Background: The number of immigrant and refugee families in Canada is rising significantly. Fostering strong home-school partnerships between families and early learning and childcare (ELCC) providers becomes a critical investment to ensure equitable and inclusive experiences for all Canadian children. Previous studies show how ELCC can be unresponsive to the cultural needs and lived experiences of newcomer families, leading to the families feeling undervalued and excluded.

Aims: This research study explores how a community co-designed tool, Parent Manifesto, was used by newcomer parents in building relationships with the child’s early childhood educators (ECEs) and advocating for their children’s cultural and educational needs.

Method: Twenty-two parents of preschool children from three ethnocultural communities in Edmonton: Franco-African, Vietnamese and Chinese, participated in this qualitative study. The written and audio-visual responses on the Parent Manifesto in French, Vietnamese and Mandarin were translated and the data was analysed by generating themes by identifying, labelling, and coding recurring ideas.

Results: Through the Manifesto, parents conveyed their aspirations for their child, shared the challenges they face as newcomers to Canada, and suggested empowering ways the child can learn about, retain, and be proud of their home culture and language.

Implications for children and families: As a parent, the Parent Manifesto can contribute to democratising the home-school partnership. This tool can provide opportunities for honest conversations between you and your childcare provider.

Implications for practitioners: The Parent Manifesto is a new tool for creating inclusive early learning classrooms and pivoting learning activities to suit the needs of children in culturally responsive and sustaining ways.

Funding: Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care.

Key words: families’ voices, communication, education, qualitative methods, newcomer populations, vulnerable communities, well-being

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals