Stage One: Formulating my research question

Lena joined the RESPECT project because she wanted time and space to reflect on her current work with families and how she might do it differently. In the first (introductory) workshop, Lena raised four concerns - conflicts - about working with parents. First, some parents’ view of Lena as the expert conflicts with her view of herself. Second, institutional pressure (through the QIAS) to involve parents conflicts with their differing views of their children, their needs and their care. Third, staff expectations that parents will disclose personal information conflicts with some parents’ experiences of being ignored. Fourth, staff expectations that parents will disclose what they really want conflicts with parents’ wish to make life easier for staff by not necessarily saying what they really think. These conflicts led Lena to formulate this research question:

Stage Two: Answering my research question

Lena decided to write to the parents she worked with to ask them whether and how they would like to be part of planning their child’s curriculum and what kind of information they would like to share with staff. In her letter, Lena included several questions ‘to provoke thought’, but emphasized that parents needn’t answer any or all of them and could respond as they wished.

1. How would you like to engage with staff within the centre? Why?

2. How would you like to be involved in the centre? Why?

3. How do you prefer to communicate with staff? Why?

4. Do you feel you have a voice within the centre? Why?

5. Do you feel your voice is respected by staff within the centre? Why?

6. Is there anything that you feel currently hinders your relationship/s with staff (individual staff members and/ or the staff as a group)? If so what?

7. Is there anything that you feel currently supports or otherwise positively affects your relationship/s with staff? If so, what?

8. Do you feel comfortable to approach staff for discussion of issues related to early childhood education and care?

9. Do you feel that you can respectfully debate or converse with staff about current practices within the centre?

10. Do you feel that you can question staff about current practices and the rationale behind them?

11. How (if at all) would you like to take part in the curriculum planning?

12. Other information, thoughts, ideas, opinions and/or knowledge you wish to share.

Stage Three: How have I changed?

Lena’s journey in the RESPECT project shifted her images of teachers and of parents. She recognised that her expectations of what knowledge parents should contribute to the service and to the program acted to control parent engagement. In particular, she questioned her use of Background Information sheets. Through Background Information sheets, staff make it clear that parents should disclose personal information because it can influence their children’s educational outcomes and future success. Lena recognised that staff ask parents for information about their private lives and backgrounds that some may not want to divulge - and that the staff themselves would find difficult to disclose. (In RESPECT’s introductory workshop, five of the twelve participants said that they never divulge personal information to parents!)

Ultimately, the parents choose whether or not to complete the Background Information sheet and some choose not to answer some of the questions or fail to return the form. However, staff don’t emphasise such parental choice - they just hand a parent a Background Information sheet and ask her/him to complete and return it:

What I thought I was doing was telling parents that I value their knowledge and insight; but actually what I was doing was telling them what I think is important for me to know and in doing so benefiting myself because it makes my job easier.

Stage Four: Where next?

Lena decided that she needed to spend time talking with families and colleagues at her Centre about Background Information sheets - whether or not to use them, whether and how to change them. She speculated about possible outcomes:

Are there any questions we shouldn’t ask (make parents feel uncomfortable)? Are there any things they just want … someone to know, but not everyone? Make sure everyone understands it is voluntary for them to provide the information’. … What kinds of information, knowledge, thoughts, ideas and insights would be shared by parents if staff weren’t telling them what was important information by using things like Background Information sheets? … Maybe we could use a blank page and each family could choose how and what to use it for? … Maybe we could ask parents something along the lines of ‘What do you want to share with us?’ ‘What do you think it is important for me to know (and) do you mind sharing this with me?’ Should parents have to disclose personal information ‘in the interests of the child’ and should staff expect it? Who benefits from this disclosure? Does this disclosure qualify as equitable communication that helps to build shared meanings of the child?’

Lena emphasised that lack of time (for herself, for parents and for colleagues) restricted her ability to explore her current relationships with parents and to consider other ways to work with them:

Time is always an issue. Time for thinking, time for reflecting, time for engaging with my colleagues and with the parents and guardians I work with. Time for documenting everything (according to the Regulations & Acts, the QIAS requirements, the policies of our organization, the things that I think are important to document).

Consequently, Lena was clear that any further exploration of her relationships with parents required time to talk with others and to reflect on her own understandings and practices: