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Carrie Rose
Owner and Pedagogical Leader, Rosie’s Early Learning Centre Logan (QLD)
As we are a small centre, each educator develops relationships with all children from all the rooms. We believe that this creates a community feeling in the centre and gives children and families opportunities to have a relationship with each team member. The children’s primary educators generally develop the strongest relationships. However, over the years we have observed how children and families develop strong relationships with educators from previous years and these continue to evolve throughout their stay at Rosie’s.
Children with diverse learning needs, complex situations (including significant court order requirements) and diverse cultural requirements enter our service. Our philosophy recognises that children’s sense of agency is promoted when children feel a sense of belonging and this is evident throughout the centre where family photos adorn walls and family members are welcomed and strongly encouraged into the program.
The ‘Emerging image of the Child’ form* is used to document when children require this individualised thinking and planning. Examples of this are how to best support a child if the child’s parents have significant court orders; or the child is suffering from a heightened separation anxiety; or the child’s self-regulation skills are not yet fully developed. This individualised planning system has been developed to provide children with the support needed and as a tool for communication with families and other educators. The plans may be ongoing or they may just be short term and we see this as an important factor in supporting the skills for lifelong learning. Secondly, we also provide support for the parents. For example, when a child begins at the centre after the family has moved into a women’s domestic violence shelter. These children and women flee from their homes with not much other than the clothes they are wearing. On starting at the centre, we organise a collection for the family in confidence. This could be clothing, books and toys for the children and something like toiletries for the mother. We donate these to the families to help them regain some control over their lives.
A sense of belonging is facilitated through a range of experiences including rituals or routines at the centre and others that are spontaneous. Collaboration occurs in small and large group projects to allow children and families to develop shared knowledge and pleasure in learning. Many projects initiated individually lead to collaborative play, research and investigation by larger groups of children. The research that educators complete when developing the Statement of Intent* reflects the emotional well-being of children at all times. As this is shared with family feedback and input, the approach of holistic lifelong learning becomes more apparent and understood.
Educators also engage the children in relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation and reflective walks to further share with children strategies that can help our bodies relax. The children are encouraged to communicate their feelings, share their ideas verbally and listen to and acknowledge the feelings and ideas of others. This enables children particularly from non–English-speaking backgrounds to communicate and find ‘their way’ to develop a sense of belonging in the community at Rosie’s.
Building children’s capacity to reflect on issues of equity is also important. Engaging children in a framework of thinking about their actions and responses around fairness, kindness and safety is embedded into the centre’s practice. Children’s assumptions about gender, ability and cultural norms are gently challenged and scaffolded to enable children to view situations from a variety of points of view. Equity and fairness is discussed, explored and developed in conjunction with the children to ensure all children are treated respectfully. For example, a child who was biologically a girl was beginning to make decisions to be a boy. It was evident that these feelings were very strong and we began working with the child and the family by acknowledging this, and providing emotional support and relevant information to the mother, to enable her to better support her child. The child developed a very strong sense of self-worth and has transitioned into school seamlessly with the support of her family, Rosie’s and the school. Follow-up with the family was made once the child started school to enquire if we could offer any other assistance in adapting to school.
At Rosie’s, we foster a loving and caring environment in which each child is valued and respected as an individual. This environment builds the trusting relationships on which all further interactions are based. Vygotsky’s theory of how children find the ‘More Knowledgeable Other’ (MKO) to learn new information drives our thinking of collaborative learning and how we can continue to assist the children to find their ‘MKO’. This will look different for each child and we understand that we are not always going to be this ‘MKO’ in their lives.
(*Note: for anyone wanting more information about these documents please contact the centre through its website: www.rosiesel.com.au).
Benjamin Walker
Early Childhood Consultant and Teacher, Cairns (QLD)
My experiences of working with children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds stem from directing EC services in Sydney, Darwin and Cairns as well as years of experience in various roles working with Indigenous EC services. Some immigrant and refugee families come from countries that don’t have formal EC services like we have in Australia. Generally, when families are not familiar with EC settings it may mean they are less likely to engage with educators about their child’s learning. For example, language barriers may prevent some parents from seeking the information and supports they need. Things get more complicated when vulnerable families present with complex issues and require special supports both within and outside the EC setting.
Another issue, while not exclusive to culturally diverse families, is that of engaging fathers. In many cultures it is still women who are seen in that traditional role of looking after children. Getting dads more involved in their child’s learning is often best tackled by letting mums know that dad is welcome and his role is equally valid and valued by the service. It is good for dads to see representations of men in the service, so I always encourage families to bring in photos of fathers and their children engaged at home and put them up. It’s good to try and make fathers feel more comfortable participating in the service by asking them how they would like to be better involved with their children’s learning and education.
Working well with culturally diverse families also has benefits for everyone. If you run a service that is capable of encouraging all children to be tolerant and develop positive attitudes towards people of any origin or background, then that in itself is a very good thing long-term. After all, today’s children in EC settings will grow up to live, go to school and work with people from diverse cultures; respecting each other’s identities is the foundation of a harmonious multicultural society.
EC leaders wanting to work better with culturally diverse families may like to consider the following:
- Train all staff to be culturally competent. Children and families will have a better experience if all educators are equipped with appropriate knowledge and understanding of how to work in respectful and culturally inclusive ways.
- Address families’ language barriers. The strategies you choose are context dependent. In some settings, I’ve found employing bilingual staff to be hugely beneficial. Making resources available to families in their language is also something parents truly appreciate. In Indigenous settings, I simply could not get by without the contribution of the community’s cultural support workers.
- Place a high value on creating a sense of belonging. When you go out of your way to ensure that a child’s culture is respected and celebrated, the service’s relationship with the family will grow. There’s a lot you can do to make sure children and families feel welcome and that they belong at your service. For example, make sure the program is flexible in meeting a family’s unique needs. Ensure the links are there to community services and agencies that can assist families and make things easier, and ensure the child’s culture is encouraged and represented within the service.
Nimmi Woods
Early Intervention Educator, Connect Child and Family Services Inc, Katoomba (NSW)
Building relationships and working with families became a passion of mine early in my career. I remember when I first started teaching and was in my early twenties, I did my very first home visit to meet with a family. I realised in retrospect that I had gone along with preconceived ideas about who this family was and what life was like for them. It was during the visit, when I got chatting to the little boy’s mum, that my understanding of the issues they were facing as a family started to change. From then on, I knew that we can’t see children in isolation—to understand and empathise with a child, it is essential to be connected to and have an understanding of their family. And yet, this cannot be taken for granted. This connection takes time and needs to be worked at, you cannot assume a family will want that connection or perceive a ‘need’ for it. It is always a two-way reciprocal agreement.
I like a family-centred and community approach to building relationships with families, and programming in my teaching role is an important part of this. Programming, recording observations of children and sharing them with their families has always been important to me, both from the perspective of being an educator and perhaps more significantly as a means of sharing and exchanging information about a child with their family. Parents have always really enjoyed and appreciated receiving information about what their child does at childcare, what they are interested in and how they play and learn. I have always found that sharing these observations is a great springboard to making those all important connections with families. Programming also helps me to reflect on where a child is ‘at’ and I have often felt what may be best described as a ‘joyous privilege’ at being able to record their progress or their responses to their play and then share them with their families.
To build relationships with the families in my current workplace I need to allow for time and never expect that any aspect of this relationship building can be hurried. It’s important that I attend playgroups and workshops on a regular basis so that families can identify me, know me by name and just ‘see’ me there each week or fortnight. I need to be approachable and accessible and this comes down to how I present myself. I try not to push lots of information onto families, and I need to be perceptive of their wants and needs. I often introduce myself to families as an early childhood resource person—and in this role, I hope I can be someone who can answer questions in a non- threatening way. I also talk about general things and I believe that it helps that I live and work in the community as it creates a sense of empathy as we are all in it together. It helps to have knowledge of what is happening in the community—events, issues like transport issues/local events and festivals and the never-ending road works! I find that I am often covering similar ground with the families as they are on a journey in early intervention. For all sorts of reasons, families don’t always want to hear information so it’s important to build the relationship over time and share the information as and when it’s required or asked for. I try to build reciprocal relationships and listen to the parent about what they know about their child, their needs and wants. It involves lots of little but important steps. It is a role that needs you to be finely balanced with having realistic expectations and encouraging families to take on the support for their children.
We try to create a welcoming space, so we provide food (scones or a cake), a cuppa and comfortable lounges for families to relax. This helps build the social networks and it is important to help families in linking up together. We can do this by pointing out similarities (e.g. going to the same school, living in the same neighbourhood, a shared interest in textiles). Not all families are receptive to intervention for many reasons. Some families are not aware of what is offered or for various reasons don’t get to access the services. Geographical and social isolation play a part in this. Often in our community, families can live more than half an hour’s walk from a local shop or transport. My role needs to be finely balanced with having realistic expectations of what families can, want and choose to do for themselves but at the same time, not doing too much for families.
Other challenges include having to chase families up in housekeeping tasks such as signing forms. This can be tricky as you are dealing with delicate situations that need to be discussed with families and often signing a form is understandably the last thing on their mind. I care about families and get concerned about how to best approach sensitive issues and how they may be received. I worry that families will say they are okay when they may not be feeling so good and be having a hard time about the issue at hand (e.g. their child’s assessment). Inevitably I am always thinking of the families I work with—and for much of the time, it is in a positive and uplifting way but I don’t stop thinking about families and the difficulties they may be having just because my working week is over. I do find it hard sometimes to maintain professional boundaries so that they don’t overlap. The playgroup is small and intimate and over time we get to know the families really well. The families I work with are such great people that it would be easy to say let’s get together socially. It is a real honour to know these families and be welcomed into their lives. In turn, it makes a big difference to my life and how I view and behave towards others in the world.
Kerrie Yates
Manager, Hurstville Family Day Care, Sydney (NSW)
I have always believed families are unique and no one size fits all. With the 30 years of varied experience I have had in secondary school, long day care, before and after school care, vacation care and family day care (22 years) my philosophy has always included the importance of listening and learning from families. Children are central to my focus and I believe my role is to improve children’s lives, assist and help them. I strongly believe families are the child’s first educator and think it is about asking lots of questions and allowing families to give you information. I also realise that I don’t have all the answers and that a part of my role is to refer families when needed. To develop relationships with families I think you need to be engaged, interested, ask lots of questions, acknowledge your lack of knowledge and understand that there are many different approaches to child rearing. When I was younger I thought I was being rude if I asked questions about culture. Now I know that, by asking, it shows the family I am interested in them. Families like to be treated as individuals and it’s important to get to know them. The families’ stories of why they travelled to this country are rich with information. I don’t have all the answers so I will ask lots of questions but I also know at what point not to ask, for example, a refugee family who has fled a war-torn area or a family who has just lost a family member. I respect what they don’t want to share as well. Once you build the relationship with the families they are more likely to talk to you and ask questions—being respectful is the key. I also think it important not to give all the policies and information at once to the families.
In terms of the family day care environment building relationships with families can sometimes be problematic for the educators. The families generally relate with the family day care educators and the relationship does become personal. Now with the National Quality Framework carers have a title of educators. So it is about helping the educators understand this and establish and negotiate appropriate professional boundaries. To help educators with building professional relationships with the families we do run training programs for our new educators. These are not accredited but cover issues around communication (with children, families, staff and the wider community). We cover issues such as setting limits with families (i.e. what is okay and not okay about picking up late, requesting after hours, payments etc). This is not easy, especially when the families have high expectations of the educator. This is where we train the educators to understand that this is a business and it is not about being friends with the families— especially if the family is trying to take advantage of the educator (this can be more of an issue when they are from the same cultural background). We empower the educators and help them to learn from experience. We all make mistakes and sometimes we have to be burnt to realise we will do it differently next time. One of our educators lost $900 to a bad debt and now she is hard about fees. This is her business and that is a lot of money for her to lose. It is a fine line between payments and care and some families can get offended when asked for their fees.
Other issues are things like the birthday party. For example, how do you say no to the 27th birthday invitation? It is about establishing boundaries and limits in a professional manner. We have several policies that support educators in developing professional relationships with the families. Policies, such as our confidentiality and privacy policy, help guide educators’ conduct. We don’t have a policy on professional boundaries as this is up to the individual educator. If they call the coordination unit we talk them through the issue they are facing. One issue we have noticed is the use of texting between educators and families, for example, paying fees or other issues they might feel uncomfortable to discuss face-to-face. We encourage educators to always talk to the families, not to text. As we have a diverse group of families and educators we also train them around being respectful of identity and cultural backgrounds.