“Nothing can strengthen a person more than the trust that is placed in them.” – Adolf von Harnack
In modern early childhood education, this term is by now firmly established and goes well beyond the traditional concept of „working with parents“. It marks a shift away from a purely informative relationship (“the nursery provides information on aspects of child development and educational work”) towards active cooperation between parents and educational staff, with the aim of supporting the child’s development in the best possible way. But what does that mean specifically for each child?
Experts on an equal footing
The foundation of any educational partnership is the mutual recognition of the specific knowledge of all those involved in a child’s educational process. Whilst educational staff contribute their specialist knowledge of developmental stages and group dynamics, parents are the undisputed experts when it comes to their child’s individuality, biography and needs. When both sides share this knowledge, a comprehensive picture emerges that enables precisely tailored support. Being on an equal footing does not mean that both sides must have the same knowledge, but rather that both perspectives are equally important for the child’s wellbeing.
This includes:
- Mutual respect: Parents’ opinions are not dismissed as „interference“ and the professional judgement of the nursery and after-school care staff is not perceived as a „know-it-all attitude“. In after-school care, the expertise of teachers is also taken into account. Developing this mutual respect is also a task for educational partnership in this context.
- Finding common solutions: When it comes to challenging tasks such as hygiene and cleanliness training, settling in to the new environment or schoolwork, decisions are not simply made about the child; instead, we discuss how strategies from home, nursery and school (for children in after-school care) can be combined.
- Open communication: In open communication, information flows in both directions. Professionals do not hide behind pedagogical jargon and parents feel confident enough to ask critical questions.
A sense of security through continuity
For a child, nursery is often the first bridge between the familiar world of their home life and wider society. Close coordination between these two worlds creates a coherent environment for the child, allowing them to feel that everything is harmonious. When values, rules and rituals are aligned, or are at least shown mutual respect, the child feels secure and is able to engage more openly and boldly in learning processes. The experiences a child has within their family are taken into account and valued at nursery. If, for example, a child speaks a different language or celebrates certain festivals at home, this is reflected in everyday life at the nursery.
Alongside school and family, the after-school care centre is a third place in children’s lives; here, too, exchange between the family and the after-school team is important for providing the best possible care for children in the afternoons.
A child feels that their identity is accepted in its entirety when it is received with appreciation by the teachers. Although nursery, after-school care and the family are different settings, the fundamental educational and upbringing objectives are coordinated throughout. When parents and educators share similar views on autonomy, participation and social interaction, this provides children with guidance and a sense of security – especially the younger ones.
A coherent and cohesive environment is therefore created through educational partnership. When educational staff know what was on the child’s mind over the weekend and parents know what the child has discovered during their daily learning activities, both sides can respond accordingly. For the child, this translates to: „The adults know about each other and are working as a team“. In a coherent environment, the child does not need to switch back and forth between different roles. They feel free to be the same person at nursery or after-school care as at home. When the interpretations of both parents and professionals merge, this „coherent educational environment“ arises. Coherence, therefore, simply means cohesion. Thus, a coherent educational environment protects the child from being overwhelmed by expectations that are too conflicting and provides a safe framework for their development. The child experiences how the two most important worlds in their life (family and nursery) work together and value one another. This experience provides an important foundation for resilience as a form of mental robustness and effective learning processes. When children attend after-school care, primary school teachers become part of this educational setting. This creates a crucial educational partnership triangle between teachers, parents and education professionals.
Transparency and trust
Every successful partnership thrives on open communication. Open communication and transparency regarding educational goals and day-to-day life at nursery or after-school care help to break down prejudices and strengthen parents’ trust in the facility. Conversely, staff feel encouraged by valuable feedback from parents. This reduces scepticism on both sides and creates a positive atmosphere that has a direct impact on children. What is more, transparency and trust are also the bridges that remain strong even when more difficult matters need to be discussed, such as when the child requires further support and guidance with the help from their parents or when something becomes challenging at home.
What matters is that parents understand and are able to relate to the educational goals and methods. They draw on their own resources (language, culture, hobbies, specialist knowledge) to help their child experience a tangible connection between home life and nursery. There are so many things to be discovered as part of every young life, but these can also present challenges for children. Mutual trust is the essential condition on the basis of which education professionals and parents are able to help and support the child in this regard.
This applies to the introduction to nursery just as much as to the transition to primary school. This too is a phase in which educational partnership has a positive impact on children, since they are able to sense that the adults are there for them as a united team. This enables them to step confidently into a new world and find their footing. In this respect, educational partnership means working together to allow children to feel empowered. Primary schools and their teachers are also involved in this transition.
Participation is more than just baking cakes for parties
Educational partnership means genuine participation. Parents are not merely viewed as helpers at events, but as active participants who help shape life at the nursery. Parental participation is regarded as valuable. Parents are explicitly perceived as “experts on their own children”.
There are various forms of participation designed to give expression to this. At the heart of it all is personal contact, which helps to make the day-to-day educational routine transparent. This occurs, for example, in casual conversations as part of a brief daily exchange when dropping off or picking up children. Development discussions are individual dialogue sessions intended to reflect on a child’s development. KIWI – Kinder in Wien offers the KigaWeb app for parents, which is a digital platform for direct communication. It enables you to manage appointments and absences as well as share up-to-date information – even in other languages. Parents’ evenings, notices displayed at various locations and information packs for parents round out the range of opportunities for communicative participation. Added to this are exclusive parent coaching sessions and specialist lectures for parents. Getting involved in the complaints management process is encouraged – alongside informal discussions, there are also structured feedback channels.
Pedagogical participation
At KIWI locations, value is also placed on ensuring that families are closely involved in the implementation of inclusion strategies so that individual solutions can be found for each child. When parents and education professionals work together, it is the child who benefits most: they experience appreciation, continuity and an environment in which they can flourish to the full.
Educational partnership is about pedagogical participation. Pedagogical participation transforms a nursery or after-school care from a place of „supervision“ into a place of collective creation. When it comes to participation in educational matters, it is not only parents but also children who have a say. Children get to help decide what games are played, how the group area is arranged or which projects are carried out, e.g. through children’s conferences or votes. In addition, they have the right to self-determination and decide on their own personal matters, such as how and when they would like to eat something at the open breakfast in the bistro and whether they wish to take part in an activity. Children also have the right to complain. Not only are they encouraged to voice their dissatisfaction, they also know who to turn to if they feel that something isn’t going quite right for them.
Challenges for everyone involved
Establishing a successful educational partnership between parents and professionals is a challenging process that can be complicated by specific obstacles at various levels. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is arguably the acute lack of time. Education professionals are immersed in the demanding day-to-day work of the education sector. But above all, working parents are under considerable time pressure, which can hinder communication.
Just like in a family, everyone involved in the educational partnership must make a conscious effort to set aside time for each other. Differences in ideas of upbringing and values can also lead to tension or misunderstandings. If conflicting views on upbringing and educational goals – such as discipline, nutrition, hygiene and media consumption – collide, this requires a high degree of professional communication and empathy in order to find common ground so as to put the best interests of the child first.
KIWI’s educational philosophy and mission statement serve as important guides for both sides. However relieved parents may be to have secured a spot at a nursery or after-school care centre, it is important to consider these basic points. Language and cultural barriers also pose a challenge to the educational partnership. If information cannot flow freely due to language deficits or if cultural codes are misunderstood, this can quickly lead to uncertainty or even mutual distance, which makes genuine participation more difficult. Furthermore, parents’ personal experiences sometimes cause them to form a particular idea or even expectation of how things should go for their child at nursery or after-school care. For example, those who used to bring home „arts and crafts“ from nursery when they themselves were children are disappointed that modern early childhood education now focuses more on children’s development through self-initiated learning and educational processes than on craft projects.
It can be challenging for parents to place their trust in the findings of brain research and modern (childhood) education if they themselves experienced an educational approach characterised by strict demands and high expectations of their own abilities. The adults involved in the educational partnership are not competitors when it comes to the child’s wellbeing; instead, they work together for the good of the child as well as to protect the child.
However, the division of roles does need to be discussed in order to create clarity. Educators have a role that is different to that of parents – but together, the two roles provide the best possible educational support for a child. A structured complaints management process and regular chats for reflection are also important for removing obstacles and building a foundation of mutual trust.
Conflicts within the educational partnership
However, we must not overlook the fact that conflicts can also arise in educational partnerships. Conflicts can also emerge as a result of differing values, educational goals or communication problems. Common causes include disagreements over rules, but also a lack of trust or if parents feel they have not received enough information. Conflicts are often accompanied by high emotions and can be triggered by factors such as the following:
- Differences in educational and upbringing goals as well as upbringing style: Differing views on rules, setting boundaries, autonomy, nutrition and hygiene.
- Communication problems: A lack of or misleading information about daily life at the nursery or the child’s development.
- Pick-up and drop-off times: Failure to comply with agreements or the centre’s rules.
- Overload: People’s perceived everyday stresses can lead to over-sensitive reactions from everyone involved.
- Instrumentalisation: It may also be the case that the nursery becomes implicated in private disputes over custody or relationships.
- Development issues: Differing views on a child’s educational needs can also lead to disagreements.
Conflicts are normal and, if handled constructively, can actually strengthen the educational partnership. Possible approaches to resolving the issue, which always require openness and willingness on both sides, include:
- Clear communication: Regular, respectful parents‘ meetings are held and expectations are made clear. Parents should also demonstrate respect and, if necessary, request a chat from time to time.
- Mutual understanding: Educational staff maintain an open and professional attitude, but parents too should avoid making accusations and strive to understand the other person’s point of view.
- Transparency: The work carried out at the nursery or after-school care centre is disclosed to provide an insight into educational decisions, but parents should also take the initiative to ask questions if there are certain aspects they would like explained in more detail.
- Binding agreements: Agreements regarding cooperation are made jointly by the institution, the teaching staff and the parents, but must also be adhered to by both sides. This also applies to agreements made with children. Reliability and commitment are key objectives. After-school care also involves other partners, namely the teachers.
- Clarification at an early stage: Problems and questions should always be addressed promptly, before they become entrenched. When it comes to the care of schoolchildren, this is often about the school’s expectations of the children’s performance. Discussing matters with teachers at an early stage helps children to achieve success at school by tailoring performance expectations to each child’s individual strengths.
- Agreement on conduct: Children are expected to interact with one another in a way that is characterised by respect, appreciation and mutual courtesy; this also forms the basis of the educational partnership between professionals and parents. The respective philosophies of the KIWI nurseries and after-school care centres form the foundation for this.
Hand in hand: why educational partnership is a great thing for our children
After all these explanations, it is clear just how essential and important successful educational partnership is for your child’s development and education. Educational partnership begins with enrolment. A good educational partnership offers you the opportunity to strengthen your upbringing skills, as the dialogue provides parents with expert support and opportunities to reflect on their day-to-day upbringing.
Further positive effects include the fact that the child’s wellbeing and resilience are strengthened, their social skills and (future) academic performance improved and a stronger sense of community is fostered within the institution. Trust is the invisible foundation on which the entire collaboration rests. Without trust, educational partnership remains nothing more than a formal childcare arrangement – with trust, it becomes a genuine source of support for the child. Child-rearing and educational processes are rarely entirely free from crises, such as defiant phases, sleep problems, conflicts within the group and even conflicts at home.
In a trusting partnership, parents feel encouraged to speak honestly about problems at home without fear of being judged. Only when teachers know what is currently causing a child distress can they respond appropriately and with sensitivity at nursery or after-school care. This requires parents to place their trust in the school and the teaching staff to adopt a respectful attitude. When both sides share their observations – which may be difficult to accept, such as in the case of developmental delays – parents can only come to terms with this if there is a foundation of trust. Without trust, this type of feedback comes across as criticism of a person’s upbringing ability; with trust, it is understood as a joint effort to find the best solution.
Wherever people work together, mistakes and misunderstandings are bound to happen. Trust ensures that people talk with one another rather than about one another. Each person assumes the other has good intentions (“I’m sure there was a reason why things turned out that way today”) and resolves problems straight away before they escalate. For many parents, handing over their child is an emotional feat. Trust gives parents the peace of mind to concentrate on their own work during working hours, since they know their child is in capable and caring hands. This applies in particular to parents of schoolchildren, who are often glad to have a strong partner by their side in the form of the teacher to help them understand the demands of school.
“The greatest honour one can bestow upon another person is to place one’s trust in them.” – Matthias Claudius
