ECE631 – Early Childhood Education
Family Partnerships
Week 1: Instructor Guidance
Learning Outcomes
1. Describe why it is important to understand the diversity of families in early
childhood education.
2. Identify a diversity trend that impacts families today.
3. Examine how parenting roles impact children in early childhood education.
Overview
Welcome to this course! The ECE 631 course is such a dynamic course in the Master of
Arts in Early Childhood Education Leadership program because the focus is on the
development and on-going partnerships with families and communities surrounding early
childhood education programs. The role that an early childhood education professional
plays in the lives of the children they care for is monumental. Positive and effective
interactions and relationship with families and communities can further support this. As
you begin this course, you are asked to reflect on these partnerships with your future role
in mind. This week you will explore the importance of understanding the diversity of the
families you work with, what families value in home-school partnerships, how to
overcome potential challenges and how to foster family partnerships. Additionally this
week will be the beginning of a culminating project, in which you will create a Family &
Community Partnership Guidebook.
Weekly Vocabulary
Code of Ethics: NAEYC guidelines to guide ethical behavior of professionals
Culture: Understandings, values, beliefs, traditions, backgrounds and practices of social
groups
Diversity: Differences in family structure, race, religion, socioeconomic class, language,
ethnic background, etc.
Demographics: Statistical data of a specific population
Essential Learning
The actual practice of educating children is a complex one where there are so many
individuals in a child’s life that have a crucial role in positively supporting their
development. As an early childhood educator, it is crucial that a relationship is built and
maintained between families, educators and communities for the purpose of effectively
supporting young children. Developing and maintaining these relationships is founded on
a solid system of communication and interactions with families for the benefit of the child.
It is crucial that early childhood educators become skilled in building family and
community relationships so that children have the greatest support. As the world
continues to increase in diversity, these communication skills are the foundation from
making these relationships work effectively. Educators must be prepared to properly and
effectively support families whose culture, language, and beliefs, may be different from
their own. This awareness and building of cultural competence by an educator is a crucial
skill in today’s diverse society to be an effective educator.
Diversity
Each family, classroom, and unit within our society has
various diverse needs and compositions. As an educator, we must be sensitive in
understanding each of the children and families in our environments so that we can
respect and support each appropriately. As we recognize these authenticities, it is crucial
that we value each and every one as uniqueness, not as a difference. It is likely there will
be cultural, linguistic, religious, and class diversities that we will face within our settings.
As an effective educator, it is crucial that these are recognized, valued, and respected as
well as used as an individual components of the greater environment. Educators and
families should come together to build relationships using effective communication,
respect for diversities, openness to ideas, and an overall philosophy of acceptance. With
this awareness, educators are able to effectively design relationships, daily practices,
activities, as well as experiences for the future. These diversities are an opportunity to
celebrate the uniqueness’s of each individual family and child and show how these
differences are an amazing part of our society. Our educational environments can become
a setting where all the diversities are not only accepted, but they are applauded.
Our Families
Our families today truly have one of the toughest jobs out there. Raising children is such
an amazing experience; however, also one that can be truly difficult at times. It is
important for educators to consider the job of families as well as how relationships and
interactions can be developed to positively support these. Educators have an opportunity
to reflect on how to build and maintain relationships with families to positively benefit the
child, both within and outside the educational setting. Families and parents have specific
needs, experiences, background, beliefs, values and motivations. It is important for
educators to understand, respect and value these while developing open and honest
relationships with families. Understanding family frameworks and how they are a crucial
part of a child’s upbringing is essential for educators in getting to know the families and
children in their environments. A foundation of mutual respect, understanding, and
acceptance will truly build the communication and partnerships between families,
educators, and communities.
It is important to consider the word ‘family’. Today’s families are greatly diverse and can
include many different structures and compositions. In addition several values, customs,
cultures, and lifestyles are present within our families. Our relationships, communication,
and interactions need to be respectful regardless of the family structure present. We must
find ways to reach each and every family regardless of the setting or structure present. As
educators we need to be aware of these structures, and find ways to overcome the
challenges that we may face so that we can form relationships with each and every family.
The demographics in our families today include several stressors and obstacles that we
face in modern day society. It is important to stay motivated on building positive and
effective family partnerships so that the family and educator are working cohesively to
positively support the child.
Parenting
Parenting today continues to be a very complex task that
involves numerous roles, relationships and responsibilities as the child grows and
develops. Parenting roles can exhibit a plethora of diversities ranging from a very active
parent to a very passive parent. Several roles are presented and crucial for educators to
understand. As an educator, we must remember our professional role in working with
families and always be mindful of effectively utilizing this role. It is also crucial that we
recognize the role of parents and how we can effectively bridge the two. Regardless of the
role parents choose to employ, educators must maintain neutrality and provide support
for parents in a professional way. Various parenting styles and interactions are likely to
be present in your environments and as an educator we want to ensure that we are
providing a professional level of support. Maintaining neutrality and respect, as well as
providing supportive resources is very common to ensure that educators can support
parents while preserving their role as educator. One of the greatest thing educators can
do for parents is show them that they genuinely care and are concerned for their child.
Week 1 Assessment Guidance
Please read the specific assignment instructions for a complete list of requirements. This
section serves as a helpful hint resource to support your assignment development. It is
crucial that you read the complete instructions in addition to this additional guidance.
Discussion: Post Your Introduction
This assignment serves as the start of your voluntary participation in a social network, if
you so choose. Your introduction for this course helps others get to know who you are, so
feel free to share what you are comfortable with. For your introduction, please tell where
you live as well as an example of a family or community partnership you have had. Let’s
get ready for this course by also sharing something that you are excited about! The fun
part of this discussion is the professional learning community as this is your opportunity
to join the LinkedIn social network and start communicating with others in the early
childhood field. This is a choice, but we feel you will have a great benefit to joining.
Discussion: Understanding Diverse Families
For the next discussion, you will explore several diverse
families that could possibly be in one of your current or future early childhood settings.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children is an incredible resource
that you will find yourself using throughout your career. As we build family and
community partnerships, we need to ensure that they are reciprocal, respectful and
collaborative. For this, review the NAEYC program standards, as well as the case studies
presented in the textbook so that you can identify types of diversity that might be evident
in your families. You will then describe why is beneficial to understand these diversities so
that you can support children and families effectively. As you consider your own cultural
competence, reflect on how you can support diverse families in your role as an early
childhood education professional. Think about and describe two ways that you can
celebrate the diversities so that families truly feel respected and valued. Please be
specific with your suggestions so that it is clear how your strategies will support and
ensure your families feel valued.
Discussion: Diversity Trends in Families
For discussion three, you will examine several trends in our society today. As an educator
you serve a great role in the lives of your families. You must recognize and respect these
diversities, so that you can properly support each and every family. It is likely that you will
have several different family structures in your environment. While you must maintain
neutrality with these, you must also support each in an individualized way so that families
feel respected and children are supported. As we consider these families, our awareness
will help determine how to effectively support them. You may either choose the role of an
educator, professional, or an administrator. Please describe how you might support a
family structure present in your classroom. Consider the challenges and obstacles you
may face and how these can specifically impact the family. After you reflect on these, you
will develop five specific ways that you can support the family. Think about these as action
steps that you will complete to show your support to the child and the family.
Assignment: Children, Families, and Communities
Guidebook: Parenting Roles
This week is very exciting as it is the first week of the development of your Children,
Family, and Communities Guidebook. This activity is started in Week 1 and will continue
throughout the course, to finally be presented in Week 6. A thorough explanation of this
assignment can be found under the assignments tab. This week the section will focus on
Parenting Roles. Seven roles that families play in modern-day parenting have been
explored throughout the week and for this assignment you will develop a section focused
on how each role impacts a child. Your newsletter will summarize the roles, and explain
how the roles impact the child. You will end with resources to support each role. Please
write your newsletter so that you can use it in your future role. Please review the
assignment description for more in-depth requirements.
Additional Resources
Knopf, H., & Swick, K. (2008). Using Our Understanding of Families to Strengthen Family
Involvement. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35(5), 419-427. Retrieved from
http://library.ashford.edu/
Lutton, A. (2011). Using the New NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards. YC: Young
Children, 66(2), 78. Retrieved from http://library.ashford.edu/
The National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2005). NAEYC Code of Ethical
Conduct and Statement of Commitment. Retrieved from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf
The National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2007). The 10 NAEYC Program
Standards. Retrieved from http://families.naeyc.org/accredited-article/10-naeyc-
program- standards
References
Gestwicki, C. (2016). Home, school, and community relations: A guide to working with families (9th
ed.). Florence, KY: Cengage Learning.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2005). NAEYC Code of Ethical
Conduct and Statement of Commitment. Retrieved from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf
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