Funded Research Project

Staff Parent Relations in Culturally Diverse Early Education Settings

Chief Investigator: Associate Professor Glenda MacNaughton

Funded by: ARC Discovery Project grant 2006–2008

Project Summary: The Australian federal government invests nearly $A1.25 billion annually in childcare and more than 1.6 million children attend some form of childcare. There is an international consensus that parental involvement in early childhood programs enhances their economic and social benefits, including improved educational outcomes, enhanced employment opportunities and increased social participation. This project increases the likelihood that an increasingly culturally diverse Australia will attain those benefits by offering a radical approach to improving staff parent relations in culturally diverse settings and helping to reduce the occupational stress often linked with those relations.