Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated)
School
School of Education
First Supervisor
Lennie Barblett
Second Supervisor
Helen Adam
Abstract
Family-school partnerships are pivotal in children’s education, especially in early years of school. In Western Australia. The early years of school encompasses three-and-a-half-year-old children in Kindergarten, a non-compulsory year of school that has been administrated and on schools’ sites for the last 40 years. Despite substantial representation in Western Australian (WA) schools, culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) families' perspectives on school connections and how schools form partnerships and engage them in their child’s learning remains understudied. The critical relationship between families and schools has been enshrined and emphasised in multiple Australian frameworks including the Australian Curriculum V9 (2022), the Early Years Learning Framework V2 (AGDE, 2022), and the National Quality Standard (ACECQA, amended 2023). Yet, evidence gathered from the literature shows various definitions of partnerships and involvement and the varied ways in which schools engage with families, and particularly CaLD families.
Employing an interpretivist/constructivist frame with a phenomenological methodology using case study across three schools with high enrolment of CaLD children in metropolitan Perth, this research explores how schools create partnerships and connections that engage CaLD families in their child’s learning in the early years of school. For each case, interviews, focus groups, observations of classroom teaching and parent events, environmental scanning, and an information audit of school documents were used to gather data. In total, 61 CaLD parent/ participants and 32 school participants (school leaders, teachers, administration and education assistants and School Board members) took part in the research study. Furthermore, observations took place in eight early years classes and nine parent events held at schools.
The findings revealed three key themes: fragmented approaches by schools to building partnerships and engaging CaLD families with school and in their children’s learning in the early years; absence or minimal use of key drivers (both structural and dynamic) to embed and lead a culturally responsive pedagogical culture in the early years of school; and absence of a third space that is culturally safe. Six recommendations were outlined as well as a proposed Culturally Responsive Early Years of School model based on these findings. These insights underscore the need for informed policies and practices and transformation of the current partnerships between school and CaLD families. Future research is required to test the developed model and develop policy infrastructure that requires schools to pay attention to culturally responsive strategies that assist and empower CaLD families in their child’s education and build third spaces.
DOI
10.25958/kafb-m729
Access Note
Access to this thesis is embargoed until 11th December 2026
Recommended Citation
Mohd Nazir, F. (2024). Fostering engagement: Building connections with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) families in the early years of school. Edith Cowan University. https://doi.org/10.25958/kafb-m729
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Elementary Education Commons