Co-production of family literacy projects to enhance early literacy development
| Date | 21 September 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-02-2015-0011 |
| Pages | 265-279 |
| Published date | 21 September 2015 |
| Author | Cathy Nutbrown,Julia Bishop,Helen Wheeler |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services |
Co-production of family literacy projects
to enhance early literacy development
Cathy Nutbrown, Julia Bishop and Helen Wheeler
Professor Cathy Nutbrown
and Dr Julia Bishop, both are
based at the School of
Education, The University
of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Helen Wheeler is based at the
National Children’s Bureau,
London, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to report on how early years practitioners worked with the ORIM
Framework to support work with parents to promote early literacy experiences.
Design/methodology/approach –Co-produced Knowledge Exchange (KE) was used to develop and
evaluate work with parents to facilitate their young children’s literacy. Information was gathered in discussion
groups, interviews with parents and practitioners and feedback from all the parties involved.
Findings –Practitioners and families engaged with each other in the further development of an established
literacy programme, and families demonstrated “ownership”of the co-produced knowledge after the end of
the project.
Research limitations/implications –Project design in co-produced research and KE is necessarily
flexible. The focus is on practitioners’knowledge and ownership of the process, sharing knowledge with
parents and enhancing children’s experiences.
Practical implications –Practices that can enhance parental engagement in their children’s early literacy
are varied and multiple and ORIM can be used flexibly to plan, develop and evaluate innovative and
community –(and family –) specific practices.
Social implications –Where parents have more knowledge of children’s early literacy development they are
in a better position to support them; for learning communities there are implications in terms of future
development of work with families to support early literacy development.
Originality/value –This paper contributes an original approach to the co-production of research with early
years practitioners. It also identifies specific issues around the ethics of ownership in co-producedresearch.
Keywords Early Intervention, Knowledge Exchange, Parents, Co-production of knowledge,
Early literacy development, Early years practitioners
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper discusses how practitioner knowledge, skills and confidence around family literacy
can be enhanced through a co-produced Knowledge Exchange (KE) project. Family literacy in
the context of this paper is defined as an initiative which regards parents’and children’s
literacy as inextricably linked, and through which adults have the o pportunity (t hough not the
requirement) to develop their literacy and learning as well as that of their children (Nutbrown
et al., 2005). The paper describes and discusses how a co-production model of KE was used
to help practitioners to develop family literacy practices with parents of children under the age
of five. It includes an overview of ORIM, an established family literacy framework (Hannon and
Nutbrown, 1997), a discussion of a collaborative model of co-produced KE, and evaluation of
the work done within the KE project by 20 practitioners in different parts of England, and
concludes with a reflection on the usefulness of a co-production approach to KE work with
practitioners and parents.
Received 22 February 2015
Revised 12 June 2015
20 June 2015
Accepted 22 June 2015
© Cathy Nutbrown, Julia Bishop
and Helen Wheeler. Published by
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
This article is published under the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC
BY 3.0) licence. Anyone may
reproduce, distribute, translate and
create derivative works of this
article (for both commercial & non-
commercial purposes), subject to
full attribution to the original
publication and authors. The full
terms of this licence may be seen
at http://creativecommons.org/
licences/by/3.0/legalcode
DOI 10.1108/JCS-02-2015-0011 VOL. 10 NO. 3 2015, pp. 265-279, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660
j
JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
j
PAG E 26 5
To continue reading
Request your trial