Parents, Professionals and the Balance of Power
Following my poster presentation ‘what are the benefits of effective partnership between parents
and practitioners’, this essay will consist of a critical discussion based on selected points from my
presentation. I have chosen to critically discuss in depth the strategies used to create partnership
between parents and practitioners and the potential barriers that can arise to prevent developing
effective partnership.
It is evident from research that there are various definitions of partnership depending on the context
and how the partners involved in the partnership decide how to define their partnership. Fitzgerald
(2004) defines partnership as “Working together as partners to ensure to ensure children have a
positive experience and have a positive impact on their learning development”. In my opinion it is
hard to define ‘positive experiences ’. The understanding of a positive experience can be different of
everyone. Parents and practitioners both believe they know what is best for the child, however their
views are not always the same (Kearns, 2010). This suggests, what may seem as a positive
experience for a parent regarding their child may not be agreed with by a practitioner in the setting.
Effective Strategies to Develop Partnership
Research suggests there are many ‘effective strategies’ that can be used in order to create effective
partnership between parents and practitioners. The need for effective strategical alliances is crucial
to developing effective partnership (Briggs and Briggs 2009). However it can be questioned as to
how effective these strategies really are. A key strategy to develop and maintain effective
partnership is to ensure there is effective communication within the partnership (Kay, 2006).
Different types of communication is suggested such as newsletters, parents evening, phone calls.
It is important to consider how effective these strategies are. (Pawlas, 2013) states
1
, “An effective form of communication is using newsletters to let parents and carers know what’s
happening within the setting”. Newsletters can be kept for parents to look back on. However it can
be argued that this particular strategy may not be effective. Some parents may struggle to read the
newsletter as English is not everyone’s first language. This can lead to them not receiving vital
information. Furthermore, newsletters can be misplaced very easily and dropped.
Another strategy used to create effective partnerships are ‘organised meetings’. Organised meetings
can be meetings such as parents evenings and coffee mornings. This is seen to be effective as
parents and practitioners dedicate time to discuss the child/children, exchange any
ideas/information and express any concerns (Wheeler, Connor and Goodwin, 2009). In addition to
this, important information about the setting can be exchanged. On the other hand, this strategy can
also be seen as something which is not effective as meetings require time. Sometimes both parents
work, some work various shifts such as morning or evenings or sometimes both. In addition to this
some parents are single mothers/fathers which may lead them to be unavailable for meetings due to
work commitments. Parents struggle to fit meetings with settings in their already very crowded
schedule, resulting to the attendance level sometimes being low at meetings (Rockwell et al., 2010).
This suggests this strategy may not be as effective due to parents not being able to make meetings
organised.
Barriers in Partnership
Home visits is widely recognised as an effective way to create partnership with parents and form
relationships with children before they start to attend the setting. Home visits enables parents and
practitioners to exchange important information about the child and allows practitioners to observe
children in their natural environment. Home visits are a key strategy to determinant the
establishment of good relationships with parents (Fisher, 2013). Personally I disagree with the idea
of home visits being effective as I think practitioners may not be able to see the reality of the parents
2
Following my poster presentation ‘what are the benefits of effective partnership between parents
and practitioners’, this essay will consist of a critical discussion based on selected points from my
presentation. I have chosen to critically discuss in depth the strategies used to create partnership
between parents and practitioners and the potential barriers that can arise to prevent developing
effective partnership.
It is evident from research that there are various definitions of partnership depending on the context
and how the partners involved in the partnership decide how to define their partnership. Fitzgerald
(2004) defines partnership as “Working together as partners to ensure to ensure children have a
positive experience and have a positive impact on their learning development”. In my opinion it is
hard to define ‘positive experiences ’. The understanding of a positive experience can be different of
everyone. Parents and practitioners both believe they know what is best for the child, however their
views are not always the same (Kearns, 2010). This suggests, what may seem as a positive
experience for a parent regarding their child may not be agreed with by a practitioner in the setting.
Effective Strategies to Develop Partnership
Research suggests there are many ‘effective strategies’ that can be used in order to create effective
partnership between parents and practitioners. The need for effective strategical alliances is crucial
to developing effective partnership (Briggs and Briggs 2009). However it can be questioned as to
how effective these strategies really are. A key strategy to develop and maintain effective
partnership is to ensure there is effective communication within the partnership (Kay, 2006).
Different types of communication is suggested such as newsletters, parents evening, phone calls.
It is important to consider how effective these strategies are. (Pawlas, 2013) states
1
, “An effective form of communication is using newsletters to let parents and carers know what’s
happening within the setting”. Newsletters can be kept for parents to look back on. However it can
be argued that this particular strategy may not be effective. Some parents may struggle to read the
newsletter as English is not everyone’s first language. This can lead to them not receiving vital
information. Furthermore, newsletters can be misplaced very easily and dropped.
Another strategy used to create effective partnerships are ‘organised meetings’. Organised meetings
can be meetings such as parents evenings and coffee mornings. This is seen to be effective as
parents and practitioners dedicate time to discuss the child/children, exchange any
ideas/information and express any concerns (Wheeler, Connor and Goodwin, 2009). In addition to
this, important information about the setting can be exchanged. On the other hand, this strategy can
also be seen as something which is not effective as meetings require time. Sometimes both parents
work, some work various shifts such as morning or evenings or sometimes both. In addition to this
some parents are single mothers/fathers which may lead them to be unavailable for meetings due to
work commitments. Parents struggle to fit meetings with settings in their already very crowded
schedule, resulting to the attendance level sometimes being low at meetings (Rockwell et al., 2010).
This suggests this strategy may not be as effective due to parents not being able to make meetings
organised.
Barriers in Partnership
Home visits is widely recognised as an effective way to create partnership with parents and form
relationships with children before they start to attend the setting. Home visits enables parents and
practitioners to exchange important information about the child and allows practitioners to observe
children in their natural environment. Home visits are a key strategy to determinant the
establishment of good relationships with parents (Fisher, 2013). Personally I disagree with the idea
of home visits being effective as I think practitioners may not be able to see the reality of the parents
2
