Parent-preschool partnership: many levels of power

Abstract

This study aims to examine the meaning-making of parents in five Icelandic preschools concerning the collaboration between preschools and families. Further, the perspectives of educators on the views of the parents were also sought. The theoretical background was Moss’s ideas of democratic early childhood education and MacNaughton’s ideas of power relationships between parents and educators. Data were gathered in two steps: first, focus-group interviews were conducted with parents; and second, focus group interviews were conducted with a group of preschool educators who reflected upon the parent interviews. The parents and educators seemed to have similar experiences and views of the parent-professional collaboration, and of the division of power and knowledge between the two groups. The type of collaboration the parents and the educators described is not in line with democratic preschool pedagogy as explained by Moss (2007). They did not seem to believe that parents should be involved in decision making concerning the purposes, practices, and environment of the preschool. The parents from other cultures who participated in the study were in a marginalized position, and the educators seemed to be unsure about how to communicate with and accommodate families from cultures different from their own. The study reveals power relationships on many levels in the preschool community.