One of the fascinating things about childcare is that everyone seems to think they are experts. We don’t all pretend to be able to do brain surgery or design moon rockets, but everyone has ideas about ways of bringing up children or dealing with delinquents.

This may be the reason why we are not prepared to listen to other people and learn from them. All of us know best, which means that no-one is more expert than us. Each of us is brilliant enough to invent our own wheel, and we expect new parents to be able to invent theirs without help as well.

The problem is that inventing wheels is a difficult task, and we may not do it very well if we do not learn from others. Bringing up children is also difficult and complex, and without help we can make a mess of it.

This is as true of professionals as it is of parents. Professionals need to be trained, and to pick up the accumulated wisdom of their predecessors. True professionals would all acknowledge this.

But in that case, why are British professionals so unprepared to learn from their colleagues in continental Europe? Perhaps we think we know best as childcare experts. Perhaps in Britain we think we know best anyway. After all, we talk about going to Europe as if it were another continent.

Please keep an open mind when reading this piece. There is a lot we can learn from continental European colleagues. The geographical isolation of Britain has been enhanced by our weakness in fluency in other languages, and, just as the Galapagos and other islands have evolved their own species of birds and other animals, we have evolved our own species of professional thinking in childcare, largely unaware of the interchange of ideas across the rest of Europe.

In continental Europe there is a long tradition of social education (or social pedagogy, depending upon the country), in which professionals working with children and young people are trained for the work, and often enjoy considerable standing, in recognition of the complexity of the work and the knowledge and skills they need to undertake the work. These people are specialists in work with children and young people.

In Britain, meanwhile, we have followed a tradition of training people under the headings of social work and social care. These disciplines are relevant across the board with all client groups, and although qualifying courses may have included specialist elements, we have basically prepared people primarily as generalists.

It is time to adopt the European model, and to set up qualifying training in social education, preparing people working with children and young people primarily as specialists by giving them the specialist knowledge and skills which they need.

If you agree, do something about it. It is time we had a childcare profession with real standing and influence. Tell your trade union or professional association to take action. Have a go at your employer. Learn about social education and social pedagogy. Visit childcare services in Europe. Take up the Social Education Trust’s offer of a scholarship. Join Caring for Children. Go to the next AIEJI Congress for social educators in Uruguay. (It’s in 2005, so there’s time to save up.) Whatever you do, get a grip, and don’t leave the future of your profession to “them”.

Or of course you can put your blinkers on, ignore what other people and doing and keep your head down.