Professionalism in the Interdisciplinary Early Years Team: Supporting Young Children and Their Families

Professionals are no longer restricted by particular spaces or areas of knowledge and interprofessionalism is the key to delivering effective and efficient child focused services in challenging times. Professionalism in the Interdisciplinary Early Years Team celebrates the professionalism of the varied practitioners who work with young children, bringing together contributions from academics and practitioners to share knowledge and expertise about the key services for young children and their families. This accessible guide covers the key issues faced by early years practitioners, and moves on to consider particular roles within the early years team, including the early years professional, early years teacher, health professional, social worker, speech and language therapist and librarian. The role each member of the early years team plays is explored, looking at professionalism through the dimensions of knowledge, education, skills, autonomy, values, ethics, reward. This text will be invaluable to those studying early years at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It will also be a useful resource for leaders in early years settings and established early years practitioners who are undertaking continuing professional development courses.

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors \ Foreword Angela Anning \ Introduction \ Part I: Introducing the Context for Professionalism \ 1. The Child in Context: Policy and Provision Avril Brock \ 2. Issues and Challenges for the Interdisciplinary Team in Supporting the 21st Century Family Carolynn Rankin and Fiona Butler \ 3. Perspectives on Professionalism Avril Brock \ Part II: Meet the Key Professionals \ 4. The Early Years Professional and the Children's Centre: At the Hub of the 'Big Society'? Pam Jarvis and Wendy Holland \ 5. The Early Years Teacher: Working Across the Birth to Seven Age Range Pat Broadhead \ 6. Health and Social Care Professionals: A Holistic Approach Kate Karban and Sue Smith \ 7. The Social Worker: Protecting the World's Most Vulnerable Children David Saltiel \ 8. The Speech and Language Therapist: Laying the Foundations of Communication Tracey Marsh \ 9.The Librarian: A Key Partner in Promoting Early Language and Literacy Carolynn Rankin \ Part III: Conclusions \ 10. A Future for Interdisciplinary Professional Work: Mainstream to Oppositional? Nick Frost \ Index

About the Author :
Avril Brock is a Principal Lecturer in the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate courses of Early Childhood Education and Childhood Studies. Carolynn Rankin is Senior Lecturer in the School of Applied Global Ethics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. She lectures on the management of information and library services and the role of the information professional and her research interest is the role of the early years librarian in multidisciplinary teamwork.

Review :
'The book not only informs the reader of a variety of professional perspectives (as well as attempting to portray the child's own viewpoint) but it also analyses the meanings and practices behind the rhetoric of interprofessional early years team working. In this respect it will be invaluable to both professionals and students of early childhood courses. Perhaps most importantly, the book makes a constructive and forceful argument for changes in the way we view interprofessional working in the future early years team.' Caroline Bath, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, Department of Education, Childhood and Inclusion, Sheffield Hallam University, UK 'A balanced compilation of perspectives from a diverse representation of professionals concerned about future directions in children services and the professions that support their cause. Themes in the book take the reader beyond boundaries in the UK to ponder worldwide political implications for global trends in Early Education.' Louise Swiniarski, Professor of Education, Salem State University, Massachusetts, USA