The Family Partnerships Practice Model: A guide for early learning service educators

This course is for early childhood educators who want to develop their skills and learn more about how to implement family partnerships in their early learning service.

This course aims to:

• provide you with a detailed overview of how to implement the Family Partnerships Practice Model in your everyday work as an educator
• enhance your understanding of the key skills required to implement each step of the model
• identify the transferable skills you already use in your practice that support the model
• provide you with real-world examples and case studies of the model being used in early learning settings
• strengthen your confidence in leading partnerships with families to support child mental health and wellbeing
• expand your knowledge of what family partnerships are and how they support children and young people’s wellbeing.

It is estimated that this course will take you approximately 6 hours to complete, including reading material and watching videos.

You can undertake the course across multiple sessions at your own pace. The last screen you visit before logging off will be bookmarked and you will have the option of returning to that screen when you next log in.

For the purposes of this course, the term parent encompasses the biological and adoptive parents of a child, as well as individuals who have chosen to take up a primary or shared responsibility in raising that child.

Social and emotional wellbeing refers to the way a person thinks and feels about themselves and others. It incorporates behavioural and emotional strengths and is a facet of child development.¹

In broad terms, social and emotional wellbeing is the foundation for physical and mental health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is a holistic concept which results from a network of relationships between individuals, family, kin and community. It also recognises the importance of connection to Land, culture, spirituality and ancestry, and how these affect the individual.²

Social and emotional wellbeing is also used by some people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, who may have differing concepts of mental health and mental illness.³

Social and emotional development involves the development of skills required to:

• identify and understand one’s feelings
• read and understand the emotional states of other people
• manage strong emotions and how they are expressed
• regulate behaviour
• develop empathy
• establish and maintain relationships.⁴

Educator is a collective term used to represent education professionals working across the entire education sector. This includes early childhood education and care, primary and secondary schools, out of school hours care (OSHC) and pre-service training.

Family partnerships are the relationships between families (parents, carers, grandparents, foster carers and/or kinship carers) and educators that are centred on supporting the mental health, development and overall wellbeing of a child.

The knowledge and skills developed through this course align with Australian professional standards for both early childhood education and care as outlined below.

The course material aims to support your professional practice in these areas, and has been developed to support these standards.

For early childhood educators, the National Quality Standard refers to both wellbeing and family partnerships as a core part of your educational program and practice.

By completing this course and embedding your learnings into your daily practice, you can help your early learning service to meet the following quality areas:

Quality Area 2 – Children’s health and safety: Children have the right to experience quality education and care in an environment that safeguards and promotes their health, safety and wellbeing.

• Standard 2.1 Health: Each child’s health and physical activity is supported and promoted.
• Element 2.1.1 Wellbeing and comfort: Each child’s wellbeing and comfort is provided for, including appropriate opportunities to meet each child’s need for sleep, rest and relaxation.

Quality Area 6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities: Collaborative relationships with families are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children, and community partnerships based on active communication, consultation and collaboration are essential.

• Standard 6.1 Supportive relationships with families: Respectful relationships with families are developed and maintained and families are supported in their parenting role.
• Element 6.1.2 Parent views are respected: The expertise, culture, values and beliefs of families are respected, and families share in decision-making about their child’s learning and wellbeing.

This course draws on the latest research, clinical insights, and the lived experience of our child and family partners. We’d like to thank the professionals and families who played an integral role in shaping this course, generously offering their time, wisdom and unique perspectives.

Watch the following video (2 minutes, 7 seconds) for a quick guide on how to navigate Emerging Minds Learning courses.