6.2  How can legislation and policies work in practice?

Sometimes it may seem as though legislation and policy are very distinct and separate from practice. However, that does not have to be the case. As discussed during the module, the qualities and skills that you have already make you, as Elizabeth Henderson said in Week 1, ‘the most powerful tool in the toolbox’.

To illustrate this point, listen to this short account of practitioner Elizabeth Henderson on the relationship between practice and worries about making sure you are following correct guidance or policy.

Activity 6.1  The link between legislation, policy and practice

Timing: Allow 5 minutes

Watch the video below and reflect on Elizabeth’s views on leglisation, policy and practice.

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Transcript: Video 6.1  Elizabeth Henderson on leglisation, policy and practice

ELIZABETH:
I always felt it was important to go with the child and what the child needed. That's not to say my practice was perfect, because it wasn't. It was as flawed as anybody else's because we learn and it's an organic process. You never know what the day is going to bring. You never know what a child is going to bring or what a family situation is going to bring.
When you meet a child at the door in the morning, to be told that grandma died last night, or you meet the child at the door in the morning to be told that a little sister had a fit that morning and has been rushed to hospital, so the child's been dropped off with Granny. How do you respond to all of that? I think firstly, you need to respond with warmth and an open heart, because if you don't, I really don't see how you can hope to educate children, because we'd be disassociating the heart from the head, and for me, my practice has always been about taking a holistic approach, of really integrating the head, the heart, the hand, and remembering that everything we experience in life is part of a process of embodiment.
And therefore, if I want a child to feel relaxed and at home in the nursery, I need to be warm and inviting and able to greet and make space. Irrespective of policy guidelines, I might be worrying about, irrespective of if there's an inspection hanging over my head, the child should really come first. The child should really be at the centre of everything that we do, not just lip service to that phrase, but actually to do it and to work from there. And I've always believed that if you actually, really work with a child respectfully and warmly and out of our experience and our knowledge, you will, in fact, meet all the guidelines and policies because your practice is rich. If you head for the policies and the guidelines and you try to make your experience with the child match that, I think you're doing it back to front, and you fail sometimes, I think, to see the child.
End transcript: Video 6.1  Elizabeth Henderson on leglisation, policy and practice
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Video 6.1  Elizabeth Henderson on leglisation, policy and practice
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Discussion

Elizabeth explains that if ELC practitioners put the child at the centre using a holistic approach and really work with the child, your experience will help you. Personal qualities of being warm and inviting will help the child feel relaxed. In other words, high-quality practice will help you to meet the policy aims. Put very simply, the aims of the Scottish Government’s legislation and policy is to ensure that all children receive the very best education and care. This aim is even more important for children who require additional support.

The next section looks at how the skills and qualities associated with high quality ELC practice can match Scottish Government policies.

Summary of Scottish Government policy and legislation for children with ASN

Examining some links between legislation, policy and practice