The Involved, Engaged or Partnership Parents in Early Childhood Education and Care

The study investigates how relationships between parents and kindergartens are described and understood in research on the topic. The research questions are: 1) What different levels of relationships between parents and kindergartens are found in the research? 2) What advantages and challenges are associated with the relationship between parents and kindergarten according to the research?

The results show that the relationship between parents and kindergarten can be divided into three different levels: 1) involvement (parents are involved in the kindergarten, but the kindergarten employees are responsible for the pedagogy and give advice to the parents), 2) engagement (parents and the kindergarten communicate closely) and 3) partnership (parents and the kindergarten collaborate in a trusting and respectful manner, have two-way communication, equal power and shared decision-making). All three levels were identified in the included studies, but most in level 3. Advantages of a partnership between parents and kindergarten include quality, empowerment of parents, and impact on children’s future academic performance. Challenges related to such a partnership may involve parents and kindergarten employees having different roles, discrimination and complex relationships. The researcher concludes that the relationship between parents and kindergartens is of great importance for kindergartens, but that there is usually a balance between the three levels.

The study is a systematic review in which the researcher searched for relevant research in the Academic Search Elite Database using various combinations of the search terms ‘parents/parental’, ‘involvement’, ‘engagement’ and ‘partnership’. A total of 22 articles, representing studies from 16 different countries, were selected. The researcher conducted a qualitative analysis of the articles to identify advantages and challenges associated with different relationships between parents and kindergarten.

Råde, A. (2020). “The Involved, Engaged or Partnership Parents in Early Childhood Education and Care”. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(7):2833-2841.