Relationships in Early Childhood Education and Care: A qualitative study of the parent-teacher relationship from parents' perspectives

Abstract

This thesis explores, through a qualitative study, the experiences of six mothers in regard to the parent-teacher relationship in early childhood education and care. The perspectives of participants were shared through two face-to-face interviews with mothers in Houston, Texas in the United States over a period of four months. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States with over 4.1 million people in the Harris County District where the research was conducted. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) list over 3000 childcare operations within Harris County. Of these over 1300 are licensed childcare centres. Participants in the study varied from first time mothers to ones with two or three children. Only one participant was local to the Houston area. All others were originally from interstate or overseas and had relocated to Houston for either their work or their spouse's work. The ages of the children at the beginning of the study ranged from four months to three years.