Teacher–Parent Partnerships: Sharing understandings and making changes

Abstract

Early childhood education highlights partnership between teacher and parents as positively influencing children's learning. This article describes how teachers became aware of a lack of shared understanding between them and parents about the ‘parent help’ role in their kindergarten, and their efforts to redress this situation. Changes made by teachers illustrate that a willingness to build, maintain and re-visit collaborative relationships is vital if children's learning is to be maximised.