About the Research
Real people. Real stories.
Engaging Families in Early Education
About
Most, but not all, children in Australia participate in early education before they start school. Some families who experience financial difficulties find it hard to use preschools, long day care and family day care (early learning services).
We have learned from families about what makes it easier to send their children to early education, and from services and key stakeholders what practices and systems encourage a wide range of families to participate.
On this website, we are sharing what we found, so that others can learn what practices support families living on low incomes best.
You will find:
This project is for
Families Educators Services Providers
Aims
The research aimed to:
1
Generate new knowledge about the everyday lives of families with young children experiencing economic adversity.
2
Provide deep insights into innovative, responsive, and effective early learning practices with these families that have not, as yet, been effectively documented, strengthened and brought to scale.
3
Strengthen the evidence base for government policy making with regards to the early learning and care needs of families experiencing economic adversity.
Background
Sustained participation in quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) breaks the cycle of disadvantage by improving the immediate and longer term educational and health outcomes of children who face economic adversity and its related challenges (Barnett & Nores, 2015; Taggart et al., 2015; Tayler et al, 2015). Yet in Australia:
Indigenous children, children from non-English speaking backgrounds, and children from low income families are underrepresented in ECEC services (Productivity Commission, 2020)
Children from the quintile of highest socio-economic disadvantage attending preschool programs in the year before school are underrepresented (Productivity Commission 2020); and
A quarter of children enrolled in a preschool program are not attending for the full 15 hours per week, with Indigenous children overrepresented (Pascoe and Brennan, 2017).
These statistics highlight the underutilisation of ECEC by low-income families in Australia and suggest poor inclusion even when they are enrolled.
Despite this persistent problem, surprisingly little is known about how ECEC services can adapt their pedagogical, administrative and outreach work to effectively engage with and respond to the strengths, aspirations and needs of such families. This project was developed in response to this problem and to the Productivity Commission’s call for further evidence ‘on aspects of parental engagement and the culture of the home learning environment’ (2016, p.15).
The project also addressed a key barrier to the participation of families living in poverty in ECEC services: early childhood educators lacking the requisite knowledge and skills to understand and work with the complexities of these families’ lives. The project was capacity-building, enabling pedagogical innovation through the development of web-based professional learning tools to support educators’ engagement with families and children who experience financial adversity and find services hard to use. For early childhood teachers (ECTs), these tools include Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) aligned professional development. Allied health professionals will be able to learn more about the everyday lives of the families they work with and how families interact with them and early learning services.
References
Barnett, W. S., & Nores, M. (2015). Investment and productivity arguments for ECCE. Investing against evidence: The global state of early childhood care and education, 73-88.
Pascoe, A & Brennan, D. (2017) Lifting our game: Report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools through early childhood interventions. Retrieved from https://det.qld.gov.au/earlychildhood/news/Documents/pdf/lifting-our-game-report.pdf
Productivity Commission (2016). National Education Evidence Base, Report no. 80, Canberra
Productivity Commission (2020). Report on Government Services 2020. https://www.pc.gov.au/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2020
Taggart, B., Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., & Siraj, I. (2015). Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project (EPPSE 3-16+). Research Brief, UK Department for Education.
Taylor, C., Cloney, D., & Niklas, F. (2015). A bird in the hand: Understanding the trajectories of development of young children and the need for action to improve outcomes. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(3), 51-60.
Funding
The research was funded through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Scheme (LP180100142) with additional funding from the NSW Government (Strategic Research Fund, Leveraging Grant).
Acknowledgements
The Engaging Families in Early Education project is a collaboration between the Social Policy Research Centre (University of NSW), The University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and Griffith University.
The research is supported by Early Childhood Australia, KU Children’s Services, Goodstart Early Learning, The Creche & Kindergarten Association, and Family Day Care Australia.
The website was created by The Design Embassy using photography from Jamie James. The project logo was created by Ella Hailey.
The digital stories were created in collaboration with Nisa East , Sivani Yaddanapudi and Teagan Harris.
The research findings have been translated into professional learning course by the research team in collaboration with Dr Leonie Arthur and Community Early Learning Australia (CELA).
