Grandparents as Primary Carers and Parents as Teachers

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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

3
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 childrens
  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
  full-time)
• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 childrens 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

• 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

• 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

• Grandparents are group of people raising young
  children who have received little support and
  about whom little is known
• They have particular challenges
• General issues with the changed context for
  raising children today
• Personal issues of grief about their own children
  and their grandchildren
• 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