Engaging 'hard-to-reach' parents in Early Years music-making: new research

Youth Music has published a new research report which explores ways to engage ‘hard-to-reach’ parents in early years music-making (EYMM). It was undertaken by the Institute for Policy Studies in Education at London Metropolitan University after feedback from music projects involved in Early Years work suggested that they were struggling to engage certain parent groups.

The report came up with some very interesting findings, including:

• pragmatic issues such as cost, venue, timings and sociable features such as ‘chat’ times and refreshment breaks have an impact on engagement
• issues related to engaging ‘hard-to-reach’ parents may not rest with ‘problem’ or ‘deficient’ parents or communities but might possibly reflect shortcomings in organisational planning and service delivery
• parents interviewed for the study advocated the use of popular music to teach their young children about society, although they saw this genre as complementary to, rather than a replacement of, traditional pre-school music
• music leaders were sometimes perceived as lacking experience in working with very young children, while early years practitioners were seen to lack musical confidence. The research suggests that professionals can benefit from learning from each other's expertise

You can download the full report here.

Sumi Hollingworth, one of the report's authors, explores the issue of using popular music in more depth in her blog Do early years music-making sessions need a shake-up?

What do you think about the issues the report and accompanying blog raises? What has been your experience of engaging parents in your early years groups? Have you had trouble getting the people you want to come along, or to join in once they're there? How do you feel about the term 'hard-to-reach'?