PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS

Partnership with Parents and Other Professionals in the Early Years

Partnership with Parents and Other Professionals in the Early Years

The essay is based on two parts each part individually address following issues; the first part of the essay analyses the effective communication barriers between parents, carers and multi-disciplinary team and the second part of the essay focuses the benefits and challenges of involving parents/carers in their children`s learning within the early years setting.

Analysis

Barriers to effective communication between parents and carers and the multi-disciplinary team

Communication with children is necessary to foster the social and interactive skills they will need for later in life (Desforges, 2003, 33-41). They form their ideas about the world and its development through giving and receiving messages from other children and adults. Early years settings are imperative to helping youth develop their communication abilities. Practitioners in these settings must support them as they learn and grow, overcoming communication barriers to help produce the best future citizens for society. (Desforges, 2003, 33-41)

Good communication between teachers and parents doesn't just happen. It requires special skills on your part skills such as good listening techniques, tact, kindness, consideration, empathy, enthusiasm, and an understanding of parent-child relationships. No matter how you interact with parents and the community at large through conferences, telephone conversations, e-mail, written notes or reports, lobbying or fund-raising efforts, working together in the classroom good communication and interpersonal skills will enhance your efforts.

Often the relationships that develop between parents and teachers are negative. On the teachers' side of the relationship, Ellen In the teachers' lounge parents are often spoken of negatively; if the word “black” or “woman” were substituted for “parent,” many of the comments would seem racist or sexist (Desforges, 2003, 33-41). On the parents' side of the relationship, many parents enter school assuming that teachers will ignore their concerns and alienate them from the classroom. This article will focus on four main topics: 1) why the family-teacher relationship is important, 2) the barriers to a better relationship that require attention, 3) valuable methods of communication, and 4) how teachers may embrace differences among families.

Family-teacher relationships can be complex and include many different areas such as the teacher's relationships with the children; the teacher's relationships with the children's families; the teacher's relationships with colleagues; and the teacher's relationship with the community (Draper, 2006, 52-71). Often, early childhood teachers attend only to their relationships with the children. Yet, our ability to teach children expands past the children and includes family, colleagues, and our own community. By involving all of these components we create a rich environment for our children and serve as models for the children to create positive relationships with other people. Family-teacher relationships are essential for learning about the children from an additional and valuable source, promoting children's emotional health, and helping children deal with difficult problems that may have lifelong consequences (Draper, 2006, 52-71).

Families and teachers each have unique knowledge about a child. How will the teachers and families see the “whole ...