Participation, Parental Engagement and Technology

I am making the following presentation at the KidSmart conference on Monday. 

It explores ways that parents and practitioners can work together to promote participation both in early years services and children's learning. It is based on the National Children's Bureau PEAL project (www.peal.org.uk) and captures a particular aspect of the work which has used a variety of technologies including video, digital photography and mobile phones. 

Case studies come from some of the most disadvantaged communities across England and demonstrate that families are able to use technology to empower themselves and gain insight to how their children learn and grow.

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Participation, Parental Involvement and Technology - Lessons from the PEAL Project and Beyond

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The Many Meanings of Participation

I have been thinking about the word participation. It can mean so many different things. When talking to others it quickly becomes clear that different people can see participation in a variety of ways. This is not a problem - it is interesting and part of the richness of the idea.

I am not necessarily thinking here about firm definitions of participation. They can be helpful but often they only describe one dimension of the term. So I have taken a step back and begun to think what I mean by participation. Is it a concept? Is it a set of tools? Is it a value? Is it something else too?

One way I find it helpful to think about ideas is to use a mind map. I like the fact that maps do not have to be linear. This allows them to capture the complexity and diversity of a term.

So here is my map of participation. I don't think it is exhaustive by any means. But it does start to help me think of the different areas and levels participation can cover.

Click to see a larger version of the map.

10 Public Action Tools on the Computer

I thought I would share ten tools I regularly use on the computer to promote public action. The sites make my work a bit more efficient. They enable me to network and share with others both at a local level and beyond. I won’t focus on the most common sites - Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and all that - because they are already well documented. Instead I will write about a few lesser known sites and tools that offer some really useful functions for the local activist.

1. Qipit - send photos of flipcharts, graffiti walls, mapping and other materials and get them turned in to editable PDFs and graphics. Very useful for including in your reports and as part of a local evidence base.

2. Nabble - to set up a free discussion forum on any topic. Great for discussing public action and local issues. Embed it in your existing website.

3. Beth’s Blog is a good place to keep up to date with the latest news and innovations in the social media and not-for-profit sector around the world.

4. Mac Speech. I am not a good editor. I find it hard to read my own writing and I always seem to miss my mistakes or poor grammar. For years I have begged others to read and edit my text. This can try the patience of people near to me as I often ask them at short notice and in a rush. It also wastes paper as I tend to print out a draft of my writing for others. The speech function on my Mac has changed all this. The Mac reads my text to me. It makes editing easy as you can hear your writing in the voice of another. Very revealing and very powerful.

5. Slide Share is a great place to post your presentations and PowerPoints. It is an even better place to find and read other peoples’.

6. Lifehacker is a good blog for all kinds of shortcuts and productivity tools - otherwise know as lifehacks.

7. Google Docs is a free service that provides a word processor and spreadsheet programmes online. As well as being a real alternative to buying these products, the best feature is that you can make your documents public and invite others to contribute to them. It is a great way for team working and involving a network of people in the development of a report, fundraising application, planning document or news release. You can also produce online questionnaires and petitions that are automatically collated on a central spreadsheet as people respond individually by email.

8. Twitter - microblogging using SMS text messaging. A powerful way to coordinate a local networks and organise public action. By getting everyone to sign up to Twitter and then creating a themed network it is easy to communicate with all your fellow activists. Imagine seeing a situation on the street where you wanted to quickly share some information to all other local interested parties. Twitter can mobilise action. And it is free.

9. Set up and host your own wiki for free with wikispaces. This lets you build and share an information site on all kinds of topics from disability rights to patient activism. Other activists can then contribute to the development of the knowledge base.

10. LinkedIn - a social network combined with a community for people wanting to sell and trade their skills. Lots of voluntary sector and charity workers are there as well as a diverse group of other professionals. A good place to find a communications specialist or a human rights advisor for your projects.

And as a bonus site - Doodle is a great way to coordinate diaries with other activists.

Much local activism is low resourced. Often we have to work with little investment and divide our time between the day job and our activism. These tools have helped me be more efficient and make the most of my investment of time. I hope they are helpful. I am always interested in any other tools out there. Subscribing to the RSS feeds of different blogs is also a good way to stay in touch with new tools.

Comparing Childcare Systems in the UK and Japan - A Meeting

I was lucky to spend some time with two visiting Japanese Professors during their visit to a National Childminding Association workshop in Marble Arch, London last month. Professors Abe Kazuko and Mikiko Tabu are both regular visitors to the UK and have a fascinating insight into the differences of our respective childcare systems. They have been doing some comparative research on the role and training of childminders and were particularly interested in the training techniques and tools used by the PEAL (Parents, Early Years and Learning) workshops.

The two Professors spent the day participating the workshops - and how good it is to report their enthusiastic involvement with the discussions, throwing themselves into all the exercises and role plays - and making notes for their ongoing research.
At the end of the day we had time to sit down and discuss their work. They also took the opportunity to interview colleagues and myself for their research.

We exchanged business cards as is usual during these kinds of meetings. But I was struck by the beauty and elegance of the Japanese cards. They were so much more than the utilitarian card I happily give out to anyone with a passing interest in my work. They were on fine paper with delicate Japanese designs and embossed with symbols. I find the Japanese script fascinating - almost an art form in itself. The cards were in both Japanese and English. It felt like I was being given a gift rather than just another business card for my collection.