EDUC90895: Early Childhood Studies Family and Community Report

This report analyzes the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) focusing on family and community partnerships in early childhood education. It examines the key elements of the framework's policy, emphasizing the importance of family and community involvement in shaping a child's sense of belonging and development. The report summarizes the policy on parent and community involvement, highlighting the responsibilities of early childhood educators in fostering effective partnerships. It identifies and investigates strategies like the role of pre-school field officers in facilitating inclusion and culturally responsive practices. Furthermore, the report connects the policy's aims and gaps, particularly the need for parental involvement in curriculum design. The author recommends incorporating family representatives in curriculum committees to address children's needs and promote the acceptance of all families. The report concludes by referencing relevant literature on family-school links and community collaboration, offering recommendations for enhancing family engagement within early childhood education.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Key elements of the Framework’s policy on parent and community partnerships
Family and the community partnership plays an important role in the learning and the
development of a child. They provided the children with opportunities, relationships, experiences
and the opportunities shaping each of the child’s sense of being, belonging and becoming
(Victoria State government, education and training, 2019).
The local community, the tradition, the spaces and the availability fosters a sense of
wellbeing and belonging of the family and the child. The policy frameworks provides a list of
responsibilities that an early childhood educators are likely to follow, for developing an effective
partnership with the families and the community.
Summarization of the policy on parent and the community involvement
The VEYLF framework has stated what the early childhood professionals would do to
engage the family in the growth and the development of the child. An early childhood
professional should show respect in relationship with the families, adopting an open, non-
judgmental and honest approach responsive to a family situation (Victoria State government,
education and training, 2019). It is the duty of an early childhood educators to create a
welcoming and an inclusive atmosphere for the children and the families. In an inclusive
ambience, all the families are encouraged to take part and contribute to the experiences,
enhancing the learning and the development of children (Scully et al., 2015). Family, culture
and tradition plays a crucial role in the development of children coming of aboriginal families.
The Marrung educational plan the exclusively focusses of the building of the community
engagement in the learning and the development of a child (Victoria State government,
education and training, 2019). This plan is also in agreement to the VEYLD framework that

2
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
believes that local collaboration with the parents/carers and the community organizations plays
an important role in the provision of the structure and the development of the children, young
people and adults.
The main aim of this section of the VEYLD is to bestow the sense of cultural sensitivity among
the educators.
Identification and the investigation of one strategy
According to this framework, the pre-school field officers are accountable to provide
consultancy to the early childhood educators and the parents for facilitating the inclusion of the
children in the state funded kindergarten program. It should be mentioned that the early
childhood teachers as well as the other students of the childcare centers come from different
cultural background, hence they sometimes might lack the ability to apply culturally responsive
strategies (Grant & Ray, 2018). In such cases it is necessary to educate the educators about
culturally appropriate curriculum design and strategies to promote an inclusive classroom.
The pre-school field officers can collaborate with the families by inviting them to visit
the classroom and join in various classroom activities. The educators can also take the initiative
to visit children at home, where the educators might engross in informal discussions with the
family members to ask about the needs of the child (Scully et al., 2015). This encourages the
families to share every information about the temperament of the child, their primary play
partners and the way they communicate at home (Epstein et al. 2015).
However, one of the gap that can be identified in this policy, is that parents are not
consulted before the designing of an inclusive curriculum and an inclusive classroom.
Furthermore, the policy did not mention in details, as what kind of community involvement is

3
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
exactly needed, that will cater to both the intellectual and emotional development of a child and a
sense of responsibility towards the community.
Connect the policy aims or gaps
The VEYLDF framework rightly observes all the accountabilities, which an educator
should possess for providing a teaching that is family, student and community centered.
However, it did not contain information as of how the parents can be involved in the designing of
an inclusive classroom. In relation to family engagement, Scully, Stites, Roberts-King &
Barbour, (2015) have refereed to an ecological perspective explaining the development of the
child. According to the social exchange theory, the development of social relationships, between
the family members and child care programs depends upon the exchange of information between
families and the educators (Grant & Ray, 2018). It has been found that educational centers
seeking parent participation in the continuous improvement process have better results.
In relation to this, it can be recommended that the curriculum designing committee or the
management of any child care educational center should at least contain one representative of the
families, such that all the needs and the grievances of the children are identified (Booth & Dunn,
2013). I is necessary to promote the acceptance of all the families, by inviting the role models of
the different cultures to participate in the community based programs.

4
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
References
Booth, A., & Dunn, J. F. (2013). Family-school links: How do they affect educational
outcomes?. Routledge.
Epstein, J. L., Sanders, M. G., Sheldon, S. B., Simon, B. S., Salinas, K. C., Jansorn, N. R., ... &
Hutchins, D. J. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for
action. Corwin Press.
Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. A. (Eds.). (2018). Home, school, and community collaboration:
Culturally responsive family engagement. Sage Publications.
McCaleb, S. P. (2013). Building communities of learners: A collaboration among teachers,
students, families, and community. Routledge.
Scully, P., Stites, M. L., Roberts-King, H., & Barbour, C. (2015). Families, schools and
communities. Boston MA: Pearson.
Victoria State government, education and training .(2019).VICTORIAN EARLY YEARS
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK. Access date:
14.3.2019. .Retrieved from:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/
veyldframework.pdf
Victoria State government, education and training.(2019) .MARRUNGABORIGINAL
EDUCATION PLAN2016 - 2026.Access date: 14.3.2019. .Retrieved from:

5
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/aboriginal/
Marrung_Aboriginal_Education_Plan_2016-2026.pdf