EC-K3: Awareness of health care providers, social services and other resources available in the community to assist families.

EC-K4: Understanding of the paraprofessional's role in enhancing interactions between parent(s) and child by using and demonstrating effective techniques and materials to stimulate cognitive, physical, social and speech/language development under the direction of a licensed professional.

EC-S4: Ability to communicate and work effectively with parents, primary caregivers, and education team (IFSP, IIIP, and IEP) members to meet the needs of the child and family.

Introduction

This unit will focus on the knowledge and skills needed to work and collaborate effectively with families and education team members. An important aspect of a paraprofessional’s work in early childhood education and intervention involves working with families, caregivers, and team members. Families are essential to their children’s success and healthy development, and paraprofessionals and other educators must be aware of and sensitive to the increasingly diverse nature of families. Families differ from one another in many ways, including their financial status, living situation, membership, and cultural background. If we expect to be effective in early childhood education and intervention, we have to work with the family system in which the child lives, rather than with the child alone. Paraprofessionals can use knowledge of family systems theory to help support the families with whom they work. Paraprofessionals will work with other educators and other service providers to identify the unique needs of each family, and then collaborate together to empower, encourage, and support those families. In order to work effectively with families, all early childhood team members must also strive to develop cross-cultural competence. Paraprofessionals must develop the knowledge and skills to recognize that families have different structures, perceptions, attitudes, language, and communication styles related to their cultural backgrounds.

Objectives

As you read the objectives for this unit, think about and rate your current knowledge using the following scale.

1. I do not understand this.
2. I do understand this.
3. I understand this well enough to use in my work.
4. I could teach others about it and use it in my work.

• Describe family systems theory and how it impacts early childhood education.
• Describe your role as a paraprofessional in working with families.
• Provide information and support to families as part of family-centered services.
• Discuss the importance of cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity in communicating and collaborating with families.
• Recognize elements of effective teams.

The Para eLink is sponsored by the Minnesota Paraprofessional Consortium, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education, located at the Institute on Community Integration in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

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