Children's minister Beverley Hughes launched the report of a study byOxford University on the DCSF-funded Early Learning Partnership Project(ELPP) on the 25 June at the annual conference of the Family andParenting Institute (FPI). The FPI ran ELPP with the aim of creatingfamily-based educational support through voluntary sector agencies.
Ms Hughes said, 'We're not generally dealing with "negligent" or "bad"parenting". She said parents needed 'practical ideas, advice andconfidence to do the right things at the right time', adding thatservices were starting to see adults as parents rather than clients.
Authors Maria Evangelou, Kathy Sylva, Anne Edwards and Teresa Smithspoke about the report to Nursery World.
Professor Sylva said, 'We learned that the vast majority of parents werevery warm and accepting of their children and aware of how importantthey were as their children's first educators. What they wanted werespecific ideas and advice as to what they could do to facilitate theirchild's learning.
'If we're going to make a big change we have to seek more thanawareness, because the awareness is already there.'
She said parents improved most in their organisation of their child'slearning environment, establishing play routines and home safety.
Professor Edwards said, 'We are seeing a model of a thinkingpractitioner. There is a dual focus on engaging vulnerable families andpassing on skills to them. It involves making a lot of decisions.
'We saw practitioners gaining a lot from the training they received andthey would have liked more.'
The researchers concluded that funding for such projects needed to gobeyond a year or 18 months, to enable sustained work with families.
Further information
'Supporting Parents in Promoting Early Learning: The evaluation of theEarly Learning Partnership Project' is athttp://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR039.pdf.