ASSIGNMENT COVER

REGION HARA RE
PROGRAMME: BECD INTAKE: 10
FULL NAME OF STUDENT: PHILLIPA MATONHODZE PIN: P1825659R
MAILING ADDRESS:WARREN PARK 1 HARARE
CONTACT CELL: 0776955565 I.D. NO: 27-017008M70
COURSE NAME: CHILD FRIENDLY ECD CENTRES
COURSE CODE: BECD 409 ASSIGNMENT NO: 1
OPTION: 1 DUE DATE: 07/03/22

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: CRITICALLY EXAMINE FOUR QUALITY STANDARDS THAT

DEFINE AN EFFECTIVE CHILD FRIENDLY ECD CENTRE .
MARKERS’S COMMENTS:

OVERALL MARK: MARKER’S NAME:

MARKER’S SIGNATURE: DATE:
INTRODUCTION
Child Friendly Centres (CFC) are committed to achieving quality education for all children. The
current situation emphasizes on the creation of Child Friendly Schools and ECD Centres. It
derives from realization and acceptance that education is a human right, every child’s right and
key factor in reducing poverty, child labour and promoting democracy, peace, tolerance and
development. Child Friendly ECD Centres promote a right-based concept of quality that goes
beyond good teaching methods and learning outcomes to include health and safety and adequacy
of centre facilities and supplies. Communities around are encouraged to work/build together with
their children and child friendly learning environment in which they feel safe, protected from
abuse, violence and discrimination, are healthy and encouraged to learn. According to Heckman
(2006: 27) quality framework addresses the following dimensions:
 The quality of the environment, add ressing the physical psycho-social and delivery part
of the infrastructure
 The quality of learners, teachers and caregivers, parents, home and family communities
 The curriculum teaching and learning materials, norms and standard measures for school
learners, teachers and caregivers, parents and communities
 The quality of the process of a what goes on at the centre, the learning process, the
interventions which make the centre functional, interactions among learners, teacher/
caregivers, support supervision, centre governing , parent-teacher association and the
community
The writer will define the following; Child Friendly ECD Centres and ECD as key terms
Definition of key terms
Child Friendly ECD Centres are those that focus on behavior management practices in the
classrooms, the creation of classroom that are learning ready healthy lifestyles and systems that
encourage the participation of all children. A Child Friendly ECD Centre is a model that is
children’s right based initiative developed by UNICEF as a response to growing, global concerns
about the poor quality of basic education. (1)
Early Childhood Development according to the Education White Paper 5 South Africa (2001)
referred it as a comprehensive approach to policies and programs for children from birth to eight
years with the active participation of their parents and caregivers. Its purpose is to protect the
cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential. (2)
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) on the other hand defines
ECD as the organized practice of educating those who are in early childhood, one of the most
vulnerable stages in life. Early Childhood is the most rapid period of development in human life.
A child friendly centre not only does provide children with quality but also with an environment
that is fun, healthy and engaging, a place where they can play, be protected from harm, express
their views and actively participate in the learning process (African Strategy Paper 2005). First
few years of life are formative and play vital in shaping social and health outcomes in building
human capacity, thereby promoting economic productivity later in life. Optimal brain
development requires a stimulating environment, adequate nutrients and social interactions with
attentive caregivers.
Learning is at the heart of schooling and anything that facilitates learning should be at the core of
an ECD centre design. Karoly, Kilburn and Cannon (2003) point out that this inherent principle
give rise to key elements in the design of ECD centres. Healthy children learn better in good
buildings with four walls, windows and an outdoor play area. An ECD centre must adapt to the
specific conditions of the local area and the geographical characteristic of the site: it must be
concerned with the local economy and projections of demographic growth. According to Dorst
and Cross(2001), design is the creation of a plan or convention for the construction of a structure
or building. Size of an ECD centre influence learning and how children relate to one another, to
adults and the community. Children prefer variety flexibility and ease of maintenance in schools
and learning spaces. Berris and Miller (2011) ; and Cox, Horii Granby and Morgan. Children
prefer green spaces that include flowers, shrubs and trees- the latter as filters of sun, dust and
noise and shaded outdoor learning beauty.
The structure should be waterproof stable and administrative offices have separate spaces. The
space gives privacy to children, caregivers and teachers. Safe water should be available at an
ECD centre. Proper plumbing infrastructure allows good distribution. A borehole should be
included in an ECD centre. Hygiene facilities are necessary, toilets should be child sized. For
Child Friendly ECD Centres privacy should be considered. Cleanliness and safety are major
considerations when planning and designing facilities.
Classrooms need good fresh air circulation to avoid heat and excessive humidity. Electricity is
needed to provide light and power to operate equipment, thus computers in the lab, radio,
television, stove, refrigerators (Cox, Hori, Granby and Morgan 2006) posits that classroom must
be sufficiently shaded from direct sunlight . Child Friendly Centres should not be located close to
sources of excessive noise, traffic, railways industries and informal sector activities, materials
and finishes should be light, natural colours materials themselves. Example timber may be
finished using clear vanish to preserve the natural beauty and warmth of the material, or bright
accents can be used for play corners corridors
.
Safe water is essential for the kitchen, bathroom and clinic. If there are no safe water the
borehole should be available. Hygiene is important. A child friendly centre’s walls should be
brightly painted, clean floors and colourful displays on walls child – appropriate furniture
arranged flexibly for a variety of learning approaches. For child friendly ECD canters, privacy,
cleanliness are major considerations. The toilets should be child sized.
At a Child Friendly ECD centre learners are curious, active and competent (Curlis and Cater,
1996). Understanding who ECD children are, what they are capable of and how they develop and
learn, creating meaningful learning experiences. They wonder question explore and seek to make
sense and meaning of their world, by acting at their curiosity they continue to discover and learn
more. Children learn to understand and remember skills and concepts leant through participation,
exploration and experimentation involving real life objects and experiences – children’s thinking
and reasoning skills evolve over time as they existing knowledge and experiences.
According to Clay (2002) there are they are principles that guide teachers in planning, dressing,
and implementation of meaningful and relevant learning experiences for learners at child friendly
centres and ECD centres
 Integrated approach to learning
 Teachers as facilitators of learning
 Engaging children in learning purposeful play
 Authenticating learning through quality intentions
 Children as constructors of knowledge and holistic development
Teaching and learning is an unbreakable bond, the heart of the matter in education is the
interactions between the learners and the teacher. It is in this process that quality standard
education is created “(Education International, 2008)”this is the reason the Dakar framework for
actions refers specifically to the need of “well – trained teachers and active learning techniques”
in order to achieve quality standard learning outcomes. To be effect, teaching and learning must
include a variety of interactive methodologies, looking also at the different learning styles of
girls and boy, to create stimulating participatory child friendly learning environment. Parents and
community around the centre are of great importance they support the school in many ways.
Quality curriculum is needed at the at an effective child friendly centre. Children’s true potential;
can only be realized when every aspect of his/her development is recognized and valued. (Chang
1993). At the center of the child friendly curriculum framework is the child and belief that
children are curious, active and competent learners. Based on this the belief the framework
advocates principles that guide teaching and learning in a quality ECD curriculum. Children are
natured holistically through teacher facilitated learning experiences. The framework provides
guidelines for a holistic preschool education while giving educators the discretion to customize
their curriculum according to the interest, needs and abilities of the children.
Learning dispositions are positive behaviours and attitudes towards learning. They are important
for children in their journey as life-long learners and development in the various learning areas
(Alexander 2000) the learning disposition that child friendly areas provide seek to develop every
child. Example, children with perseverance keep working at a task to complete it, they do not
give up though they find it challenging. Children given an art activity to complete should be
allowed to do so to avoid their frustrations. Second example, children with the ability to reflect
can think about what they have done, seen, or felt in their daily experiences. They generate
alternative ideas and gain new knowledge.
The curriculum in the child friendly ECD centre involves also project based teaching methods. It
adopts this method which in one way or the other sustains the interest and attention of the young
children in otherwise content rich subject like mathematics and science, art, geography and
agriculture. The trend of using project – based learning in the centre is a successful method of
teaching that can maintain a long term span of interest for young children. Well trained teachers
from Zimbabwe Open University know that relevant concepts improve young children’s ability
to research and develop problem solving skills (Project based method). Learning at Child
Friendly ECD Centres strives to improve its skills so as to be able to contribute towards
implementing child’s rights.
According to Archard (2004), duty bearers should provide an atmosphere of happiness, love and
understanding in the home and at centres. Teachers, caregivers and parents provide a spirit of
peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity from the Preamble of the Convection
on the Rights of Child people who work for and support the human rights for children support
the “best interest for the child.” They model respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
At a quality standard child friendly and ECD centre teachers strive to impact this knowledge to
learners. They prepare the child for a life in a free society in the spirit of understanding peace
tolerance equality of sexes and friendship among all people. This is done to ensure that children
have adequate care when parents or others charged with that responsibility don’t provide it (CRC
Articles 3, 18 and 29)
Caregivers and other stakeholders who work for support human right for children practice human
rights in their in their daily. Lives to the children in their care and work to have equal rights
honoured for all children, be vulnerable/ disabled without exception (CRC Articles 2,30)they
provide ethnic and national knowledge and roots for their children. Naming children helps them
to have senses of belonging to a family nation and world. Through this belonging children
become invested in the positive development of their family and the nation (CRC Articles 7, 8)
A child friendly, protective environment is not only conducive to learning but also to praying and
healthy interaction. Harassment and antisocial behavior cannot be tolerated: abuse, bulling or
sexual exploitation must be confronted. Children protection and safety in homes has direct
impact on children’s capacity to attend class and to learn and children must feel safe as they
travel from homes to school.
Interventions to address these situations include training teachers and parents in non violent
discipline as well as establish and enforcing codes of contact that protect children from sexual
harassment, abuse, violent bulling, physical punishments, stigma and discrimination special
attention should be given to orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.
However, there are so many quality standards which define an effective children friendly ECD
centre.
Conclusion
The children friendly ECD e centre to be defined as an effective. It should promotes a right based
concept of quality that goes beyond good teaching methods and learning outcomes to include
healthy, safety and adequate to centre facilitates and suppliers communities are encouraged to
build, together with their children a child friendly learning environment in which quality
standards are effective. They feel safe, are protected, from abuse, violence and encouraged to
learn.
REFERENCES
Alexander N. (2000) Early Childhood: Workshops that Work
Archard D. (2004) Children’s Right and Childhood London Routledge
Education While Paper 5. On Early Childhood Education Meeting the challenge of Early
childhood Development in South Africa, Pretoria May 2001
Dorst K. and Cross .N (2001) “Creativity in the design process: Co-evolution of problem –
solution” Design studies 22(2): 425 -437
Chidren’ Rights Law(2000) A Career Guide. Havard Law School.
Convertions on Rights of Children htt/wwwuniceforg/crc.