Partnerships with Families and Communities

Dr Wendy Goff is the Director of Professional Experience in the School of Education at RMIT University. Throughout her academic career, Wendy has held various leadership positions and has received several awards for her research, teaching and leadership. Her research is focused on adult relationships and partnerships, and their impact on children's learning and development. She has used different vehicles to study these relationships and partnerships. Sivanes Phillipson is Professor of Education at Swinburne University of Technology. She is also the Editor for Routledge's Evolving Families book series. This series focuses on issues, challenges and empirical best practices surrounding evolving families that impact their survival, development and outcomes. Sivanes' earlier research has shown how family and community influences underpin children/youth factors that impact short- and long-term social and economic outcomes. She has extended models of family and community support to enable children and young people to learn and self-regulate within a framework of accessibility and an individual's resources. Dr Sharryn Clarke is a Kindergarten Improvement Advisor for the Victorian Department of Education and Training. Her research areas and teaching have included child development theory, local and global policy, leadership and partnership with professionals and families. Sharryn has had a great deal of experience establishing and building partnerships in the various positions she has held, including teaching in early childhood services, inclusion support in early intervention and lecturing at universities. Sharryn has a strong interest in capacity building and mentor support, particularly for preservice and beginning teachers in early childhood.

• 1. Exploring partnerships with families and communities; 2. Diversity in partnership work; 3. Exploring models of partnerships; 4. Skills for engagement in effective partnership work; 5. Plans for implementing effective partnerships; 6. Strategies and challenges for implementing partnerships; 7. Reflective practice in partnership work; 8. Tools for evaluation of partnership work; 9. Leading effective partnerships.