Parents and families are children’s first educator as they play an important role into young children’s education and development. The term “partnership with parents” has been outlined as a “working relationship that is characterised by shared interest of purpose, mutual respect and the willingness to negotiate” (Pugh & De’ath, 1989, p. 34). This includes parents and educators coming together; sharing the process of decision making; outlining individual information and skills; sharing of feelings and recognition of individuality of families (O’Hogan & Curtis, 2003). However, OECD (2001) emphasized that partnership is not about being involved but instead it’s more about the educator sharing the responsibility for young children with their parents and taking the opportunity of learning from all the unique knowledge that different countries bring on board. According to Pugh & Duffy (2010) partnership can be identified by having parents involved in the planning of next steps for their child’s learning or being involved in the recruitment of staffs. As Lindon (1997) stated that partnership with parents is the fundamental part of enriching good practice in the early years. In relation to Aistear (NCCA, 2009) the responsibilities from parents and educators value each other’s opinions in order to benefit children. Síolta (CEDE, 2006) highlight partnership with parents takes a child’s best interest into account by being opened, honest and respectful.
The importance of working with parents
There are numerous of reasons why parents should be involved in early childhood education. According to the Constitute of Ireland, Bunreacht na hÉireann (1937) under 42.1 states that parents are the first carer and the primary educator in a child’s l...
... middle of paper ...
...ile the parent has difficulties on understanding the importance play has on a child at home. Before the twentieth century, parent’s had difficulties in living up to society’s image of a perfect parent which ensures a child’s intellectual, physical and emotional development was the first priority (Pugh & De’ath, 1989). Starting Strong III (OECD, 2012) agrees by stating the challenges involved the parent showing a lack of time constrains and motivation to engage in the setting. While it was found in Philips & Eustace (2008) study that parents were less confidence and had difficulties in communicating due to the unwelcoming environment of the setting. Therefore, it was essential that educators reconsidered strategies of approaching parents, allowing them give feedback and offer a range of flexible options in making partnership with parents ideal (Pugh & Duffy, 2010).
A significant facet of an early childhood professional is the ability to work with families. This however can be an area in which many professionals entering into the field can feel inadequate. In order to fully support all areas of a child’s performance as a professional it is critical to work with their families. In order to effectively work with families, you must be able to understand the diversity and complexity of families.
Sims, M. (1994). Early Child Development and Care. Education and care: Revisiting the dichotomy, 103(1), 15 - 26.
Parten’s idea of child lead stages of play would support JNTCP ‘behaviour that is freely chosen, personally directed’ as when the child is ready to progress they make the personal decision. It could be said that Parten’s job would have influenced the way she views play. Being a psychologist may have led her to believe that child led play is more beneficial for the child’s development as they are able to figure it out for themselves, thus making the child more independent. A teacher idea of play however, would be the opposite to that of a child psychologist, as a teacher would believe that adult led play is more beneficial for a child, as it can have a planned outcome and consequently better the child’s social, emotional and physical development. The Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY, 2002) research clearly states that there becomes a point where children need to be supported by an adult in order to further their thinking. Vygotsky theory of proximal development would support the teacher’s idea of child lead play. Proximal development represents the gap between what a child can accomplish alone, and what they can do with the guidance of an adult. Similarly, Bruner’s theory of scaffolding mimics the same idea as Vygotsky, the adult giving a helping hand to the child’s play to better their learning and
Ginsburg, K. R. (2006). "The Species of the World. " The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent–Child Bonds. USA: American Academy of Pediatrics.
Interestingly it was through this process of sharing our professional experiences that we established the central idea of our exhibition. We had determined that the importance of play in the Early Years was a theme that was often debated by parents, colleagues and policy makers. By choosing this as our topic we hoped to have an enhanced understanding of the historical implications of play in Early Years Education, resulting in professional competence and the ability to guide and mentor others on the significance of play. Rodd (1996) endorses this importance of Early Years Professionals having the skills to build, establish and maintain credibility in the fast-changing sector of Early Years.
Previously in Ireland the education side of child care was majorly under rated which meant more emphasis was placed on the care of children rather than promoting the potential of the developing child. Before the 1990’s children were cared for by mothers, other family members or neighbours and other child care settings were largely run by voluntary organisations such as Irish Preschool Playgroup Association, family support groups such as Barnardos. These services were created due to demand that was not previously needed, but they were unregulated. The Child Care Act 1991 was the first regulation brought into practice in childcare settings.
Moreover, since the family is the first window of the child, parenting style and its influence on children could greatly affect their understanding, attitude and school achievements. (Kordi & Baharudin, 2010). Furthermore, according to a report on The National Children’s Strategy Research Series, “the profound influence of parenting practices on children’s development has been widely documented and a large body of research literature in the UK, USA and Australia has focused on the links between parenting styles, parental discipline responses, child behaviour and children’s psychological well-being.” (Halpenny, et al., 2010). Dimensions of parent-child relations pertaining to the parenting styles, and the quality of a parent and a child have been found to have substantial implications for children’s emotional and personality development. (Goldstein and Weiner,
When working with children it is essential that all members of staff are aware of the different polices that the setting follows and they must also ensure that they correctly follow them in their own practice. There are many different polices to follow within the setting to ensure the safety and well-being of the children and also to ensure that practitioners are aware of polices that concern us and our rights. The framework that the setting follows is the EYFS, this states how children need to be cared for and ways in how their needs and requirements can be met based on their development stages. Good. It also consists of the seven areas of learning and outlines outcomes of learning which are expected for the different age groups within the setting. The demand for childcare has increased within the UK for due to different influences such as an increase in single parent households and government aims to ensure that parent’s find employment or training to support them with looking for jobs. To meet the different needs of the families the early years sector needs to ensure that they are fulfilling the requirements through providing appropriate services. Parents require suitable care for their children so that they are able to return to work, provide a setting for their child where they are able to learn and make progress with their development.
The skills a child learns throughout their first couple years of school are essential because they are the foundation for the rest of their education. Although preschool is not mandatory, this is where many young children first develop any sort of social and emotional connections. Now away from their parents and put in a new environment, social-emotional development can affect their behavior in school. Lily Sanabria-Hernandez (2007-2008) finds, “that children whose parents participated in the Peers Early Education Partnership made significantly greater progress in their learning than children whose parents did not participate." Sanabria-Hernandez points to the idea that we as parents are responsible to be active in our child’s education and
hardy, E. F. a. C., 2013. Early Childhood Curriculum. Hume Avenue Park West Dublin 12: Gill and Macmillan.
The support of a parent is the single most important factor in predicting success in school for young children (Bourquin). Parents who make it a point to get involved with the child’s education are communicating the importance of education to their child (Heffer). There are a variety of ways in which a parent can get involved. This can range from at home help and encouragement with homework, attending athletic ...
A lot of children have two main educators in their life; their parents and their teachers. Parents are their first educators, the majority of what a child learns in the first few years of their life is taught by their parents. It is only when the child starts to attend an early years setting that they start to learn from another educator. Both parents and teachers continue being a major influence on their children's learning all throughout school and for the rest of their lives. The parents and the child's school both have important roles to play in the child's education and should therefore work together as a team. Parents can get involved in many different ways such as; getting involved with the school itself by helping in the classroom or supervising lunch and break times, or for those parents who work in the day and cannot find the time to help at the school they can get involved by; reading to their child at home, assisting with homework and other learning activities, teaching them songs or nursery rhymes and letting them help with everyday tasks like cooking, baking and chores. This can be categorised as: Involvement of parents in the school life or involvement of parents in supporting the individual child at home.
Care and education have become a part of children’s daily lives in Ireland and England outside the home in childcare services. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory curriculum framework for children up to the age of five in England. It was first introduced in 2008 and on the 1st of September 2012 a new revised document was published. Aistear, published in 2009, is Ireland’s first early year’s curriculum framework for children from birth to six years of age. A curriculum framework is a scaffold or support for the development of a curriculum that can be used in childcare settings. A curriculum framework can also be used in partnership with parents when developing a curriculum. This paper will compare and contrast these two curriculum frameworks in relation to philosophy, content, pedagogical practices and expected/targeted outcomes for children. Due to the limits of this paper, it will only be possible to develop an overview of the similarities and differences.
De’ath, E. (2000, Sept.). Parenting matters—what works in parent education. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(3), 462-463.
Nóirín Hayes explains in her research paper Perspectives On The Relationship Between Education and Care In Ireland (2007), how demand for early years education in Ireland has increased in the last two decades for a multitude of reasons. Due to this growing demand for quality early years education the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) introduced Aistear as the early childhood curriculum framework for 0-6 years in Irish early years settings in 2009. Aistear was introduced as the curriculum framework which when practiced alongside Síolta, the quality guidelines for the early years settings environments (introduced by the NCCA in 2006), creates a nurturing and safe environment which caters to the individual developmental needs of each child within the setting. Aistear means journey as Gaeilge and symbolizes the learning process and search of knowledge as a journey. Aistear’s framework is based on four themes - Well Being, Identity & Belonging, Communication and Exploring & Thinking - as a means to develop the child in a holistic way. (Aistear principle and themes: introduction).