As you know, one of the most important aspects of working as an early childhood development professional is reflection. When we reflect on our own experience

Family-Centered Early Care and Education

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

▸▸ Define family-centered early care and education.

▸▸ Examine Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory.

▸▸ Explain the first three stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory.

▸▸ Recognize the value of a family-centered program for families, children, and teachers.

▸▸ Discuss how early care and education programs can become resource centers for families and the community.

▸▸ Identify ways programs can advocate for the families they serve.

▸▸ Explain the importance of two-way communication between families and the early childhood program.

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©iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Introduction Chapter 1

Introduction Family-centered early care and education is a holistic approach to working with children and their families. In traditional approaches to K-12 education, the focus has been on the child and ways to teach young children. Future teachers and caregivers learn about child develop- ment, how children learn, and the health and safety of the child. More recently, the focus in early childhood has shifted to include the family and the child within the family. A family- centered approach to early care and education fully articulates this view by locating the study of the young child within the context of the family, community, and early care and education program. This contextual view dominates this book. Contexts in which children grow and develop include the family’s structure, culture, race and ethnicity, immigration status, lan- guage, and socioeconomic level. Further contexts include the community and the early care and education program used by the family. Thus, the program becomes far more than simply a place where the child is cared for during the day; it becomes the connection between the child, family, and community.

Throughout this book, we discuss ways the family, early childhood program, and community can work collaboratively to maximize the child’s development and learning. We discuss how successful families meet the needs of their children and how quality early childhood programs can both support children’s development and help families understand their children’s unique needs. Finally, we explore the community resources available to support children and their families as the child develops, learns, and grows.

To help the student understand the critical nature of the relationships between the child, family, community, and early care and education program, several developmental theories are used as an overall framework, including Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory. Other theories, such as those developed by Maslow, Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner, Montessori, and Rogers, are used throughout the text to provide addi- tional theoretical analysis and insight.

The family-centered approach was developed out of models for parent education and par- ent involvement, which are still prevalent in mainstream early care and education programs. In these programs, parent education serves to assist parents in raising and educating their chil- dren. Teachers are the experts, and parents are expected to learn from these experts. Parent involvement is an approach that uses parents to help implement the program’s philosophy and to help teachers implement activities in the classroom—volunteering in the classroom and on field trips, collecting resources, arranging for classroom visitors, and so on (Keyser, 2006). In both parent education and parent involvement models, parents have no direct input into running the program.

Although components of parent education and parent involvement are present in a family- centered approach to early care and education, the latter is characterized by five principles, used by parents, teachers, and other program staff alike:

• Recognizing and respecting one another’s knowledge and expertise

• Sharing information through two-way communication

• Sharing power and decision-making

• Acknowledging and respecting diversity

• Creating networks of support (Keyser, 2006, p. 13)

Why a Family-Centered Approach Chapter 1

A family-centered approach recognizes that all chil- dren develop, grow, and learn within the context of a family, and therefore early childhood programs must serve whole families. In practical terms, early child- hood programs develop partnerships with families to share power and expertise. Collaboration is the key. Furthermore, parents and families provide a unique environment in which the child develops and learns. Early care and education programs must develop strong partnerships in which these unique elements are respected and cultural continuity is developed between the program and family. Cultural continuity is the consistency between behaviors, expectations, and discipline practiced at home and those prac- ticed in the early care and education program. Both parents and early childhood programs bring to this partnership their own set of special strengths, skills, and perspectives. As a result of this equal partner- ship, early childhood programs, children, and fami- lies grow, learn, and ultimately benefit.

1.1 Why a Family-Centered Approach Traditionally, schools throughout the world have been institutions in which teachers, social workers, and educational specialists are considered the sole source of knowledge, informa- tion, and expertise, and parents are expected to support and implement the advice of these experts. Until recently, in contrast with schools, early childhood care and education programs followed a parent-oriented approach in which parents assumed a more active role. Families got together to care for each other’s children; sometimes the older women in a community cared for the young children, and mothers rotated care in mother’s-day-out programs. One example of high-quality family-oriented child care in the United States can be found in the Kaiser Shipyards during WWII, where mothers worked in factories building ships. These pro- grams provided family medical care and even meals for mothers to take home after their shift in the factory (Hurwitz, 1998). However, over the years, many early childhood programs became more like schools, expecting parents to listen passively to their advice and to help implement their programs (Keyser, 2006).

The development of a family-centered early care and education approach can be traced to the federal early childhood program Head Start. Formed in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Head Start was developed as a comprehensive pro- gram for low-income families with preschool-age children, with a focus on parent involve- ment and community collaboration (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2012). The architects of Head Start recognized the need to work in an equal partnership with families of low-income children (Greenberg, 1969). To this end, the program was designed with very specific roles and responsibilities for parents. Program Performance Standards outline overall standards to be met in each component area. These are critical quality indicators used to ensure the program meets the unique needs of the communities

© Hemera/Thinkstock

▲ In the past, society has considered educators the sole figures responsible for children’s learning. That notion is shifting, however, to include parents and families more in their children’s education.

Why a Family-Centered Approach Chapter 1

and families the program serves. Component areas that must meet these performance standards include specific requirements for parent activities, such as opportunities for par- ents to follow a career path to become teachers in the local program. Additionally, all local Head Start programs have a governing body, known as a policy council, which must include parents. This body has direct responsibilities in a variety of areas, including approval of hir- ing and firing of all staff, budget and program component approval, and overall program evaluation (HHS, 2012).

The design of local Head Start programs led more and more early childhood programs to con- sider a shared approach to power and control. Other early childhood models (such as Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and local community-based programs) practice different degrees of the family-centered approach, depending on their unique philosophy, history, and owner- ship. With a family-centered approach, children, families, and professionals gain:

• Enriched communication

• Shared power and decision making

• Supportive relationships

• A network of mutual support

• Consistent behavioral expectations for the child

• Cultural continuity between the home and the program

The increased diversity of families served by early childhood programs also requires an approach that is collaborative and open. Families from around the world, and from diverse cultural, linguistic, racial, and ethnic groups within the United States, attend many of these programs. They bring different views regarding discipline, child-rearing approaches, food, gender identity, play, educational expectations, and so on. A family-centered approach enables programs to learn from par- ents about the various ways they raise their children, and it helps the program share differ- ent ideas with families. Furthermore, through collaboration, continuity of care can be pro- vided between the program and the family. Children are more secure, have more positive identities, and are less confused when there is consistency between what is expected and taught at home, and what is expected and taught in the early care and education pro- gram (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008). As we will dis-

cuss throughout the book, providing continuity of care between the home and the program is particularly challenging when cultural differences are the greatest (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2010). (For more on this, see Spotlight: Family-Early Childhood Program-Community Partnerships.)

© Jupiterimages/Thinkstock

▲ Family-centered programs ensure continuity between a child’s education both at school and at home. This consis- tency between the two environments helps to eliminate confusion for the child.

Contexts and Stages Chapter 1

1.2 Contexts and Stages Many theories have been advanced over the years to explain children’s learning, development, emotional growth, and social interactions. Two theories are used throughout this book to help us understand the importance of examining the critical relationships between the child, family, community, and early care and education program. Theoretical frameworks help us “see the big picture” and provide us with a conceptual framework that guides our under- standing of growth and development. Rather than simply describing individual behaviors and milestones—such as a child learning to talk, or a child’s fear of monsters—theories place growth, development, and learning within a much larger perspective. Theoretical frameworks then help us study this plan or framework while keeping our focus on the big picture: the relationship of the family, community, and early childhood program to the growth, develop- ment, and learning of the child.

S P O T L I G H T:

Family-Early Childhood Program- Community Partnerships

Joyce Epstein, professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, has developed a framework of six types of involve- ment to guide the development of parent partnerships in family-centered early childhood programs (2009). This framework is further discussed in Chapter 6. The six types of involvement are:

1. Parenting. Offer families assistance with parenting and child-rearing skills, in understand- ing child development, and in setting home conditions that support children as students. Early childhood directors and managers should also assist teachers and caregivers in understanding families.

2. Communicating. Keep families up-to-date on early childhood programs and individual stu- dents’ progress through effective program-to-home and home-to-school communications.

3. Volunteering. Support children and early childhood programs, improve outreach, training, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and improve family attendance at events at the pro- gram and in other accessible community locations.

4. Learning and Development at Home. Offer suggestions and techniques to involve families in parenting and learning activities with their children at home and in the community.

5. Decision Making. Include families as participants in program decisions, governance, parent advisory groups, and advocacy through policy councils, governing boards, committees, and other parent organizations.

6. Collaborating with the Community. Coordinate resources and services for families, children, and the early childhood program with businesses, agencies, and other groups. Also provide ser- vices to the community. For example, children might entertain senior citizens, plant flowers to beautify a park, or donate vegetables from their garden to a homeless shelter.

In achieving child development and learning outcomes, children do better whenever teachers, fami- lies, and the community all work together.

Contexts and Stages Chapter 1

Both the Bronfenbrenner ecological systems theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory are comprehensive and widely applied (McAdams & Pals, 2006). Bronfenbrenner (1979) describes the various overlapping and interacting environments that affect a child’s growth and devel- opment, including the family, community, and early childhood program. It also describes the relationship between these contexts and how they need to align to meet the needs of the child most effectively.

Erikson’s (1963, 1980) psychosocial theory is a stage theory, beginning at birth. It describes each stage and the major psychosocial tasks to be achieved at each stage. The theory is used as one of the frameworks of this book because it focuses on the child’s interactions with significant adults and the surrounding culture and describes the processes needed for young children to develop a social and psychological foundation for a secure sense of self. This in turn provides the child with the foundation to learn, grow, and succeed in school.

A variety of other well-known developmental, behavioral, and learning theories are embed- ded at various points in this book. These include the first two stages of Piaget’s developmen- tal theory, Vygotsky’s theory describing the influence of language and social interaction on learning, and the application of Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning on discipline meth- ods and behavior. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Gardner’s eight intelligences, and various other theoretical perspectives on culture and learning are studied as well. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory provide the overall framework for the text. Let’s look at each of these theoretical frameworks in greater detail.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Urie Bronfenbrenner was one of the architects of Head Start, and he deeply understood the power of various contextual influences on the development and education of young chil- dren. An immigrant to the United States from Russia, Bronfenbrenner developed a theoretical system in which the child is placed in the center, surrounded by concentric rings. He called

this an ecological systems theory or bioecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1995; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998).

As humans develop, they must continually adapt to change on both a personal and a social level. Human ecology involves the biological, social, psychological, and cultural contexts in which a developing child interacts and grows over time. Children are socialized and sup- ported by their families, schools, and communities. These agents nurture children’s development as they progress toward adulthood. However, the relationship between the child and these contexts is reciprocal and dynamic—the child affects the contexts as much as they affect the child, and these reciprocal, dynamic relationships become more complex over time (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). The concentric rings in the model display the critical ecological con- texts in which the child grows, develops, and learns. These con- texts, from the family and early childhood program, to the media and the nation in which the child lives, have a profound impact on the child’s development.

The level of impact that each of these contexts has on the child depends on what Bronfenbrenner and Ceci (1994) call proximal processes. Proximal processes are the interactions between the

© ASSOCIATED PRESS/AP Images

▲ Bronfenbrenner, pictured here, developed a framework that claimed that as children developed into adulthood, they were sup- ported by their families, schools, and communities.

Contexts and Stages Chapter 1

child and the environment, by which the child’s potential (determined through genetics) is actualized through various effective psychological functions. The bioecological model sug- gests that if these proximal processes are weak, the child’s potential will remain relatively unrealized, while they will become more actualized when these proximal processes increase. According to Bronfenbrenner and Ceci, factors that determine the effectiveness of the proxi- mal process are, “the proximal processes, their stability over time, the environmental contexts in which they take place, the characteristics of the person’s involvement, and the nature of the developmental outcomes under consideration” (1994, p. 569). Central to this concept is the view that a child’s potential is a result of the child’s genetic inheritance interacting with environmental experiences to determine developmental outcomes, because genetics do not automatically produce finished traits. And central to this interaction is the influence of the child on the environment and on the nature of the experience and the strength of the proxi- mal process. We call this two-way interaction a bidirectional interaction.

Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1995; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) theory breaks these contex- tual influences into four overall structures, or systems, all of which are surrounded by an over- riding fifth structure or concept, the chronosystem: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem (see Figure 1.1).

A brief description is provided for each of these structures. Throughout the rest of the text, this model is used to help us analyze and understand the critical interrelationships between the child, family, community, and early childhood program, and how each of these factors not only affect each other, but also must ultimately work together to maximize the full potential of the child (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998).

Microsystem

The activities and relationships a child has with significant others in small settings, such as the family, early childhood program, peer group, and the child’s immediate community, make

T

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Age Sex

Health

Mesosystem

Family School

Neighborhood Health

services

Religious and group affiliations

Microsystem

Exosystem Social w

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services

Legal servicesSc ho

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M

ass media

Neighbors

Macrosystem

S oc

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C ultural context

Attitu des and ideologies of the culture

Time

Chronosystem Historical events that have a comprehensive effect on the other systems

Figure 1.1: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of Development

According to Bronfenbrenner, a child’s growth, development, and learning occur within and are greatly influenced by sev- eral ecological contexts.

Contexts and Stages Chapter 1

up what is called the microsystem. The microsystem includes all of the critical components analyzed in this text—the child, family, community, and early childhood program. These com- ponents have a direct impact on the child, as the child does on them. For example, all of the elements of a family, including parents, other siblings, and extended family members, affect the child. If a child has a father who takes his child to a local train museum, visits miniature train displays, and as he gets older takes him on a ride on an historic steam train, chances are that the child will learn to love trains and certainly will know more about trains than most other young children will. (See Personal Stories: Developing Self-Esteem for another example.)

P E R S O N A L S T O R I E S :

Developing Self-Esteem

I have a 4-year-old granddaughter, Elly. While her immediate family of father, mother, and baby brother have a direct impact on her life, so do my wife and I. Her family visits us every Sunday for brunch, and on these days she often helps me harvest my beans, tomatoes, carrots, and corn. On one such Sunday, as we sowed carrot seeds together in the garden, she said to me, “Grandpa, how can you do all this work by yourself?” By her tone and expression, I understood that what she really meant was, “How can you do everything without my help?!” In gardening with her grand- father, Elly learned about growing and harvesting plants, and she developed a close and secure relationship with me. She also gained a sense of importance and positive self-esteem, because she helped plant the seeds, care for the plants, and harvest them. The activities a young child engages in beyond the child’s immediate family can have a profound impact on the child’s development and self-image.

Mesosystem

The linkages and interrelationships between two or more of the microsystems, such as the family and early childhood program, early childhood program and community, or the family and the child’s peers, is called the mesosystem. The stronger, more supportive, and more frequent these linkages, the greater their positive impact on the growth and development of the child. Good early childhood-family relationships are an example of this concept, as are good relationships between the child’s immediate family and extended family. For example, if an immigrant child from Somalia attends a child care center where some of the teachers are also Somali, a close relationship between his culture, religion, and language can provide the child with a sense of comfort and security.

In fact, the mesosystem’s structure of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is at the heart of a family-centered early childhood program. It recognizes that, while the family is central to the development and learning of the child, and a quality early childhood program is essential for preparing the child for a successful school experience, the linkages between the family and early childhood program enhance and affect both of these important outcomes.

Exosystem

Contexts that a child does not have direct, physical contact with, but that nonetheless have a profound impact on the child, are known as the exosystem. Exosystems include the par- ents’ work environments; city and community governing boards; local school district boards of education; disability councils; community health care centers; Women, Infants and Children

Contexts and Stages Chapter 1

(WIC) offices; Indian centers; and federal/state governing boards of various agencies, such as child care licensing offices and early childhood certification programs. The impact of the exosystem on the child is dependent upon the way the exosystem directly influences each of the microsystems (i.e., early childhood programs, family, and community). For example, if the community in which a family lives (exosystem) decides to sponsor a local Head Start program (microsystem), this will have a positive result on the family’s 4-year-old child, along with the whole family. A city- or school-sponsored preschool for low-income children would have a similar effect, as would quality employee child care where one of the parents works and affordable health insurance for the family.

A powerful component of the exosystem is the media. The media (and particularly television) surrounds most young children. Not only do young children see sex and violence beyond their developmental age, but they are also exposed to commercials to buy unhealthy food and items they do not need. The media is a very strong influence on young children, affecting their cognitive, linguistic, and social development (Elkind, 2007; Wright et al., 2001). While parents can control what their children watch on TV, many do not; further, many young children have TVs in their own rooms. The actual content of TV programs, including children’s programs, is out of the parents’ control. On average, young American children spend 3 to 5 hours a day watching TV, often with little parental monitoring. And young children from low socioeconomic backgrounds spend even more time watching TV than do children from better-educated and higher-income families (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005; Roberts & Froeh, 2004).

Macrosystem

A society and the subcultures within that society—the values, belief systems, lifestyles, and patterns of social interaction and family styles—are called the macrosys- tem. Examples in the United States include the overall U.S. culture and U.S. national identity, racial and ethnic group, religious affiliation, geographic location—rural, urban, or suburban—and low, middle-, or upper-income socioeconomic status. These are the overall contexts that affect a person’s worldview and perspective. For exam- ple, a child who grows up in São Paulo, Brazil, a huge city in a country that is deeply embedded geographically, economically, religiously, and culturally within South America, has a very different experience than a young child raised in New York City does. The influences of these factors are transmitted unconsciously, and they affect per- sonal space, time, interpersonal relationships, how we raise children, and our expectations of our children (Hall, 1976, 1983). All aspects of a child’s life and social experiences are affected one way or another by the macrosystem.

Many of these macrosystems’ cultural patterns affect communication. Differences in com- munication can result in conflict between people from different cultural, national, religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. This, in turn, can become a deterrent to collaboration between parents, teachers, and program administrators, particularly in a program run primarily by a

© Photodisc/Thinkstock

▲ Young American children watch, on aver- age, 3 to 5 hours of television per day. Even content created specifically for young chil- dren can negatively affect their development.

Contexts and Stages Chapter 1

white, middle-class staff that serves par- ents who are low income and/or non-white (Neugebauer, 2008). Finally, because the early childhood field is an overwhelmingly female culture (97% of teachers and care- givers are women), fathers and men in extended families often struggle to work collaboratively with their children’s early childhood programs (Wardle, 2007).

Chronosystem

A change in the individual child due to the passage of time (i.e., development) and changes in all of the other structures also due to the passage of time is called the chronosystem. An example of the chro- nosystem is the tremendous influence of brain development on the language acqui-

sition and emotional regulation of the individual child (Schiller, 2010). Many developmental changes have a profound impact on a child’s growth and learning, such as toilet training, learning to speak, and being able to walk. For example, once a child has learned to talk, the child’s interest in labeling objects, reading simple words, and asking many questions greatly expands. Reciprocally, all of these developmental changes affect the various contexts in which children live and develop. For example, safety concerns become much more critical once a child has learned to walk because the child can now find the electrical outlets, walk to the entrance of the steps, and discover the sharp knives in the dishwasher. An example of change due to the passage of time is the fact that while parents’ primary concern about their child’s welfare a century ago might have been death due to a childhood illness, modern-day concerns about the child’s safety are more likely to relate to accidents, such as drowning or car accidents.

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