Executive Summary

This report describes the Centre of Innovation (COI) action research project carried out by Hutt Family Day Care (HFDC) in Lower Hutt, Wellington from January 2006 to end of 2007. Hutt Family Day Care is a privately owned home-based network established in 1999. It comprises eighteen educators working from their homes which are located between Petone and Upper  Hutt. Educators provide care and education services for 55 children. Two full time co-ordinators and one who is part-time support the network.

The project aims to fill a gap in the literature in regard to the nature of the transitions that occur for young children and their family as they move from home to early childhood service, in this instance to a home-based context. It is grounded in the view that transitions are dynamic and ongoing and are experienced by everyone involved in the home-based education and care arrangement. This includes the child, the parent(s), the educator, the educators' family, other children at the educators' home and the co-ordinators. Parents and children are learning about the people and things in the educator's home and everyone there is learning about the new family and making adjustments as they do so. The project also presupposed that the relationship building that happens during transitions between home and the service sets the scene for facilitating the child's trust in his or her educator as well as developing the child's sense of identity in the new place.

To capture the nature of the home-based transition the study is located within the 'matching' process, across multiple sites (educator homes) and the first six weeks of a child settling into HFDC. It is a descriptive and exploratory study that has employed mixed methods of data collection and analysis –both quantitative and qualitative. The aim of the study is to expand theory and practice knowledge in relation to home-based transitions using survey, interview, focus group and case study methods within an action research approach. The qualitative aspects of the study are the result of a desire to observe naturally occurring activities and practices in context (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992).

The question was reframed following the data collection phase of the study which ceased part way through. This was the result of careful analysis of the collected data and identification of possibilities for utilising the incomplete data set in a way which would ensure valid and reliable results for the project. The reshaped question was intended to allow broad and rich description of how participants experience the systems and practices which underpin 'transition' into a home-based setting.

The question being explored in this report is:

What is the nature of the practices and systems that foster a sense of wellbeing and belonging for young children and their families as they transition from home to 'formal' home-based care and education settings?

The literature review which was completed by the author as part of this project suggests that 'transition' is a theoretically complex field of study that has largely been studied through the lens of the ecological model of child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1997). In the view of Kay Margetts (in Dunlop and Fabian, 2007) the ecological approach provides a comprehensive framework for exploring the complexity of the transition process through its focus on interaction, interrelatedness and human agency. This approach has informed analysis and is congruent with the theoretical concepts/ constructs that were being conceived during data collection.

This report explores the nature of these interactions and relationships within a framework of systems and processes which underpin transitions for new families entering HFDC. Its conceptual framework is based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of learning and development (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Bronfenbrenner proposed that contexts or settings influence development at different levels. He emphasized in particular the importance of the relationships between these settings including the relationships between the individual and the settings in which they operate. Use of this theoretical framework acknowledges the contextualised nature of learning and development for young children, parents, teachers, whanau and communities (see the principles of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996)). It helped the researchers recognise how complex home based networks are.

At the level of the microsystem home-based transitions are viewed as being influenced by the interactions that occur between the new family and the home-based service. The next level, or mesosystem, relates to connections between these settings and the broader community within which the home-based care occurs. At the macrosystem it relates to the sub culture of dominant beliefs and ideologies of the society in which the family child lives; that is, the connections with society, sectors and the broader community.

Because of a Budget decision, the COI programme ended on 30 June 2009. Only a 'light' analysis of results was possible within the tightened timeframe for completing the review. Key themes resulting from this work and which are supported by the research literature on this topic are that:

• Respectful relationships, within which time is taken for parents and educators to get to know each other and share information, help facilitate the seamless transition of young children from home to home-based care and education settings.
• Trusting relationships sit at the core of effective transition processes for young children and their families.
• Parents are an integral part of the transition process. In home-based care it is important to focus equally on the transition of both parents and children.
• Continuity and linkages between home and home-based settings are important. While 'continuity' is an elusive concept in the research literature which requires further exploration, the evidence from the study suggests that the 'matching' process implemented by Hutt Family Day Care and the oversight provided by co-ordinators are important factors in ensuring continuity for children and their parents as they move from their home to home-based educator's setting.
• The entry of new families to a home-based setting involves a community of participants, all of whom have a direct link to that setting and educator. Because of the small group size of participating children (4 at any one time) the entry of a new family has an influence on all those connected to the setting, both adults and children. Systems and processes therefore need to comprehensively accommodate all parties to the arrangement.
• Transition in home-based care is potentially across multiple sites. While the initial focus is on entry to the home-based setting, attention also needs to be paid to strategies which foster the wellbeing of children as they navigate multiple sites of education and care during a week, with their educator and other children; for example, attendance at network playgroups or playcentre.

This report focuses on articulating key findings from the project in relation to systems and processes which are likely to promote the wellbeing of young children as they transition from home to home-based service.  To comment on the experience and new understandings gained by educators and parents as a result of participating in this project would be beyond the scope of this brief and the knowledge of the writer.