Interchange 69
Pre-School Educational Provision in Rural Areas
Andrew Copus1, Scott
Petrie1, Janet Shucksmith2,
Mark Shucksmith3, Margaret Still2
and Joyce Watt2
This document is also available in pdf format
(184k)
Why Interchange?
Research cannot make the decisions for policy makers and others concerned with
improving the quality of education in our schools and colleges. Nor can it by
itself bring about change. However, it can create a better basis for decisions,
by providing information and explanation about educational practice and by clarifying
and challenging ideas and assumptions.
It is important that every opportunity should be taken to communicate research
findings, both inside and outside the Scottish Executive Education Department
(SEED). Moreover, if research is to have the greatest possible impact on policy
and practice, the findings need to be presented in an accessible, interesting
and attractive form to policy makers, teachers, lecturers, parents and employers.
Interchange aims to further improve the Education Department Research
Unit's dissemination of the findings of research funded by SEED. We hope you
will find that Interchange is long enough to give the flavour of the
complexities, subtleties and limitations of a research study but concise enough
to give a good feeling for the findings and in some cases to encourage you to
obtain the full report.
The views expressed in this Interchange are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Executive or any other organisation(s)
by whom the author(s) is/are employed.
Introduction
This study arose from the Scottish Executive's pledge to achieve universal
provision of pre-school education for 3 and 4 year olds, whose parents want
it, by 2002. Funding for this is given to local authorities, who are expected,
at their discretion but with strong encouragement from Government, to work in
partnership with voluntary and private sectors. The University of Aberdeen,
with the Scottish Agricultural College, was commissioned by the Scottish Executive
Education Department to establish the particular factors in rural areas involved
in delivering this commitment. The fieldwork was conducted between October 1998
and June 1999. Since then the numbers of 3 and 4 year olds attending grant-funded
pre-school education have risen significantly -even in remote rural areas.
Aim of the Study
The aim of the study was to establish the particular factors in rural areas
in delivering the Scottish Executive pledge of universal provision of pre-school
education for 3 and 4 year olds.
Objectives of the Study
Specific objectives were to:
- produce a simple definition of rural Scotland and create an appropriate
typology of rural areas which would facilitate the selection of areas for
case study
- identify and map the existing distribution of pre-school educational provision
and
- establish the spatial distribution of pre-school children in Scotland
- model existing catchment areas
- establish the determinants of current 'travel to nursery' pattern
- estimate the size and distribution of demand for pre-school provision for
4-year-olds and 3-year-olds in rural Scotland
- explore the preferences of parents and providers with regard to local forms
of provision
- identify patterns of inter-departmental and cross-sectional collaboration
which promote the provision and quality of pre-school education in rural areas.
Outline
Methodology
In order to assess how many authorities, parents and pre-school children were
affected by the particular circumstances of rural areas, a detailed mapping
and modelling exercise was undertaken. Using the GRO rural/urban classification,
rural areas were defined as areas outside settlements of 10,000 inhabitants
since this allowed smaller settlements which play an important role in rural
pre-school provision to be included. According to this definition, in Scotland
as a whole 29.3% of the population live in rural areas. This proportion varies
between councils from 0% in Glasgow to 100% in the island areas. More than half
Scotland's councils have at least a third of their population living in rural
areas, but relatively few live far from an urban area. This diversity of rural
Scotland is notable.
For a closer examination of this, rural Scotland was divided into three broad
types of zones: those which were adjacent to urban areas of sufficient population
to support a pre-school centre (88% of the rural population); those which were
intermediate and between 2 to 15 miles from urban areas (11% of the rural population);
and those which were remote and more than 15 miles from urban areas (1% of the
rural population). Scotland's four year-olds were distributed in proportion
to the overall population, except in the remote zone, which has only half the
expected number of pre-school children and relatively greater numbers of older
people.
Alongside this analysis of available statistics, a range of qualitative techniques
was also used to deepen understanding of these issues. Telephone interviews
were conducted with local authority officers and representatives of voluntary
and private providers throughout rural Scotland to identify the range of ways
in which pre-school education is organised and to raise issues for in-depth
study. This information was elaborated further through five detailed case studies
of areas (Aberdeenshire, Highland, Stirling, Dumfries and Galloway, and the
Western Isles), selected by means of a rural typology. This ensured that the
case study areas covered as wide a range of circumstances as possible, geographical
contexts, types of provision and parents' and providers' perspectives on pre-school
education. The fieldwork was undertaken between October 1998 and June 1999.
Main Findings
Publicly funded educational provision for pre-school children in most of rural
Scotland has always been limited, and the pattern has been different to that
in most urban areas. The reasons are not hard to find. Pre-school education
has never been a statutory service so until very recently it has flourished
mainly in traditionally Labour dominated urban areas where it has been part
of the battle against educational and economic disadvantage. That legacy is
still to some extent with us. Because of this, in most rural areas the gap has
been plugged since the 1960s by the voluntary sector, mainly the pre-school
playgroup movement. During the 1990s there was a slow but significant change,
with government funding in 1991 to six voluntary organisations to support pre-school
work in rural areas and, at the same time, a number of local authorities began
to experiment with innovative schemes aimed at taking pre-school education to
more children in rural areas. After the introduction of the Voucher Scheme in
1996, the following year the Labour Government announced its own proposals.
Unlike the voucher scheme, the new initiative guaranteed a part-time place to
every child in Scotland in his/her pre-school year, if parents wanted it, and
the Scottish Executive, in its Programme for Government, set the goal of universal
provision by 2002.
In recognition of the particular needs of rural areas the Government, in March
1998, announced its Rural Pre-school Supplementary Grant Award of £4m to 24
Scottish local authorities with substantial rural areas. This was increased
to £5.8m in February 1999 for session 1999-2000, full funding going to 12 predominantly
rural authorities with transitional funding to nine others. This grant has been
used in a variety of ways, described in the main report, to plug gaps in existing
rural provision and to fund new initiatives. Further measures have been introduced
since then, of course, but these could not be considered in the research and
are therefore not discussed in this Interchange.
Provision of Pre-School Places.
- The study identified a gap between the numbers of eligible pre-school children
and the provision of pre-school places in rural areas. This gap became systematically
greater with remoteness. In school catchments in remote zones the number of
funded pre-school places was less than 50% of the estimated number of 4-year
olds, with only 843 places for 1,757 children. The comparable figure for Scotland
as a whole, at the time of the fieldwork, was 88%.
- It was only in zones adjacent to urban areas that children had similar choices
to those who lived in urban areas as long as a journey of up to 2 miles was
considered acceptable. In remote areas there was no choice of pre-school place
especially where families were scattered in small communities across a wide
area. In such cases it was not possible for parents to access a pre-school
place in their own community and some had to travel lengthy distances in order
to access any provision.
- The more remote the area, the smaller the size of pre-school groups tended
to be and the more difficult it was to staff with qualified teachers or nursery
nurses. Resource and premises costs also increased as groups became smaller.
These factors exacerbated many of the educational, social and financial costs,
and making full-service flexible options or teacher input non-viable.
- In remote areas, personal transport was seen as essential irrespective of
the cost involved and therefore travelling distances to the nearest pre-school
place did not raise practical problems. In contrast, for families in intermediate
areas, where parents could access a shop or primary school without the use
of transport, personal transport was not considered essential. Travelling
distances to a pre-school group did raise practical problems for these families
as they had neither access to personal transport nor did they have reliable
public transport which they could use to reach the nearest pre-school group.
Moreover, some children may not have been able to attend because of clashes
of nursery times with older siblings' school times and parents' employment.
Policies and Practices of Local Authorities.
The telephone interviews with local authority officers and representatives
of voluntary and private providers revealed both a rapidly changing situation
and a huge variation in the practices of local authorities across rural Scotland.
Existing pre-school education in rural areas is the result of history, parental
preferences, perceptions of 'quality' and expediency. This richness and variety
was elaborated further through five case studies of areas, selected by means
of a rural typology. This identified five 'challenge' bands according to factors
representing likely social disadvantage and guided the choice of the case study
areas to cover as wide a range of circumstances as possible. The study found:
- There were marked differences between local authorities both in their actions
and in the principles and priorities guiding these. There were very different
views, for example, about issues such as acceptable travel distance and staffing,
and in the ways in which authorities interpreted Government guidelines. It
was unclear how far these variations were a legitimate reflection of different
local circumstances, needs and priorities.
- Overall, while direct provision by local authorities is much lower than
in urban Scotland, a few authorities had a long tradition of providing nursery
education in rural areas. In 1998 almost all authorities increased their own
provision in rural areas.
- Direct provision by local authorities in areas with small numbers of pre-school
children (fewer than 20 which is the traditional size of a nursery class)
living in scattered locations needed to be innovative because of the challenge
to be cost effective. The sorts of innovative, new arrangements put in place
included:
- opening new local authority centres to serve several communities (sometimes
from adjacent authorities) and expecting children to travel to these;
- providing peripatetic outreach for a few sessions;
- offering equivalent whole-day provision for children who had to travel
long distances, with flexible use of staffing for lunch time cover ;
- developing multi-function centres for all under-5s with flexible hours
and provision, addressing a wide range of needs alongside education for
4-year-olds;
- funding minibuses or taxis, with children escorted by parents or others;
- sharing premises between local authority and voluntary groups at different
times.
Another less satisfactory solution was simply to cater for pre-school children
within the local composite primary class. The principal issues raised relate
to the size of group, transport and travel for such young children, and diversity
and flexibility in staffing.
Discussion
These findings raise issues of social inclusion, of choice, and of quality
and flexibility.
Social Inclusion
- Pre-school education is a powerful weapon in the fight against social exclusion,
but higher per capita costs in rural areas, as well as the availability and
cost of transport are major problems.
- In addition, working parents in rural areas face considerable difficulty
in accessing their full entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds while also continuing
their own engagement in the labour market (a central pillar of welfare reform).
It is ironic that attempts to improve inclusion amongst pre-schoolers may
often inadvertently exclude their parents from full participation. In some
areas this problem was being tackled with the provision of pre-school facilities
embedded in wrap-around care arrangements and such coordinated, cross-cutting
approaches are essential to 'joined-up' strategies for social inclusion.
- There is a strong argument for local authorities with large rural areas
to continue to receive additional financial support from central government.
Within local authorities, consideration needs to be given to the allocation
of resources to the most vulnerable.
Choice and Parental Involvement
- Another central finding is that planning for pre-school education must consult
and allow for parental preference and choice if it is to be effective.
- Such involvement and choice is prized highly by parents, and again this
may be more difficult to achieve in rural areas - choice and flexibility require
resources, not just of money but of imagination and commitment to take parents'
wishes seriously.
- Choice for some in areas of low population can diminish that for others,
as is already well-known in areas where Gaelic is widely spoken. For example,
the introduction of more centralised pre-school facilities with care arrangements,
crucial to some parents, may diminish choice if the local village playgroup
is forced to close as a result.
Issues of Quality
- There was little agreement among parents and providers on the concept of
quality in rural areas. Local authority providers and primary schools emphasised
the benefits of qualified teachers and nursery nurses. Some parents saw the
involvement of teachers as a benchmark of quality, fearing that rural children
might be allocated a 'second-class' service, bereft of teachers, because of
the need to cut costs. Other parents, though, valued the commitment and enthusiasm
of volunteers above teaching qualifications. They saw the direct benefits
of parent engagement in terms of rural capacity-building, in reducing isolation
and maintaining community cohesion. Defining quality is, by its nature, a
political process, and this reinforces the need to consult those for whom
the provision is intended.
- There is an interdependence of quality for children, families and communities
(especially where alternatives are limited) which requires the continuing
re-negotiation of needs, definitions of quality, and of appropriate provision.
Parents, providers and local authorities face major decisions not only over
employment or non-employment of teachers, but also relating to finding, training
and retraining staff at all levels, and forms and locations of provision.
- Low population numbers and fragile rural economies produce fluctuating situations
from year to year. For this reason local authorities have little option but
to keep the situation under review, while at the same time ensuring continuity
as far as possible.
- One of the markers of quality for parents in many rural areas was the coherence
and continuity of the educational experience for their children. It was highly
important to them that the provision of pre-school places of appropriate quality
is achieved in a way which allows children to experience the pre-school to
primary school transition without major shunts of peer group and location.
Provider-led or consumer-led?
The immediate drive to meet policy deadlines for the expansion of pre-school
education has inevitably fostered in many areas a provider-led system. If the
sector is going to retain the confidence of parents and enhance the satisfaction
and positive educational outcomes for children, then we must look now to a system
that pays more attention to consumer need. We hope that the findings of this
study go some way towards revealing the specific agendas of all parties involved
in the provision and consumption of pre-school education (though, regrettably,
not the pre-schoolers themselves). In addition we hope that the many examples
of innovative thinking and practice revealed in the full report will stimulate
debate and offer local authorities and central government ways forward to improve
the system. The necessity for thinking through these issues is clearly an opportunity
as well as a burden. The development of a responsive public service committed
to providing a quality educational experience in the context of promoting inclusion
for all would set an example in the rural areas which would leave rural education
leading the way, rather than lagging behind.
Recommendations to the Scottish Executive
- At the time the research was conducted, a gap was identified between the
numbers of eligible children and the provision of places in remote areas and
the difficulties of access in intermediate areas. Together with the higher
costs involved in rural provision, this led to the conclusion that continuing
additional funding for pre-school provision in remote and intermediate areas
was necessary.
- The Scottish Executive should, in partnership with local authorities, help
to monitor, evaluate and disseminate existing examples of innovative and imaginative
practice to providers and parents.
- The Scottish Executive should urge COSLA to hold a national conference for
local authorities, partner provider organisations and parents, with the purpose
of sharing experiences and broadening awareness of options.
- The interdependence of the financial, social and educational aspects of
pre-school education in rural Scotland necessitates a 'joined-up' response
from government, and the development of appropriate structures to prepare
and deliver an integrated strategy.
- Transport and travel difficulties are central to issues of social inclusion,
choice and flexibility in the provision of pre-school education in rural areas.
Discussions are required with local authorities to address this issue in terms
of developing and funding innovative and flexible policies.
Recommendations to local authorities
- Variations in the cost of pre-school provision necessitate differential
funding across their area from local authorities, with additional resources
for intermediate and remoter areas.
- Mutually supportive relationships are vital between local authorities on
the one hand and the national bodies of voluntary and private providers and
their local representatives.
- Local authorities should make every effort to involve parents and partners,
both in deciding what constitutes quality pre-school education, and in determining
strategies and practices. Consultation, flexibility and choice are integral
to definitions of quality.
- There is an urgent need for local authorities to be more innovative and
imaginative in delivering pre-school education in rural areas, and especially
to be aware of the diversity of current practices, and to learn from one another's
experiences. The provision of pre-school education must be suited to local
circumstances, such as remoteness, low incomes and sparsity of population,
and it is the local authority which must identify these local aspects and
consider with parents and providers how best to adapt models of provision
accordingly. Local authorities should work with COSLA and the Scottish Executive
to organise opportunities and strategies for sharing experience and good practice.
- Local authorities should seek to develop innovative and imaginative transport
practices which will promote social inclusion and choice in accessing pre-school
education.
- Pre-school education must be linked to primary education. This requires
administrative co-ordination for the convenience of families and to ease the
transition for children. It requires a common commitment to a curriculum and
a philosophy which sees pre-school education as both important in its own
right and as a preparation for primary school.
- The interdependencies of financial, social and educational aspects require
local authorities to develop cross-cutting structures which will enable 'joined-up'
practice. Such structures might include social inclusion partnerships and
community planning.
The full report, Pre-School Educational Provision in Rural Areas, is
available from the Arkleton Centre for Rural Development Research, University
of Aberdeen, St Mary's, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3UF. Details may be obtained from
Rona Kennedy on 01224 273901 or from www.abdn.ac.uk/arkleton
The Interchange series
1. Homework Policy and Practice
2. School to Higher Education: Bridging the Gap
3. Teaching, Learning and Assessment in the National Certificate
4. Developing School Managers
5. Transition from School to Adulthood of Young People with Recorded Special
Educational Needs
6. Discipline in Scottish Schools
7. Training the Trainers' Programmes: Effective Management and Monitoring
8. Introduction of the New Further Education College Council System
9. Young People's Experience of National Certificate Modules
10. Costs and Benefits of Adult Basic Education
11. Performance Indicators and Examination Results
12. An Evaluation of the Advanced Courses Development Programme
13. Staying the Course
14. A Study of Probationer Teachers
15. Making School Boards Work
16. Professional Development through Research
17. Students' Views on SWAP
18. Specific Learning Difficulties: Policy, Practice and Provision
19. Foreign Languages in Primary Schools: the National Pilot Projects
in Scotland
20. Towards More School Based Training?
21. Patterns of Attainment in Standard Grade Mathematics 3-6
22. Patterns of Attainment in Standard Grade English 3-6
23. Implementing 5-14: a Progress Report
24. Education-Business Links: Patterns of Partnership
25. Foreign Languages for Vocational Purposes in Further and Higher Education
26. School for Skills
27. Effective Support for Learning: Themes from the RAISE Project
28. Marketing Means Business
29. Adult Education: Participation, Guidance and Progression
30. Studies of Differentiation Practices in Primary and Secondary Schools
31. Health Education: What Do Young People Want to Know?
32. Social and Educational Services for Children Under Five
33. Issues in Teachers' Continuing Professional Development
34. Primary Teachers' Understanding of Concepts in Science and Technology
35. Putting 5-14 in Place: An Overview of the Methods and Findings of
the Evaluation 1991-95
36. Implementing 5-14 in Primary Schools
37. Implementing 5-14 in Secondary Schools
38. Provision for Special Educational Needs
39. Methods of Teaching Reading
40. Criteria for Opening Records of Needs
41. Guidance in Secondary Schools
42. Higher Grade Examination Performance (1987-1994)
43. Pupils with Special Educational Needs: The Role of Speech & Language
Therapists
44. Evaluation of the National Record of Achievement in Scotland
45. Part-time Higher Education in Scotland
46. Educational Provision for Children with Autism in Scotland
47. Exclusions and In-school Alternatives
48. Devolved School Management
49. Implementing 5-14 in Primary and Secondary Schools: Steady Development?
50. Early Intervention: Key Issues from Research
51. Youth Work with Vulnerable Young People
52. Evaluation of the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI)
Extension
53. Cost of Pre-School Education Provision
54. Managing Change in Small Primary Schools
55. Baseline Assessment Literature Review and Pre-School Record Keeping
in Scotland
56. Schools and Community Education for the Learning Age
57. Accelerating Reading Attainment: The Effectiveness of Synthetic Phonics
58. Teachers' ICT Skills and Knowledge Needs
59. Foreign Languages in the Upper Secondary School: A Study of the Causes
of Decline
60. Practices and Interactions in the Primary Classroom
61. Providing Drug Education to Meet Young People's Needs
62. The Attainments of Pupils Receiving Gaelic-medium Primary Education
in Scotland
63. The Impact of Information and Communications Technology Initiatives
64. Parents' Demand for Childcare in Scotland
65. Uptake and Perceptions of Early-year's Qualifications
66. Developments in Inclusive Schooling
67. Raising Attainment of Pupils in Special Schools
68. All Day Provision for 3 and 4 Year Olds
69. Pre-school Educational Provision in Rural Areas
70. Gender and Pupil Performance
A limited number of additional copies can be obtained by writing to the SEED
Research Unit Dissemination Officer at the Scottish Executive Education Department,
Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. File copies for electronic downloading are
available on the the Scottish Executive server (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/hmis/edru.asp).
Further information
If you have views on Interchange and/or wish to find out more
about SEED's research programme, contact the SEED Research Unit, The Scottish
Executive Education Department, Room 1B Dockside, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6
6QQ
Footnotes
1 Rural Policy Group, Scottish Agricultural College, Aberdeen
2 Centre for Educational Research on Rural Development, University of Aberdeen
3 Arkleton Centre for Research on Rural Development, University of Aberdeen
|
