DOCUMENT RESUME ED 357 839 PS 021 290 AUTHOR Arrowsmith, Judy; And Others TITLE Working Together: Parents and Staff in Nursery Settings. INSTITUTION Heriot-Watt Univ., Edinburgh (Scotland). Moray House Inst. of Education. REPORT NO ISBN-0901-58C52X PUB DATE 92 NOTE 128p. AVAILABLE FROM Moray House Publications, Moray House Institute, Cramond Campus, Cramond Road North, Edinburgh, Scotland EH4 6JD (6 pounds). PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143) Tests /Evaluation Instruments (160) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Case Studies; *Cooperative Planning; Early Childhood Education; Foreign Countries; Needs Assessment; *Nursery Schools; Parent Attitudes; *Parent School Relationship; *Parent Teacher Cooperation; Program Descriptions; Program Effectiveness; *Recordkeeping; Teacher Attitudes IDENTIFIERS *Scotland ABSTRACT This report presents two case studies that document the efforts of two Scottish nursery schools to foster good home-school relations. The schools involved were Dunsmore Nursery School, which serves 40 students in the morning and 20 in the afternoon and which employs a headteacher, 4 nursery nurses, and a caretaker; and Blairhall Nursery School, a small nursery school for 12 children that is attached to a rural primary school. The case studies profile on-going developments at the schools over time. The aims of the parent-teacher collaboration efforts were the same at both schools. These aims were to: (1) establish the nature and extent of parent-teacher partnership from both parents' and staff members' perspectives; (2) clarify policy on parent-teacher partnerships; (3) examine current recording procedures; (4) identify procedures for monitoring and evaluating initiatives involving parents and staff; (5) identify areas for development from the perspectives of staff and (6) draw up a list of areas to be developed and ideas to be parents; (7) renegotiate the policy statement and the recording and tried; evaluation procedures, if necessary; (8) address the top priority area for development; and (9) record, monitor, and evaluate the development of the top priority area. For each of these aims, the report details activities and outcomes at each school and provides relevant record-keeping forms. (AC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.S. IMPAIRMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Eaucafional Research ano ,DrOvernPrIt EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MORAY HOUSE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION CENTER ERiCi .1(TIfis aocument nas peen reproduced as HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY 'eCe,ved from Inc Person or o*ganization ,:.9matmg .t ',Amor changes nave Peen mace to MOrOve eproduct,on Ovally Po.nr5 ot vlew Or oolmorls Stated .n rniSCIOCrr rnent 00 orN necessary represent whom OE RI posd.on Or 00I.CY WORKING TOGETHER: PARENTS AND STAFF IN NURSERY SETTINGS JUDY ARROWSMITH "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY WITH ct DIANNE LAMONT (`C'tOvJSYCN V\Ael JANET MURRAY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." ISBN 0901 58052X © JUDY ARROWSMITH 1992 Price £6.00 Moray House Publications Moray House Institute Cramond Campus Cramond Road North Edinburgh EH4 6JD 3 Acknowledgements We wish to thank the following people, without whose time, help, advice and cooperation the work would not have been done. Moray House Institute for funding The Director of Education for Fife Region The Adviser in Nursery Education, Mrs N Taylor for her continual support and interest and perhaps more importantly the parents and all the staff of two nurseries who worked so very hard, who gave the issues time and critical thought and who graciously allowed their detailed documents to be published. 4 Foreword Positive working relationships cannot be imposed: they must evolve. It is recognised that good home-school relations are important and worth building not just in terms of people being civil to each other and exchanging information but to facilitate appropriate shared involvement in education. Schools have to live through the process themselves. The people in each school are unique. Nevertheless it would be foolish simply to assume that they must therefore be left to their own devices without support or guidance. Some insight into how others have proceeded, the range of approaches which are possible and some practical suggestions is useful background. We are presenting the working documents for two example schools in their entirety to highlight the process of moving forward rather than just giving a summary of outcomes or "good ideas". We chose two quite different nursery settings for the "on-the-job" study. One was a nursery school of forty morning and twenty afternoon places, whilst the other was as small nursery class attached to a rural primary school. The documents are hardly examples of "normal" case studies, carefully maintaining the confidentiality of each school and a degree of objectivity. They are intensely personal to the schools which worked them 'through and therefore very revealing. We have deliberately retained the names of the schools since the essence of the schools emerges anyway. It is a pleasure that the nurseries were generous enough to allow others to share their work. The documents are not even "finished" coming to neat conclusions. Rather they represent a profile of ongoing developments in a given time-span. The long hard process of improving, evaluating and trying again continues in each setting. Priorities are still being rethought and statements modified. Perhaps the most important aspect of the study which cannot be easily documented in the growing critical approach emerging in both staff and parents as they work towards real partnership in their own setting. The spin-off for other schools is that such research demonstrates a way of tackling the difficulty of tapping into parents views. It offers ideas for simply recording and monitoring procedures in parent-staff partnership and gives examples of unique but appropriately evolved policy statements and ways forward. The nursery setting was a deliberate choice as the starting place for a detailed study of the process of building good relationships between staff and parents, since attitudes, once established here are likely to affect behaviour throughout formal education. It is during the nursery years that firm foundations are laid. The nursery school is in a unique position in that parents or carers and staff actually meet each day. Children must be brought over the threshold, so there is less likely to be a problem of contact. Daily contact, however brief, must go a long way towards breaking down perceived differences between "them" and "us". Parents talk to staff naturally about the child's current behaviour, nursery events and so on, and due to children's enthusiasm to share what they are doing, families are inevitably drawn into nursery activities. However, if the working relationship is to be more than just casual exchange, there must be an attempt to involve staff and parents in deeper discussion, shared planning and critical reviewing. Recording and monitoring are important. It was with a view to gaining insight into this process of learning to share ever more effectively that the case studies went conducted. The task of monitoring such a process lends itself particularly well to collaborative research, with an "outside" facilitator or "professional friend" and those involved in the specific context. There is inevitably an emotional component which must be faced in changing relationships. Being open to comment and possible criticism can cause apprehension, especially amongst staff. However, openness can be achieved and staff and parents grow in confidence as a result. The facilitator can act as a sounding board for ideas and can put the whole thing into context. She can share enthusiasms, be a shoulder to cry on and help brainstorm alternatives. An enormous amount of staff and parent development takes place as a result of working through a series of tasks together, which inevitably will be of benefit to the children. Of course research into practice in specific settings can, at best, stimulate conversation and encourage a sharing of ideas. It cannot offer advice about what will work in another school. It is often a hard process as the schools That is for each school to grapple with for itself. involved with testify!! We know it is worth the effort. We wish every success to all those parents and staff trying to improve ways of working together in their own settings. 5 Moray House Institute of Education Heriot-Watt University Parent-Teacher Collaboration Project Case Study: Dunmore Nursery School Phase 2 1991/92 Monitoring the Progress 6 CONTENTS Page Background to the Study 1 The Study 1 The School and its Background 2 Current nature parent-teacher extent and of Aim 1 3 partnership staff parents from and (a) (b) perspectives Summary of Parent Data (Interview) 4 Summary of Parents' Written Responses 11 Summary of Nursery Nurse Views 15 Student Views Clarification of Present Policy Aim 2 20 Current Recording Procedures Aim 3 23 of procedures for Monitoring and Identification Aim 4 23 Evaluating Developments Analysing the Data and Drawing up Priority Areas 24 Headteacher's Comments on Staff Survey 25 Researcher's Comments on the Responses 27 Staff-Headteacher Discussion: issues arising 30 Headteacher/Researcher joint planning meting 31 : agenda for action Aims 5 & 6 31 policy statement (a) Renegotiation of Aim 7 33 recording procedures (b) evaluation procedures (c) Addressing the Areas: Progress Report (One month Aim 8 34 after) Questions to parents Appendix 1 37 Questions for staff Appendix 2 43 Staff notes for record keeping procedures Appendix 3 47 Record for pupil before transferring to Primary Appendix 4 50 School letter with Educational Psychological Liaison Appendix 5 51 Service Examples from file of posters/invitations Appendix 6 for 52 parent-staff joint events Introduction procedures for children starting the Appendix 7 57 nursery Pro-forma Example: Prospective Home Visit to Appendix 8 58 Child's Family Questionnaire for distribution at Parents' Evening Appendix 9 59 Interview involvement schedule with Appendix 10 on 61 children's baking Questions to parents helping analyse the value of Appendix 11 63 baking Developing a policy on parental participation Appendix 12 67 Stage 1, structured staff discussion preparation notes Developing a policy on parental participation in Appendix 13 70 nursery (a) Redraft of policy document Appendix 14 73 (b) 2nd redraft of policy document 75 Current draft of policy statement Policy Statement (Parents' Version) (c) 78 Staff record of parent chat Appendix 15 80 "All about me" sheet Appendix 16 82 Nursery profile Appendix 17 83 Records, formative/summative Appendix 18 85 Starting Profile Appendix 19 87 Evaluation by parents Appendix 20 88 3 PARENTS AND TEACHERS WORKING TOGETHER IN NURSERY SCHOOLS (DUNMORE) Background Improved parent teacher communication and partnership is the explicit aim of current legislation (School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988). This is the logical development from repeated reports and research notes, stressing the importance in educational terms of parents and teachers improving shared understanding and working together. Although there is plenty of well- documented argument for the need to co-operate, there has been less concentration in examining the step-by-step process necessary, in particular schools and on the requirement for those involved to develop monitoring techniques necessary for constant modification and improvement of practice. In 1988 an initial investigation was made in a sample of Edinburgh primary schools into "good practice" in a variety of settings. It was clear that each school was unique and that relationships had to be built up between the particular people involved over a period of time. Nevertheless there were some "good ideas" which-could usefully be shared to offer suggestions to schools to stimulate their own discussions and spark off new ideas. These, together with some basic approaches for workshops for parents and teachers were published in "Primary Workshop Notes : Parents and Teachers working together". Stage 2 is to engage in some collaborative action research in a mall sample of nursery schools whether the to focus on the actual process of strengthening and improving relationships, school is relatively inexperienced or well down the avenue of parent-teacher collaboration. It is recognised that the steps taken might. be very small and the process of consolidation and improvement slow. Nevertheless the effort is acknowledged as worthwhile by those involved. Improvement seems to depend on careful monitoring of what is going on and brief but efficient recording of what has been tried, together with some evaluation. It requires a clear statement of where the school is at the outset, together with a profile of progress. Revision of short-term objectives must be based on reasoned argument, preferably with some evidence available to support the case. The aim of the research in each school, is to provide a brief profile of ongoing developments, with monitoring data offering some evaluation of the methods already tried. Pointers for future development in the specific context will be looked for. Perhaps more importantly, the research aims to establish a critical approach in staff and parents setting so that evaluation of each new step as they move forward in partnership in their own becomes second nature and honest exchange becomes deeper than exchanging pleasantries or sharing specific problems about a child. There is a commitment to constant improvement and development. The Study be Devising a "profile" of ongoing development and monitoring the progress clearly can not achieved by a "snapshot " visit to a nursery school. It was felt to be important to build up a that relationship with the staff, parents and children in the nursery over a period of time, so conduct two cases in Fife, one of which is progress was a shared endeavour. It was decided to Dunmore Nursery. 9 In Dunmore Nursery, the aims were To establish the nature and extent of parent-teacher partnership, from parents 1 and staff perspectives. To clarify present policy on parent teacher partnership, and the methods of 2 implementing this policy. To examine current recording procedures. 3 To identify the procedures for monitoring and evaluating any initiatives 4 involving parents and staff together. To identify areas for development or proposed initiatives from both parents 5 and staff perspectives. To draw up an initial list of areas for development which should be addressed, 6 ordered according to priority, and ideas to be tried. (If necessary) to renegotiate the policy statement 7 recording procedures evaluation procedures To address the first area for development, or try the first idea. 8 To record what happens. 9 To monitor and evaluate what happens 10 The School and its Background Dunmore Nursery School has operated since 1960 and holds both morning and afternoon sessions. It has its full complement of children, taking forty in the morning and twenty in the afternoon. The headteacher is assisted by four nursery nurses in the morning, two of whom stay on for the full day. An experienced caretaker combines her duties with a general caring role. She lives locally and is well known to the children and their families. An auxiliary to assist with a child with special educational needs works on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes. There are often nursery nurse training students working in the nursery. YTS trainees and local High School pupils visit as part of their course. The nursery school has good facilities: Two playrooms Dining area Parents' area, where friends and family can make tea/coffee Staffroom Headteacher's Office Toilet area Laundry/utility room Large outdoor play area and grassed area. The catchment area is rural, an area of higher employment although some of the employment is casual and seasonal. The housing is steadily being upgraded and in general the facilities in the village are improving because of Urban Aid Funding. There is a community centre and outreach community social workers. There are two other nurseries in the area. JO