Constructing The Triangle Of Care: Power And Professionalism In Practitioner/Parent Relationships

This paper draws on recent re-conceptualisations of the notions of ‘care’ and ‘caring’ (Noddings, 1992 Noddings, N. 1992. The Challenge to Care in Schools – an Alternative Approach to Education, New York: Teachers College Press. [Google Scholar]; Tronto, 1993 Tronto, J. 1993. Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for the Ethics of Care, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) to explore data from semi-structured interviews with the parents and key workers for about twenty children under three who were attending two London children's centres. Located in an environment of frequent new policy initiatives, including an advocacy of parental partnership, it seeks to describe the ways that these adults construct their mutual relationships, and the difficulties which may attend this process. Class and cultural differences, as well as conflicting understandings of ‘professionalism’ are shown to inform the development of the ‘triangle of care’, with potential consequences for the care and welfare of the small child on whom the relationship is focused.