38 TeachNursery.com

trustNurturing

In the first of two articles, DorothyMarlen explores the Pikler approach tothe care of infants and young children...

You may not have heard her name,but the genius of Dr Emmi Pikler(1902–1984) and ongoingexemplary childcare at the Pikler

Institute in Budapest, Hungary is finallybeginning to gain attention in the UK. ThePikler approach has for many yearsinfluenced early childhood care in countries inEurope and beyond, and was taken to theUSA and developed as Resources for InfantEducarers (RIE) by a woman called MagdaGerber, but it has been slow to reach theseshores. Dr Pikler’s contribution to ourunderstanding of young children and how tocare for them now needs to be placed besideother important early years educationalists.What was discovered, and is still practised, atthe Pikler Institute can offer a new benchmarkof care that is fully in line with the recentdiscoveries of neuroscience and attachmenttheory.

Aims and principles Pikler’s aim was to assure physical andpsychic health in infants and young children.

She recognised (in the 1930s) that the key toachieving this was through creating secureattachment. She saw that giving respectfulcare, particularly during times of bodily care,was one of the main tools for achieving this.She also saw the importance of allowing thechild’s self-initiated activity and its deepinfluence on the child – her self-image, self-control and many other things. Theseunderstandings and others were developedby Dr Pikler first in her work as a familypaediatrician in Budapest, then in theorphanage there that ran for over 65 years,and now in the daycare groups that are stillrun from the same premises on Lóczy Street.Among the many factors that contributed toher success in improving children’s lives infamilies and in residential care (which is welldocumented – download SIGNAL, Vol 18 no.3–4 at ow.ly/By9D4, and see Bringing up and

providing care for infants and toddlers in an

institution at ow.ly/Byb0h), was the quality ofcare given and the understanding of theimportance of self-initiated movementand play.

THERE ARE NEW WAYS TO FINDOUT MORE...

There is now a Pikler UK Association(pikler.co.uk) and a website whereyou can access articles and linksin English(thepiklercollection.weebly.com).

The first UK Pikler training, led by aDutch Pikler pedagogue, is almostcomplete, and new training is due tostart in January 2015 – visitpikler.co.uk

A Level 3 qualification is in theprocess of being accredited. Thiswill integrate Steiner and Piklerprinciples and meet the EYE criteria– visit www.emerson.org.uk/holistic-baby-and-child-care

PIKLER IN THE UK

Photographs courtesy of Childspace Early Childhood Institute, Wellington, NZ,a setting that has fully embraced the Pikler approach. Visit childspace.co.nz

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Respectful careI thought I knew what respectful care meantuntil I observed carers at the Pikler Institute. Itwas a profound experience to see the level oftrust, enjoyment and gentle cooperation thatis possible between carer and child. The careapproach is highly skilled, complex and multi-layered; as well as the care practice, it includesongoing consideration of key worker roles,observation and team discussion, none ofwhich I have time to describe here. Instead, Iwill give a few pointers to what this approachto childcare entails with the single example ofnappy changing.

“World peace starts on thechanging table”I heard this simple but profound phrase whiletraining at the Pikler Institute, and it informedme that what we do in the routine repetitivetasks of infancy, undertaken several times aday over several years, ripples into adult life.These repeated care moments will be, withoutexception, unconsciously taken in on a bodilyand emotional core level by the child.Whether the care is rough and rushed, orcalm and gentle will have consequences forhow the ‘other’ as well as ‘self’ is experienced,perhaps for life. Nappy changing is the mostdelicate of care times. It involves touch in themost intimate parts of the body and requirestotal vulnerability on the part of the child.

With the child, not to the childAt the Pikler Institute this time of bodily care istreated with the utmost respect and is seen asone of the primary times when trust and

relationship can be developed. It is notacceptable to commit any form of ‘micro-violence’ to the child during this (or indeedany) time with a child. The use of adult forceis not acceptable. What this means is that allthe aspects of the care activity are carried outwith the child’s cooperation, not to the child.The child is invited to take part in every stepand nothing is carried out without the child’sconsent; this is true for even the youngest baby.

Calm, gentle, with no distractionsThe nappy-changing is carried out slowly andcalmly with the carer fully present to, andengaged with, the child. This is a special timewith this particular child. Full attention, as weknow from attachment theory, is crucial tocreating trust. In the Pikler daycare, each childhas special times each day alone with theirkey worker during nappy-changing, at meal-times and preparing for and after nap-time,depending on their age. In the residentialnursery these one-to-one times happenedduring feeding, bathing, sleeping and dressingactivities, several times a day, and werecentral to maintaining good attachments anda calm environment with contented andactive children.

The child’s interests The carer’s attention is not just concernedwith the task but is open to the child’sinterests in the care-giving activity and otherthings in the vicinity too. The carer is attentiveto all cues from the child and the activitybecomes a dance. The care-giver is alwaysthe leader of this dance, guiding, allowing theconversation, adapting to the child, yet alwayscoming back to the nappy-changing task.

At the Pikler Institute, children are not givensomething to play with whilst carrying outnappy-changing. The child is invited to be fullyengaged rather than risk a dissociation fromwhat is happening to her body. This time is aninvitation for an intimate and cooperativeshared endeavour.

Learning languageEven an infant can understand what her careris requesting, and can respond and initiate.As the child gets older, conversation includesthe past, present and future interests, and

over time this creates a deep sense in thechild of being held ‘in mind’ by their particularcarer throughout the day, creating a naturaldoorway to language learning and practice.

Adapting to the child’s movementsA perhaps startling aspect of the care routineis that the carer adapts to the movements ofthe child, allowing the child to roll onto hertummy, or later stand in the nappy-changingactivity if this is what the child wants. Specialchanging tables make this ‘freedom ofmovement’ absolutely possible. So rather thanthe carer trying to keep the child on theirbacks (which risks the use of force), the infantor toddler’s need to move can be adjusted toby the adult. It makes for a much happierand engaged child. With practice this works!(See Being with Infants and Toddlers atow.ly/Byb0h.)

Consequences If nappy-changing is carried out to this level ofmastery then there are several importantconsequences for the child and the day-to-dayrelationship between the child and the carer.The child is filled up emotionally by thisspecial time with the carer and slowlyinternalises the full, calm and gentle attentiongiven. Rather than rushing through the caremoments, the child has rich moments of one-to-one relationship, and this is a key toachieving secure attachment and theemergence of self-initiated exploration andplay.

The high art of care as practised at thePikler Institute works. It takes training, timeand practice like any art. It necessitates anongoing process of observation, self-reflectionand team support. Those of us who haveundertaken this training have experiencedmany uncomfortable realisations of our ownunconscious cultural habits as carers (andparents) of children. But isn’t this an essentialjourney anyway for those who wish to workwith our youngest children?

Next issue, Dorothy will look at theimportance of not interfering with a youngchild’s motor development and play.

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under 2s

Dorothy Marlen is afreelance early childhood workshopleader, trainer and consultant with aspecialisation in the Pikler approach,and is the author of The Parent and Childgroup handbook – A Steiner/Waldorfapproach (Hawthorn Press). She runsparent-and-baby groups based on thePikler approach called ‘A GentleBeginning’, is a co-founder of the PiklerUK Association, and is course leader forthe new Level 3 Holistic Baby and ChildCare course. Visit dorothymarlen.net

abouttheauthor

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