ABSTRACT
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of a genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of a genius.
Mozart
There has been much written about the personal and professional attributes of those providing non-parental care and education of young children, which has drawn a great deal of public attention, particularly in the residential care sector. Researchers in the pre-school field have consistently drawn attention to the low status or reward predicament of nursery nurses and teachers. Whitebook et al. (1989)* and others highlighted the influence of staff disaffection and turnover on children’s social and language development; Penn (1994)* identified direct links between parent satisfaction with services, and conditions of employment. Guidance to the Children Act issued by the Department of Health recognises this research to the extent that it draws attention to the rights of people working with young children. Similarly, Angela Rumbold (1990)* said that:
The status afforded to any group or profession has an important influence on the recognition and support it secures for itself.Yet adults working with under fives have traditionally enjoyed less esteem than
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those working with children of statutory school age, within the ranks of the professions themselves. substantial measure, in terms of pay, moreover differences of relative status between groups concerned with the under fives go beyond those inherent in, or flowing or receiving from, their different level of training. Besides coming within different sets of arrangements for pay and conditions of service, the groups differ markedly in their opportunities for in-service training – though all alike suffer limitations in their career prospects.
