Module 2: Assignment
REQUIRED RESOURCES
- O’Keefe, B. (2011, October 19). 5 steps to better school/community collaborationLinks to an external site.. Edutopia.
- National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009, June/July). 11x: Welcome children and families to your classroom.Links to an external site. Teaching Young Children, 2(5).
- Blagojevic, A. (2016). 10X: Using technology to engage familiesLinks to an external site.. Teaching Young Children, 9(5), 10–11.
- Michael-Luna, S. (2015, November). What parents have to teach us about their dual-language childrenLinks to an external site.. Young Children, 70(5), 42-47.
- Luckenbill, J. & Zide, A. (2017, September). Supporting medically fragile children and their familiesLinks to an external site.. Young Children, 72(4). 79-84.
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (2020). Preparing for challenging conversations with families.Links to an external site. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (n.d.). Early childhood transitions: Supporting children and families.Links to an external site. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
- National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (n.d.). Families as advocates and leaders.Links to an external site. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- Greene-Moton, E., & Minkler, M. (2019). Cultural competence or cultural humility? Moving beyond the debateLinks to an external site.. Health Promotion Practice, 21(1), 142–145.
- Hogg Staff. (2019, November 5). 3 things to know: Cultural humilityLinks to an external site.. Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.
- Vesely, C. K., Brown, E. L., & Mehta, S. (2017). Developing cultural humility through experiential learning: How home visits transform early childhood preservice educators’ attitudes for engaging familiesLinks to an external site.. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 38(3), 242–258.
REQUIRED MEDIA RESOURCES
- Walden University. (2020). Your early childhood communityLinks to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University Canvas. click on “Effective and Meaningful Family Partnerships.”
- Walden University. (2020). Your early childhood communityLinks to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University Canvas. click on “Overcoming Barriers and Challenges.”
- Walden University. (2020). Your early childhood communityLinks to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University Canvas. click on “Building Meaningful Family Partnerships”
- Walden University. (2013). Building relationships and partnering with families [Video]. Walden University Canvas. for Early Childhood. (n.d.). CONNECT Video 4.1: The teacher’s viewpointLinks to an external site. [Video]. Connect Modules.
- Division for Early Childhood. (n.d.). CONNECT Video 4.2: The family’s viewpointLinks to an external site. [Video]. Connect Modules.
- Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2023, August 14). Bringing families together: Building communityLinks to an external site. [Video]. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
- Chavez, V. (2012, August 9). Cultural humility (complete)Links to an external site. [Video]. YouTube.
Assignment: Guidance for Building Effective Partnerships With Families
Understanding who your families are, their interests, strengths, challenges, and needs is a key first step—as well as an ongoing process—essential to building meaningful and effective family-professional partnerships. The process of building such relationships with families is foundational to truly serving children while also providing individualized supports that promote strengthening families as a whole.
One of the most effective ways to get to know families is through the process of humble inquiry. In this Assignment, you will apply the principles of cultural humility as you interview family members and recommend strategies in the spirit of building trusting, respectful, and effective partnerships.
For this Assignment, you will interview members of at least two families with young children. You will synthesize information from the resources and your findings from your interviews to create a “product” that would be helpful to others in the form of a narrated PowerPoint presentation. Your goal is to offer information and guidance on how to build meaningful and effective partnerships with families in such a way that your information could be used as part of a professional development session or as the basis for a conference presentation.
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Learning From Families
Interview a family member from at least two families with young children. Questions will include the following, and you may also ask some of your own:
In your view, what is the role of early childhood professionals in the life of your child?
In what ways would you like to partner with early childhood professionals to ensure your child’s and family’s needs are met?
What is your role in building these partnerships?
What challenges do you perceive to building these partnerships?
Tell a story about a time when you experienced a barrier and/or a success in partnering.
What do you wish your child’s teacher or other early childhood professional understood about your child and/or your family?
How would you like your child’s early childhood teacher to reach out to you to help form and maintain an ongoing partnership?
PRESENTATION PROJECT
Guidance for Building Effective Partnerships With Families
Your presentation should respond to the following questions and include examples and stories from the resources, your interviews, and your professional experience throughout to illustrate your points:
What are effective family partnerships?
Why are these partnerships important and to whom?
How and why “special circumstances”—such as living in poverty, turmoil/trauma including addiction, domestic violence, community violence, child abuse and neglect, loss, illness and disability, financial loss, COVID-19, natural disasters, divorce, incarceration, and/or deployment—can influence building effective partnerships?
How do early childhood professionals best approach and get to know families in ways that support the growth of authentic and meaningful partnerships?
Where does cultural humility fit into this process?
What potential barriers and challenges should early childhood professionals be aware of while building these partnerships?
What key piece of advice would you share with every early childhood professional committed to building meaningful and effective partnerships with families?
Assignment length: 15–20 minutes.
PLEASE PROVIDE AN OUTLINE OR SCRIPT OF WHAT TO SAY FOR THE SLIDES
Note: The number of slides in your presentation will vary depending on how you choose to respond to the bulleted questions while including illustrative and insightful details and compelling examples. Be sure to include a script of your narration in the “Notes” section of each slide and a slide that lists the resources you drew from using APA formatting.
