PEAR_EC · Parental Engagement and Relationships (PEAR) in Early Childhood (EC)
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-05-04 → 2022-05-03
- EU contribution
- €196,591
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Parental Engagement and Relationships (PEAR) in Early Childhood (EC)
Providing support to parents in the early years of children’s lives can positively impact children’s learning and development. The overarching aim of the PEAR EC project was to contribute to effective parenting support policies and practices to improve children’s outcomes. The specific objectives of the project were: (1) To review policy and promising practices for supporting parents and families with children under six in Ireland; and to explore commonalities and differences in relation to other European countries, namely England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, due to their emphasis on prevention and early intervention in family support, aligned with the Irish policy. By identifying conditions and characteristics associated with effective support, PEAR EC aimed to contribute to informing policy and practice development to benefit families, including those experiencing poverty or social exclusion. (2) To research the parenting support model Powerful Parenting, developed by the Childhood Development Initiative (CDI). This model involves placing a dedicated Parent/Carer Facilitator (PCF) within Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services to support parents and carers, and has been implemented in designated disadvantaged areas. PEAR EC intended to evaluate the impact of Powerful Parenting on the relationship between parents and ECEC practitioners, the home learning environment, and parental stress. Furthermore, PEARC EC aimed to analyse if these impacts varied by family characteristics. PEAR EC also aimed to study the implementation of Powerful Parenting to explore which model characteristics could foster positive outcomes for parents. Through this research, PEAR EC sought to share practices and learnings to inform the development of parenting support approaches, including within ECEC services, and, ultimately, improve children’s outcomes. (3) To review policy and practices aiming to support fathers/coparents in Ireland. Given the goal of Powerful Parenting to support fathers/coparents, along with mothers and other carers, PEAR EC intended to evaluate its impact on parents’ gender views related to caregiving practices, and fathers’/coparents’ participation. By identifying conditions and characteristics of interventions aiming to support fathers/coparents, along with mothers, PEAR EC intended to contribute to policy and practice focused on promoting fathers’/coparents’ engagement in children’s lives.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In Ireland, 29% of children under six are at risk of poverty, compared to 26% in Europe. Poverty negatively affects children's early development and parental engagement in children’s education, with long-term effects. Ending poverty and ensuring quality education for all from early childhood are interrelated UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can drive development and combat poverty through its multiplier effects, while providing parental support (PS) to engage with children’s education can further extend these effects. Commitments to ECEC and PS are reflected in emerging EU and Irish policy. However, coherent guidance on ECEC PS modalities is lacking and the effectiveness of practice rarely evaluated. Also, despite evidence of beneficial outcomes, the interaction between PS and poverty is neglected, as well as engagement with fathers/coparents. CDI is testing a model to improve children’s outcomes by integrating PS within ECEC services in Tallaght, a disadvantagd area in Ireland. The researcher, Dr. Catarina Leitão, will carry out a fellowship to study this model under the intersectoral supervision of Marian Quinn, CDI’s CEO and Professor Noirin Hayes of Trinity College Dublin. This fellowship will make a timely contribution to ECEC research and policy-practice gaps, particularly in the context of Ireland's recent (2019) commitment to PS through ECEC services. It will advance understanding of the characteristics and conditions related to positive child, parent and service outcomes by examining service quality, family background and gender effects. It will combine a quasi-experimental matching design and standardised tools that allow internal and external comparability, with innovative qualitative methods (e.g. Photovoice) that empower child and family voice. Lastly, it will optimise intersectoral collaboration to widely communicate and disseminate findings, enhancing potential for social impact.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- TALLAGHT WEST CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENTINITIATIVE COMPANY LBG · DublinCoordinatorIreland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union