MY MEd DISSERTATION - WORKING WITH PARENTS - YOUR IDEAS/QUESTIONS PLEASE

[butterfly]

Hi everyone!

My MEd dissertation starts in January and I have decided to use the theme 'Parents as Partners'. The idea is to discuss whether we can actually ever be 'partners with parents' and how we can truely involve parents in their children's learning.

I wondered if everyone wanted to throw (not literally!!) their ideas at me regarding working with parents! Any ideas welcome ie what works, what doesn't, what problems people have etc - so it might give me some ideas as to what to think about in my research! I may be calling on you guys in the future to fill out some sort of questionnaire but we'll see!

Thanks in advance for all your ideas!!

[Mrs Pootle]

Parents as Partners sounds a really interesting subject, there is so much to consider.
I am lucky that my parents are quite approachable, and so far I have not had any problems. I think having parents that were originally friends or even close aquaintences could be very difficult, as you would need to alter the dynamics of your relationship from friendship to a more professional basis.
Working with parents has to be two way, reading posts on here it is quite clearly disheartening for some childminders who send home daily diaries and then don't get any response from the parents.
I have asked for a questionnaire to be completed only for it to come back saying everything is fine. It's great to know the parents are happy, but sometimes you want some feedback so you can improve, or know where the parents feel your strengths are.
Good luck with your dissertation.:thumbsup:

[Donkey]

you could expand into partnership working full stop and then you can bang on about how childminders are the unsung heros and that we have to put up with been looked down on by every other childcare profession

sorry, got a bone to pick at :)

[sarah707]

I have a book 'Working with Parents' by Margy Walley at the Pen Green Centre.

I am happy for you to borrow it if you think it might be useful.

Just pm me your details :D

[Carol M]

Parents perception of care/education in different settings is interesting, you know,childminders are "babysitters" and nursery is"school".
Also how to get parents to understand the whole learning concept and how their expectations differ so widely. I think parents should be "educated " in childrens Learning and development. We all understand the "no time" scenario from parents and unfortunately economic conditions and poverty do effect the Parents as Partners theme.
Sorry, garbled !
Carol xx

[The Juggler]

with research it can be better to focus on one aspect of that area as it's so huge to try to cover everything. I would have a read around the theory of what makes up partnership with parents/why it's important hon, then pick the juciest/most appealing bit of theory to delve into i.e. attachments, education, improving ECM outcomes for children.

Or you could look at multi-centre working with parent partnerhsip and how CM's fit into that???

There is a programme started by Penn Green called 'Parents Involvement In Their Children’s Learning (PICL)' which uses video and schemas for childcare workers to involved parents in understanding their childrne's play and learning - that might be fab. check it out on the penn green website. I can explain a bit more if you want to chat - PM me for my mobile if you do:D

[jumpinjen]

My first ideas are that it works when parents are interested in it and want to contribute nut you are weeing in the wind if they aren't. Trouble is it is some of the parents that don't want to know that really SHOULD be getting involved as their involvement would make the most difference to their child...... as per human nature though it is easier for cm's and other practitioners to shrug and say oh well i tried instead of really finding ways to break through to these parents..... but maybe there isn;t a way? it would be really interesting to find out what the true barriers are and tackle ways of breaking them down instead of the usual government diatribe that focusses on non-english speaking families and 'hard to reach' families without any useful advice about reaching them.... cm's are right 'in' the 'hrad to reach' communities but we still struggle!

jen x

[Polly2]

hmmmm interesting topic - and a very wide one I agree!! I would be interested in whether peeps found involving fathers more difficult.

I have been reading how nurseries try to get more dads involved - personally I have not found it to be a problem.

I think parents in general need to feel like they are in control :rolleyes: (and I speak as a mum too!!) we need to find ways to involve them and their views so they feel more relaxed. Thats the key I think.

[butterfly]

Thanks everyone for your ideas - they basically confirm my own thoughts so I feel like I'm on the right track! The PICL scheme at Pen Green was what gave me the idea first of all and I bought that book too Sarah - thanks! To begin with I thought I'd just try that scheme with a parent and see how it worked but having read some of the Margy Whalley book I realised I might have to go deeper than that ie how to educate parents about learning and pedagogy, finding out more about them as individuals so that I can find a way to reach them all. Can anyone recommend any other books or documents?

[The Juggler]

Thanks everyone for your ideas - they basically confirm my own thoughts so I feel like I'm on the right track! The PICL scheme at Pen Green was what gave me the idea first of all and I bought that book too Sarah - thanks! To begin with I thought I'd just try that scheme with a parent and see how it worked but having read some of the Margy Whalley book I realised I might have to go deeper than that ie how to educate parents about learning and pedagogy, finding out more about them as individuals so that I can find a way to reach them all. Can anyone recommend any other books or documents?

i would have a look at the key theorists mentioned in the Whalley book hon and see if you can get/buy one of their own texts. Or look at her biblio and the titles in it and see what topics grab you.

Do you have access to Athens at your uni. On ours we had E-brary where you can access lots of texts on line. You can either use this to read and reference texts but it saves money too as you can look at the index/chapters and see if the books really give you the info you need before you go and spend £20 on a text.x

[singingcactus]

When we take on a child it is completely essential to work totally in partnership with parents. This means much more than having parents fill in the forms/boxes we want them to fill in, but becoming involved in a give and take relationship with the parents as well as the child. It requires that the carer makes plenty of genuine effort to see things through the parents eyes as well as the other way round. A lot of what I read displays an inflexibility in the care arrangements and mindset that get in the way of a true partnership being created. When a carer takes on a child with additional needs it is impossible to provide the best care and outcomes for that child unless a true partnership is achieved. This partnership is not all down to the parent giving what the carer wants, but also the carer understanding that the parent and family have needs too.