Abstract:
Parents’ aspirations play a vital role in children’s education and development during the early years (Ministry of Education, 1996, 2017). The early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki promotes respect for the aspirations families hold for their children and calls on teachers to build meaningful connections with all families. The purpose of this research was to identify the aspirations of Chinese immigrant parents for their children in New Zealand education and care settings through investigating relationships between Chinese immigrant parents and early childhood teachers in relation to realizing these aspirations and to understand how teachers respond to these aspirations in practice. This research also aimed to contribute to knowledge about developing culturally responsive relationships between parents and teachers, specifically to foster culturally responsive reciprocal relationships between Chinese immigrant parents and early childhood teachers in early childhood settings. This is in keeping with the early childhood curriculum Te Whariki (Ministry of Education, 1996, 2017). An interpretive qualitative narrative inquiry methodology was used to gather rich data from individual semi-structured in depth interviews and written narratives with four teachers and three Chinese immigrant parents from two early childhood settings in New Zealand. Writing as a method of inquiry was also employed by the researcher and a feminist Ethic of Care conceptual framework was used to interpret the findings. The findings highlighted complex tensions and alignments between Chinese immigrant parents and early childhood teachers’ viewpoints in relation to the aspirations Chinese immigrant parents’ hold for their children in early childhood education in New Zealand. Together this mix of cultural and philosophical perspectives culminated in a communication trade gap or cultural gap where critical beliefs, knowledge and understandings of both Chinese immigrant parents and early childhood teachers sit. This study concludes that a feminist Ethic of Care framework may facilitate an alternative means for the mutual exchange of Chinese immigrant parents and teachers’ perspectives in order to realize the aspirations of Chinese immigrant parents and to foster culturally responsive caring, equitable and reciprocal relationships.
