Building partnerships with families.

Acknowledgment

I pay my deep respect to the first people of this land, who tended and cared for the earth beneath us for many years. I say thank you to them... the elders both past and present, and hope that we can in turn pass on to our young people respect for the land on which we play and learn, and to move forward into the future as one Australia... all together.

Commitment

• What is a partnership?

• Building and maintaining relationships

• Using communication to meet varying needs

• What’s in it for the child?

The Pretext

The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)“Partnerships are based on the foundations

of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes and build on the strength of each other’s knowledge.”

National Quality Standard (NQS) – Area 6“Collaborative relationships with families

are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children.”

DefinitionA partnership is an arrangement where parties,

known as partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.

Partnerships present the involved parties with complex negotiation and special challenges that

must be navigated unto agreement.

Partnerships are the foundation of our practice.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvnGwo2uetc

(From 0:56 – 3:27)

What makes a partnership?TrustMutual RespectHonesty & opennessShared responsibilityAbsence of rivalryTwo-way communicationListening & understandingEmpathyRole clarityAppreciationWillingness to negotiate & compromiseShared aims & goals

….RELATIONSHIP

Building relationships

We build knowledge through building relationships.

When we maintain relationships – it leads to belonging.

“A smile is the universal welcome.”~Max Eastman

“You never really understand a person until you consider things

from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk

around in it.”~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Conditions for Partnerships

1. Clarity

2. Confidence

3. Empathy

4. Competence

5. Connections

6. Commitment

Stonehouse & Gonzalez-Mena (2004)

Orientation Processes

• Set up initial meeting

• Gather as much information as possible

• Set up a series of visits – ‘play dates’

• Collaborate about environment

• Provide photos to family

• Set goals – use Inclusion Support Plan (ISP)

• Address concerns & work collaboratively

The hard conversations

• Draw on existing relationship

• Use screening tools- Parent’s Evaluation of Development

Status (PEDS)- Ages & Stages Questionnaires

• Keep communications open

Communication and respect

“We will not agree with everyone, but we should most definitely respect one another.

Respect is essential in all forms of communication.”

~Brooke Griffin~

Strategies for communicating

• Leave notes

• Provide written and displayed information

• Encourage parent contribution and input

• Gather updated information about children

• Hold interviews or planned discussions

• Keep issues in the open

• Stay natural and true

The Child in the Partnership

“Partnerships help us gain a deeper understanding of the

most effective ways to support children.”

~Kids Matter~

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Article 3 (Best interests of the child): The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

“Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We

need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the

better for us all.”

~Erik Erikson~

Considerations

Every child is unique

Every family is unique

Every situation is unique

Every relationship is unique

“Outcomes are better for everyone when parents and practitioners work in partnership on behalf of children

and share power.”(Stonehouse & Gonzalez-Mena, 2004)

Improving Outcomes

• Qualities of partnerships

• Building and maintaining relationships

• Communicating to meet needs

• The child in the partnership

The impacts of positive partnerships are a testament unto themselves.

“Often we are told by therapists, doctors etcabout all the things that H. can’t do. Not once

have we had a conversation with a staff member at KEEC telling us that ‘H. can’t’!

Every conversation was a positive one; encouraging, supportive and in the best

interest of H.”(Parent of a child with additional needs, 2016)

References and links• Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) (2011). Guide to the National Quality

Standard. Sydney, NSW: ACECQA http://www.acecqa.gov.au/Collaborative-partnerships-with-families-and-communities

• Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra, ACT: DEEWR. https://docs.education.gov.au/node/2632

• Strengthening Partnerships to Support Babies with Special Needshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvnGwo2uetc

• Making Links – A Collaborative Appraoch to Planning and Practice in Early Childhood ServicesAnne Stonehouse & Janet Conzalex-Mena, 2004

• Collaborative Partnerships with Families – National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program e-newsletter No.35, 2012http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/NQS_PLP_E-Newsletter_No35.pdf

• Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status – Royal Children’s Hospital Melbournehttp://www.rch.org.au/ccch/peds/About_PEDS/

• Ages & Stages Questionnaire – ASQ-3. Brookes Publishing Co.http://www.brookespublishing.com/resource-center/screening-and-assessment/asq/

• Kids Matter Professional Learning Topics, Component 3: Working with parents and carershttps://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/early-childhood/professional-learning/working-with-parents-and-carers

A collaborative project of:

Proudly funded and supported by the Queensland Government