Family Learning to Inclusion in the Early Years

Theory, Practice, and Partnerships

Hazel Whitters

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351066600
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Using theory and practice to explore partnerships between professionals and families, Family Learning to Inclusion in the Early Years adds to current expertise through deeper insight into the complexities of inclusion within a specific context of family learning. The book presents inclusive practice which reflects the individuality of each child. Application of a therapeutic approach to promote, or to minimise, behaviour through self-regulation is demonstrated to the reader by illustrative examples. Hazel G. Whitters emphasises the value of supporting every child at the very beginning of a lifelong learning journey by activating the vocational skills of the early years' workforce.

Beginning with a discussion of the concept of family in the 21st century, descriptive scenarios help readers to link theory to the reality of daily practice in a clear and useful way. The book presents a generational cycle of development through a theoretical and practical perspective, and explains how practice can contribute to closing the implementation gap within a context of family learning and inclusion in the early years. It encourages exchange of knowledge and understanding on issues, prompting readers' reflection, re-configuration, discussion, dissent, argument, or agreement.

An essential read for any in the field of inclusive lifelong learning, this book will be of interest to academics, post-graduate students, and researchers in the field of early years' education, as well as those working within services.

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Families and the earliest years

Family

Comprehension of the concept of family has changed over the past 20 years: fractured, broken, split, single parent, unmarried mother, and absent father are historical descriptive terms which imposed disadvantage upon a family through implication of sub-standard parenting. Current understanding of family is associated with the ability and capacity to provide care, to educate, and to nurture a child by one or more attachment figures.

No longer is a family depicted as mother, father, and 2.4 children. Family in today’s society is regarded as the primary carers for children in childhood and adolescence, and potentially influential throughout the lifespan. Family may encompass a birth mother, birth father, step-mother or step-father, same-sex partners, formal or informal kinship care from a relative, foster-carer, adoptive parent, or a combination of these sources of attachment figures. The term of parent will be used throughout this book to represent the primary carer of a child. Bowlby (1979) promoted a secure attachment to a responsive adult as essential to a child’s wellbeing and to development. The ability and capacity to respond effectively to a child’s emotional, intellectual, and physical needs, and interests are key attributes to the role of primary carer in the context of a family, and secondary carer in the context of a professional. Research indicates that parents create a link between professional role and concepts associated with family (Whitters, 2009).

Formal family learning: legislation

The link between parents’ involvement and a child’s education was recognised formally in Scotland in 2006 through publication of the Parental Involvement Act (Scottish Government, 2006). This legislation referred to learning within schools, and it promoted parents as primary educators, integral to raising attainment. The 2006 Act identified three environments in which parents could potentially contribute to education within a framework. Emphasis was given to parents initiating involvement through the following links:

1. Learning at home
2. Home/school partnerships
3. Parental representation for example on parent–school boards

A review of this legislation 10 years later identified six ways in which parents could become involved in shaping and supporting their child’s education (The National Parent Forum of Scotland, 2017). It is interesting to note that a decade after the first parenting act, the onus on parental participation was linked to the professional bodies, in this case, schools.

1. Positive parenting: families should be supported by the school to create positive parenting environments in the home.
2. Services should communicate effectively with parents and promote relevant information regarding school programmes.
3. Services should facilitate the inclusion of volunteers to support children.
4. Services should create home–school links.
5. Services should seek out and action the opinions of parents in school decision-making.
6. Services should integrate families with local community provision.

Findings from this review identified that professionals and parents had an increased awareness of the importance of liaising together regarding children’s education and attainment. Data showed that this legislation did not encompass education in the early years of childhood, but a recommendation to address this issue has been forwarded to Scottish Government (2017b) at the time of publication.

The United Kingdom Nurture Network reviewed the nurturing approach in schools which responded to children’s social, emotional, and behavioural issues (Nurture Network, 2017). The authors identified that principles should be applied by pupils, education staff, and parents to achieve the most effective nurturing approach within this context of education.

Adversities associated with parental skills dominate the list of “common stressors” for children as depicted in this review; however, the assessment tool, in the form of Boxall Profile, is described and promoted as supporting teachers to understand and to respond to social and emotional difficulties of children in their care. It may be that teachers share their increase in knowledge and subsequent understanding with parents, but this aspect is not presented in the publication. It is important that these issues are clearly communicated at every available opportunity to reduce the implementation gap from research to practice: promoting academic and practice links.

Culture of family and community learning

The ethos of creating a culture of family and community learning was applied in Scotland within the Early Years’ Framework in 2008, and reference was made to the use of parenting programmes (Scottish Government, 2008b). This Framework represented a fresh approach as a concordat between Scottish Government and council of Scottish local authorities (COSLA) which focused upon early years and early intervention. The Framework identified 10 key elements for progress which had been informed by evidence collated through inspectorate. The data were used to assess and to evaluate potential links between parenting programmes, raising attainment in a curricular context, and identification of additional achievement. The focus, at this stage of guidance and legislation, was to support a child’s engagement with education by encouraging involvement in parenting programmes.

Additionally, the workforce skills, qualifications, and attitude are highlighted as integral to implementation of early intervention in the framework context. Attainment of children was representative of a positive outcome, and secondary output related to empowerment of families and communities. A future aim was to re-focus upon building the capacity of individuals through service provision as opposed to positive outcomes relating to specific interventions.

This is the first Scottish document which promotes professional attitude within the 10 elements of transformational change for a nation. The roles of voluntary and private sector early years’ services also feature within the 10 elements, and they are linked to innovative and holistic implementation. The term partnership is used in this context to indicate the necessity for collaboration between universal – health, education, and social work, and targeted services – voluntary and private sectors.

Professional–parent relationship – the therapeutic alliance

Knowledge of the professional–parent relationship, sometimes termed the therapeutic alliance (Rogers, 1990), has transformed the delivery of early years’ services throughout the world within a context of family learning (Cara and Brooks, 2012; Dalli, 2014; Scottish Government, 2016). The development of relational skills has been recognised as an essential component of practice (Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2009; Scottish Government, 2008a).

Research into the effect of multiple carers on children’s developmental progress identified a positive outcome of the professional–parent relationship as consistency in responses to children’s need by primary and secondary carers (Siraj-Blatchford, Sylva, Muttock, Gilden and Bell, 2002). The relationship is a medium which represents a mesosystem by creating links between two microsystems in the child’s daily life: the home environment and early years’ service.

The study was called The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Project (Department for Education and Skills, 2004). Findings were widely disseminated throughout early years’ services in the United Kingdom, and recommendations continue to be used to inform guidance materials for practitioners. The relationship has the potential to support transference of informational, instrumental, and emotional support from educator to developing person, the parent. This inter-personal human connection also has the potential to support transference of knowledge and understanding of the child from parent, as primary carer, to the professional, as the secondary carer.

Joseph (2015) emphasises the significance of this relationship as promoting value and acceptance to the parent. The effect of a therapeutic alliance is to encourage development of self-determination in a parent to support a process of change, and to activate the inner resources. Each person stores knowledge and understanding from every experience which influences the formation of perceptions, and interpretation of the world. Bowlby (1979) used the term inner working model. The use of this reference framework in executive functioning, and basic reactions to proximal and distal environments, indicates that the attitude and belief of an early years’ worker are significant attributes which influence actions, behaviour and emotions of the service-provider and service-user. Role-modelling by the professional, within the context of a relationship, is a potent source of learning for the parent, in addition to descriptive praise, and affirmation of progress.

Her Majesty’s (HM) Government also recognised the significance of working with families in the Early Years’ Foundation Stage of 2008, which was subsequently updated in 2012 (HM Government, 2008a, 2012). Parental involvement features in the Children and Families Act 2014 through association with child welfare (HM Government, 2014), and the Children and Young Peoples (Scotland) Act 2014 (Scottish Government, 2014). Insertion of aims and strategies into legislation can add to the impact factor of any concept upon practice and raise awareness which may increase the potential for funding opportunities to be sourced or directly offered by funders. In addition, legislation can impose accountability which is a factor in maintaining consistent good practice by individuals, organisations, local authorities, and throughout a country.

HM Government acknowledged the importance of consistent implementation of the Foundation Stage by presenting the workforce with a practice tool to evaluate and to respond to the needs of each child in a context of every child matters – the Common Assessment Framework for Children and Young People (HM Government, 2008b). Also, recognition was given to upskilling early years’ practitioners to practice effectively in six identified areas of expertise (HM Government, 2008c):

• Effective communication and engagement
• Child and young person development
• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
• Supporting transitions
• Multi-agency working
• Sharing information

The purpose of this publication was continuous professional development for practitioners in the field, and an opportunity was taken to promote the role and responsibilities of parents as integral to learning for the next generation. I have often observed a change in power within the professional–parent dyad following professional development, whether in the form of qualifications or in-service training. Service-providers may adopt a perspective of parenting expert either openly or subliminally. Research has indicated that a professional stance as parenting expert can cause tension in partnerships with primary carers which is based upon professionals merging their responsibilities and their expectations of parents (Van Houte, Bradt, Vandenbroeck, and Bouverne-De Bie, 2013). It is useful that guidance documentation reminds employees that parents should be respected as the primary educators of their children.

Implementation of family learning

Harris and Goodall (2007) linked parental engagement, defined as supporting learning in the home environment, to socio-economic status of the family and parents’ historical experience of education. The descriptor of “hard to reach” is used to represent families who operate in a context of adversities which may minimise engagement with services. This research promoted an important message to practitioners by emphasising processes associated with implementation of interventions.

Implementation can refer to the delivery by a service-provider of a parenting programme, and the participation processes of service-users, as parents. A review of international programmes identified cultural sensitivity as a facilitatory feature during implementation (Moran, Ghate, and van der Merwe, 2004). Cultural sensitivity generally refers to practitioner’s responses to the needs, circumstances, perceptions, and beliefs of the parent and child. Moran et al. described three different approaches which were based on their research data:

1. Translation – the parenting programme is translated into the home language of the participants. This approach could increase engagement and motivation of participants, but it may result in misinterpretation of ideas, actions, and context. An interpreter who is not trained to deliver the programme may not relay information to participants with the same intent or understanding as the facilitator.
2. Culturally adapted – the original values and principles in the parenting programme are adapted to take into account local cultural beliefs. These beliefs could relate to race, religion, sexuality, lifestyles, or range of other factors which affect daily living for participant group. This approach could create a strong link between knowledge acquisition, comprehension, and an increase in practical parenting skills. It may also result in the integrity of the programme being questioned, and could affect consistency of implementation between countries or local areas, and evaluation of data collection for research purposes.
3. Culturally specific – a parenting programme which responds to a local culture is created. Culture can encompass race, religion, belief, circumstances/lifestyle, and additional support for learning needs. This approach creates challenges in the creation of a culturally specific programme which is based upon research evidence, adheres to the demands of funders, and can be sanctioned by a local autho...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Families and the earliest years
• 2 Special needs to inclusion
• 3 Leading the workforce: practice to policy
• Index