Istambul, 10-13 September 2013
Parental Involvement: The Portuguese Task In TODDLER Project
Maria João Cardona (coord.)
Helena Luís; Isabel Piscalho; Marta Uva; Teresa-Cláudia Tavares
[email protected]
[email protected]
Students: Elódia Oliveira, Marta Calheiros; Soraia Cardoso, Susana Godinho.
Escola Superior de Educação
do Instituto Politécnico de Santarém
Porto, agosto de 2012
Summary
• TODDLER project and the Portuguese work package
• Methodology
• Some results
• Final considerations
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the
Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Show the educational potential of high quality education
& care in center-based settings for toddlers, in particular
for those from low education/low income/migrant
families.
How?
- Compare systems and approaches in 8 countries, identify areas of
improvement for each country
- Investigate and describe ”best practice” within 3 main areas of efficient ECEC
for toddlers at risk. Produce a collection of good practice justified by a
theoretical rationale for these approaches.
- Show how ECEC can: improve early learning of languages, enhance
toddlers’ well-being and improve parental involvement.
WP5 – Parental Involvement:
Portuguese task
Aims:
• Identify good practices of parental involvement and how to support
and engage families in formal and informal educational contexts.
• Create a tool – a “Teachers Guidelines Book” - to support students
and professional kindergarden teachers in the development of good
educational practices and to foster parental involvement in the
ECECs.
Stages
- Seminar (ESES):
Students, Kindergarten teachers,
children families , technicians and
specialists representing the social,
health and educational services.
- Interviews:
a) Needs and perspectives of the
families about the options available
for the caring of toddler’s.
b) Major similarities and differences
between countries.
-
«Parental involvement» definition
and an example of a good practice
working with families
-
2 Workshops: families and technicians
Conception of a guideline
book for teachers trainning
concerned on parental
involvement
(Portuguese and English
version)
DVD
“Open kindergarten”
focused on the parental
involvement (case study
in Norway)
Design
Parents
• State of art
“Parental
involvement”
All partner
countries
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• 2 Workshop
Reflexive
methodology
Health, social,
education technicians
and parents
• Local seminar”
• Vídeo
“Open kindergarten”
University of
Stavanger
• Teacher’s
Guidelines
book
Local SeminarSeminário inicial
Interviews - parents
Through:
Identification
of the
situation
Sugestions /
Alternatives
Family Needs
- Health Centers
- Educational Instituitons
(Creches)
- Social Services
PARTICIPATION /
PARENTAL
ENGAGEMENT
Relationship with
community
services:
education, health,
welfare
Examples of
good
practices
Services
difficulties
and
potentialities
Results:
Identify and recognise
typical situations
What portuguese families say
National Immunization Program
(children with 6, 15 e 18 meses)
22 interviews – Health centers:
- 19 mothers
9 family
2 nurseries (amas)
8 crèche
- 3 parents
2 family
1 nursery (ama)
What portuguese families say
CRÈCHE
• Overall, seems to prevail a good relationship and a good image, however, the
participation of the parents, seem to be punctual, though they relate their
willingness to greater collaboration.
•
They consider that the crèche offers:
- security and trust;
- interaction with others;
- support for the working schedules of the parents;
- specific training to take care for the global needs of the children;
- support for the work done by parents with the child;
- a good affective relationship.
O que dizem as famílias
CRÈCHE
(cont.)
portuguesas
•
Reasons for the selection of nurse/”ama”/crèche/home:
- protection and care of the overall needs of the child;
- economic factors / unemployment;
- Lack of options and /or vacancies in institutions;
- maternity leave;
- advice of others;
- 1 of the respondents reported not agree with the existence of or
nurses/“amas” or crèches.
•
All the parents expressed the need for more daycare centers, with more
flexibility (in the schedules) and more economic prices.
•
Unequal opportunities because of economic reasons.
•
They refer a good relationship: dialogue, no conflict, friendship with all the
staff and sympathy.
What european families say
•
The access to daycare isn’t a reality for all children.
•
Families have good representations, they feel informed and involved in the
life of the nursery.
•
They value the training professional training and the pedagogical quality
•
They value the learning that kids do with each other.
•
They reported that the daycare centers should primarily attend to the needs
of children.
•
The problem of the “schedules” is mainly placed in Portugal, where the
support conditions for motherhood and fatherhood are different.
Parental involvement
(partners contributions)
Kingston University
United Kingdom
“Early years practitioners have a key role to play in working with
parents to support their young children.”
(GB. DCSF, 2008, p. 6)
Artevelde Hogeschool
Belgium
“The different dimensions of parental engagement are the different ways/forms
in which this engagement can exist:
- Co-experiencing: being aware of the daily school life through
brochures, website ,...
- Co-acting: help with more practical matters in class or school
- Co-thinking: advising in the school policies
- Co-deciding: being part of the schoolboard.”
(Poppe, K. et al., 2011-2012)
HELMO UNIVERSITY
Belgium
“ (…) Showing respect to a child implies showing respect to his
parents.”
(Doeleman, 2012)
Timisoara University
Romania
“The Ministry of Education, Research and Youth has developed a curriculum for
pre-scholar children’s early education (0-3 years), that targets a new perspective
in education and refers to a parental involvement in an active partnership between
them and kindergartens. (…) There are major discrepancies between state owned
kindergartens and private ones regarding this subject.”
Schwabisch Gmund University
Germany
“(…) crèches have the duty to work together with the parents to assure a
well going development. They have to advise them in their educational
questions and inform them about their rights. They document the
development of the children and speak with the parents about their
observations (…). In most of these writings the parental engagement is
seen as an important field of the pedagogical work.”
ESE de Santarém
Portugal
“All form of parental educational activities with their children – at home,
in the community or at school”.
Teresa Sarmento (1992)
Workshops
• Two workshops were conducted based on the reflexive dynamics
proposed by the Danish team.
• Participants were: fathers, mothers, grandparents, educators,
nurses and special education technicians (early intervention) - all
from the local community.
• Major purpose was to triangulate needs, concerns, constraints,
potentialities and reflect on the concept of parental involvement. The
aim was to reach a broader definition grounded in praxis.
Methodology
key stages
• 1st: participants are divided into groups of 4-5 elements.
• 2nd: a definition of parental involvement is displayed and each
group should identify/select an experienced practical situation - an
example that can illuminate and enrich the concept.
• 3rd: each group share the “situations” to the large group.
• 4th: the trainers summarize the cases/situations and identify
common characteristics, trying to define the concept in relation to
concrete practices.
• 5th: the groups meet again and discuss the situations of other
groups in relation to their own – discuss the other cases, putting the
situation in perspective of the group itself, contesting it or confirming
it. The goal is to identify the different perspectives surrounding the
practice.
• 6th: now the trainers introduce new perspectives on the chosen
theme, combining theoretical knowledge with the ideas and
perspectives shared. These perspectives are used as tools to
question the concept in debate.
• 7th: The last part of the session is a final set of reflections to reach a
set of assumptions and considerations around the concept
analyzed.
Two workshops…
some conclusions about parental involvement
•
It is extremely important cooperation and coordinated work between
institutions and other educational partners.
•
The major educational responsibility lies with the parents
•
The major purpose of parental involvement are the children.
•
The engagement involves the promotion of some parents training.
•
Parents should be active partners and it is important: transparency;
complicity; respect and reciprocity.
•
It is important empathy and trust.
The two workshops…
some conclusions about parental involvement
• Communication has to be bilateral.
• We must work on the basis of common goals.
• We must create the conditions for the involvement.
Some examples of good practices from
european partners
•
United Kingdom
- First Steps - Programme to support Parents at Norbiton Children’s Centre:
the Early Years practitioners support parents in interacting with their children
and understanding what they are observing. Parents are encouraged to
look for the WOW! moments that their children have and what their children
have achieved through play and learning.
•
Belgium
- Strong investment in parental engagement through intense daily contact,
listening to needs and ideas oft he parents, inviting the parents tob e with
their child in day-care, regular meeting with the EYP of their children,
parents activities (f.e. having breakfast together, going tot he beach...)
- Offering a simple and concrete document is the first step. Parents can
then prepare questions and a dialogue can be created. This brochure
should be translated into the family language as a sign of welcoming and
recognition
• Romania
- The project aimed at a commitment of parents to dedicate 5 days
to show their unconditional love through various activities full of
love-showing tasks, at the kindergarten and at home: expressing
love towards their children through careness, services, time, gifts
and encouraging words.
• Germany
- A technique called ‘Ressourcensonne’ (sun of resources) which
collects all topics related to what the toddler is already able to do.
Parents and EYPs complete it together.
• Norway
- Open Kindergarten: The open kindergarten offers children and
their caretakers the opportunity to interact with one another by
receiving and integrating people who are usually at home with the
children.
Final Considerations
"The most common form of contact between parents and educators is to
provide information to parents, for example in the form of parent meetings
or giving them guidance and advice. Working with parents in other ways
and create a partnership approach is a systematic feature of providing
children in just a few countries. "(Eurydice, 2009, p. 103)
Despite government recommendations, unfortunately, this reality can’t be
found in all countries involved in this project. Alongside these contributions,
we are currently analyzing the data collected by other teams, including
Belgium and Germany, with descriptions of how families participate in
everyday contexts that take care of their children.
Final conference in Ghent 7.-8. October 2013
The TODDLER project will end with a big final conference in Ghent, Belgium
from 7.-8. October 2013. Early years practitioners, policy makers, ECE providers
and others are encouraged to join us for a stakeholders' conference and
workshops on quality enhancement in early years provision.
Vídeo
“Open kindergarten”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw0XewtuBpk
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
www.toddlerineurope.eu
The teacher guideline book
(1st draft)
1. Introduction
Contextualization of the document
The study of parental involvement – the task of the School of Education
of Santarém (ESES). Methodological lines
How to read this document
2. Theoretical assumptions
3. Issues that facilitate and/or block parental involvement in the
education of young children
4. Parental involvement definitions
5. Listening to the parents and the care helpers
6. Practical approaches: some examples.
7. How to evaluate parental involvement.
8. Final considerations: a proposal to work in the teachers training.
9. Some bibliographical references.
10. Other references for practical work.