Scenario

Collaborative partnerships with families and communities.

Current practices at the centre that work towards this Quality Area include the following:

• Parents are invited to attend working bees and for celebrations including the end of year picnic, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
• Fire fighters from the local fire station visit the centre every year.

However, as indicated in the assessment process, there is room for improvement.

Your team has been chosen to lead the centre’s quality improvement plan in relation to Quality Area 6. Your Director has asked you to draw on a relevant theory to explain the importance of collaborative partnerships with families and communities and to develop strategies that would help the centre to establish and strengthen collaborative partnerships with families.

Process:

Once you have established your team of two to four members, proceed through the steps below to complete your assessment. As a team, decide on time frames for each stage and the methods you will use to communicate and share ideas. Please note that it is important to keep evidence of how individual members have contributed to team tasks and this evidence should be included as an Appendix.

Step 1: Individual task: Examination of theory (700 words per team member). As individuals you are each required to select a theory from the unit materials in Week 4. In order to complete step 2, it is important that each member of the team chooses a different theory to examine. Read the relevant unit materials and undertake further independent research to explore your chosen theory in more depth. Write a brief summary of the key ideas of the theory and how it relates to the above scenario. This summary will be presented to your team by an agreed date/time in order to proceed with step 2. Each team member will submit individual summaries in their assessment submission.

Step 2: Team task: Critical review and comparison (400 words per team). As a team, critically review and compare the theories you have presented individually in relation to how they could apply to the scenario. What are the strengths and limitations or challenges of each? Taking your review into consideration, as a team make a final decision about the theory that will underpin your strategies (Step 3) and briefly explain why this is the best choice for your team. Each team member will submit the same review and comparison in their individual submission

Step 3: Team task: Strategies (1200 words per team). What would you do to improve in Quality Area 6? As a team, develop 2-4 strategies (1 per team member) that would establish and strengthen collaborative partnerships with families and the community in relation to the above scenario. Each strategy should be informed by your theoretical perspective and be relevant to the culturally and linguistically diverse community. Provide a succinct explanation of each strategy. Each team member will submit the same strategies in their individual submission.