Parent Partnerships

I've mentioned the #EYTalking Twitter sessions on this site several times before (see previous post for details). This evening's discussion will revolve around the topic of 'Parents as Partners', which seems as good an excuse as any to look at the various reports and resources out there which deal with this area.

The good news is, there is plenty of simple, practical advice you can access. The Foundation Years website has an area devoted to Working with Parents, and similar information can be found on the Engaging Parents page of the Family & Parenting Institute (now merged with the Daycare Trust as the Family and Childcare Trust). If you prefer your information in booklet form, then Supporting Parents in Helping their Children Learn at Home (Daycare Trust, 2010) or Early Home Learning Matters: a Brief Guide for Practitioners (Family & Parenting Institute, 2009) are both worth a look.

Looking further afield into the research literature, there does seem to be a theme of 'what works' about the reports that are available. Some of these documents that have at least some relevance include:

• Do Parental Involvement Interventions Increase Attainment? (Nuffield Foundation, 2013)
• What do Rigorous Evaluations Tell Us about the Most Promising Parental Involvement Interventions? (Nuffield Foundation, 2013)
• The Delivery of Parent Skills Training Programmes (Family & Parenting Institute, 2010)
• Principles for Engaging with Families (National Children's Bureau, 2010)
• How can an Early Years Setting Encourage Parental Participation? (Learning Concepts, 2009)

If you want to know about how parental engagement is addressed in other countries, then there are a couple of reports which may interest you. International Perspectives on Parenting Support is a detailed research report published by the DCSF in 2009, while Making the Road as we Go (Bernard van Leer Foundation, 2005) examines attempts to build partnerships with increasingly diverse populations of parents and children.

And a few other items that may be of interest... If you have some time to spare and want to brush up on your knowledge, the OU has a freely available learning unit entitled Parents as Partners. You can find a good practice case study on the Ofsted website on the topic of Developing Effective Partnerships with Parents in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Or you may wish to look at a 2013 research report from the DfE entitled Parents' Views and Experiences of Childcare.

Next week's #EYTalking session also promises to be of great interest, as it is being co-hosted by the Department for Education, allowing people from the early years sector to address questions directly to the 'people in charge'. For more details, click here.

Answering the Child's Why

Archive film time again... Below is Answering the Child's Why, a 1951 film from the Encyclopedia Britannica offering parents advice on how to give a satisfactory response to most young children's favourite question: "Why?" Get past the dated voiceover and fashions, and what do you think of the advice given during the clip? Is it still relevant today, or have we changed our ideas about how best to engage with children?

Bernard van Leer Foundation

The Bernard van Leer Foundation is an international organisation with a mission to "improve opportunities for children up to age 8 who are growing up in socially and economically difficult circumstances." While I've previously linked to the occasional report on their site, I thought that as it's a slow news day, it might be worth drawing attention to some of the resources available on their website, all of which are free to access.

 From a research point of view, the most interesting part of the site is the Publications area. You can search or browse through the various documents in a number of ways, though my personal preference would be to browse by series. Among the series that the Foundation publishes are a collection of Working Papers - recent topics covered include Children's Right to Play and Fostering Language Acquisition in Daycare Settings - and Early Childhood in Focus, which is published in collaboration with the Open University, and examines recent research on key policy issues. Recent titles in this series include Supporting Parenting and Effective Early Childhood Programmes. The biannual journal Early Childhood Matters is also worth a look.

If you'd prefer printed versions of the Foundation's publications, you may order up to five copies free of charge.

Where Now for UK Parenting?

Today sees the beginning of Parents Week, an annual event run by the Family & Parenting Institute. To mark the occasion, the charity has invited 30 leading commentators and academics to examine parenting from a range of perspectives, and you can read their thoughts and contributions by clicking this link.

New from the Department of Education

A new batch of reports have just been released by the Department of Education. There are too many to list all of them here, but here's a pick of the titles that this site's users might find most relevant:

• The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2010 gives a very detailed overview of provision of these services in England. A summary of the main findings can be found here.
• Childhood Bereavement: A Rapid Literature Review is a useful introduction to the issues surrounding children's grief.
• Review of Best Practice in Parental Engagement examines the effectiveness of interventions aimed at supporting and improving parental engagement in the education of children aged 5-19.
• A Profile of Teachers in England from the 2010 School Workforce Census contains information on the teacher workforce, covering topics such as pay, ethnicity, gender, performance, qualifications and much more.

A full list of the Department of Education's publications is available here.

Parenting

A lot of debate concerning the UK riots over the past few days has focussed on the ages of those involved, and the fact that many of them appear to be schoolchildren. In particular, there have been plenty of discussion articles on the role of the parents of those involved such as 'Being Liberal is Fine, but We Need to be Given the Right to Parent', as well as this piece from an employee of the Parenting UK charity. Unsurprisingly, there are strong views on all sides.

The impact of parenting styles on a child's development and life chances has been an area that's attracted a lot of interest in recent years, so it's worth looking at what some of the research actually says. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has carried out a lot of work on this topic - take a look at Parenting and the Different Ways it can Affect Children's Lives for no less than 7 reviews of research on different aspects of parenting.

Other reports come from various sources. Only last month the think tank CentreForum published Parenting Matters: Early Years and Social Mobility, while in January the Demos think tank released The Home Front, which investigates the links between low incomes and parenting styles. Looking back a little further to 2007, the Centre for the Wider Benefits of Learning authored Parenting Behaviours and Children’s Development from Infancy to Early Childhood.

Quite a few studies regarding this area were also carried out by the previous government. Picking out the most useful ones is difficult, but readers may find The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievements and Adjustment: A Literature Review and Family and Parenting Support in Sure Start Local Programmes of interest.

If the above just seems like too much reading(!), the Parentchannel website is full of free videos with advice on good parenting techniques. Or for a different take on things, you may want to watch a 2008 video from Teachers TV entitled Teaching Respect and Manners, which examines how Japanese schools encourage good citizenship in children from an early age.

For further links to resources on parenting, have a look at my 'Parents' bookmarks on the Delicious site, though be aware that some of the older links may no longer be working.

Parenting Matters: Early Years and Social Mobility

A new report from the CentreForum think tank contains for promoting important parenting skills, through the use of a 'five a day' approach. Such activities might include regular playing and talking with a child, and ensuring that they are fed nutritious food. The basis for such advice stems from the report's key assertion that "what parents do is ultimately more important than who parents are."

The full text of Parenting Matters: Early Years and Social Mobility is online now. The issues raised by the report were also discussed on this morning's Today show on Radio 4.

New DfE Research

The Department for Education tends to release a batch of research reports at the end of each month, and the latest ones have just been published. There are too many to list all of them here, but some of the new material which seems particularly useful is linked below. Remember that if the prospect of reading a 100+ pages report is too daunting, then the executive summary will give you a quick flavour of the content!

• Evaluation of Every Child a Writer: Report 1
• Evaluation of Every Child a Writer: Report 2
  
• Evaluation of Every Child a Reader
• Parenting Early Intervention Programme Evaluation

The complete Publications section of the DfE website can be found here.

All the News that's Fit to Print...

Today's update is something of a mish-mash, with details of various new items of interest...

• Removing Barriers to Literacy is an Ofsted report which investigates approaches that can improve practice in literacy. To compile the report, inspectors visited a range of different settings with a track record in enabling children and learners to make good practice.

• The Home Front is a new publication from Demos which argues that the challenge of living on a low income can have a negative impact on parenting, and suggests policies to improve the support for such families.

• Ten Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them is an NSPCC booklet aiming to provide those who work in children's services with a summary of research which is relevant to assessing children's circumstances.

• The Right Stuff is a new magazine published by the Children's Rights Alliance for England. The title is described as 'by and for young people in the UK', with the aim of promoting young people's interest in human rights issues.
  

New DfE Research

Last week saw the publication of the latest monthly batch of DfE research reports. Here are some of the highlights:

• The Impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on Five Year Olds and their Families takes a detailed look at the Sure Start scheme, and states that it has offered health benefits for children who attend a centre and their families, although problems regarding school 'readiness' are also highlighted. A summary version of the report is also available.
  

• Towards Universal Early Years Provision analyses the take-up of children's services by disadvantaged families; it concludes that many such families do not access the full range of support available to them due to a lack of information.

• The Parental Opinion Survey 2010 investigates the opinions of parents on a range of issues regarding their role, support services and their children. Again, a summary version is also available.
  

Parenting Skills

The Family & Parenting Institute has released a new publication entitled The Delivery of Parent Skills Training Programmes. This detailed report reviews existing knowledge in this area and attempts to establish guidelines for good practice.

Bumper Edition for March

A round up of several new reports which have appeared in recent days:

• The DCSF has published its Staying Safe Survey 2009, covering young people and parents' attitudes around accidents, bullying and safety.
• Also new from the DCSF is a first evaluation of the Parenting Early Intervention Programme.
• The issue of the sexualisation of young children has made headlines in recent days, prompted by a Home Office Review.
• The National Deaf Children's Society (NCDS) has published new research into the provision of social care services for deaf children and their families.

Parentchannel.tv

First there was Teachers TV, then recently saw the launch of Social Care TV... now Parentchannel.tv is the latest new online channel with relevance to the early years and family sectors.

The free site is aimed at parents and contains short films on various aspects of parenting, for example the use of positive discipline, or helping with homework. The films are targetted at different age groups - (5-9, 9-14, 14-19), so parents with children of all ages should be able to find suitable advice on a given topic. Although the site is quite new, it already has an impressive number of films available, and it is endorsed by the DCSF and Parenting UK.

For a taste of the site, here's a clip about improving communication with younger children:

Fathering / Parenting

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has just published a collection of research reports which examine different aspects of parenting and the role of the father in contemporary Britain. If you have an interest in these topics or are considering a project in this area for your dissertation then they are well worth a look. Links to the full text of each report as well as summary versions are below:

- Understanding Fathering: Masculinity, Diversity and Change
(Summary)

- Understanding the Experiences of Asian Fathers
(Summary)

- Assessments of Parenting and Parenting Support Need
(Summary)

Another Round Up

Once again it's been a while since there were any new posts on here. This is because our visitor numbers tail off dramatically during holiday periods, but for those of you who are still making the effort to check in (thank you!), here's a list of new reports / research from the past few weeks. Rest assured that more regular updates will start again in September when the new term begins.

• Unleashing Aspiration is a new report from the Cabinet Office which investigates how social mobility can be improved in the UK, to give people from all classes the opportunity to achieve their full potential
• Ofsted have published a short report entitled The Impact of Integrated Services on Children and their Families in Sure Start Children’s Centres
• The House of Commons Children, Schools and Family Committee urges changes to disciplinary procedural procedures in Allegations Against School Staff
• SCIE have produced Think Child, Think Parent, Think Family: a Guide to Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare
• Safeguarding Children: A Review of Arrangements in the NHS for Safeguarding Children is a new report from the Care Quality Commission
• Ofsted have also published Support for Care Leavers, an investigation into which strategies and services can help these individuals to make successful transitions into adulthood and independence

The rest of the reports listed here are all from the DCSF:

• Outreach to Children and Families: a Scoping Study examines the impact of extended services within Sure Start Children's Centres
• Impact of Family Breakdown on Children's Wellbeing is a review of relevant literature published between 2002 and 2007; very useful as a source of references if you have an interest in this area!
• International Perspectives on Parenting Support looks at evidence from other countries (Denmark, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands) to suggest ways of improving practice in England
• Safeguarding Children from Emotional Abuse - What Works? is a useful research brief
  

Bumper End of Week Edition!

I've been at a conference for a few days, hence the lack of updates in the past week. So here's a round-up of what's been going on:

• Those of you with an interest in international issues should take a look at a new Eurydice report entitled Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe: Tackling Social and Cultural Inequalities, which contains detailed information about individual countries throughout the continent.
• Issues surrounding parenting of very young children are discussed in the Centre of Research for the Wider Benefits of Learning's Nurturing Parenting Capability: the Early Years
• Also on the topic of parenting, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has just published Work and Care: a Study of Modern Parents
• Finally, the House of Commons' Children, Schools and Family Committee has issued National Curriculum: Fourth Report of Session 2008–09, which calls for a slimmed down national curriculum that is designed from the learner's perspective.
  

Birmingham's Parenting Support Plan

Those of you working within children and family services in Birmingham may or may not know about the launch of the City Council's Integrated Support Strategy for Parenting; this follows on from a clause in the DCSF's Children's Plan (see previous post for details), which provides funding for two expert parenting advisors for every local authority.

Detailed information about the new strategy doesn't currently appear to be online(if it appears I'll post a link). However, you can read this article from Councillor Andy Jenkins who outlines the rationale behind the idea, while information about Services for Early Years and Childcare in Birmingham can be found by clicking here.

Parenting Policy Development

The Family & Parenting Institute has recently launched a simple but very effective online resource which should be of interest to most students, particularly those who are working on assignments related to contemporary issues. Entitled Parenting Policy - The Last Ten Years, the document is a simple ten page timeline of major government initiatives and policy in children's and family services since Labour came to power in 1997. This is useful in itself, but it also provides links to each of the various strategies and bodies described; well worth bookmarking!

Parenting

Those of you with a yen for parenting issues may be interested in two recent research reports from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation:

• Parenting in Ordinary Families: Diversity, Complexity and Change explores parenting in Britain in different social and cultural groups. The report is in two stages; Part 1 is a literature review looking at related material from the last decade, while Part 2 examples a sample of parents living in Bristol.
• Parenting ‘Mixed’ Children: Negotiating Difference and Belonging in Mixed Race, Ethnicity and Faith Families argues that we are now beginning to learn more about children who are brought up in such families, but know little about the parents involved. The report investigates a number of issues relating to mothers, fathers and carers in such situations.