Child-centred, family-centred, decentred : positioning children as rights-holders in early childhood program collaborations

• Published in: Global studies of childhood 2012-03, Vol.2 (1), p.26-37
• Main Authors: Press, Frances, Wong, Sandie, Sumsion, Jennifer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Australia. Dept of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations; Blue Mountains City Council (NSW); Child advocacy; Child care; Child health; Child-centred education; Childhood attitudes; Childhood interests; Childhood needs; Childrens rights; Collaborative Practice in Ten Victorian Early Years Services Study; Cooperative programs; Early childhood education; Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (Australia); Educational policy; Educational research; Family centred practice; Integrated Early Years Provision in Australia (IEY Study); Integrated programs; Interdisciplinary approach; Interprofessional relationship; Literature reviews; Moonee Valley City Council (Vic); Moonee Valley Early Years Plan (Vic); Policy analysis; Preschool education; Preschool teachers; Stronger Families Alliance: Child and Family Plan (NSW); Teacher role; United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; Victoria. Dept of Education and Early Childhood Development; Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA); Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework
• ISSN: 2043-6106; 2043-6106
• DOI: 10.2304/gsch.2012.2.1.26

Although the policy context in Australia is conducive to professional collaborations in early years services, understandings of collaboration are highly variable across the domains of research literature, policy and practice. Inconsistent and possibly incompatible approaches to working with children and families, as well as significant philosophical and professional differences, may be disguised by common terminology adopted under the rubric of collaborative practice. A potential blind spot concerns the positioning of the child, whose perspectives, needs and desires are easily subsumed by the intentions of the adults around them, either as professionals or family members. With reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and drawing on extant literature and data from two Australian research projects examining integrated and collaborative practices in early childhood programs, this article interrogates the positioning of the child in interprofessional and transprofessional collaborations, and examines the potential of the early childhood educator to sharpen the focus on children. [Author abstract]