Forging Strong Alliances with Parents - Essay Example

Forging Strong Alliances with Parents I have always envisioned early childhood centres to be places where families can converge and do activities with their children in a fun and educational manner. Cagliari, et al. (2004) presented a quote in their article that reflects this vision of mine, “This idea of participation therefore, defines the early childhood centre as a social and political place and thus as an educational place in the fullest sense” (Cagliari, P., Barozzi, A., & Giudici, C., 2004, p. 29). This quote was written in the context of Reggio Emilia schools in Italy where parents and families are considered very much part of the schools because historically, it was actually parents of the town that built the school. Up to now, they are recognized as collaborative partners in planning school activities, together with teachers, the students and the wider community. Democratic practice is evident as teachers, parents and even children share power equitably and each is given the acknowledgement and respect he or she deserves. Parent participation comes in the form of “providing necessary information about the child, providing resources and attending special events to active participation in decision-making” (Styles, 2000, p. 5). If parent participation in schools in strong in Italy, the same is desired for New Zealand and for anywhere else in the world. It would be ideal if parents not only “take part” in early childhood programs but to “be a part of” such programs. In this sense, parent involvement is elevated to parent partnership with the school or children’s center. I believe partnership is a collaboration of parents and teachers/child workers as equals with regards to planning the early childhood program for children. Partnership thrives in a committed, cooperative relationship characterized by reciprocity, respect, trust, effective and lasting communication, empathy, listening, power sharing, all in the name of fulfilling shared goals. In this case, the goal of such partnership is to provide the best way to facilitate the children’s growth and development in all aspects, and to maximize their potentials based on a shared pedagogy of the parents and the teachers/ child workers. Parent partnership is advocated by Te Whaariki, as it lists ‘family and community’ as one of its key principles. Its strand of Mana Whenua or Belonging ensures that children and their families feel a sense of belonging in the children’s center (MOE, 1996). In my place of work, parents are considered important resources in our early childhood program. They are aware that they can be called upon anytime to help facilitate children’s development with the collaboration of the school. Evidently, Te Whaariki is one reflection of how the government gives importance to educational partnership with parents. There is a mandate that requires ECE services to establish and sustain collaborative partnerships with parents/ guardians and whänau. The collaboration of the parents with the teachers/ child workers benefits all children, as their learning and development are promoted and extended in both home and children’s center/ preschool (Crown, 1996). “The strategic plan for ECE Pathways to the Future: Ngä Huarahi Arataki (Crown, 2002) devotes an entire goal to promoting collaborative relationships, including stronger linkages between ECE services and parents and whänau (Mitchell, Haggerty, Hampton, and Pairman, 2006, p. 4). Government initiatives to deliver high quality early childhood education to children obliges professionals in the field to comply with the highest standards in care and education for very young children and to forge strong partnerships with parents. However, Styles (2000) enumerates some obstacles in the formation of effective partnerships – “lack of time, busyness, lack of clarity about expectations, different priorities, staff turnover, and cultural differences” (p. 6). Personally, I would welcome more ideas and suggestions from the parents of our students because I believe they have greater wisdom about their own children. Together, I know we will make a great support team for the children. Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Model explains that the behavior and development of an individual is interplay of the individual’s biological and personality factors, his environment and the society and culture he was born into. (Brofenbrenner, 1979). The growing child moves through five systems that inter-relate and affect his development. The most basic of which is the microsystem, where direct contacts between the child and his immediate surroundings result in behaviors such as dependence or independence and cooperation or competition. An example of this is the home base of the child and his relationship with his family. Much influence is imbibed by the child in terms of how the family lives and this family influences are expressed in his developing personality. The mesosystem comprises the linkages and processes that take place between two or more settings with the child in common. A perfect example is how learning in school is supported by parents as they sing the songs their toddlers and preschoolers have learned in school or review them of basic lessons such as colors and shapes. The third level comprising linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings is the exosystem. This includes at least one setting that does not directly involve the child, but still influences the processes within his immediate setting. An example is the parent’s occupation. The workplace of the parent does not contain the child, but processes at work may affect his development such as the hours spent there by the parent may affect the parent-child bond or even the time a parent can participate in school activities. The fourth system is the macrosystem which includes the customs, values and laws considered important in the child’s culture and upbringing. A child from another culture may celebrate special customs and traditions from his culture apart from the special occasions celebrated in his host country. In New Zealand, the Te Whaariki curriculum emphasizes the celebration of one’s culture so native children show pride in their roots. Lastly, the chronosystem in Brofenbrenner’s Ecological model, refers to the time that transpires as the child relates in his various environments. An example is the change that happens to the child while he grows up moving from one system to another, like the strengthening or weakening of his cultural values, depending on the degree of influence from the various settings. Of course, it is ideal that the child’s family culture is maintained and does not get lost while becoming part of mainstream culture. It is crucial for the child’s emotional health to keep his cultural identity and family connectedness (Gonzalez-Mena, 2000). This reminds me of one preschooler’s grandmother who was invited to school to teach her granddaughter’s class a Maori song and play a fun, native game that she used to enjoy from her childhood. I was not even aware of that game, so learned along with the children. I felt like I was one of the adults in Lawrence’s article (2005) where a grandfather told stories to the children while the adults just stood as “peripheral listeners”. I’m sure they also learned a lot from listening. Going back to my story about the grandmother who was our special guest, the children were introduced to the native words and rules of the game and had an absolutely fantastic time with her! Her granddaughter was beaming and showed pride for her grandmother and the culture she shared with the class. From the foregoing discussion on Brofenbrenner’s theories, I see the implication that parent involvement in schools is highly encouraged because it bridges gaps between the child’s ecological systems. This strengthens my belief that the school should be able to consider all the ecological systems children have interplaying in their lives so as to come up with home-school programs that are effective. Besides, it can be a good source of information for teachers to learn about the children’s ecological backgrounds. Lawrence (2005) mentions how Te Whaariki acknowledges that children’s learning of begins at home and that should be the starting point of the early childhood curriculum. It begins “with the child and the knowledge, skills and attitudes that the child brings with them” (p. 16). Cagliari, et al.’s (2004) quote is especially appreciated especially now that more and more parents entrust their infants, toddlers and preschoolers to professional caregivers and early childhood education teachers due to the necessity of working outside the home. Lally (1995) emphasized the important role of a young infant’s caregiver. Parents and child workers should understand that their participation in the child’s life is crucial especially in the earliest phase of their lives. As early as in infancy and toddlerhood, a child is already forming a sense of self which is greatly influenced by the significant adults around him (Lally, 1995). Likewise, his neurological development rapidly progresses depending on the stimulation he gets from such adults (Brainwave, 2009). Lally (1995) enumerates some lessons infants and toddlers learn from their primary caregivers as follows: “what to fear; which of one’s behaviors are seen as appropriate; how one’s messages are received and acted upon; how successful one is at getting one’s needs met by others; what emotions and intensity level of emotions one can safely display and; how interesting one is” (Lally, 1995, p. 61). These important early learning come from the child’s encounters with his parents or caregivers so they must work together in order to enhance such learning by openly sharing their knowledge about it. The continuity and consistency of care should flow from the home to the caregiver and back. This way, the identity formation of the infant is strengthened, along with the cultural influences from both parents and caregivers. That is why open communication regarding child care and child rearing should prevail between parents and professional caregivers/ teachers. Hughes & MacNaughton (2000) have identified some attitudes of both teachers and parents that become constraints in the establishment of strong partnerships. Educators perceive themselves to be ‘experts’ in the field, gaining their knowledge from their education, training and experience with young children. Some can be arrogant that they tend to “other” or subordinate parental knowledge (Hughes & MacNaughton, 2000). On the other hand, parents view child development as “individualized and applicable only to specific children (p. 243). For parents, they know their children best, so they communicate to their children’s child workers what they believe is best based on their knowledge of their own children. In truth, there are some programs that patronize parents such as the Parents As First Teachers (PAFT) that advertise parents are the first and most important teachers of their children, but on the underside, it promotes the organisation as providing support to parents by sending trained parent educators to share information, practical tips and specific guidance in their child rearing. Such double-talk may not be obvious to the public, but there is an internal conflict and irony in such advertisement. Hughes & MacNaughton (2000) observe, “Ironically, the PAFT programme simultaneously celebrates parents as teachers and subordinates parental knowledge to professional knowledge. It calls parents ‘first and most important’, but promises them ‘guidance’ on how to teach their children” (p. 250) I believe that for both parents and teachers, it is important to see each other as equal partners with different expertise in knowledge about children. That way, they will see each other’s perspective as valid. This is consistent with Habermas’ (1970) view of consensus in the case of agreement and compromise of both camp’s knowledge or Lyotard’s (1984) view of disensus. Teachers, who are learned and have taken up courses in early childhood education may claim that they possess scientific knowledge which is superior to parents’ anecdotal and narrative knowledge of their children. However, Lyotard (1984) gives credence to parental narrative knowledge as the truth even if it is not immanent in professional practice. One’s subjective knowledge has value in the expression of truth. Hughes and MacNaughton (2000) contends that disensus may still result in positive outcomes or develop new perspectives when both camps stand firm on their beliefs and still see the point of the other party (Hughes & MacNaughton, 2000). I believe both consensus and disensus may both bring about positive outcomes if both parties set aside their personal concerns and ego in terms of knowledge about the child and prioritize what is best for the child. Engaging in further discussion about the child concerned may bring about developmentally-appropriate plans specific to the child. To illustrate, if a mother knows that her toddler has a special fear of insects and communicates this to a teacher who is already planning a unit on garden animals, then both of them can think up of alternative activities for the toddler, or introduce steps to help the toddler overcome his fear of insects. That way, he is able to participate with other children in the special activities prepared for them by the teacher. This becomes an example of a ‘healthy’ way to develop a strong parent-teacher partnership because both their viewpoints are heard and respected. Strengthening partnerships between the school/ children’s center and the parents is vital in any early childhood program. On the side of the school, it needs to create ways to strengthen the home-school link to update parents of what is happening to their children in school through the children’s narrative record, monthly newsletters, a website or blog of the school or the particular class of the child, parent-teacher conferences and parent seminars given by the school. These provide opportunities for the school to disseminate information about the child or news about the class or school activities. It can also serve as a venue to educate parents on pertinent education news or information that would help them in the proper care and rearing of their children. Teachers may also provide tips and suggested activities that parents can do with their young children such as arts and crafts or simple experiments as well as lyrics to songs (Decker et al, 2009). On the other hand, parents are always welcome to raise their concerns, questions or complaints regarding their children. They are free to call the school, write a note or schedule for a parent-teacher conference. Parents also take part in many decision-making processes regarding their children. Cagliari et al.’s (2004) quote supports strong partnerships that are established and formed between the centre and the home of the children. With these, learning, growth and development thrive for everyone – children, parents and childcare professionals! References Brainwave (2009) The Neuroscience Data on Childcare. Retrieved on April 8, 2011 from http://brainwave.org.nz/995/#more-995 Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Cagliari, P., Barozzi, A., & Giudici, C. (2004).Thoughts, theories and experiences for an educational project in participation Children in Europe, 6, p. 29. Crown. (1996). Revised statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices (DOPs) for chartered early childhood services in New Zealand. The New Zealand Gazette, 3 October. Crown. (2002). Pathways to the future: Ngä Huarahi Arataki. Wellington: Crown. Decker, C. Decker,J., Freeman, N. and Knorpf, H. (2009). Planning and administering early childhood programs (9th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2000). Multicultural issues in child care.Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company. Habermas, J. (1970) Towards a Theory of Communicative Competence, in H. Dreitzel (Ed.) Recent Sociology No. 2 – Patterns of Communicative Behaviour. New York: Macmillan. Hughes, P. and MacNaughton, G. (2001). Consensus, dissensus or community: The politics of parent involvement in early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 1(3), 241-258. Library access, e-resource. ISSN 1463-9491 Lally, J. R. (1995, November). The impact of child care policies and practices on infant/toddler identity formation. Young Children, 58-67. Lawrence, R. (2005). Stories beyond the gate. The First Years. Ngä Tau Tuatahi, 7(2), 15-17. Lyotard, J-F. (1984) The Postmodern Condition: a report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press. Ministry of Education (1996) Te Whàriki He Whàriki Màtauranga mò ngà Mokopuna o Aotearoa Early Childhood Curriculum. Crown. Mitchell, L., Haggerty, M., Hampton, V. & Pairman, A. (2006) Teachers, parents, and whänau working together in early childhood education. New Zealand Council For Educational Research, Te Rünanga O Aotearoa Mö Te Rangahau I Te Mätauranga. Wellington . Styles, L. K. (2000). Posibilities for partnership: Empowering parents to participate. Early Education 24, 5-9. Read More