Global Studies of Childhood
ISSN 2043-6106

CONTENTS [click on author's name for abstract and full text]

Challenging the Notions of Partnership and Collaboration in Early Education: a critical perspective from a whānau class in New Zealand

FLEUR HARRIS & BALJIT KAUR University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.4

In the 1970s, New Zealand’s Māori leaders and academics successfully sought the revitalisation of culture and language through education. A Māori immersion education system emerged exemplifying school–community partnership and collaboration, and in the milieu of expansion, the whānau class emerged as an education option for children. In this context, families of children aged between 5 and 12 years are placed together in one class and the language of instruction is usually bilingual – Māori and English. A case study of such a class is presented in this article and illustrates how education measurement, underpinned by Western ideologies, can construct Māori children as deficient learners, and undermine the partnership and collaboration foundation of the whānau class. However, this study also demonstrates how alternative measurement systems that take account of Māori children’s bilingual and bicultural learning can construct them as capable learners, with the implication that this must inform educators and Māori for successful partnership in the education of Māori children.

Partnerships in Early Childhood Education and Care: empowering parents or empowering practitioners

ELIZABETH ROUSE School of Education, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.14

Research acknowledges that outcomes for young children are enhanced when effective partnerships are developed between educators and families. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework provides direction for the professional practice of early childhood educators by acknowledging the importance of educators working in partnership with families. In the Victorian state-based early years framework, family-centred practice has been included as the practice model. Family-centred practice has as its core a philosophy of professionals supporting the empowerment of parents as active decision makers for their child. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia, however, is made up of a workforce which is largely perceived as being undervalued as a profession. This raises questions as to the capacity of these educators to support the empowerment of parents when they themselves are coming from a position of disempowerment due to their professional status. This article reports on findings from a small-scale study of childhood educators working in a long day-care setting which aimed to identify perceptions of the partnerships that exist between themselves and parents. In the course of the investigation, it became evident that some of educators felt disempowered in the relationships that exist with some families.

Child-Centred, Family-Centred, Decentred: positioning children as rights-holders in early childhood program collaborations

FRANCES PRESS School of Teacher Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathhurst, Australia
SANDIE WONG & JENNIFER SUMSION Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.26

Although the policy context in Australia is conducive to professional collaborations in early years services, understandings of collaboration are highly variable across the domains of research literature, policy and practice. Inconsistent and possibly incompatible approaches to working with children and families, as well as significant philosophical and professional differences, may be disguised by common terminology adopted under the rubric of collaborative practice. A potential blind spot concerns the positioning of the child, whose perspectives, needs and desires are easily subsumed by the intentions of the adults around them, either as professionals or family members. With reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and drawing on extant literature and data from two Australian research projects examining integrated and collaborative practices in early childhood programs, this article interrogates the positioning of the child in interprofessional and transprofessional collaborations, and examines the potential of the early childhood educator to sharpen the focus on children.

School–University Partnership: challenges and visions in the new decade

SHARON S.N. NG & ESTHER Y.M. CHAN Department of Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education, New Territories, Hong Kong

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.38

Over the past decade, higher education has undergone drastic changes all over the world because of globalisation and the changing economy. The traditional view of university as a place for one-off training is now considered outdated. Instead, the strong focus on lifelong learning urges teachers, educators and academics to reconceptualise and transform education. In this new era, successful schools adopt outreach strategies and seek support from external agencies such as universities for their development. Institutions of higher education provide consultation or work with partner schools for collaborative sharing, reflection, research and growth. Hence, school–university partnerships have become important for professional development and educational reform. With the growth of school–university collaborations, there is mounting interest in empirical research on the variety and value of these initiatives. This article reviews the school–university partnerships in Hong Kong in light of the trends and development in the international context. The studies reviewed showed that school–university partnerships involving teacher training programmes focus on understanding the views of participants in school–university partnership with an aim to build appropriate teacher training and professional development features into the teacher education programmes. These studies have theoretically contributed to the construction of culturally relevant teacher education programmes. After all, new project initiatives have contributed to substantial changes in school leadership, teachers’ professional development and school-based curriculum development which would benefit children’s learning. The authors argue that the development of an appropriate mode of collaboration remains a challenge for successful school–university partnerships. They have a vision to move beyond the existing research focus to explore ways to build school–university collaborations. Gaps in the research base and relevant questions that have not been addressed are discussed.

School-Based Teacher Development and Instructional Improvement in University–School Partnership Projects: case studies from Hong Kong

JOHN CHI-KIN LEE Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Hong Kong Institute of Education, New Territories, Hong Kong

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.57

This article draws upon the experiences of a five-year government-funded university–school partnership project known as the Partnership for Improvement of Learning and Teaching (PILT) (2004‑09), aimed at supporting teachers through improving their teaching quality and enhancing their professional growth in key learning areas – particularly mathematics, education and personal, social and humanities education – and initial experience of another completed project, the School Improvement Project for Early Childhood Education (SIP-ECE). The article first describes the rationale and operation of the PILT and SIP-ECE, respectively, and then explores the application of a 4-P (problem clarification, planning, programme action and progress evaluation) action learning approach to the improvement of subject teaching practice. This is followed, through case studies, by an exploration of teachers’ own perceptions and university partners’ perceptions of professional development and instructional improvement through the project. The final part of the article refers to Western concepts of professional development and university–school partnership, and suggests ways forward for school-based teacher development and instructional improvement in Hong Kong.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Collaboration and Partnership Regarding Children with Special Educational Needs in a Mexican Bilingual Elementary School

MARTHA ARMIDA FABELA-CÁRDENAS & LAURA ROBLES-TREVIÑO Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.70

Mexico, like many other countries in the world, has subscribed to a UNESCO policy for the inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream education. Thus, at least since 1994, public and private mainstream schools have included children with special educational needs. In this study, the authors intend to explore the issues in the Mexican context in order to identify teachers’ attitudes, perceptions and concerns about their practice, their preparation and their skills to help children with special educational needs in their classrooms. Among the dimensions the authors are trying to investigate are those opinions and experiences expressed by classroom teachers in relation to the collaboration and support they receive from all the stakeholders in the process of educating children with special needs. The study uses the techniques and procedures of Q methodology since it is seen as a method that is particularly compatible with a social-constructionist research paradigm which allows the participants to express their own opinions and to produce an individual configuration of their own beliefs and attitudes.

Exploring Cross-cultural Communication and Collaboration in an International Early Years Setting

MICHELLE BRINN Bangkok Patana School, Thailand

http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.76

The influence of social constructivism in early years care and education has highlighted the need for greater levels of dialogue and meaningful collaboration between professionals, families and communities. However, the term ‘collaboration’ can be interpreted along a wide spectrum of meaning. This discussion explores two different attempts to engage in cross-cultural collaboration within a large international school in Bangkok. It notes that certain educational discourses impede dialogic collaboration. Deconstructing these discourses at an individual level can produce greater understanding between disparate parties but may not promote sustained dialogic change. However, the cooperative exploration of working practices and their subsequent replacement with new rules and traditions may achieve something more akin to dialogic collaboration. It is concluded that differing interpretations of collaboration demand different responses from individuals and institutions. Furthermore, whilst definitions of collaboration from either end of the spectrum may enhance understanding and working practices between disparate parties, it may be that only dialogic collaboration has the ability to initiate truly egalitarian change.

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