Introduction We can open up the possibility of a childhood of many relationships and opportunities, in which both the home and the early childhood institution have important, complementary, but different parts to play (Loris Malaguzzi, in Whalley, p.75). Gone are the days when teachers were thought to know what was best for young children and parents looked to their greater knowledge and training. Our understanding of the importance of early attachment and learning in infants and toddlers, much of which happens in the home, has raised the profile of parents’ knowledge of their child. Early years practice now focuses on exchange of information between parent and practitioner and a sharing of the care and development of the child. The huge variety of family life in the UK requires flexibility and fairness from settings as they encourage parental involvement and makes partnership both challenging and rewarding. Why is partnership with parents so important? The most important influence on children’s well being, learning and development is their home environment. (Guidance to EYPS Standards, p.60) For most children it is the parents who are their first teachers. In those early weeks, months and years of infancy and childhood, parents are educating their child, often without realising it. As Sandra Smidt writes ‘They teach children (without giving them lessons, having learning objectives or a system of stars and smiley faces) to talk, to walk, to dress themselves, to know who they are in the world and to express their ideas and emotions’ (p.137). Parenting approaches vary enormously according to culture, the languages spoken, the age of the parents, and the makeup of each family, but they are all, in their own way, experts on their child. This expertise is invaluable to early years practitioners. Margy Whalley, writing from the Pen Green Children’s Centre in Corby, explains that ‘without this information we could not provide the kind of supportive, stimulating and challenging curriculum to meet the cognitive and affective needs of every child’ (p.138). Whalley describes the exchange of information about each child as one of ‘mutual need’ between the setting and the parents (p.138). Developing a real partnership with parents allows practitioners to learn about the child as an individual and enables the parents to understand and value their own role as their child’s primary educator. This equal exchange and appreciation brings with it continuity of care for each child, as the amplification to EYPS Standard 31 states: ‘Young children do best when they experience a coherent approach at home and across all the settings in which they are cared for and educated’. Who are the parents? What parents do is more important than who parents are (Effective Provision of Preschool Education report (EPPE) 2004). Practitioners need to know who the parents are and to understand them in order to then fully appreciate the rich learning environments they provide for their children. Early years settings should be clear who they mean by ‘parents’. The EYPS Guidance to the Standards states that ‘in this guidance, ‘parents’ applies to mothers, fathers, legal guardians and the primary carers of looked after children; but there may also be other significant adults in children’s lives and other relatives who care for them’ (p.60). It is important to recognise all the adults who take on a parenting role in a child’s life. This can be complicated, for example when the father and mother are separated, or when the parents work full time and a child is dropped off and collected by a grandparent, aunt or childminder. Burnadette Duffy and Lucy Draper, writing about the experiences of working with parents at the Thomas Coram Children’s Centre in London, acknowledge the need to broaden the concept of ‘parent’: ‘our views about what constitutes a family and the roles different individuals take, need to reflect this, and, in turn, will influence the way we work with parents’ (p.151). Different approaches are required for different groups of parents – fathers may prefer to get involved on designated dad’s days, and parents who are learning English as a second language might find using a digital camera more accessible than recording their child’s experiences in a book. As well as opening partnership to the variety of significant adults in children’s lives, practitioners must also have an understanding of the social and cultural mix of the community in which they are based. This can mean challenging one’s own assumptions about different family set-ups, economic situations and cultural stereotypes. Smidt believes that practitioners should assess their understanding of parents and families of different backgrounds and characters and look for ways to get to know them better: ‘It is worthwhile examining your own attitudes to the parents of the children in your setting and seeing if you can honestly define parents who make you uncomfortable for one reason or another’ (p.141). On the same theme, Whalley admits that practitioner’s original thoughts about parents can be misguided: ‘Often the assumptions we made about children and families were wildly out of line with reality’ (p. 137). Breaking down socio-economic and cultural barriers and establishing an ethos of open-mindedness can be one of the most challenging aspects of building partnership with parents, but it is also one of the most enriching. While it is vital to understand and accept the diversity of people you are creating partnership with, it is also important to know what they have in common. It is widely agreed that whatever a parent’s background or family situation, they have aspirations for their child. Parents want to be involved. This was noted in a study in Blackburn in 2008, part of the Parents as Partners in Early Learning project (PPEL), which reported that ‘there should be no underestimation of parental desire to play a central role in their children’s learning’. This shared hope for each child forms a strong foundation for building partnership. What are the benefits of partnership? Parents and practitioners have a lot to learn from each other. This can help them to support and extend children’s learning and development (EYFS, Parents as Partners, 2.2). Benefits for Parents The exchange of information facilitated by partnership allows parents to gain a new perspective on their child’s learning and behaviour at home. Practitioners can share their knowledge of, for example, the importance of play, the establishing of schemas, or the early developmental stages, in ways that are accessible to different groups of parents. Demonstrating that what they do with their child at home contributes enormously to their child’s learning may encourage parents to see themselves as co-educators. It can also give parents a wider context to place their child in, as Duffy and Draper explain: ‘Practitioners bring a broader view of the different developmental stages young children go through, what is ‘normal’ and, perhaps, what is really concerning, and parents are grateful to learn from this’ (p.154). Encouraging parents to becoming more involved with their child’s learning and the setting can have very positive outcomes for them as individuals. Some may gain confidence or discover a new interest and become involved in the running of sessions for other parents or pursue other voluntary work or qualifications with children (Whalley). For many parents the greatest benefit of successful partnership will be the security that their child is being cared for and their horizons are being broadened in a setting that understands their child and the family. Benefits for Practitioners In order to really know the child, practitioners need to get to know the family. In the amplification tostandard 29 of the EYPS it states that ‘parents are the foremost and most enduring influence upon children in their formative years’ . Tapping into this wealth of influence gives settings information to support and extend each child. Something that a child says or does may make no sense until they have been observed on a home visit, or a picture has been taken by the parent, or the key person has had a quick chat with dad at the end of a session. Partnership also encourages settings to share what they know. Explaining a concept to others can help practitioners themselves to understand it better. As Whalley explains, ‘it is this process of sharing ideas about child development theories and also listening to parent’s detailed information about their own child that helps us to articulate our pedagogy more clearly’ (p.58). Building relationships with many different parents is professionally rewarding, but it also requires and develops specific personal qualities such as respect, flexibility, empathy, humility and self-confidence. Benefits for children When all the significant adults in a child’s life share the common goal of their well being, the child will feel safe and secure. As practitioners and parents exchange information the child becomes known and understood both at nursery and at home. This enables all adults to support the child’s learning and to nurture their specific interests. A parent who has found out about schemas through a film at nursery may view their child’s repeating patterns of play in a new light and begin to extend this type of play. The guidance to the Standards for the EYPS advises that sharing information with parents can encourage them ‘to raise their expectations of what their child can achieve’. On a more immediate level, there is the sheer joy and pride children feel when their dads come to a special session at nursery or when a granny or close family friend comes on a trip to the park. Benefits to the Community Early years settings serve a vast array of social, economic and cultural environments in the UK. They also vary in size, from a childminder who might support a parent by inviting them to see what kind of activities she provides to a children’s centre that offers group sessions on child development. Whatever form partnership with parents takes it enables links to be built up between groups of people: ‘Programmes designed to bring practitioners and parents together also bring parents together, reducing parental isolation and helping to build support networks in the wider community’ (Duffy and Draper, p.154). Building partnership with parents has positive outcomes for all. Even the simple exchange of smiles and friendly conversation will create a relaxed and respectful atmosphere. But it takes time to establish real and equal partnership, and for this settings need to focus on diversity, inclusion and flexibility. References EYPS Guidance to the Standards, CWDC Effective Provision for Preschool Education (EPPE) 2004 Parents as Partners in Early Learning (PPEL), 2008 The Early Years Foundation Stage, 2007, DfES publications Involving parents in their children’s learning, Margy Whalley, 2001, Paul Chapman, UK A Guide to Early Years Practice, 2nd edition, Sandra Smidt, 2002, Routledge, London Lucy Draper and Burnadette Duffy, in Contemporary Issues in the Early Years, ed. Gillian Pugh, 2006, SAGE Publications, London
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