Thursday, April 23, 2009
Parents as partners?
The importance of collaboration between schools and parents is universally acknowledged but does the responsibility for making it happen lie with schools, parents or learners?
This month two reports have been published considering how to create effective and meaningful collaboration and partnership between schools and parents. Becta commissioned Professor Tanya Byron to investigate the issue of parent-school communication and the role of technology in making it more effective. 1,000 parents and 1,000 learners were interviewed. Professor Byron found that 82% of parents said they didn't know as much about their child's day at school as they would like, and the same high percentage said they wanted schools to keep them better informed about their child's progress.
The interviews also revealed that many parents found their children were unwilling or unable to articulate what was happening at school in the depth they as parents wanted. The title of the report, "Oh, nothing much", comes from the common description parents received from their children about their day at school. 43% of parents said they "found it either difficult or very difficult to extract information from their child about their day at school." The interviews with children revealed that they also found the responsibility to explain their school experiences to their parents problematic, 37% of children said they "found it quite or very difficult to speak to their parents about their education" and 44% said they "didn't like sharing things with their parents; they would like to keep their school day private."
The Byron report offers advice in the form of tips for parents about how to open up communication with their children about school and also reminds schools that the use of technology can make it easier for parents to keep themselves informed about school through websites, online reporting and email.
"Schools that proactively offer support and guidance for families to communicate with them via technology show greater parent satisfaction and model a holistic approach to the support of the learner."
However, the recomendations in the report are focused on improving the communication between parent and child about school and leave the position of the child as carrying the responsibility of passing communication between home and school largely unchanged.
A second report on School Parent communications and interaction considers the responsibility of the school in creating and supporting partnerships with parents in more depth.
The School Parent Partnerships Report , published by The Family and Parenting Institute is the result of a two-year research study looking at the ways in which parents, teachers and children experience interaction between home and school. It concludes that schools could do more to promote and support positive and effective partnerships with parents. The report highlights 3 elements to successful partnerships:
*A non- teaching link worker who has a clear channel of communication with the school senior management team.
* An active interest in involving parents in their children's learning from senior staff with strong leadership.
* A culture of listening and consultation within the school with a willingness to change.
The report details five possible models to develop good partnerships with parents and includes case-studies of schools which have used each of the five.
The report focuses on the responsibility of the school to make interaction and partnership with parents a positive and rewarding experience which benefits the child and their progress. It considers that the way schools view parental interaction needs to change in order to achieve meaningful partnerships; " a cultural change in schools is vital, so that parents become an integral part of the school community", schools need to "establish inclusive ways of consulting with parents and engaging in genuine dialogue." Active parent groups such as Parent Forums where parents are able to discuss ideas and share views are suggested as way of widening the range of communication between school and home and developing a genuine sense of parents being part of the school community.
Parents and schools need to focus on developing ways of communicating and partnering without relying on the child as a "go-between". Maybe, parents are asking their children for detail of their school life and experience in the absence of other effective methods of two-way communication.
There is a DCSF recognised award for schools who are leading the way in collaboration with parents. The Leading Parent Partnership Award recognises those schools "committed to working with parents for the achievement of pupils".
The School Partnership Report from the Family and Parenting Institute
Oh, Nothing Much. Professor Tanya Byron's report for Becta.