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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Sociology of Families
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1489477
Parenting Support in ECEC Services: The Views of Practitioners Implementing a Model in the Irish Context about Parents’ Engagement and Associated Outcomes
Provisionally accepted- Childhood Development Initiative, Dublin, Ireland
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Introduction: Providing parenting support in combination with Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can positively impact children's and families' wellbeing. This study aimed to contribute to informing about explore factors potentially affecting parents' engagement in a parenting support model in ECEC services and associated outcomes. This model involves a professional role dedicated to working with parents, the Parent Carer Facilitator (PCF). Methods: Eight Parent Carer Facilitators (PCFs) and seven managers of ECEC services in Ireland implementing this model were interviewed about a parenting support model implemented within these services in Ireland. Data were analysed through thematic analysis. Results: Four themes were generated: factors related to parents' engagement, approaches to promoting engagement and responsiveness to families' needs, implementation drivers and relevance of the model. Discussion: Findings indicated that a professional role dedicated to supporting parents within ECEC services, focusing on establishing trusting relationships and tailoring support according to families' needs, can foster parents' engagement in the support offered and positive outcomes regarding parenting and parents-ECEC service relationship.
Keywords: Caregivers, Parents, Parenting support, Early childhood education and care, preschool, Kindergarten, intervention, practitioners
Received: 01 Sep 2024; Accepted: 08 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Leitão and Shumba. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Catarina Leitão, Childhood Development Initiative, Dublin, Ireland
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.