Lóczy nursery: an innovative place which promotes healthy psychological development of placed children

By Camille Gaté

This article is a summary from the chapter « En pouponnière garantir le développement psychique du bébé : du prendre soin picklérien à l’accueil Lóczien » written by Geneviève Appell and is published in the collection of articles « Comment éviter que la collectivité ne nuise aux bébés ? » of the Pickler institute.

What is Lóczy nursery?

Considerations and principles of the Picklerien taking-care

Lóczy nursery develops its actions on children’s physiological, emotional and cognitive needs. Emmi Pickler has considered babies as actives and curious human beings who possess skills. Back then, she had very innovative ideas and asserted that free movements promoted child development and autonomy. Moreover, she stated that body cares have a major importance to children’s well-being and that they enjoy their relationships to adults; interactions are fruitful to them. Thus, adults have to encourage connection with children through the voice or the gaze. If some children are in opposition, the Picklerien taking-care explains that it is not genuine meanness but a manifestation of their misunderstanding of the situation or an uncontrolled pulsion induced by their brain maturation process. In that case, one of the principles is to promote children’s secure attachment, then professionals do not punish or scold, they hold them by establishing an environment made of rituals and habits which is not strict and can evolve. These considerations allow the child to have a positive self-esteem.

Organisation of the nursery

Each group is made up of 8 children close in age who will grow up together. Four nurses, who are turning over, bring them daily cares. This organisation has demonstrated that the adult is fully available to each child which is source of calm and serenity for them.

Each nurse is a reference nurse and has to watch especially over one or two children. Its role is to check up their development, and if there are some issues, to ensure adjustments. If children live any striking experience, they can turn themselves toward this nurse. Moreover, she has to help child’s appropriation of his own family history, which is source of suffering. In order to enhance emotional communication, speaking and questionings are fostered and encouraged between these two. From 5 or 6 months, children’s behaviours demonstrate that they distinguishe their nurse from the other three, an attachment is being created. Pickler institute, aware of the stakes involved, acts in order to ensure that the attachment relationship remains in a proper proximity. The idea is to allow children to develop a secure attachment they can reproduce later with other figures. The bound with the professional cannot offer more. It is a right balance which is both difficult but essential to maintain in order not to fall back into the “favourite child” habit that used to happen before in nurseries.

“The nurse’s narcissistic satisfaction is no longer the child himself but what her work has brought to the child. ”

Judit Falk

Nurses communicate a lot to make sure that adjustments, discussed collectively, are established. That is why Emmi Pickler created the memory tool that fosters communication. By this means, the work is a teamwork and the responsibilities are shared. It constitutes a protection against unfair sentimental involvement by nurses, and allows synthesis work that objectively reports the child’s development. Moreover, a « principal nurse » and an educational psychologist are daily present in the institution. The role of the later is to make regular observations in the institution. She brings guidance and support to each referring nurse through individual interviews, and discussion groups with all nurses. Psychologists themselves have the possibility to exchange with each other during meetings to deal with complex situations.

In the nursery, fractures are avoided as far as possible, and inevitable transitions are thought and anticipated by speaking with children and making concrete acts. For example, when a child leaves the institution to join an adoptive family, visits are planned: the family comes to the nursery, then the child goes to his future family’s home. Child’s pace is always respected, though the change can take some time. Moreover, in order to avoid complete discontinuity that would be very psychologically destructive, children know that they can come back to the institution whenever they want and annual meetings are organized. Thus, in line with the ideas developed from the outset, Emmi Pickler is once again reckoning that continuity is source of security.

Therefore, it is crucial to think about the daily functioning of the welcoming structure so that it brings the best to each child. This operation is explained to children. Indeed, for Emmi Pickler a child who does understand the operation of the institution in which he evolves, is a child who will understand the functioning of a family and will be able to integrate it.

Finally, Emmi Pickler rethought and revolutionised the way nurseries work. During 25 years Lóczy nursery, by means of new principles and actions, has been providing to children a healthy development by allowing them to build up an internal security. Nowadays, many associations inspired by Pickler’s approach are created all over the world. Since 2012 they are reunited under the name of “Pickler international”. This way, the work of Emmi Pickler and her team is spread, discussed and constitute the beginning of many theorical consideration.

Source:

Appell, G. (2020). En pouponnière, garantir le développement psychique du bébé: Du prendre soin piklérien à l’accueil lóczien. Dans : Raymonde Caffari-Viallon éd., Comment éviter que la collectivité ne nuise aux bébés (pp. 11-27). Toulouse, France: ERES.