Transcript Sample heading text - Macquarie University

Grandparents as Primary Carers
and
Parents as Teachers
Professor Jennifer Bowes
Children and Families Research
Centre
Faculty of Human Sciences
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Children and Families Research Centre
Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie
University
Established in 2007
Macquarie University Research Centre status
from 2009
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CFRC Mission
To conduct high quality interdisciplinary research
that contributes to knowledge about the learning
and development of children and families with a
commitment to applying research to policy
recommendations and outreach activities in a
variety of communities
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CFRC Management
• Director:
Professor Jennifer Bowes
• Deputy Director:
Dr Wayne Warburton
• Management Board
Chair: Mr John Pascoe, Chief
Federal Magistrate
• Advisory Board
Chair: Prof. Alan Hayes, AM
Director, AIFS
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Research Approaches
 Interdisciplinary research that includes multiple
perspectives, including children’s voices
Research in neglected areas of child development
and family research with a focus on young
children
Producing research that can make a difference,
informing policy and practice
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Community Outreach at CFRC
Parents as Teachers training
Conferences for practitioners
and policy makers
- Parent support and education
- Children and the media (3)
- Migrant and refugee families
- Early Years Learning Framework
- Evidence-based practice in Early Childhood
2012 – GRANDPARENTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
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New Grandparenting
Project
• Longer life expectancy means that many people
have the opportunity to watch their grandchildren
and maybe even great-grandchildren grow up
• Grandparenting presents many pleasures but also
many challenges
• Grandparents and child care (part-time and fulltime)
• Grandparents who have the full-time care of their
grandchildren are our focus
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What we know about grandparents as
carers of their grandchildren?
 Grandparent care is the most popular form of childcare in
Australia with one fifth of children under 12 receiving care
from their grandparents
 Kinship care has recently overtaken foster care as main
placement for children in out-of-home care
 Most kinship carers are grandparents
 The grandchildren have backgrounds of abuse, neglect and
relationship breakdown and often have additional needs,
including learning difficulties or gaps
 Mixed response by grandparents to full-time child rearing
 Need for more information and support for grandparents and
research on the issues that face them and their children
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CFRC plans for research and
community outreach in this area
1. Research on intergenerational family dynamics
2. Research on grandparents caring for the children
of prisoners
3. Grandparenting in the 21st Century conference
for grandparents – Friday 26 October, Macquarie
University
4. Literacy tutoring program for grandchildren in
primary school
5. Parents as Teachers home visiting service for
grandchildren under the age of 3 years
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Intergenerational research project on
family dynamics
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EOI submitted for Macquarie University Postdoctoral
Fellowship
Bridget Jenkins completing a PhD on grandparents and child
care
She will also be a speaker at Grandparenting conference
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Research on grandparents
caring for the children of
prisoners
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Discussions with Department of Corrective
Services and Shine for Kids
Plan to submit a Macquarie University
Collaborative Research Grant. If we can obtain
funding from an external source, university will
match
After a 12-month project, plan to submit
application for an ARC Linkage Grant
Seeking external collaborators
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Conference
Grandparenting in the 21st Century
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Anticipated audience of interested grandparents
Grandparents who care for their grandchildren
full-time will be targeted
Program includes topics requested by
grandparents in support groups: children’s use of
technology, gifted children, children with autism,
children who have suffered trauma in their early
years
$5000 funding support from
Macquarie University Diversity
Grant
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Literacy tutoring program for
grandchildren
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Pilot program involving 5 children and 10 PACE
students from Psychology, to be held in MUSEC
Training by Dr Coral Kemp in skills assessment
and tutoring using the MULTILIT program
Jennifer Bowes and Kerry Hodge will provide
supervision of tutors and work with Coral Kemp
and two Sociology research interns on design of
a research project for 2013
Application submitted to Commonwealth Bank
Community Fund for partial support of 2013
tutoring and research project
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Possible PAT home visiting service for
grandchildren under 3
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Parents as Teachers and Macquarie University
Home visiting education and support program for
parents raising young children
Could be used with grandparents
One of the PAT trainers interested in providing
these services for grandparents with children
under 3
Support needed for this to happen
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Conclusion
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Grandparents are group of people raising young children who
have received little support and about whom little is known
They have particular challenges:
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General issues with the changed context for raising children
today
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Personal issues of grief about their own children and their
grandchildren
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Often dealing with particular behavioural and learning
difficulties in their grandchildren
We hope that CFRC plans for community outreach and support in
this area can make a difference in the lives of the grandparents
and their grandchildren and bring greater community awareness of
this group and their needs
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