Pondering policy and parental perspectives : how parents view their role in shaping early childhood public policy

The focus of this paper is the role of Australian parents in early childhood education and care (ECEC), in particular, their role in shaping ECEC public policy. The paper reports the findings of a study investigating the different ways in which a group of parents viewed and experienced this role. Set against a policy backdrop where parents are positioned as 'consumers' and 'participants' in ECEC, the study employed a phenomenographic research approach to describe this role as viewed and experienced by parents. The study identified four logically related, qualitatively different ways of constituting this role among this group of parents, ranging from 'no role in shaping public policy' (the no role conception) to 'participating in policy decision-making, particularly where policy was likely to affect their child and family (the participating in policy decision-making conception). The study provides an insider-perspective on the role of parents in shaping policy and highlights variation in how this role is constituted by parents. The study also identifies factors perceived by parents as influencing their participation and discusses their implications for both policy and practice.