Key Concepts
Staff Family Partnerships
Influences on the Development of Staff-Family Partnerships
Strategies for Forming Staff-Family Partnerships
Activities

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Key Concepts

The key concepts ... [these learning activities] that serve as a knowledge base for developing skills needed for working with families include:

• Staff-Family Partnerships. Partnerships involve Head Start staff and family members working together to support the family's growth and development. Partnerships are most effective when staff respect the family's rights and adopt positive staff behaviors.

• Strategies to Reinforce Partnerships. Partnerships with families do not just happen; they must be built using the strategies of partnership talk and joining. Through partnership talk and joining, staff implement the building blocks to family support.

Background Information

Head Start has always considered itself as a "two generation" program. While Head Start was established to help low income children move to the next stage in their development, it has also focused on the development of families. This two generation philosophy is achieved through staff-family partnerships.

Staff-Family Partnerships

Staff-family partnerships are formed to support the family in identifying strengths, addressing concerns, dealing with challenges, and achieving goals. The family and staff are partners, not client and expert. In working as partners, staff turn to the family as the senior partner, respecting and supporting the family's decisions. Staff, therefore, are not forced to be responsible for solving a family's problems.

Building partnerships with families requires staff to recognize and respect the family's right to:

• Be unique and treated not just as a family, but as a particular family with its individual qualities and differences;

• Express opinions and emotions freely, including feelings of anger, resentment, fear, and sadness, and receive sensitive, purposeful, and appropriate responses from staff;

• Have relationships with staff that are free of criticism, yet encourage a change in behaviors destructive to the family;

• Make its own choices and decisions within the framework of the law;

• Have information about the family kept confidential and private; and

• Ensure they are the senior partner.

While staff cannot force a partnership with a family, they can increase the chances that a partnership will develop through their own behaviors. Studies show that positive staff behavior usually results in a positive relationship with the family. Negative behavior, on the other hand, may result in difficult staff-family relationships.¹ A picture of the ideal worker, as described by families, is one who shows:

• Empathy: the ability to perceive and communicate accurately and with sensitivity to the feelings and experiences of another person;

• Genuineness: the ability to be spontaneous and come across as a real person;

• Acceptance: the ability to communicate warmth, respect, liking, and concern in gentle ways;

• Concreteness: the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas clearly and specifically;

• Competence: knowing what to do and how to do it; and

• Objectivity: the ability to see different points of view.

Influences on the Development of Staff-Family Partnerships.

It is important to recognize that family characteristics; staff skill, knowledge, and experience; and variations in Head Start agencies influence the development of staff-family partnerships.

The first influence is the range of family characteristics. Some families welcome Head Start's supportive approach. They are very receptive to becoming acquainted with staff, tend to seek out staff support, and have a good grasp of their own family strengths and goals. Typically, these families are also very involved in the Head Start community as contributing members; they are both able to give and receive support. However, there are families that lack trust in others and see little hope for the future. They tend to see themselves as having few, if any, strengths, and as having many unsolvable problems. Typically, these families have never experienced supportive relationships in prior involvement with the broader community service system.

The second influence, that has an impact on staff-family partnerships, is staff skill, knowledge, and experience in supporting families. This influence begins with Head Start staff who routinely apply the principles of family support to their work with families. They are able to help most families achieve their goals through staff-family partnerships; in effect, they serve as family support role models in the Head Start community. At the other end of the spectrum are staff who have had little experience working directly with families. The principles of family support, as well as the building blocks, are unfamiliar concepts to them. They tend to follow the more traditional model of working for families to solve problems, rather than with families to overcome the challenges of life.

The third influence pertains to the variations in the Head Start agencies, themselves, as family support resources. While Head Start has always been a source of support to families, some local programs have taken a more proactive and comprehensive approach than others to supporting families. Some Head Start communities are already recognized as models in the family support arena. Other Head Start communities, however, have not yet achieved their potential as a source of support for all families.

Strategies for Forming Staff-Family Partnerships

Some of the fundamental concepts and skills needed for working successfully with families are partnership talk and joining.

• Partnership Talk

  Partnership talk is actively listening to families and helping them tell the stories that they want to tell. Partnership talk occurs as people become partners working together toward the same goal and is a means of showing families they are respected and valued. Staff can encourage partnership talk by having conversations, not interviews; sharing power; adopting an attitude of "not knowing" and "wanting to understand"; asking open-ended questions with lots of pauses; focusing on family strengths and successes; and encouraging different points of view.

• Joining

  The primary function of joining is to gain the family's trust and confidence. Joining is defined as taking time to talk with each family member, listening to their concerns, and becoming comfortable with the family's conversation and interactions. When staff join with a family, they do not impose their own agenda, but instead, take time to learn from the family. This means exploring how the family sees itself, drawing out the family's strengths, and helping the family identify its own concerns and goals. It also means learning about and respecting the family's culture. Staff can encourage joining by using: 1) non-verbal communication with a family including gestures, body positions, facial expressions, physical closeness and distance, eye gaze, and touch; and 2) everyday topics to diffuse the sense of strangeness or implied power which families may experience during the initial meeting.

Instructions

• Preview the videotape A Design for Family Support. Familiarize yourself with the videotape format and review all activities.

• Use the videotape as a supplement to the indicated activities. It is not meant to stand alone.

• Use part 2 of the videotape, Building a Family Partnership: Partnership Talk, in Module 2, Activities 2-2 and 2-5.

• Use part 3 of the videotape, Building a Family Partnership: Joining, in Module 2, Activities 2-4 and 2-5.
  
  
• Understand that the families on this videotape are real families describing their actual situation. However, the families' names have been changed.
  
  
• Note that this videotape was not developed by the Head Start Bureau. However, the segments were field tested by trainers during in-service training sessions. This videotape was selected to diversify and broaden the training experience and can be used in a variety of training situations.
  
  
• Be prepared for disagreements. The videotape segments may provoke many different reactions from participants, who might disagree about what actually happened and what issues were raised, and have both very positive and very negative reactions to the same consultant and the same family. Both the positive and negative aspects of the consultants' conversations with families provide opportunity for learning.

Demonstrating Supportive Behaviors

Purpose: To encourage self-examination of behaviors that enhance or hinder the development of partnerships.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 1: What Families Might Say
Newsprint/Markers/Tape
Sheets of newsprint labeled: 1) "Empathy," 2) "Genuineness," 3) "Acceptance," 4) "Concreteness," 5) "Competence," and 6) "Objectivity," along with brief definitions of each word.

Trainer Preparation Note: In preparing the sheets of newsprint, refer to handout 1. Label six sheets of newsprint with the terms empathy, genuineness, acceptance, concreteness, competence, and objectivity and write in their definitions. One each sheet make two columns, label the left one "positive" and label the right one "negative." Staff will use the remaining space to complete the activity.

1. Introduce the activity. Explain that in this first activity, staff will explore their personal experiences with professional helpers. Ask staff to close their eyes and think about a specific time when they turned to a professional for help or support; perhaps that someone was a family doctor, teacher, counselor, or preacher. Then, ask staff to keep their eyes closed and reflect on each of these questions:

   • What do you remember most about the person?

   • What did the person say or do that made you feel better? Or that made you feel worse?

2. Identify behaviors that promote partnerships. Tape the prepared and labeled sheets of newsprint around the room. Distribute markers to all participants. Review the terms and definitions appearing on the labeled sheets of newsprint; i.e., empathy, genuineness, acceptance, concreteness, competence, and objectivity.

3. Initiate a large group activity. Instruct staff to go around the room and write down phrases on the sheets of newsprint that capture their personal experiences with professional helpers. In the left columns, instruct staff to note positive experiences with professionals. For example, on the sheet labeled "empathy" staff might write "seemed concerned about me" or "comforted me." In the right columns, instruct staff to note negative experiences with professionals. For example, on the sheet labeled "empathy" staff might write "co1d fish" or "didn't seem to care." Tell staff they have 15 minutes to develop the lists.

4. Process the activity. After 15 minutes, call time and go over the phrases listed in the two columns on each sheet of newsprint. Encourage staff to call out additions to the lists. Distribute handout 1, providing staff with additionah behaviors. Discuss the importance of these behaviors when working with families.

5. Close the activity. State that the ideal worker exhibits these six key behaviors. Explain that studies show a link between positive staff behavior and positive relationships with families. Ask staff to spend the remaining two to three minutes of the activity thinking about how they might be described by the families they work with

Developing skills in Partnership Talk

Purpose: To provide staff with the opportunity to observe and analyze partnership talk strategies.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 2: Ways to Encourage Partnership Talk
Newsprint/Markers/Tape
VCR/Monitor
Videotape, A Design for Family Support (Part 2, Building A Family Partnership: Partnership Talk2)

Trainer Preparation Note: Before conducting this workshop activity, please consult the instructions at the beginning of Module 2.

1. Introduce the activity. Review with staff the concept of partnership talk outlined in the background information section of this module.

2. Introduce the videotape. Explain that staff are going to watch a videotape that shows consultants using partnership talk strategies with families. State that the videotape illustrates basic communication strategies to build support and trust with a family. Begin part 2 of the videotape.

3. Recap partnership talk. Pause the videotape at the "pause for discussion" frame. Distribute and review handout 2, which recaps the partnership talk strategies just presented. Ask staff whether they have any questions or comments before watching the next videotape segment.

4. (a) Introduce the Dutton family. Tell staff they are going to see lnsoo Kim Berg, a family consultant, in her first conversation with the Dutton family. The family members are:

   Ms. Pam Dutton, a single parent.
   Mrs. Pearl Dutton, Pam's mother.
   Pam's three children - 2 1/2-year-old Jabril, 4-year-old Khadijah, and 18-month-old Bahcil

   (b) Ask staff to watch for the specific ways the family consultant encourages partnership talk. Show the videotape segment on the Dutton family.

5. Process the videotape. Stop the videotape at the "pause for discussion" frame. Use the questions below to guide discussion. Examine both positive and negative staff reactions to the videotape. Capture key points on newsprint.

   • What struck you most about the family consultant's conversation with the Dutton family?

   • In what ways did the consultant encourage partnership talk?

   • How did the family consultant welcome and acknowledge each member of the Dutton family? Why do you think the family consultant greets the grandmother first? Would you have made the same introduction?

   • What was the first topic of the consultant's conversation with Pam? Why do you believe she chose that topic? (The first topic is Pam's desire to live independently again. This is a safe topic which encourages Pam to discuss more freely her other concerns.)

   • What was the consultant able to learn about the Dutton family in just a few minutes? (Insoo Kim Berg was able to learn about: family relationships and dynamics; the sharing of child care responsibilities; family priorities and concerns; Jabril's level of development; and the family's use of community resources.)

   • Do you think the consultant would have learned as much about the Dutton family through a formal interview? How do you think Pam and Pearl would have reacted to an interview guided by a standard set of questions?

   • After the conversation, what words do you think Pam and Pearl would use to describe the consultant?

6. (a) Provide an overview of the Williams family. Explain that the upcoming videotape segment shows another family consultant, Harry Aponte, in conversation with the Williams family. Point out that the segment illustrates the importance of listening to the family's story, rather than of focusing on the children. The family members are:

   Ms. Nicole Williams
   Mrs. Thomasina Williams, Nicole's mother
   Nicole's two children — Dante and Demetrius

   (b) Show the videotape segment on the Williams family.

7. Debrief the videotape. Stop the videotape at the "pause for discussion" frame. Discuss both positive and negative staff reactions to the videotape. Use the following questions to guide the discussion.

   • What struck you the most about the family consultant's conversation with the Williams family?

   • In what ways did the consultant encourage partnership talk? (Make sure that staff notice that Harry Aponte lets Nicole and Thomasina direct the conversation; takes time to understand and acknowledge the family's immediate concerns before asking about Dante's health; uses small cues, such as "all right" or "I see " pauses, to encourage the family to talk; often repeats or summarizes what Nicole and Thamasina say to show his understanding; and asks for clarification about the family's situation in a non-threatening way.)

   • What was the consultant able to learn about the Williams family in just a few minutes? (The consultant was able to learn about the family responsibilities, relationship dynamics, family history, medical history, family supports, and child care.)

   • After the conversation, what words do you think Nicole and Thomasina would use to describe the consultant?

8. Close the activity. End the activity by recapping the partnership talk strategies illustrated in the videotape segments. Ask staff to spend the remaining few minutes discussing the ways that they might encourage partnership talk in their conversations with families.

Practicing Partnership Talk

Purpose: To provide the opportunity for staff to practice, experience, and assess partnership talk.

Trainer Preparation Note: This activity builds on skills taught in Module 2, Activities 2-1 and 2-2. For best results, this training activity should be used as an extention of these activities

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 3: Role Play: The Billing Family
Handout 4: Role Play Observation Guidelines
Newsprint/Markers Tape/Scissors
Role Play Name Tags

Trainer Preparation Note: For each group make name tags for: Ms. Ann Wilken, Mr. William Billing, Mrs. Donna Billing, Jackie Billing, and Amanda Billing. Using handout 3, copy and cut role play scripts for each group.

1. Introduce the activity. Recap the concepts of staff-family partnership and partnership talk as outlined in the module's key concepts and background information. Explain that in this activity staff will practice and experience partnership talk through role play.

2. (a) Initiate a role play activity. Provide a brief overview of the Billing family, based on the following information:

   • Ms. Ann Wilken, a family worker, who is meeting with the Billing family for the first time;
     
     
   • Mr. William Billing, a Head Start parent;
     
     
   • Mrs. Donna Billing, Mr. Billing's mother;
     
     
   • Jackie Billing, Mr. Billing's four-year-old son; and
     
     
   • Amanda Billing, Mr. Billing's teenage daughter.

   (b) Ask staff to form small groups, each having seven to eight members. Instruct each group to appoint a facilitator.

   (c) Distribute to each facilitator a set of role play name tags, prepared role play scripts and facilitator's instructions (handout 3), and copies of handout 4. Remind participants not to look at any script other than their own. Instruct facilitators to assign roles and begin the role play.

   (d) After 15 minutes, instruct facilitators to hold a 15-minute discussion with their small group. Tell observers that they should share their thoughts from handout 4.

3. Debrief the role play. After 30 minutes, call time, and reconvene the large group. Use the following questions to encourage discussion:
   

   • What feelings did you experience in your role as Ms. Wilken? Mr. Billing? Mrs. Billing? Jackie? Amanda?

   • How is partnership talk different from your usual way of talking or interacting with families?

   • Does partnership talk raise any issues for you, in light of your work experiences with families?

4. Close the activity. Point out that skill in encouraging partnership talk takes time to develop and past patterns of communication are sometimes hard to change. Suggest that staff practice partnership talk during conversations with each other, their friends, and members of their own family in order to master the skills taught in the activity.

Joining with a Family

Purpose: To provide staff with examples of both verbal and non-verbal strategies of joining, and to encourage joining with a family.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Newsprint/Markers/Tape
VCR/Monitor
Videotape, A Design for Family Support (Part 3, Building a Family Partnership: Joining ³)

Trainer Preparation Note: Before conducting this workshop activity, please consult the instructions at the beginning of Module 2.

1. Introduce the activity. Ask staff to respond to the question:

   • What does it mean to join with a family?

   As responses are called out, record them on the newsprint. Tell staff that they will take another look at their responses, after they watch the videotape.

2. Introduce the videotape. Point out that this portion of the videotape explores the concept of joining. Explain that staff will first see the Bernardo family with family consultant Halcyone Bowen. State that this segment is presented without the spoken conversation to focus attention on non-verbal communication. Next, explain that staff will see the Bond family with family consultant Wayne Jones. This segment focuses on joining by bringing up everyday topics to defuse the sense of strangeness or implied power which families may experience in initial meetings with professionals. Begin part 3 of the videotape.

3. Discuss the videotape. Stop the videotape at the "pause for discussion" frame. Use the questions below as a guide.

   • What struck you most about the first consultant's, Halcy Bowen, interaction with the Bernardo family?

   • How did Halcy Bowen, communicate non-verbally? (Probe for gestures, body positions, facial expressions, eye gaze, touch, and physical closeness and distance.)

   • What kinds of messages did Halcy Bowen send the Bernardo family through her non-verbal behaviors? How did the family respond?

   • What stuck you most about Wayne Jones' interaction with the second family, the Bond family?

   • What did the second consultant, Wayne Jones, do or say to help the Bond family feel at ease with him? Why do you think he encouraged Mr. and Mrs. Bond to talk about their everyday life?

4. (a) Explore joining with a family. Go over the group's initial responses to the question: What does it mean to join with a family? As you go over the list of responses, encourage staff to make comments or revisions based on the information presented in the video.

   (b) Sum up the discussion by stating that joining means gaining the family's trust and confidence by seeing the world through the eyes of the family. Use the module's background information to expand upon the following points:

   • When we join with a family, we recognize and respect the family's rights.

   • When we join with a family, we turn to the family as the senior partner to help us understand what the family's everyday life is like, what challenges the family faces, and what the family wants to achieve. We are patient, we listen, and we learn.

   • Joining with a family does not mean that we agree with everything the family says or does, or that we overlook harmful or illegal family behaviors. Instead, we help families take a close look at the consequences of their words and actions and help them make decisions about what they want to change.

5. Raise practice issues. Encourage staff to express any concerns they may have about joining. To stimulate discussion, ask staff to think for a minute about the families they work with, and then ask the question:
   
   
   • What issues in your work with families might make joining difficult? (Probe for issues such as homelessness, child neglect, substance abuse, family violence, criminal activities, etc.)
     
     
   • How would you join the family in dealing with each of these issues?
     
     
6. Close the activity. As you end the activity, encourage staff to practice the strategy of joining in their work with families. Reinforce that joining is only one strategy for building a staff-family partnership.

³Adapted with permission from Building a Family Partnership, prod. Jana Staton, ed. Kathy Herr, Heritage Production, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Foundation, 1994, videotape.

Strategies for building Staff-Family Partnerships

Purpose: To encourage staff to use strategies for building staff-family partnerships.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 1: What Families Might Say
Handout 2: Ways to Encourage Partnership Talk
Handout 5: Exploring Staff Interactions
Handout 6: Challenging Behaviors
Handout 7: Addressing Challenging Behaviors
Newsprint/Markers/Tape
VCR/Monitor
Videotape, A Design for Family Support
(Part 2, Building a Family Partnership: Partnership Talk
Part 3, Building a Family Partnership: Joining ⁴)

Coach Preparation Note: This coaching activity is divided into three one-hour sessions.

• In the first hour, staff will examine their experiences and learn strategies for building staff-family partnerships.

• In the second hour, staff will observe a conversation with a family and discuss the techniques used to encourage staff-family partnerships.

• In the last hour, staff will practice the strategies of building staff-family partnerships.

Session 1

1. Lead a warm-up discussion. Ask staff to talk about their experiences in building staff-family partnerships. Use the following questions as a guide.

   • What are some of your experiences in building partnerships with Head Start families?

   • What do you consider to be your most successful experience in building a staff-family partnership? Your least successful experience?

2. Explore the essential components of a staff - family partnership. Review with staff the key concepts and background information on staff-family partnerships. Ask staff to share their views on the following topics:
   
   

   • The rights of families; and

   • Staff behaviors that enhance/hinder staff-family partnerships.

3. Explore desired outcomes for initial visits with families. Ask staff how they might measure success in initiating a staff-family partnership. List the responses on newsprint. Make sure the following desired outcomes are included on the list:
   
   

   • The family is listened to and heard;

   • The family is helped to feel more hopeful about the future;

   • Trust is built with the family;

   • he supportive tone of the partnership is set; and

   • The family is recognized as the senior partner.

4. a) Reflect on the strategies of partnership talk and joining. Begin exploring the ways staff usually interact with families during initial visits by reading the following questions to staff. Ask participants to think about their work with families as the questions are read. Allow several seconds for reflection between questions.

   • Do you rely on a set of interview questions to learn about a family, or do you learn about a family through casual conversation?

   • Who typically does most of the talking - you or the family? Is the family recognized as the senior partner?

   • What topics do you typically focus on - family concems/problems, or what everyday life is like for the family?

   • Do you give advice, or do you listen? Are you directive, or do you adopt the attitude of not knowing and wanting to understand?

   • How do you join with a family? Do you expect the family to join you in your world, or do you try to see the world from the eyes of the family?

   • What kinds of non-verbal messages do you give families? Do you give a disapproving and judgmental message through your body language and facial expressions, or do you give an accepting and caring message?

   • Do you ask open ended questions, allowing the family to comment?
     

   • Do you listen to the family and encourage different points of view with respect and without judgement?
     

   • How do you acknowledge family strengths?

   (b) After reading the above points, review the strategies of partnership talk and joining as outlined in the module's key concepts and background information. Distribute handout 2 to provide staff with additional information on partnership talk.

Coach Preparation Note: Before conducting session 2, you should watch parts 2 and 3 of the videotape, A Design for Family Support; these will assist you in understanding the concepts of partnership talk and joining. Use the strategies presented in the videotape when staff observe you at a staff-family visit.

Session 2

1. Prepare staff for observing a staff - family visit. Explain the plan for giving individual staff an opportunity to observe you (or another highly skilled staff member) having an initial conversation with a family. Distribute handout 5. Instruct staff to use the handout after observing the visit by writing down the strategies of partnership talk and joining they observed.

2. Observe the staff family visit. Conduct the initial visit. If another staff member is selected as the model for staff to observe, join staff in observing the conversation. Plan to spend at least one hour on observation and debriefing.

3. Debrief the observed staff - family visit. Encourage staff to be honest about their reactions to the conversation, especially if they observed you. To encourage honest reactions, you may want to begin the debriefing by sharing some of your own reactions. Handout 5 may serve to encourage discussion. Ask staff:

   • What would you have done differently to initiate a partnership with this family?

   • How will you use what you learned in your work with families?

Session 3

1. (a) Begin a discussion. Point out that there are different styles of interacting with families. Emphasize that while individual personalities enrich partnerships, sometimes our own personality, the personality of other staff, or the personality of family members can hinder the staff family partnership. Explain that it is especially important to be aware of how to address challenging behavior so that the partnership can move forward and focus on supporting the family goals. Ask staff:

   • Have you ever encountered challenging behaviors?

   • How can challenging behaviors impede the development of staff-family partnerships?

   • How did you address these behaviors?

   (b) Distribute handout 6 and review the challenging behaviors. Instruct staff to discuss strategies for addressing these behaviors.

   (c) Distribute Handout 7 and review the strategies for addressing challenging behaviors. Encourage staff to add to the list of strategies and to practice the strategies in team meetings.

2. Develop plans for a staff - family visit. Ask each individual staff to select a Head Start family that they would like to visit for the first time and make arrangements for visiting this family. Explain that you will accompany each staff member for the purpose of observing the visit and providing feedback on their use of partnership talk and joining strategies, and their ability to address challenging behaviors.

   Coach Preparation Note: Be sensitive to the fact that staff and the family may feel threatened by the observation. Emphasize that skill development is an on going process and your intent is to help them develop skills, not to judge them.

3. Carry out the staff - family visit. Have staff conduct the staff-family visit. For each staff member you are coaching, allow at least one hour for the visit and debriefing. As the coach, plan to spend a few minutes after the visit summarizing what struck you the most about the way staff related to the family, the way the family responded, and your impressions on the use of partnership talk and joining

4. Debrief the staff - family visit. Begin the debriefing by stressing the positive outcomes of the staff-family visit. Then ask the staff member to share thoughts and feelings about the family visit. Enhance the debriefing by asking for staff views on the following questions:

   • What did you learn about the family during your visit? What else would you like to learn about the family?

   • From what you know about the family so far, what kind of partnership role, if any, do you see yourself having with the family?

   • Did you encounter any difficulties in building a partnership with the family? If so, how might you overcome them?

   • Did anything occur during the visit that made you feel uncomfortable or uncertain about how to continue?

   • Did you find any behaviors of family members difficult to address?

   • What are your next steps with the family?

   • Are there any partnership talk or joining strategies that you would like to learn more about before your next family visit?

5. Close the activity. To sum up your coaching experiences with staff, point out the ways the two of you developed a partnership over the course of your work together. Stress what you learned from staff as a result of that partnership.

⁴Adapted with permission from Building a Family Partnership. prod. Jana Staton, ed. Kathy Herr, Heritage Production, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Foundation, 1994, videotape.

Addressing Challenging Behaviors

Purpose: To examine challenging behaviors and find solutions for addressing them.

Preparation

For this activity you will need:

Handout 6: Challenging Behaviors
Handout 7: Addressing Challenging Behaviors
Newsprint/Markers/Tape

1. Introduce the activity. State that there are different styles of interacting with families. Point out that while individual personalities enrich partnerships, sometimes our own behaviors, or the behaviors of family members, can hinder staff-family partnerships. Explain that in this activity, staff will take a look at challenging behaviors and identify some techniques for addressing them.

2. Initiate a small group activity. Divide staff into small groups, each with five to six members, and ask each group to appoint a facilitator. Provide each small group with newsprint, markers, and tape. Refer staff to handout 6 and go over the instructions.

3. (a) Process the small group activity. After 40 minutes call time, reconvene the large group, and ask for a volunteer to report on his/her group's suggestions for dealing with "Melodramatic Mary." At the conclusion, ask for comments or additions from other groups. Encourage staff to bring up their own experiences in dealing with a person similar to Mary. Repeat the process for the remaining behaviors.

   (b) After processing the activity, refer staff to handout 7, which provides some suggestions for addressing the challenging behaviors, as well as space for recording techniques suggested by the small groups.

4. Close the activity. Encourage staff to reflect on their own behaviors. Ask staff to take another look at handout 6 and spend the next minute or two comparing their behaviors to those on the handout. Raise these questions for self reflection:

   • Does any description fit you? Or, do any fit someone you work with?

   • What steps can you take to address these behaviors?

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Follow-up training strategies to reinforce the concepts and skills taught in Module 2 are presented below. After completing Module 2, review the strategies with staff and help them choose at least one to work on individually, in pairs, or in small groups.

• Making Back Home Plans

  Provide staff with handout 8, which they can use to record ideas and plans for professional development. Suggest that staff who have the same or similar job responsibilities form a peer support group to discuss partnership talk and joining strategies and ways to apply and improve these strategies in their work. As an option to forming a peer support group, suggest that staff talk with colleagues about what they learned from the training, strategies they would like to try out, and professional skills they would like to develop.

• Taking Another Look at Partnership Talk and Joining

  • Make arrangements for staff to watch parts 2 and 3 of the videotape A Design for Family Support for a second (or first) time. Encourage staff to analyze the segments very carefully by raising these questions for discussion:

    • What struck you the most about the family consultant's way of interacting with the family?
    • How does the family consultant's style of interaction compare to your own?
    • What did the family consultant say or do first? Why do you think the family consultant began in that way?
    • What did the family consultant do to draw in family members? To establish the family as the senior partner? To show support?
    • Would you have done anything differently?
    • What else would be important to learn from this family?
  
  
  
• Dealing with Staff-Family Partnership Issues
  
  
  • Ask staff to select a family for in-depth study. Guide staff through an examination of their successes and challenges in establishing a partnership with the family. Encourage discussion about issues relevant to the family, such as:
    
    
    • Balancing the family's right to control its own life with concerns that staff may have about the children in the family;
      
    • Providing support to the family without creating dependency;
      
    • Helping a family with multiple challenges set priorities;
      
    • Making the family the senior partner;
      
    • Addressing challenging, harmful, or illegal behaviors of family members;
      
    • Obtaining the family's views on what it wants, needs, or is getting from Head Start; and
      
    • Expanding opportunities for the family to have fun and experience success.

See also:
     Design for Family Support