Preparation for Teacher-Parent Partnerships: A Practical Experience With a Family

The necessity for parents and teachers to work together collaboratively to optimize children's learning and development in early childhood education is well recognized. Yet, ways in which initial teacher education programs might prepare teachers for professional relationships with parents are rare in the literature. This paper reports on the use of field experience in family homes that occurred in the 1 st year of a teacher education program. A case study of two student teachers is discussed to illustrate the potential of such an approach to this aspect of teacher preparation. These student teachers experienced the realities of the daily lives of families with young children. Six months later, their experiences appeared likely to have had a positive influence on their understanding of parenting and their attitudes towards establishing and maintaining effective partnerships with parents in their future professional role. Sincere thanks to "Jane" and "Sarah" who willingly shared their perceptions of this field experience in order for its worth to be evaluated from their perspective. This project gained ethical approval from the Auckland University of Technology Ethics Committee. Acknowledgement is made to the Faculty of Education (incorporating Auckland College of Education), University of Auckland, for funding support towards writing this article.