Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Social workers employed by the Department of Social Development in South Africa are tasked with the provision of a broad spectrum of social services and may specialise in fields, such as welfare planning, which involves the capacity building, support and monitoring of welfare organisations. Early childhood development services fall in this category, as these services are monitored by social workers. Social workers employed by the Department of Social Development are the only group tasked with the mandate to capacitate, register partial care facilities and programmes, as well as monitor unregistered and registered facilities, on an on-going basis. Social workers adhere to these mandates amid many challenges. The aim of this study is to develop guidelines for social workers, who render services to Early Childhood Development (partial care) facilities. The objectives of this study are to explore the needs of social workers in the Early Childhood Development field in the Department of Social Development, identify challenges related to effective service delivery, explore the current methods of service delivery, develop guidelines and refined the draft guidelines, through a Delphi study. The Intervention Research design was used in this study, as it best suited the development of a tool; however, it was adapted to use only certain phases that were suitable for implementation for this study. The adaptation involved the use of the first four phases of the Intervention research method, combining of phase 1 and 2 to form a new phase 1 of the modified phases that linked to objectives one and two of the study. Therefore, this study only has three operational phases. A qualitative methodology was employed in this study to achieve the intended outcomes. Data collection occurred through semi-structured and telephonic interviews. Purposive sampling was used to select twenty (20) social workers from the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape and five (5) in the Eastern Cape. These participants engaged with Early Childhood Development facilities and interviews were conducted with them, while five (5) telephonic interviews were conducted with social workers in the Eastern Province. Conclusions from the analysed data were used to develop guidelines for DSD social workers within ECD settings. Two rounds of a Delphi study were employed to refine the proposed guidelines.

Early childhood development has a lifelong impact on the future of each human being. However, all South Africans do not have equal access to the same quality ECD opportunities and services. As a means to advance knowledge in this regard, this study explores parents' perceptions regarding early childhood development (ECD) and their involvement therein, particularly within the Langkloof farming communities. Furthermore, the objective is to formulate guidelines, which can be applied to promote parents‘ involvement in ECD at home and at the ECD partial care facility the children are enrolled at. For this reason an interpretive, descriptive research design was utilised as methodology, which enables the determination of practical applicability. The data for this study was gathered by means of five focus groups, consisting of not more than eight participants per group. Participants were sampled though a purposeful sampling strategy to ensure that the most informative participants were selected for the study. Gathered data were transcribed and analysed on the basis of the basic qualitative analysis process, incorporating the thematic analysis strategy. The findings of this study indicate that parents have a pertinent understanding of ECD and parental involvement in relation to existing literature on ECD. Participants‘ perceptions complement existing ECD-related literature, indicating that parental involvement in ECD includes a home-centred as well as a facility-centred approach. Participants made reference to their concerns and satisfactions with the ECD services that they are currently receiving. They furthermore made reference to the challenges that prohibit them from optimal parental involvement in the ECD of their children, both at home, as well as at the ECD partial care facilities their children are enrolled at. Participants made suggestions on how they could be supported to address their concerns and challenges in both home-centred and facility-centred approaches in order to enhance parental involvement in their community. In general findings suggest that parents have the skills and are aware of their rights and responsibilities with regard to ECD parental involvement. However, if their insights were to be additionally buttressed in particular ways, their children‘s development in the early years could be enhanced. Based on the findings therefore, this study recommends that governmental departments focus on determining the actual requirements of parents, based on their unique understanding of their circumstances and beliefs by means of practice-based research in less fortunate communities. Furthermore it is recommended that government departments, other role players involved in community-based ECD service delivery and farm owners should play a developmental, empowering and supportive role to assist parents to improve in respect of home-centred, as well as facility-centred parental involvement in ECD. In general the findings of this study therefore suggest that support services to parental involvement in ECD must be individualised based on research and theory and the requirements of parents and children in a specific context. / Thesis (MSW)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Early childhood development has a lifelong impact on the future of each human being. However, all South Africans do not have equal access to the same quality ECD opportunities and services. As a means to advance knowledge in this regard, this study explores parents' perceptions regarding early childhood development (ECD) and their involvement therein, particularly within the Langkloof farming communities. Furthermore, the objective is to formulate guidelines, which can be applied to promote parents‘ involvement in ECD at home and at the ECD partial care facility the children are enrolled at. For this reason an interpretive, descriptive research design was utilised as methodology, which enables the determination of practical applicability. The data for this study was gathered by means of five focus groups, consisting of not more than eight participants per group. Participants were sampled though a purposeful sampling strategy to ensure that the most informative participants were selected for the study. Gathered data were transcribed and analysed on the basis of the basic qualitative analysis process, incorporating the thematic analysis strategy. The findings of this study indicate that parents have a pertinent understanding of ECD and parental involvement in relation to existing literature on ECD. Participants‘ perceptions complement existing ECD-related literature, indicating that parental involvement in ECD includes a home-centred as well as a facility-centred approach. Participants made reference to their concerns and satisfactions with the ECD services that they are currently receiving. They furthermore made reference to the challenges that prohibit them from optimal parental involvement in the ECD of their children, both at home, as well as at the ECD partial care facilities their children are enrolled at. Participants made suggestions on how they could be supported to address their concerns and challenges in both home-centred and facility-centred approaches in order to enhance parental involvement in their community. In general findings suggest that parents have the skills and are aware of their rights and responsibilities with regard to ECD parental involvement. However, if their insights were to be additionally buttressed in particular ways, their children‘s development in the early years could be enhanced. Based on the findings therefore, this study recommends that governmental departments focus on determining the actual requirements of parents, based on their unique understanding of their circumstances and beliefs by means of practice-based research in less fortunate communities. Furthermore it is recommended that government departments, other role players involved in community-based ECD service delivery and farm owners should play a developmental, empowering and supportive role to assist parents to improve in respect of home-centred, as well as facility-centred parental involvement in ECD. In general the findings of this study therefore suggest that support services to parental involvement in ECD must be individualised based on research and theory and the requirements of parents and children in a specific context. / Thesis (MSW)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.