30 research outputs found
COMSOL data files for the publication "3D Visualisation of trans-syncytial nanopores provides a pathway for paracellular diffusion across the human placental syncytiotrophoblast"
No full textThe zip file contains the COMSOL(COMSOL Multiphysics v5.5; COMSOL AB, Stockholm, Sweden) input files for each of the nanopores simulated in our study "Visualisation of trans-syncytial nanopores provides a pathway for paracellular diffusion across the human placental syncytiotrophoblast"
Authors: Rohan M Lewis, Harikesan Baskaran, Jools Green, Stanimir Tashev, Eleni Paleologou1, Emma M Lofthouse, Jane K Cleal, Anton Page, David S Chatelet, Patricia Goggin, Bram G Sengers.
The paper to be published in iScience
A preprint is also available in Biorxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.26.477815</span
Developing "professional love" in early childhood settings
No full textI reference a popularly-held assumption that attachment relationships in the home and particularly, in most instances, between a mother and her child - are fundamental to the healthydevelopment of young children. Thus, when a mother returns to work following the birth of her baby, the decision-making process about choice of childcare is likely to be difficult and complex. This chapter is based on the findings of a life historical study which examined the policies, practices and relationships which underpinned and influenced the decisions taken by six mothers to return to paid employment when their infants were under 12 months of age. The mothers’ need for their infants to develop close, secure, emotional attachments with other, key adults was an overwhelming concern. My focus is on the mothers’ perceptions of love. When mothers were able to distinguish the mutually-loving attachment between caregiver and their child as an intellectual encounter, complementary to their mother - child relationship, rather than seeking to undermine their own mother-child relationships, they were able effectively to give caregivers the permission they needed to love the children in their care. The study coined the term “professional love” and showed how the issue of love in day care is highly complex. In this chapter, I urge that a space is made for further debate so that “love” can be properly conceptualised, positively valued and appropriately taught with caregivers working in infant -toddler education and care
Educators’ perspectives on attachment and professional love in early years settings in England
No full textIn the current risk-averse climate of the United Kingdom (UK) necessarily intimate relationships that early years educators develop with young children have become a matter for intense scrutiny. This chapter draws on a field-based study which investigated how early years educators in England engage intimately with young children to meet their needs and determine what ‘love’ looks like in early years settings. Emerging from a critical review of the attachment literature the study used an online survey, in-depth interviews and focus groups to explore how notions of professional care and love are constructed within a contemporary early childhood discourse in England. The findings of the study suggest educators want to feel more confident about their professional decisions in relation to expressions of love, care and intimacy. Educators also wanted to inform their everyday intimate relationships with young children with a better understanding of attachment theory and its focus on attuned relationships
Characterising the Principles of Professional Love in Early Childhood Care and Education
Get PDFFramed as an extension of Noddings’ notion of the ‘ethic of care,’ the paper sets out an argument about ‘Professional Love’ as both a term to comprehend the reciprocal pedagogic relationship which develops in positive interactions between primary caregiver, child and parent and as a core normative component of early years educational discourse; the paper grounds this conceptualisation of Professional Love in attachment theory (both its empirical validity and its sociological shortcomings); it then posits the dynamic of child-parent-practitioner love as a Triangle of Love which is essentially complementary to the parent/child relationship as opposed to representing any risk or threat to parents’ relationships with their children. The paper examines the work of theorists of care who have been particularly influential in developing the notion of Professional Love, and it considers the work of interdisciplinary scholars whose challenges to notions of love and care help problematise and clarify Professional Love beyond romanticised or other contextually inappropriate forms of love. The paper is intended as a provocative and explorative piece of critical enquiry; it highlights the prevalent devaluation of care/love in policy making and posits a semi-operationalisable prospectus for cultivating Professional Love in early childhood settings. Consistent with the author’s editorial foreword, tensions between practitioner, child and parent, as well as internal encumbrances placed on practitioners to develop Professional Love in the absence of policymaker support, emerge as recurring themes
Re-framing infant toddler pedagogy through a lens of professional love: exploring narratives of professional practice in early childhood settings in England
Get PDFThere is an increased international interest in how close attachment interactions with infants and toddlers are realised and interpreted by early years professionals. It is troubling for those who work in early years settings with infants and toddlers to know how best to demonstrate healthy loving attachment behaviours as an expectation of their professional caregiving role when ‘standing in for parents’. This paper reports the interview findings from a mixed methods study which examined practitioners’ views on love, care and intimacy within the English early years policy context. It draws on Attachment Theory and Relational Ethics to analyse the narratives of practice drawn from eight in-depth interviews with infant toddler professionals to reveal the extent of their challenge as well as their beliefs about attachment and professional love. The responses highlighted the level of concern about the place of love and intimacy in non-familial pedagogical relationships with young children, against the backdrop of child protection and safeguarding following the global concern about infant abuse. The study suggests that there is a need to embrace an infant toddler pedagogy to include the lens and the language of attachment and professional love and to provide early years professionals with training and guidance on how to safely interpret these theories into their everyday practice
The Legacy of John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
Get PDFThis chapter discusses the contribution of John Bowlby’s more than fifty years of thinking about attachments, separation, relationships and emotional stability. After a brief biography, the chapter considers his well-known, and sometimes controversial, ‘Attachment Theory’ alongside the work of his collaborators at the time, including James Robertson and Mary Ainsworth. A key focus is attachment theory in relation to children in their home and early years environments, and how understanding this theory is important for early years practitioners to appreciate the lived experiences of children in out-of-home contexts. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the place of love and loving relationships in contemporary professional practice and the implications of ‘Modern Attachment Theory’ for early years and childcare practitioners working globally
Do mothers want professional carers to love their babies?
No full textThis article reports an aspect of a life historical study which investigated the part that ‘love’ played in mothers’ decision-making about returning to work and placing their babies in day care. The article begins with a brief discussion of the context, including 21st-century policies in England to encourage mothers to return to the workforce (DfES, 2004; HMT, 2009). This is followed by a critical overview of relevant literature exploring three key themes: an historical view of women in the workforce, Attachment Theory, and theorizing ‘love’ and ‘care’. The life-historical methodology is discussed and justified and seven key themes are briefly identified and explained. The article then focuses specifically on the theme of ‘love’ using life-history interview data and key literature to discuss mothers’ views on the importance of ‘love’, the saliency of ‘love’ in choosing childcare, and the notion of ‘professional love’
Will the ‘good’ [working] mother please stand up? Professional and maternal concerns about education, care and love
No full textThe purposes of this article are to understand the factors that women are likely to take into consideration when making employment decisions and childcare choices whiletheir babiesareyoung,andtoidentify theirchoices, beliefs and dilemmas: the focus is on the experiences of working mothers in England. These choices are problematised in the context of mothers placing their babies with carers in day care settings who ‘love’ their children. Drawing from a larger study, the focus is on the narrative and experience of Ayesha in order to illuminate the tensions of being a mother responsible for, and making decisions about her child’s care and education, coupled with her working role as an early years education advisor. Issues about gender and education are enmeshed in Ayesha’s narrative through these two roles and the subject positions which they created. Ayesha’s narrative illustrates the ways in which such decisions can be fuelled by contradictory political messages which are sensationalised by the media in relation to the role of a ‘good’ mother. The findings suggest there is a need to discuss the impact of media sensualisation on mothers’ decision-making and to highlight the importance mothers place on close, loving relationships between the carer and the baby
The emotional complexity of attachment interactions in nursery
No full textIn a single intensive nursery case study, using in depth interviews, group discussion and self completed daily diaries, this article reports on staff accounts of the emotional aspects of their interactions with young children. The findings show how much the staff achieved through their empathy for children and families and the establishment of warm, responsive and individual relationships. However, they also reveal how vulnerable these interactions were to discontinuity and disturbance and how much the work was based on an intuitive approach. There was little specification about nursery attachments in theoretical or practical terms to guide staff critical reflection and judgement about managing these close relationships. The findings also indicate the emotional demands on staff of sustaining such emotionally close interactions with very young children. The article concludes acknowledging the logistical and emotional complexity of facilitating consistent, accountable and reflective attachment interactions with young children. It highlights the importance of developing sophisticated management attention to the emotional experience of attachment based pedagogy so that feelings evoked in staff by attachment work can be better understood.<br/
Mothers, Work and Childcare : Choices, Beliefs and Dilemmas
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