed about children being involved in riskier pursuits, therefore, it is not possible to generalise here.

This an area where, if there is a whole school approach to outdoor learning, it is easier for training to have a wider affect, rather than just inspiring the individually motivated As noted in the Play in Education section, GTS accredits Professional Awards in outdoor learning, while Education Scotland's website contains a large number of examples, including strong promotion of the work of Grounds for Learning (see training section).

teachers.

In terms of risky and challenging play within schools, it was stated that head teachers have a key role here: as the person with ultimate responsibility for Health and Safety within the school and therefore accountability for any incidents or accidents, they need to have the confidence to deliver risky play. Accountability can understandably make some head teachers wary of providing riskier activities and therefore are risk-averse. However, although the head teacher has ultimate responsibility he/she needs also to be supported by their senior management team and fundamentally there needs to be a whole school approach to supporting risky or more challenging play opportunities.

It was suggested there needs to be greater sharing of good practice between schools: those that are already successfully providing risky play should be enabled to host visits, and provide guidance and advice to those wanting to deliver more challenging play opportunities: risky play is something which people need to see happening in practice and not solely learn about theoretically.

In terms of CPD training courses which cover challenging/risky play it was suggested that a multi-perspective approach should be taken, so not solely a playwork, or a health and safety or an educators' perspective but a mixture of these (and possibly others). It was recognised that each of these perspectives has validity so therefore a more multi-approach model to training would allow a forum where issues and concerns can be more fully discussed and addressed. It was suggested that delivering risky/challenging play training requires a sensitive and joined-up approach which takes accounts of all the real concerns.

Challenging/risky play and Insurance Companies

Although not specifically related to the research questions, further to the discussion on Health and Safety, several interviewees pointed out that it was not purely an issue of health and safety but one of insurance. It was highlighted that the Health and Safety Executive released a statement in 2012 which promotes the benefit of play and risk: "When planning and providing play opportunities, the goal is not to eliminate risk, but to weigh up the risks and benefits. No child will learn about risk if they are wrapped in cotton wool' (Health and Safety Executive, 2012); this statement also encourages professionals to undertake not just risk assessments but risk benefit assessments in terms of play provision.

In terms of insurance policies it was reported that they might not cover activities perceived to be "higher risk" such as sledging or even riding bicycles and scooters. There was a concern that insurance companies were severely curtailing activity by limiting what would be covered in terms of liability.

In order to provide children with more challenging play opportunities it was also reported that services might ask parents to sign disclaimers acknowledging that children undertaking activities that they are not insured for; this in turn raised concerns about the actual liability of the service should anything happen to children whilst they were participating in risky/ challenging play opportunities. There should be further discussion as to how insurance companies incorporate challenging play opportunities into their insurance policies without high additional financial charges.

Play in Schools at break time

Improved plays during break times was highlighted as being the most realistic time for free play and risky play opportunities within schools. It was suggested that those schools which have focused on play during playtime and in the playgrounds, and where there is a whole school approach in place tend to find greater success- playground supervising staff have a clear idea of what they are to do as this will have been clearly discussed and approaches agreed since it will be embedded as part of the play ethos of the school; this then also allows children and parents to understand what to expect.

Childminders

Although childminders have to register with the Care inspectorate, with the majority scoring grades 4 or higher they do not need to obtain qualifications or register with the SSSC, however they must follow the SSSC code of practice as members of the social care workforce in Scotland. Ahead of other services regulated by the Care Inspectorate, childminders are already inspected using GIRFEC and SHANARRI wellbeing indicators.

It was identified that since childminders are not required to undertake qualifications (although some do, including the Childhood practice Award) there is a need for play training. Currently childminders are signposted by SCMA to relevant CPD courses such as, Starcatchers' early year's creative skills training. Furthermore, community childminders do receive specialist training:

• It was reported that Aberdeen City is currently providing £40k of funding for 10 community childminders to undertake SVQ 3 in Social Services (Children and Young People).
• SCMA community childminders need to do 15 hours CPD induction into community childminding; the training includes nurture, attachment, child development and a small bit about play. Must also be at least a grade 4 and they must also attend 2 annual network events.

In terms of CPD training, it was stated that this comes down to the individual but

Care Inspectorate inspectors should check on the CPD of childminders and the inspectors could also suggest training childminders could undertake to improve skills and knowledge.

In terms of the play that can be offered by childminders it was highlighted that childminders, unlike other care services can send children outside (garden) for unsupervised free play, so there is real potential for good quality play opportunities.

Childminder training and qualifications- what is there and is there a gap?

It was stated that there was definitely a gap in terms of training and qualifications: there is no specific childminding qualification in Scotland, although in England and Wales childminders might do a foundation level qualification for childcare.

In the past workforce development funding included childminders, which was used for a mixture of qualifications and CPD training; it was suggested that possibly childminders were better qualified in the past when this funding was available to them.

It was highlighted that there is both a need and demand for specific play training for childminders which focuses on activities and opportunities that can be delivered in the home and garden.

In terms of what is currently available, all SCMA CDOs (Childminding Development Officers) are trained in Bookbug/Play Talk Read and Play @ Home and active children sessions. Also, SCMA is now a branded learning centre and childminders can use ILA accounts to pay for training and they deliver a variety of e-learning courses, although probably only 25% of childminders engage in SCMA training.

2. Summary Results - Interview themes

• Conflicting views about the actual play content of qualifications
• Agreement on low profile of Playwork in Scotland
• Need identified for highest level post graduate training, e.g. doctoral opportunities in playwork/ play theories
• Need for future alignment with early years NOS - SSSC - might lead to changes being required in playwork
• Role of teachers wider than teaching and with CfE, GIRFEC and UNCRC - need for more play based training identified, either in initial training or in ongoing professional updates
• Different views about role or need for teachers in early learning and childcare, however, LAs make their own decisions about this and what qualifications are accepted at all levels.

Potential areas of development include:

• Doctoral level study in playwork related topics
• play trained classroom assistants working across sectors
• further developments of outdoor learning including risky play
• potential to create accredited professional update training
• Some play units in qualifications suitable for teachers
• potential to use early years NOS as foundation for development of training.
• Need to develop multi-theory/perspective approach to delivering risky/challenging play training
• Sharing and support opportunities between schools already providing good play opportunities with schools wanting to develop them
• Recognition there needs to be a whole-school approach to implementing change in terms of play- everyone needs to understand, agree and be comfortable with the play approaches.

Identified needs/ opinions that more play education and training should be developed for:

• Teachers
• Childminders
• University staff delivering degree level courses with play content