Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Care and Education Provisioning: Towards Empowered Communities

Abstract

Early Childhood Care and Education provide opportunities for children to develop holistically to flourish after their early years. Families and preschool environments influence children's development. However, preschool experiences are not the primary factor in a child's development during early learning, hence the foundations laid by the family matter most during the children’s early years. Hence, communities, parents, and caregivers need to ensure that children's holistic development is realized and this begins from conception. During the early years, community collaborations that benefit children are often encouraged. Children may miss out on learning and developmental chances, and their brain development and capacity to thrive later in life may be jeopardized if partnerships between communities and early childhood centres are not realized and achieved. Research suggests that caregivers, parents, and communities are not completely involved in their children's early learning, and this impacts negatively on the provision of ECCE services. Hence, this paper investigates how early childhood education is conceptualized to empower communities. The cooperation theory which emphasizes interpersonal contact among various stakeholders with varied roles to achieve a shared goal, was adopted. Ten communities from Chris Hani District Municipality were purposefully chosen to be included in the study using the qualitative research approach and interpretive paradigm. Data collection tools included focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that stakeholders are working in silos for the ECCE provisioning as the research participants were not aware of the services rendered by other stakeholders. Practitioners mentioned lack of parental involvement as another factor compromising the provision of ECCE. Parents seemed to be unaware of their responsibility when it comes to early learning. In empowering communities about their involvement in the provision of ECCE, the paper suggests community dialogues with the cooperation of other stakeholders, including government departments. In addition, parents need to be engaged in their children’s early learning by providing caring and nurturing environments that support children’s holistic development from their early years for them to thrive even beyond their childhood years.