Playcentre Parents-as-Educators

Playcentre is a unique Aotearoa/New Zealand
sessional early childhood education service which
runs as autonomous parent cooperatives, with the
parents taking on the role of educators in the
centres. This research study investigated the way
parents-as-educators used their life experiences,
skills and knowledges in their teaching practice.
The study found that the parents were very selective
about which experiences they used, sometimes as a
specific choice and sometimes because they felt
constrained by the environment of the centre. These
reasons were analysed using the sociocultural
framework of Barbara Rogoff s three planes of
analysis (personal, interpersonal and
organisational). A key finding was the necessity of
a sense of belonging within the group for a parent-
as-educator to feel empowered to use a wide range of
skills and knowledges.

Autorentext

Suzanne Manning has studied and tutored early childhood education at Victoria University of Wellington and at Playcentre, a New Zealand early childhood education service. She is currently national Education Convenor for the Playcentre adult education programme, whilst also managing a family of one husband and three school aged children.

Klappentext

Playcentre is a unique Aotearoa/New Zealand sessional early childhood education service which runs as autonomous parent cooperatives, with the parents taking on the role of educators in the centres. This research study investigated the way parents-as-educators used their life experiences, skills and knowledges in their teaching practice. The study found that the parents were very selective about which experiences they used, sometimes as a specific choice and sometimes because they felt constrained by the environment of the centre. These reasons were analysed using the sociocultural framework of Barbara Rogoff's three planes of analysis (personal, interpersonal and organisational). A key finding was the necessity of a sense of belonging within the group for a parent-as-educator to feel empowered to use a wide range of skills and knowledges.