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Grandparents as Primary Carers

and Parents as Teachers

Professor Jennifer BowesChildren and Families

Research CentreFaculty 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 BoardChair: 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 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

area1. Research on intergenerational family

dynamics2. Research on grandparents caring for the

children of prisoners3. 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: 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 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