Abstract
In Europe, different approaches are used to support families of young children and to promote the quality of their home learning environment. Nevertheless, program evaluations often do not consider the macro-social context in which the programs are implemented. The purpose of this study was to understand and discuss the contextual factors, facilitators and underlying challenges of family support services in Portugal. This paper begins by providing an up-to-date overview of relevant social context statistics, about poverty, use of services and early education and care programs. These statistics serve to document country policies regarding parents and families. Secondly, 11 research-supported and promising parent- and family-focused support programs currently implemented in Portugal were analyzed. Key features and principles that have been empirically determined to address social and educational inequalities are discussed in the context of Portugal.
Highlights
Across many countries in Europe, different approaches have been used to support families of young children and to promote the quality of their home learning environment
The results presented in this paper stem from secondary analysis of data gathered within the ISOTIS project
The objective was to create a broad overview of existing approaches and collect available evidence of parent- and family-focused support programs that were successful in tackling educational and social gaps, with a particular focus on three disadvantaged groups: immigrants, ethnic minorities, and low-income
Summary
Across many countries in Europe, different approaches have been used to support families of young children and to promote the quality of their home learning environment. ISOTIS (Acronym for “Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities in Society”) is a European Union Horizon 2020 research project that aims to contribute to effective policy and practice development at different system levels in order to effectively combat early arising and persisting educational inequalities, with a particular focus on groups with immigrant background and/or ethnic minorities, as well as low-income families/parents. Within this project, an “Inventory and Analysis of Promising and Evidencebased Parent- and Family-Focused Support Programs” was conducted involving seven participating countries: Czech Republic, England, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal. The statistical indicators here presented were, with a few exceptions, retrieved from authoritative databases and sources:
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