Stage One: Formulating my research question

Amber joined the RESPECT project for two reasons. First, she wanted to improve early childhood education ‘from the ground up’; and second, she wished to undertake further study at some stage and was attracted to RESPECT’s focus on research. Amber was concerned that teachers’ images of parents can lead them (consciously or not) to silence parents and to prevent them from participating in a Centre. For example, Amber regarded the parents she worked with as ‘well educated’, so she hadn’t considered how she wrote or talked to them about the program. However, a parent at her Centre had told her that her early childhood jargon can intimidate parents. Amber began to reflect on what she called ‘inappropriate expectations of parents’ and this led to her research question:

• How can I understand what families’ ideas/ideals are for their child - especially without them saying what I want to hear?

Stage Two: Answering my research question

Amber decided to ask parents a question that was as ‘open’ as possible, reducing the chance that parents would say what they thought she wanted to hear. The question was:

‘When your child reaches the age of 21 and you are giving their 21st birthday speech, how would you like to be able to talk about them? How would you like to describe your child?’

Parents said that they thought carefully about their responses and had enjoyed asking what they wanted for their child beyond just the next couple of years. In their responses, many parents said that their priority was their children’s social and emotional development. They emphasised the importance of being ‘popular’, ‘respectful’ and ‘happy’; the importance of healthy relationships with a range of people; and of having good and supportive friends and family, i.e. ‘to love and be loved’.

Parents’ responses reinforced Amber’s belief that early childhood education was shifting its focus away from social and emotional development and towards educational outcomes:

Reading (their) responses has made me really think about and value parents. On the whole we all want the same thing. … It seems to me that over the 11 years that I have been in the industry the focus has shifted from being less nurturing/caring to more academic/learning. We seem to be far too concerned on academic development (at the expense of) other areas of development. Teachers are far more stressed - trying to impart knowledge, rather than relaxing enjoying being with the children and the children being with them. Thus, where is the nurture of the social/emotional child? Too busy!! Time!! Must meet tasks!! Need results!

Stage Three: How have I changed?

Amber’s journey in RESPECT enabled her to think about her professional priorities and whether/how they differ from parents’ priorities for their children:

Critical reflection – What is appropriate? Who am I to say? Made me question my own thoughts and expectations. Questioned myself and my practice. For me: rethinking, changing image of parents. For participants: asked questions to see parents’ expectations, values, morals; parents that were silent now speak more for children. Flow-on effects of parents/staff relations for children.

Amber recognised that there are many complex and diverse views of the child and that she needed to remember this when engaging with parents. Having said that, she felt that her unease about early childhood education’s move away from its ‘nurturing’ role had been vindicated:

‘How can I respect differing views of the child? Focus on … (the importance of) … social, emotional or relationships.

Stage Four: Where next?

Amber wanted her Centre (indeed, the whole early childhood field) to attend more to social and emotional development, building relationships and earning/giving respect. To add weight to her call to reassess priorities, she intended to create a poster of parents’ responses to her question and she also intended to encourage her Centre to undertake some in-house re-training in staff-parent relationships.