From institutional dominance to parental involvement: Models of working with families in Hungarian Kindergartens

The families’ inclusion into the kindergarten education happens more and more. A family-friendly approach is becoming more dominant in the practice. There are several researches in Hungary to see what parents expect from the kindergarten pedagogue and the kindergarten as an educational institution. The Hungarian ECEC declares that raising the child is first and foremost the right and responsibility of the family, with kindergartens playing an ancillary and sometimes compensatory roles (National Core Programme). This chapter discusses the legislative requirements and theoretical background that frame the work between kindergartens and families. We discuss the paradigmatic shift between practice during the socialist regime and today. The chapter presents five distinct models of engaging with families and how parental involvement is addressed as part of the kindergarten pedagogue training programmes. The chapter concludes with identifying some directions of travel in strengthening relationships with all families and developing ways of working that benefits children, families and kindergartens