Learning partnerships with parents of young children : studying the impact of a major festival of early childhood in Australia

Abstract

The Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood is a unique public event in Australia designed to enrich the creative and cultural lives of children aged 3-8 years and their communities. The research linked to this festival is based on the premise that parents’ participation in, and value of the arts, impacts engagements with, and value placed on the arts by their children. This study investigates the ways that a large cultural institution creates engaging relationships with parents of young children. We outline a program involving perception development, knowledge building, critical friends and outcome measurement and we identify attributes of the festival that enable a family-friendly arts environment. Early findings on the impact of activities on parent and child pursuit of the arts as an area of social and cultural enrichment enabled us to propose strategies for enhancing arts participation by parents and young children.