Implementation of a sociopedagogical program regarding literacy-related family-school-community collaboration and its relation with preschool children’s literacy competences and parental involvement practices

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Published: Mar 1, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ppej.39766
Irini Papanastasatou
Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4352-8342
Efthymia Penderi
Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης
Abstract

Literacy is a multidimensional concept that includes broader communication and comprehension skills and is closely linked to the socio-cultural context and new communication conditions. Early childhood is considered a critical period for laying the necessary foundations to support a child's path to literacy, with the family and social environment having essential roles. Despite the rich theoretical and empirical documentation on the importance of family-school cooperation for promoting literacy, the relevant reported interventions in Greece are minimal. This study investigates the impact of a collaborative school-family-community literacy program on the literacy skills of kindergarten children as far as parental literacy involvement. Epstein's model of overlapping spheres of influence applies the broader systemic way of looking at the relationship between school, family, and community. The socio-pedagogical intervention, grounded in Epstein's model of overlapping spheres and aligned with the goals of the new national curriculum for preschool education, promotes a genuine collaboration between these spheres using action research support agency and participation for all stakeholders. An experimental design with pre-testing and post-testing of the groups was followed, with the participation of ten public kindergartens from five prefectures of Greece. The Children's Writing Knowledge Assessment Criterion for children aged 4-7 was administered to assess children's writing knowledge. This tool is suitable for young children developing literacy skills, allowing observation and recording of skills related to emergent literacy. It examines children's ability to handle books, recognize reading time, distinguish text from pictures, and understand basic writing concepts such as words, letters, lowercase, and capitalization, as well as the order and punctuation of text. The Parental Engagement Questionnaire for Literacy in Kindergarten was used to investigate parental involvement practices. One hundred twenty-six children participated in the survey after having obtained the written consent of the parents/guardians and the necessary permission from the Ethics Committee of the Department of Early Childhood Education Sciences of the Democritus University of Thrace. The results confirm the effect of school-family-community cooperation on preschool children's understanding of written language and parental involvement for literacy and discuss their educational implications.

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Author Biographies
Irini Papanastasatou, Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης

Υποψήφια Διδάκτωρ, Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης

Efthymia Penderi, Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης

Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια ΤΕΕΠΗ ΔΠΘ

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