This open access book provides a critical, thought-provoking, and stimulating overview of theories applied worldwide to conceptualise collaborations between early childhood education and children's families. The book starts with a critical reflection on the colonial undertones of parental involvement (PI) and acknowledges a strong political will to improve this aspect of early childhood education and care. The chapters in the book describe and discuss various theories, including the cultural historical wholeness approach, Bronfenbrenner's ecology of human development, the theory of social capital, the theory of collaboration, family-school partnership models proposed by Epstein and Hornby, Bourdieu's social theory, the theory of practice architectures, the discourse/narrative theory, and posthumanism. By proposing the concept of more-than-parents, the authors aim to embrace both the diversity of intergenerational family configurations and the agency of materiality, artifacts, and the involvement of more-than-human actors.

This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access Presents a critical comparison of theories used in early childhood education Offers empirical illustrations of parental collaboration from different regions of the world Addresses theoretical and blind spots that resonate for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers

Autorentext
Alicja R. Sadownik, PhD - associate professor at the Kindergarten Knowledge Center at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She conducts research on childhood(s), early childhood education settings and parental cooperation in the context of migration and socio-cultural diversity. Her research interests also include local and international educational policies, such as conditions for high quality of ECE services, parental and caregivers' involvement, and the good life of children.

Adrijana Vinji Jevti , PhD - assistant Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb. During the last ten years, she has been developing and organizing professional development programs for early childhood teachers in Croatia and Europe. Her research interests include early childhood education, cooperation between families and educational institutions, and early childhood teachers' competences and professionalism. She is a member of OMEP, EECERA and TACTYC.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Why a (re)theorisation of more-than-parental involvement in ECEC is needed? (Alicja R. Sadownik).- Chapter 2. Mapping the theoretical landscape of more-than-parental involvement (Alicja R. Sadownik).- Chapter 3. Cultural-historical wholeness approach: critical activity settings of more-than-parental involvement (Alicja R. Sadownik).- Chapter 4. Bronfenbrenner: ecology of human development in ecology of collaboration (Alicja R. Sadownik).- Chapter 5. Together, we can do more for our children . ECEC's collaboration with families in light of social capital theory (Adrijana Vinji Jevti).- Chapter 6. Models of family -school partnership: Who is in power when we care for the children we share? (Adrijana Vinji Jevti).- Chapter 7. Collaboration theory: ECEC leading families to lead their own partnerships with ECEC (Adrijana Vinji Jevti).- Chapter 8. Parental involvement (mis)recognised by Bourdieu's conceptual toolkit: illusio, doxa, habitus, and capitals ( Alicja R. Sadownik ).- Chapter 9. Theory of practice architectures: Parental involvement through sayings , doings , and relatings (Alicja R. Sadownik).- Chapter 10. Theories of discourse (on quality) and narrative inquiry (Alicja R. Sadownik).- Chapter 11. Posthumanism: Intra-active entanglements of parental involvement embracing Indigenous ontologies and sustainable being in the world (Alicja R. Sadownik). Chapter 12. (Re)theorization of more-than-parental involvement: New directions and hopes (Alicja R. Sadownik). <p