Initial research into using ICT to develop improve how pre-school practitioners engage with parents

1. PARENTAL INCLUSION IN
EARLY YEARS LEARNING
A comparison of ICT approaches to developing a
partnership with parents in Early Years Learning
settings
Alison Owens
13th February 2017
7pm
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/clo
ud/view/10183

2. INTRODUCTION
“Why is parental inclusion so important?”

3. INTRODUCTION
“Why is parental inclusion so important?”
• Legislative requirements – parents are the primary educators
(Barnardos, 2006) and primary care-givers per UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child (Children’s Rights Alliance, 2010),
therefore, inclusion of parents meets legislative requirements.
• Inclusion provides greater support for the child beyond the pre-
school setting by helping to ‘create a home environment that
encourages learning’ (Olsen and Fuller, 2010).
• It creates consistency between home and school.
• Engagement with parents creates two way communication
making use of parents knowledge of the child and the schools
knowledge of latest child development theory.

4. BARRIERS TO
PARENTAL INCLUSION

5. BARRIERS TO
PARENTAL INCLUSION
• Literacy: parents with difficulty reading and writing will find it difficult to
engage through printouts issued by the school, mobile texts and e-mails.
• Lack of time: (i) parents, due to work, family obligations etc. and (ii)
practitioners limited non-contact time (time away from the children for
carrying out administrative jobs) (Barnardo’s, 2006).
• Lack of opportunity whereby the setting doesn’t provide opportunities for
parental engagement (Barnardo’s, 2006).
• Communication difficulties such as language and culture (Department of
Children and Youth Affairs, 2016).
• Practitioner concerns: attitudes towards engaging with parents may be
negative due to low wages and feelings of a lack of respect and appreciation
from both the Government and parents. In addition, practitioners may be
concerned over lack of training, resources etc. (Barnardo’s, 2006).
• Parents may also have negative attitudes due to their own personal negative
experiences of the education system (Share et al., 2011).

6. ICT OPTIONS

7. ICT OPTIONS
Free ICT options available include:
• Twitter: limited uptake (in a sample of 18 parents, none used Twitter).
• Facebook: easy to use, private groups can be set up, 100% of parents use Facebook.
• E-mail: fast and reliable for sending information to a large number of people by setting
up groups.
• Blogging: useful for providing open information e.g. on a healthy eating programme.
Paid for options:
• Conferencing: useful for parent/teacher events where parents cannot attend the
setting but can be costly depending on the site used.
• Website: 79% of practitioners have a website for providing general information such as
contact details.
• Software packages specifically designed for preschool settings e.g. Child Diary and
Learning Journals. Tailor made for preschools but very expensive.

8. BENEFITS OF ICT

9. BENEFITS OF ICT
• Legislative: meets legislative requirements described above, for example, by engaging
with parents through social networking sites.
• Convenience: discussions need not take place in real time. Also, communication can be
designed to make information more accessible e.g. parents with sight impairments could
use text reading software to read online material (Enable Ireland, 2015).
• 2 way communication: ICT allows information to flow in both directions, unlike traditional
methods.
• Reporting: Use of specific programmes allow production of reports, this provides
immediate information for parents which they can then pass on to external assessors
should their child need specialist support, however, these programmes can be expensive
to buy.
• Easy access to information: Information on issues such as holiday closing, medical
information and so on, can be passed on quickly and efficiently through text and e-mail
alerts.
• Mobile: Extensive use of mobile phones allows many parents to access information, for
example, text alerts, without investing in large technologies such as laptops.
• Reducing costs: By switching from printing to ICT, administrative costs can be
considerably reduced.

10. CURRENT METHODS OF ENGAGEMENT
- BASED ON SAMPLE OF 19 PRACTITIONERS
Method (% of practitioners using it) Barriers
Face to face meetings: daily, suggesting
brief discussion at drop off times – 100%
Group meetings such as ‘Parent
induction’, information events – 30%
Lack of time (practitioners), parents too busy
or not interested, no effort from management.
Parent/teacher events e.g. Christmas and
summer closing events – 50%
Time constraints, busy parents, no effort from
management.
E-mail (occasionally) – 50% Time constraints, impersonal, parents literacy
issues, no internet, internet access problems.
Printed handouts – 90%
Phone calls (for emergencies, sick child
etc.) – 100%
Twitter – 0% Ethics, unprofessional, computer literacy
issues, child protection, internet problems.
Facebook – 37% Ethics, unprofessional, computer literacy
issues, child protection, internet problems.

11. BARRIERS TO ICT

12. BARRIERS TO ICT
Based on questionnaires from 19 practitioners and 18 parents:
• Child protection: 50% of parents have concerns regarding confidentiality,
privacy and security.
• Preferences: some parents prefer not to use ICT.
• Digital literacy.
• Access to technologies (none of the parents use Twitter though all use
Facebook).
• Internet access.
• Cost of implementation: particularly software programmes such as Vista
• Practitioners perceptions: use of social media is unprofessional, e-mail is
viewed as impersonal. (This is at odds with parents perceptions).

13. RISKS IDENTIFIED BY PARENTS
FOR USING ICT

14. RISKS IDENTIFIED BY PARENTS
FOR USING ICT
• Confidentiality.
• Data protection.
• Child safety
These are extremely important as preschools are working
with very young children and practitioners have a duty of
care to the children in the setting.

15. OVERCOMING BARRIERS
& RISKS

16. OVERCOMING BARRIERS
& RISKS
• Overcoming barriers to inclusion:
• Key barriers identified: time, literacy.
• ICT is time saving and can be used in conjunction with literacy aids.
• Overcoming barriers to the use of ICT:
• Key barriers identified: digital literacy, misunderstanding of how it can be used
safely, disconnect between parent and practitioner perceptions.
• The majority of problems can be resolved through training for both parents and
practitioners.
• Dealing with the risks involved:
• Know your ICT.
• Use ICT appropriate to the information or message.
• Ensure security.

17. CONCLUSION

18. CONCLUSION
• Next steps:
• Extending the research to include a larger sample including UK
practitioners.
• Complete a detailed comparison of ICT.
• Disseminate information to practitioners.
• Summary:
• ICT could save time and money when engaging with parents.
• There are misconceptions of how and when to use ICT.
• There is a gap between parent and practitioner perceptions.
• Training is required.

19. REFERENCES
• Barnardo's (2006). Parental involvement - a handbook for childcare providers. Dublin, The
National Children's Resource Centre. Available:
https://www.barnardos.ie/assets/files/publications/free/parental_involvement.pdf [Accessed
11th November 2016]
• Children’s Rights Alliance (2010). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Available:
www.childrensrights.ie/sites/default/files/submissions_reports/files/UNCRCEnglish_0.pdf
[accessed 21st March 2014]
• Department of Children and Youth Affairs (2016). Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Charter and
Guidelines for Early Childhood Care and Education, Dublin, Government Publications.
• Enable Ireland (2015). Types of Assistive Technology. Available:
http://www.enableireland.ie/products-technology/electronic-at [accessed 25th April 2015]
• Olsen, G. and Fuller, M.L. (2010). The Benefits of Parent Involvement: What Research Has to Say
[online]. Available: http://www.education.com/reference/article/benefits-parent-involvement-
research/ [Accessed 12th November 2016]
• Share, M ., Kerrins, L . and Greene, S. (2011) . Early Years Professionalism: An evaluation of the
early Learning Initiative’s Professional Development Programme in Community Childcare
Centres in the Dublin Docklands. Dublin, National College of Ireland.

20. Questions
&
Answers