EDU30006 Families Community and Citizenship Case Study 2 Sample

EDU30006 Families, Community and Citizenship

Scenario

Background and context

Boroondara Children's Learning Centre is licensed for 45 children from the age of birth to five years old (with ten children under the age of two). The centre is situated in a Melbourne suburb where 40% of the population are born overseas. Most of the households in the area are young families who are new to the area, moving either recently from overseas or from other parts of the state. Some live with extended families and some are nuclear families with both or sole parent(s). The majority of the families comprise two parents who are in the full-time paid workforce. The area has experienced population growth. A new library and a community recreation centre nearby have been renovated. There are two public primary schools within the zone.

Meet The Families

Anna relocated to Melbourne a few months ago for her work. She is a single mother. Her daughter, Alice, is turning five and she is deaf. Recently Alice had a cochlear implant when she was two. She understands sign language but she communicates with people using both sign and oral language. Anna’s family is in Sydney. Sometimes, her parents come over to help her look after Alice. Anna has not decided whether Alice is going to inclusion or a deaf specialist school.

The Chang family migrated to Melbourne seven years ago. Their son Ben is turning five. Ben’s mother is a healthcare professional and Ben’s father owns a business that requires frequent overseas trips. Ben’s maternal grandparents, who speak little English, have been involved in Ben’s life since he was born. The grandparents often drop off and pick up Ben. He started attending the centre two years ago and started learning to speak English. Ben likes speaking Mandarin to a Chinese educator at the centre. The parents have raised their concerns that Ben will start school soon and should ‘improve’ his English only at the centre.

The Johansson family is from South Africa. They arrived in Melbourne a few months ago. They have two children—John (4) and Julie (2), both attending the centre. The family is keen to make friends, especially for John, who prefers to play by himself. He often sits quietly watching other children or reads a book by himself. He seems to be happy. The parents say that he is always like this. Julie is struggling to settle into the new environment. She wants to stay with John at the centre. However, the two children are in different rooms.

Michael and Barbara were both born and grew up in Melbourne. Their firstborn, Abby, is 18 months old, attending childcare three days a week because Barbara has just returned to work. Barbara has been very anxious about leaving her daughter in childcare. She is concerned about Abby’s transition and whether Abby can adjust to the different routines between home and the childcare setting. Barbara’s husband, Michael, has been a supportive and involved father. Michael works the late shift at a warehouse. He looks after Abby the other two days when she stays home. Michael is keen to take Abby to various playgroups. He sometimes finds it difficult to mingle and socialise in the all- mother groups.

Your assignment submission should include the following components:

1. Introduction (200 words)

Introduce the main purpose of the case study and briefly outline the overall problem to be solved.

2. Discussion (3000 words)

Analyse and identify the main issues from the cases around the three areas—participatory practice, partnerships with community or working with professionals—and make recommendations of one or two strategies for each area. A strategy is defined as ‘a general plan or set of plans intended to achieve something, especially over a long period’ (Collins Dictionary, 2020). In the context of this assignment, a strategy encompasses a clear goal/objective to be achieved followed by a plan of set of actions. Your identification of the main issues and recommendations should take into consideration the setting’s context as well as individual situations.
You may approach the discussion in either of the following ways—please choose one of
the following options:

In this option, you will discuss the issues raised in each case, using information gained from your unit readings and research of relevant academic literature. Your discussion may include: an outline of the issue and its implications for or relationship to different stakeholders how that issue links to theories or research in the academic literature one or two suggested strategies for each area evaluation of the strategies for the particular area.

Please note that each case may be relevant to one or more of the areas (participatory practice, partnerships with community or working with professionals). But overall, all the areas should be addressed in the strategies.

Option 2 Discussion Breakdown

Cases Discussion

Anna 750 words

The Chang family 750 words

The Johansson family 750 words

Michael and Barbara 750 words

3. Conclusion (300 words)

Summarise the recommendations (strategies) and succinctly reiterate the reasons for your recommendations.

4. References (not included in the word count)

The case studies must adhere to APA referencing style, citing references throughout and including a reference list.

Solution

Discussion

Outline of Issues and Implications for Relationship To Different Stakeholders

The case of Michael and Barbara is associated with the issues of socialising and parenting in terms of Michael facing issues managing Abby's socialisation time in terms of taking Abby to various playgrounds. Another issue that has been associated with the case is Abby’s transition in the daycare in terms of adjusting to different routines between home and childcare settings. The significant issue here is related to the participation of Abby and her parents in the overall development process. As per Roger Hart‘s ladder of participation, there are eight levels of children and individual participation in activity (Hart, 1992). In this case, the situation is associated with the differences in routine at home and daycare. The eight stages include manipulation, decoration, tokenism, assignment but informed, consulted and informed, an adult-initiated decision with children and children-initiated and directed (Hart, 1992). The last stage is a child-initiated shared decision. In each of the stages, there is a need for cooperation between adults and children for successful growth and development in terms of offering the right resources for wellbeing. This model also prioritises the responsibility of adults to ensure the overall participation of children. However, in this case, the major barrier is the absence of Barbara in the overall participation process, daycare, and Michael's difficulty socialising with Abby's peers. In this case, the stakeholders for Abby's active participation and well-being include the local community, parents of peers, Abby’s parents and professionals at daycare. The implication here is to ensure a participatory environment at daycare for parents and flexibility so that Abby's parents can desire citizenship behaviour development in her, as well as a suitable environment for her translation from home to daycare.

Theoretical Interpretation

As per Roger Hart‘s ladder of participation, social mobilisation and participation are associated with designing activities and programmes where the child's involvement is maximum (Corney et al., 2020). The overall process of transition needs to be flexible and informed, along with the active participation of adults. In this case, Abby Barbara is stressed about Abby's ability to cope with the differences in daily routines at home and daycare. However, the only way to manage this is through the active participation of parents. In the case of Abby, the active participation of parents is also difficult. By understanding the changes in Abby's behavioural patterns, the routine at daycare and home needs to be set. Abby needs to be informed about the differences between daycare and home environments.

Strategies

The first strategy for The management assignment expert here is to ensure Abby's active participation in both the home and daycare routines. Complying with EYLF to gain an understanding of communities will be necessary for this active socialisation adoption in daycare. As per the EYLF framework, community is reflected through one's own understanding of interaction, and communities are responsible for creating an environment of leisure and learning (Keary et al., 2023). Based on this concept, in daycare, parental involvement can be considered as a strategy, and it will further promote community involvement for Michael as he will be well recognised with other parents in same-day care, and he can better socialise in local parks. Parental involvement in daycare for a certain time will promote the scope of parental awareness regarding the routine Abby follows during the daycare, and a similar routine can be followed at home for her. It will ensure fast adoption of Abby in both environments.

The second strategy to be applicable here is focusing on behavioural changes with Abby and communicating with Abbey. In this strategy, the family has a significant role in terms of empowering emotional, psychological, and adaptive functions (Bonal & González, 2020). Michael and Barbara can consider spending time with Abby on weekends to understand the issues she faces or her expectations from her parents. It will allow Abby’s parents to ensure a supportive routine at home.

Evaluation of Strategy

The issue is associated with a lack of environment to support Abby's successful transition in daycare and the differences in the routine of home and childcare settings. Further, there are also challenges of socialisation for her parents that are impairing her opportunity to play with peers in the playground. Overall, the challenges are poor development of socialisation skills and poor transition, resulting in stress on Abby at a very young age. In this context, the strategy of parental involvement in a child care centre will provide scope to the parents to understand other peers and the overall routine, and similar can be followed at home to ensure a successful transition. Parental involvement in child care also helps Abby's parents to socialise better and offer the required learning and development opportunities to Abby.

References

Bonal, X., & González, S. (2020). The impact of lockdown on the learning gap: family and school divisions in times of crisis. International Review of Education, 66(5-6), 635-655. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11159-020-09860-z

Corney, T., Williamson, H., Holdsworth, R., Broadbent, R., Ellis, K., Shier, H., & Cooper, T. (2020). Approaches to youth participation in youth and community work practice: a critical dialogue. Youth Workers Association. https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/server/api/core/bitstreams/7b468dc4-2b67-4a13-918f-bacc16c93ff5/content
Hart, R. A. (1992). Children's participation: From tokenism to citizenship (No. inness92/6). https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/childrens_participation.pdf

Keary, A., Zheng, H., & Garvis, S. (2023). Educators’ Construction of a Sense of Belonging in ECEC: An Australian Case Study. Education Sciences, 13(5), 510. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050510