Partnership between preschool education institutions and families in shaping safe behaviour in preschool children

Abstract

The paper presents a theoretical and methodological analysis of normative and scholarly approaches to the partnership between preschool education institutions and families in fostering preschoolers’ safe behaviour. The study is grounded in the Ukrainian State Standard for Preschool Education and the professional standard for preschool teachers, which emphasise pedagogical partnership and the creation of a safe educational environment. The aim is to substantiate the essence of such partnership and to outline its principles and functions. Partnership is interpreted as a systemic pedagogical category that ensures value alignment, shared responsibility, joint planning, two-way communication and coordination of educational influences across the child’s immediate environments (family – ECEC setting). The paper clarifies that the focus of cooperation is not only informing parents about hazards but also building children’s behavioural experience through repeated, consistent routines and agreed rules. The study identifies key pedagogical principles relevant to safe-behaviour education: child-centredness and wellbeing priority, scientific validity and evidence orientation, systematicity and continuity, accessibility and clarity of recommendations. The functions of partnership are systematised (value-normative, informational and educational, diagnostic, coordination, preventive, formativebehavioural, supportive, monitoring and reflective), which can guide the design of joint practices, parent communication and consistent safety algorithms in both settings. The conclusions emphasise that stable safety habits emerge when adults maintain coherent expectations and reinforce the same behavioural scripts in everyday situations.

Keywords: preschool education institution; family; partnership; safe behaviour; preschool child; parental involvement; pedagogical principles.