ECT Interviews: Ann Mitchell, Kyle Pruett, MD, and Wilma Robles de Melendez, PhD, on Forming Partnerships With Parents

Three of ECT's national early childhood advisors talk about the importance of parent-teacher partnerships

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Early Childhood Today: What changes have taken place in early childhood education that either help or hinder partnerships with parents?

Anne Mitchell: Childcare and early childhood standards haven't tended to include components that build partnerships. They may mandate parent-teacher conferences or parent visits, but that isn't the same thing. Partnerships are a part of the program standards of Head Start, where parents have a real role in the government of their centers. When Head Start programs are operating well, they are providing the kind of parent education and family support that builds the partnerships that everyone needs.

Kyle Pruett: My comments come from the perspective of being a school consultant, as well as a "consumer," for many years. My oldest daughter is now 32 and my youngest is 2. So I've been a consumer, trainer, and an early childhood educator and consultant for quite a long time. I think there's been a steady improvement in the collaborative efforts that families and early childhood educators have been making. It is very clear to quality programs that parents not only pay the bills, but also provide many enrichment experiences that good programs call upon in order to be above average.

Wilma Robles de Melendez: One change that really supports and helps our programs is that our field has become more professional. People know more and want to learn more. They're more aware of the influence of the environment on very early childhood. There is more interest in what the research says. We know that in the past it has been difficult to get those outside of education to understand that caring for and working with young children is a professional task-and a very demanding one. Even though we have a long way to go, I think we have truly become a profession.

ECT: What strategies can you suggest for teachers who want to establish better, stronger partnerships with parents?

Pruett: I say, throw out the welcome mat early and never take it in! Clean it off, brush it off, and make sure that it always looks fresh and that your parents believe you mean it. Listen to what people have to say. Of course, keep parent-teacher conference schedules, but also have open evenings for discussion and conversation. Parents of all social classes and cultures respond very positively to open and engaged dialogue. How are we doing with each other? Are there things that you need us to be doing differently about pick-up and drop-off? Are you getting everything that you need from us?

de Melendez: I agree with Kyle when it comes to learning how to listen. When we are able to hear what others are saying, we are able to open the doors to understanding needs. This lays the foundation for positive collaboration between groups.

Mitchell: I also think we need to shake people out of their complacency. There is a tremendous amount of lip service about the value of partnerships, but we don't have extremely good ways of helping teachers get there. I think it has to happen through professional development, in which teachers are put in role-playing situations that challenge their assumptions. It would be wonderful if the programs that prepare people to be teachers would take the importance of family-school-community partnerships seriously. They need to help individuals examine their attitudes, what they bring to teaching, and how they can build on, add to, and reflect on their own knowledge.

ECT: What examples have you seen of effective partnerships between parents, teachers, and community members in early childhood programs?

de Melendez: Early Head Start and Head Start have certainly linked themselves to families and to communities. I know this from my students. They are finishing their master's degrees in early literacy and have been looking at how to build closer connections with families. They've been extremely successful by creating simple activities and scheduling them at very flexible times, so parents can come, sit down, and learn more about what they can do at home with their children. At the same time, the students are learning more about what parents are already doing at home. The students have been holding a morning tea during the past year to create connections and provide help. The students have also created story bags to send home and included tapes so families can tape their comments and messages, in case they're not comfortable writing things down.

Mitchell: Years ago, Work Family Directions went to families and asked them what they wanted in a program, what made them feel satisfied and supported, what services they needed. One section was labeled: "Ways you care for my child that make me feel respected." Another section talked about creating a community for families. A third section addressed the quality of care each child was experiencing. Then, directors, teachers, and parents looked over the responses independently and discussed where people felt they were achieving and where work needed to be done.

I was also recently in a program called Children's Village, a large program in Chinatown in Philadelphia. One of their funding streams is Head Start. This was one of the most responsive, pleasant environments I'd been in, in a long time. They did so much with parents because they saw parents as partners and the program not just as a place to care for and educate children, but a place that does things families want. Their English-language classes and after-school program were started in response to what their families requested.

Pruett: I think the regional differences in the ways people form alliances on behalf of children really need to be respected. The community you're serving has to be an essential part of the architecture of the child's experience. Here's another example: The preschools that I have seen in Watsonville, CA, are 80 percent migrant population. Not only are those preschools heavily involved in language development in two languages, but they also have to be extremely flexible about who brings each child to school. It might be one of seven family members. The cultural, regional, and geographic differences make these alliances rich.

ECT: Given the diverse backgrounds of parents and teachers, what can we do to promote better communication between the two groups?

Mitchell: In New York, teacher education requires that students do placements in diverse situations, which are usually up to the college to figure out. This at least gives some acknowledgment to the diversity of our society. Taking that to the level of partnerships means more than knowing about different cultures or speaking different languages. It's an attitude of actually believing that parents are your partners; that they have special knowledge of their child; that you, the teacher, have knowledge of children in general; and, together, you can help their children to grow. Those who believe this understand that everyone has something to contribute, rather than thinking, We are the teachers, and we're going to "fix" you.

Pruett: I think we need to embrace the differences and enjoy the commonalities. I recently had a very interesting experience in a Detroit inner-city preschool. In order to get to the preschool, I had to go down a corridor of streets that were covered with graffiti. That afternoon, everyone at the school took a walk to decide on the best graffiti. After that, an expert on the artistic aspects of graffiti came in and talked with the families. Then everyone decided to talk to the city about preserving certain graffiti and eliminating the rest. The kids decided that they wanted to make their own, so the teachers put some newsprint on the walls, and the kids went at it for a couple of weeks. This interesting (and regional) program cycle around the adornment of environment required a collaboration between the parents, who knew the graffiti-art expert, and the teachers, who were willing to consider it as part of the children's environment.

de Melendez: I encourage and invite every professional to enjoy the beauty of diversity and to share that with the parents. Engage them in collaborative activities. The sharing of stories, games, and activities from their individual cultures makes families and their cultures part of the program. We must increase our knowledge about what it means to be a part of a different culture and to have a different background, so we can truly reflect respect. As professionals, we also need to open ourselves to being more accepting of people's ideas about parenting and how to do things with young children that perhaps are not in sync with what we might do. It is also critical that we begin to be more accepting of languages and support first languages.

ECT: How do we involve more men in the field and engage them in partnering with other parents, teachers, and community members to better the lives of young children?

Pruett: If you have made the decision that you want to take that on, there are ways to do it. The first thing is to survey the men in your service area. Do they feel welcome? Are there things they'd like to be doing? What would make them feel more welcome? Get information on who your clients are. just by saying, "I'd like to know these things about you," you will set things in motion. You'll begin to get the mothers to say, "Oh no, we don't do a very good job of that." Next, look at how men-friendly your physical space is. Are there any magazines, books, pictures, or welcome signs that would make men feel comfortable when they come for pickup or drop-off? You attract men to programs by doing things that men like to do. Cook pancakes and hot dogs outside. You won't get men by giving away coupons for beauty products.

de Melendez: We definitely still need to bring fathers on board. Yet, at the same time, I'm finding more and more men coming into our early childhood programs. So the message is being heard. It begins with us realizing that men are a part of early childhood and providing opportunities for them to participate. We need to help them, as well, to see the essential role they have in the development of young children. I have been pleasantly surprised with my enrollment lately, because I have more men than ever. However, we still need to change our attitudes about who belongs in the classroom and who can take care of our children, realizing that both men and women have important roles.

ECT: What new policies can be implemented to help us set the stage for this vital partnership?

Mitchell: Again, I go back to the parent-involvement standards in Head Start. The foundation for these partnerships really begins with teacher education and administrator education. At Bank Street, there was a course called Family-School-Community Relationships. It was required for everyone getting a degree, and that sent a clear message: We take this seriously.

Pruett: Let's reverse the obsession with testing in the early years, at least academic testing. The road we're headed down is an assault on what we know is good early experience. Intellectual development as a motivator for early learning runs out very quickly. It has to feel good for the personality, not just the memory. I'm very concerned about the toxic effect of that preoccupation with testing.

de Melendez: We need more collaboration with agencies, so we can access the comprehensive services that children require. And it would be wonderful to provide those services in a more centralized manner. Rather than having parents run all over a community, why not have services offered at a school or a center? In the places where this is happening, where health services are available at the school, children attend school more, parents are more involved, and planning is more collaborative. We must keep looking for what is best for our children.

To truly show respect for families, we must increase our knowledge about what it means to be a part of a different culture and to have a different background.

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