Exploring high quality collaborative partnerships in Australian early childhood services: A poststructural case study

Exploring high quality collaborative partnerships in Australian early childhood services: A poststructural case study

Collaborative partnerships between educators and families in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are proven to provide positive outcomes for children and reflect quality in educational service provision. However, while the significance of these collaborative partnerships has been evidenced, actualisation of collaborative partnerships in practice remains an enigma. Currently, a mismatch exists between policy discourse and field practices, perpetuating a disconnect in expectations and outcomes of collaborative partnerships for stakeholders. Existing research points to the need to better understand how collaborative partnerships are enacted, maintained, and sustained by educators and families. This research study sought to explore how educators and families perceived and experienced successful collaborative partnerships in ECEC settings, rated as Exceeding Australia’s National Quality Standards. Three ECEC services participated in a poststructural case study. Data collection included observations of daily routines with educators and family members, followed by semi-structured interviews. Situational Analysis cartographic mapping provided a simultaneous data collection and analysis method that complemented the poststructural research design to reveal the multiple truths of participants. Findings revealed that high-quality collaborative partnerships were positively influenced by educator and family values being strongly aligned with the service philosophy, and that ECEC spaces were a mediating factor in collaborative partnerships. The study’s insights extend on existing literature to offer new understandings of how key components and inclusions of collaborative partnerships are enacted in practice and provide further clarity for the ECEC field in terms of translating and actualising research insights into practice. In addition to these ECEC findings, the study offers an innovative methodological contribution through the employment of a poststructural case study approach, the novel application of situational analysis, and extending the application of cartographic mapping.

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