Parental engagement in early learning systems: findings from Pakistan, Tanzania, Liberia and Ethiopia

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The involvement of parents in young children’s education is a fundamental right and obligation (OECD 2012), with UNICEF and the OECD each arguing that early learning services should recognise mothers’ and fathers’ rights to participate in key decisions concerning their child (OECD 2012). Research suggests that there is substantial demand for a parental component in early learning services; and that parental engagement can enhance children’s achievement and adaption (for example, Powell et al., 2010; Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003).

In a summary of international literature, “parental and community support and engagement” was identified as one of six features of high-quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) at the system level (Rossiter 2016). However, ‘parental engagement’ can take a variety of forms and meanings, depending on the education stage of the child concerned (e.g. early child care or preschool), the perspective taken on the issue (e.g. early years practitioner, teacher, parent, researcher) and the often context-specific systems factors at national, subnational and local levels (OECD 2012).

To promote and protect early learning as a sustainable phase of child development, considerable effort is needed to create a sense of participation, ownership, investment and responsibility by parents, families, communities and other stakeholders (Richter 2013). Moreover, unlike single-sector goals such as universal primary education or universal health care coverage, the goal of maximizing developmental potential in the early years involves coordination of policies and programs across sectors. Seemingly straightforward tasks, such as improving the quality of responsive adult-child interaction, is difficult as service providers’ contact with parents can cut across these sectors (Yoshikawa et al. 2018).

Patterns of parental engagement in early learning differ from country to country, with several formal and informal mechanisms used to foster participatory and managerial engagement. These mechanisms will affect parents’ roles in financing services, will influence parental engagement (or lack thereof) with children in ways that do/don’t promote school readiness, and may create gaps in expectations between parents and teachers/schools/governments about what early learning is meant to provide. Piper et al. (2018), for example, report a contrast in terms of what county-level decision-makers and parents prioritized for early learning services in Kenya: the former preferring to invest in early learning infrastructure to garner political support, the latter preferring centres that had invested in better teaching and learning materials (even with lower quality infrastructure). The political economy of early learning reform then influences the extent to which parental engagement strategies influence parents’ “client power” in changing schools and early learning centres to deliver high-quality services, equitably.
In seeking to improve understanding of how early learning systems function to deliver high-quality services, the Early Learning Partnership (ELP) – a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank – was established to work with countries to improve early learning opportunities and outcomes for young children, through both research and operational support. With the support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), ELP has launched the ELP Systems Research program, which aims to (1) provide policymakers in a set of focus countries with actionable information to help guide the delivery of quality, equitable early learning at scale; and (2) build the international evidence base in the emerging field of systems research in early childhood education. The focus of the research program is the political economy and governance of early learning service provision, with an aim to generate knowledge on what works to remove institutional and systemic barriers to the provision of early childhood education at scale, and on what reforms could create the right institutional incentives to improve ECE provision.

This panel brings together findings from Phase 1 (2017-18) of the ELP research program in Pakistan (Punjab), Tanzania, Liberia and Ethiopia. The papers in this panel offer a mixed-methods approach to examining key issues around parental engagement for early learning system reform. They cover several perspectives on parental engagement from low-income countries and while pathways to educational change at the systems-level are significantly context-dependent, understanding and comparing differences across countries is of great importance for low and middle-income countries, and in the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Individual Presentations

• Parental aspirations for early learning preparedness: evidence from Punjab on sustaining enrollment with engagement - Baela Raza Jamil, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA); Saba Saeed, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA); Kate Anderson, Brookings Institution

• The role of parental involvement in pre-primary education in Ethiopia - Tirussew Teferra, Addis Ababa University; Belay Hagos, Addis Ababa University; Tassew Woldehanna, Addis Ababa University; Jack Rossiter, Young Lives / University of Oxford; Pauline Rose, University of Cambridge

• How weak client power leads to system misalignment in early childhood education in Liberia - Alina Lipcan, Oxford Policy Management; Joanna Harma, Independent Consultant; Zara Majeed, Oxford Policy Management Ltd.

• Parental Engagement in Early Learning Systems: The case of Tanzania - Yasmin Sitabkhan, RTI International; Richard Shukia, University of Dar es Salaam; Bidemi Carrol, RTI International; Aneth Komba, Tanzania Institute of Education

Discussant

• Sharon Wolf, New York University