Martine van der Pluijm

161 General discussion Finally, we will answer the main question of this thesis: What approach can teachers of young children use to build partnerships with lower-educated parents in support of their young children’s language development ? Based on the results of the four studies, we conclude that the seven steps of the AHL program contribute to successful partnerships between teachers and lower- educated parents that stimulate children’s language development. From the perspective of teachers, our findings show that teachers can be coached to work successfully with the AHL program and that they perceive working with the program as a valuable extension of their role as teachers. From the perspective of lower-educated parents, the results show that these parents increased their involvement in parent-child activities at school, their verbal interaction with their children during these activities, and the number of activities in the HLE. The results also give rise to further discussion and improvement of the design. In the remainder of this chapter, we will discuss the lessons that we learned and how research, practice, and policy can build upon these findings. GENERAL DISCUSSION In this research and professionalization project, we designed the AHL programwith seven steps for teachers (see Figure 6.2). Against the background of the main findings, we now discuss several theoretical and methodological topics. FIGURE 6.2: AHL, seven steps for teachers Phases Steps for teachers Establish SFPs 1. Assess the HLE 2. Involve parents and colleagues in SFP procedures in support of child language development 3. Build reciprocal relationships with all parents Implement intervention activities 4. Arrange weekly parent-child activities adapted to lower-educated parents (using Steps 1 to 3) Stimulate language development 5. Stimulate role development 6. Prioritize the use of language 7. Expand children’s language Designing an adaptive approach The research project offers evidence that teachers who use the seven theoretical steps that characterize the AHL program can build SFPs with lower-educated parents in support of young children’s language development. Based on our design study (Chapter 3), we conclude that