(De)constructing parental involvement in early childhood curricular frameworks

The study analyses how the relationship between parents and kindergartens is described in different countries’ kindergarten curricula. With the increased focus on what the authors of the article call the ‘schoolification’ of kindergarten in many countries, and the corresponding requirement of parental participation, they will investigate and compare how the relationship between parents and kindergartens is perceived in different countries.

The content analysis finds three different approaches to parental participation in the curricula. The first approach is a tradition that prepares children for school. In curricula with this approach, which is mainly found in the sample’s English-speaking countries, parents are expected to support their child’s learning and preparedness to start school. In turn, the kindergartens must inform and advise parents about the child’s learning progress. In the educational welfare approach, found in the Scandinavian countries, Germany and Belgium, the curricula emphasise parental involvement in everyday kindergarten life as a democratic right. Here, the parents are seen as partners in the preparation of curricula and in educational decisions. The parents’ point of view is incorporated into the kindergartens’ evaluations to promote children’s learning and development. The content analysis also reveals that many countries try to overcome this dichotomy regarding the view on the role of parents with a third approach, where the parents are seen as a resource that promotes the child’s learning, but at the same time having the role of a democratic partner.

The authors have conducted a content analysis of 13 kindergarten curricula from countries that have different approaches to the relationship and collaboration between kindergarten and parents. The authors analyse the role of parents in curricula from England, Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Belgium.

Janssen, J. & Vandenbroeck, M. (2018). “(De)constructing parental involvement in early childhood curricular frameworks”. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 26(6):813-832.