Countries around the world have increased their focus on high quality early childhood programing. Recognizing the importance of parental and community engagement as a lever for improving child development and learning outcomes, and as a means of addressing social justice challenges, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2018) has emphasized the need for more research on the complex dynamics between structure, process, learning, and development. Such research should consider the impacts of the dominant neo-managerial paradigm and its overemphasis on clearly defined linear cause and effect pathways between structure and student learning, which underrepresents the reciprocal role that parents, the community and the students themselves play in shaping the learning setting (Myran & Sutherland, 2019a). Students’ and families’ senses of belonging to the community of knowers have major implications for their motivation, sense of ownership and buy-in (Davis, 2006; Goodenow & Grady, 1993). This study explored the lived experiences of parents/guardians of young children with the leadership of their children’s early childhood education program and how these individual and social interactions shaped parents’ epistemic agency, and their access to rhetorical spaces that recognized them as credible knowers. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with 20 parents whose children attended publicly funded pre-school programs. Findings revealed limited communication with leadership and difficulty developing positive relationships. Moreover, these challenges limited their access to rhetorical spaces to be heard and recognized as credible knowers. This study offers one small window into the OECD’s (2018) call for more research on the dynamics between structure, process, learning and development, and the importance of the quality of parental and community engagement as a lever for enhancing healthy child development and learning, and as a means of more effectively addressing ongoing social justice challenges.

世界各国都更加重视高质量的幼儿教育。经济合作与发展组织（OECD）（2018 年）认识到家长和社区参与作为改善儿童发展和学习成果的杠杆的重要性，以及作为应对社会正义挑战的手段的重要性，强调需要对结构、过程、学习和发展之间的复杂动态。此类研究应考虑占主导地位的新管理范式及其过分强调结构与学生学习之间明确定义的线性因果路径的影响，这低估了父母、社区和学生自身在塑造学习环境中所扮演的相互作用（迈兰和萨瑟兰，2019a）。学生和家庭对认识者社区的归属感对他们的动机、归属感和认同感有重大影响（戴维斯，2006 年；古德诺和格雷迪，1993 年）。本研究探讨了幼儿的父母/监护人在儿童早期教育计划的领导下的生活经历，以及这些个人和社会互动如何塑造父母的认知能动性，以及他们获得承认他们为可靠知识者的修辞空间的途径。利用现象学方法，我们对 20 位孩子参加公共资助学前教育项目的父母进行了深入访谈。结果表明，与领导层的沟通有限，难以建立积极的关系。而且，这些挑战限制了他们进入修辞空间以被倾听和认可为可靠的知情者。这项研究为了解经合组织（2018 年）呼吁对结构、过程、学习和发展之间的动态以及父母和社区参与质量作为促进儿童健康发展和学习的杠杆的重要性进行更多研究提供了一个小窗口，并作为更有效地应对持续的社会正义挑战的一种手段。