Paper Summary

Using Qualitative Methods to Critically Engage Community Perspectives

Fri, April 13, 2:15 to 3:45pm, Vancouver Convention Centre, Floor: Third Level, West Room 303

Abstract

This paper draws from a statewide, mixed-method study of Arizona's children and families in various community contexts. In particular, we highlight the design, implementation and findings from the first five waves of the Family and Community Case Study, the qualitative component of the larger mostly quantitative study. We critically analyze in-depth interviews from a diverse sample of parents of children birth to age five across the state of Arizona (USA) and from providers to better understand the experiences of families as they raise their young children in one of the most conservative states in the nation and at a time of deep federal and state cuts.

We begin our paper with a discussion of ways in which we have sought to honor and respect families, include children's voices, critically contextualize early childhood systems, and utilize a “funds of knowledge” framework (González, Wyman, & O’Connor, 2011). We have explicitly designed this study to focus on building relationships between researchers and participants, and privilege the perspectives of families in the interview questions. In order to maximize the diversity and inclusivity of the sample, we have oversampled those all too often excluded from traditional research and evaluation by conducting interviews in both Spanish and English and recruiting participants in rural, tribal and border communities. Furthermore, interviews with children provide an opportunity to better understand their perspectives on their care and early childhood experiences.

The bulk of the paper focuses on family narratives, which reflect parents’ funds of knowledge (Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2004) and are framed and analyzed in ways that avoid pathologizing families or constructing them as “at risk” (Heydon & Iannacci, 2008; Swadener & Lubeck, 1995). We encouraged families to share their experiences in accessing services, the various support systems that they reach out to in raising their children, including family and community support, their beliefs and practices on childrearing, and the strategic ways in which they balance work, family, and childrearing.

Situating our findings in the nested contexts of globalized neoliberal policies, the ongoing national economic recession, and the conservative politics of our state, the voices of parents and providers shed light on how policies, funding cuts, persistent biases, and public attitudes toward child care and early education affect the daily lives of families and communities. As the gap continues to widen between the rich and poor in the U.S., families face a range of forced or limited choices in finding health and child care and overall support in childrearing. Many participants discussed ways in which unique family circumstances are not respected by the early education system, and some are empowering themselves to take children’s education into their own hands, through various means including the creation of cooperative preschools and the use of unregulated kith and kin care. The reputation of the United States as having one of the least child and family-friendly set of social policies is evident in many of the family and provider narratives and is critically analyzed in our paper.

Authors