Is this a feminist issue?

[NoNeedforALlama]

I'm part of a group of educators who have signed this letter which has been published in The Guardian www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/16/ofsteds-bold-beginnings-report-on-reception-class-curriculum-is-flawed
It is now getting a fair bit of criticism on Twitter (#BoldBeginnings) from mainly male head teachers and a particularly annoying man called Sean Harford who works for Ofsted who created the report which the letter is about.
I'm picking up undercurrents of "silly early years teachers (of which the majority are women) don't really know what they're on about. Just being stubborn"
Am I wrong to think that if there were more male experts in early years education and research the response would be different?

Sorry for non clicky link, here we go (hopefully!) tinyurl.com/ydakyzmj

Not sure but will bump this for you. Someone else might have an idea.

Does it affect women more than men, or girls more than boys? It doesn't seem so from what I can see in your link.

I'm not saying it's not an important issue, but "issues that affect children" should be issues for men just as much as for women.

trills I think OP is saying that the issues she and her colleagues have raised in their letter are being minimised and dismissed because they are Female, rather than given due consideration deserved for issues raised by a group of professionals.

OP I agree with you and with your letter. I'm not a teacher but the EYFS has worked well for all my children and is evidence based. I'm horrified that we are going backwards in education and I think teachers concerns are minimised because it's a largely female profession.
FWIW I think the same happens in nursing.

Ah that makes more sense Quentin.

If it's being dismissed because "children are a problem for women" then that's a feminist issue yes, because children should be a problem for everyone.

Also I think proposals like this that impact negatively on children are a feminist issue as its usually women who will be picking up the pieces at home.
Testing reception children FFS. It makes me SO ANGRY

It's a trad/prog thing I think. Rather than misogyny.

Sean Harford is the National Director for Education at OFSTED. I'm not a fan of his style, but I like some of his myth busting efforts.

Yes this is a feminist issue, its an issue that concerns women, not one that solely concerns women.

I thought Reception was a good introduction to formal school, especially for kids from homes where they didn't do structured activities.
Formal testing for very young children from deprived homes might not work out very well. We've met kids that had no idea of the concept of colour, never mind that they couldn't name the colours.

Quentin that's exactly what I mean thanks you for a more concise summary than I could manage in my riled state!

Madonna but allowing children to play isn't actually that progressive (IMO) and agree his myth busting is good but his sheer stubbornness to even listen or consider the concerns of many many EYs experts on this publication is infuriating.

I think the letter can still be signed if anyone wants to add to it as a parent

Sorry, you can't make comments in a national newspaper and then object when others respond disagreeing with you.

Not even slightly a feminist issue. Feminism does not protect opinions from fair response!

Thanks for your opinion Chester I think it's the tone of some the responses that has irked me rather than the content, or perhaps I'm projecting my feelings onto them. It seems that some are just dismissive; it's those that I'm getting the ""silly teachers" vibes from, rather than being open to discussing different approaches so maybe it is more traditional/prog like Madonna said.

My eldest went into reception 2 weeks after he turned 4. My youngest, by a quirk of international schools, has just gone into reception 3 weeks before he turned 4.

There's no way that formal learning or testing is a good idea for kids this young - many of them are only just able to sit at a table for long enough to start to learn to hold a pencil.

To me, it smacks of a very paternalistic idea that something's been studied, and you're all to do it this way now (like childbirth, feeding, anything else domestic) - with no reference to the years of experience of people doing it now (which yes, tend to be women), and no thought given to why different people/children/settings might do things differently.

Pocket some of the educators who have signed hold masters degrees in early years education so it's not even "just" teachers with experience who are arguing against the findings. There has been another round of demeaning tweets today but I haven't read them all because it's just annoying me too much now whether it's a feminist thing or not

Absolutely - experienced and educated people in early years professions who have worked with and done their own research both officially and unofficially I'm sure, but some bloke used a stopwatch and timed and averaged a load of things, and declared that average to be the correct way, and if you don't meet his standard, then you're doing it wrong.

I might just be a bit fed up of people telling me how to do things myself right now (blush)

Exactly Pocket and I've just been sent this blog histpsych.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/calm-down-dear.html?m=1 which I wish I'd been able to write as my original post as it says everything I've been feeling

Interesting how many people who signed that letter (mostly as people who are at the top of their organisation representating professionals with an interest in early years education / child development) are men. Certainly a much larger proportion than the number of men who work in this area in the classroom and nursery.

Now that's a feminist issue

True Ollenas at least as you say the ones who are at the top of their business therefore important enough to be mentioned by name. The unnamed I think are mostly women, the Keeping Early Years Unique group certainly has a female majority.

My son, along with several others in his year, all boys summer born, went to reception part-time. Would this new style approach not impact on them or those who choose to do this?

I agree with the sentiments in OPs letter and find those being dismissive of it alarming. I think it is a feminist issue.

And what Quentin said.