What was it that made you choose Childminding as a career? What encourages and supports you in your role? What do you find challenging as a male Childminder? How do you feel you are perceived? How do you feel you can improve outcomes for the children in your care? What changes would you like to see to better support you in the future?

The impact of austerity measures on prisons in England and Wales.

Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences

Background
Encouraging more men to work in the childcare industry, and particularly within early years settings, has been a national strategic goal and on the political agenda for at least the last 14 years since the Green Paper ‘Meeting the Childcare Challenge’ was published. The Green Paper addressed the National Childcare Strategy of 1998 and specifically stated “Working with children tends to be seen as a predominantly female occupation. Yet male carers have much to offer, including acting as positive role models for boys – especially from families where the father is absent.” (DfEE, DSS and Ministers for Women, 1998:2.25). The importance of positive male role- modelling was a continued theme highlighted by David Cameron’s analysis of the London Riots in 2011, blaming families without fathers for the violence and looting. Considering the significance of the positive influence men can play on children as they grow up and the specific targets set to actively encourage more men into working with children, the childcare workforce is still overwhelmingly female at 97%, as estimated by the Daycare Trust (www.teachingexpertise.com). Little in-depth information is available on men’s experiences of being a childcare practitioner, but particularly within childminding and early years care as recent research by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) points out “Registered places with Childminders still represent more than 20% of the English childcare market in terms of numbers of registered places. Yet, there is very little recent (or, indeed, past) robust research on Childminders and their practice.” (Fauth et al, 2011:14). Objective Heather Rolfe’s research on barriers for men entering the childcare workforce gives us some insight into why men choose, or choose not to, have a career in childcare in the first place – such as low status and public perception of their motives (Rolfe 2005:v). It would be useful, however, to understand what the actual experiences of the men who do work with children are in order to be able to promote the benefits, particularly for those children who do not have any other positive male influence in their lives. As male childcarers are predominantly employed in after-school care or daycare settings (Rolfe 2005:6), the overall objective of this research is to have a better understanding of how men experience childminding, and what are the contributing factors that make so few men practice in this field. The information gathered from this research will be used to address the gap in male provision that social services and parents alike find beneficial for the care of and role modelling for their children.

Research Questions
The questions this research seeks to answer are:
1. How do male Childminders experience childminding? Within this research question, the following key questions will be explored via semi- structured depth interviews with practicing male Childminders to gain insight into and awareness of their experiences:

 What was it that made you choose Childminding as a career?
 What encourages and supports you in your role?
 What do you find challenging as a male Childminder?
 How do you feel you are perceived?
 How do you feel you can improve outcomes for the children in your care?
 What changes would you like to see to better support you in the future?

2. What prevents men from childminding?
This research question will be addressed within focus groups of Early Years Officers (EYOs) who are responsible for the recruitment, training, induction and retention of Childminders for the local authority. Key questions to be explored in order to gain insight into why more men are not Childminders will include:

 What strategies are in place to encourage male Childminders during the recruitment process, either formally or informally?
 What reasons are given for dropping out by men who complete the training but do not go on to practice?
 What does parental and professional feedback suggest about how male Childminders are perceived?