frederik smit & geert driessen (2005) parent school community relations in a changing society

Oviedo (Spain), 16th September 2005

Parent-school-community relations in a changing society


Bottlenecks, Pitfalls and Solutions


Frederik Smit and

Geert Driessen ITS, Radboud University

Nijmegen, The Netherlands


Introduction

• The debate on the primary tasks of schools and parents in many countries.

• The more specific attention to the pedagogical function of education.

• Pedagogical responsibilities of parents, schools and local communities.


Research questions

• What is the primary task of schools and what is the primary task of parents?

• How do parenting, care and education relate to each other in a changing society?

• Is a different organisation of education required and do schools need to be more adequately provided for care and pedagogical tasks?


Research design

• Review of the literature: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, England, France, Sweden and the United States.

• Email survey among 125 international experts in Europe through ERNAPE (European Research Network About Parents in Education)

• Email survey among 100 INET (International Network of Scholars) - a network of mainly American researchers and policy officers.


Key questions in the survey

1. What are, at present, the main topics in your country regarding child care and school-parent-community relations?

2. Are there any bottlenecks and pitfalls in these relations?

3. What are the solutions to these problems?


Pedagogical responsibilities of parents and schools

1. Trend: towards the schools’ educational tasks and the parents’ parental tasks becoming more and more intertwined.

2. African proverb: ‘It takes the whole village to raise a child’.

3. Partnership of parents, school and community has a positive effect on the pupils’ cognitive development and performance.


Diagram 1: Differences in a number of countries as regards the relations between parents, school and

community Netherlands Belgium Germany England France Sweden US

Task school

Task parents

Task community

Education, upbringing and care

Actual provisions

Desired provisions


Diagram 1a: Differences: task school,

parents and community

Netherlands Belgium Germany England France Sweden US

Task school

Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge and pedagogical tasks

Task parents

Partners Choice Partners Choice Partners Partners Support

Task community

Large cities Limited Limited Limited None Limited Traditional school of communities


Diagram 1b: Differences: education, upbringing, care, actual and desired

provisions

Netherlands Belgium Germany England France Sweden US

Education, upbringing and care

Everywhere Ample supply Ample supply Ample supply Ample supply Fair amount Much pre-school care available

Actual provisions

None None None None None Own policy Professional standards

Desired provisions

Better More Open Better More Better Financial support of projects


Key concepts for adequate collaborative relationships

Willingness Shared goals and objectives. Developing a shared mission statement.

Structure Agreements, procedures.

Culture Building a team. Shared beliefs about parent involvement and partnership.

Skills

Parent-school-community partner roles. .


Key concepts for adequate collaborative relationships

Willingness to participate

Participation structure

Participation culture

Participation skills


Parent roles at home (skills) - 1

Roles Goals and objectives

Nurturer Provide an appropriate environment where the child will flourish physically, psychologically and emotionally.

Communicator Communicate effectively with the child and the schooI.

Teacher Assist with the child’s moral, intellectual, emotional and social development.


Parent roles at home (skills) - 2 Roles Goals and objectives Supporter Helping children on home learning

activities. Learner Learn to obtain new skills and

knowledge that will help with the child’s educational and social development.

Advisor

Wisely counsel and advise the child about personal ad educational issues.

Advocator Effectively and actively advocate, mediate, and negotiate for the child.


Collaborative relationships between parents and school

Tune in - Communication - Coordination - Coaching

Family School

Child


Progress in collaboration parent and school roles

form

storm

norm

outcome

learning to interact

negotiate role acceptance

focus on content

prod

uctiv

ity


How do education, parenting and care relate to each other in a

changing society? • As a result of changing social relations (double-income families,

immigration), the parents’ parenting tasks and the schools’ educational tasks are overlapping each other more and more.

• The boundaries between education, parenting and care become diffuse.

• The traditional institutional differentiation between education, parenting and care thus comes under pressure, particularly where pre- and early-school facilities and primary education are concerned.


Is a different organisation of education required and do schools need to be more adequately

provided for care and pedagogical tasks? • Increasing social need for integrating education, care

and pedagogical tasks. • A balanced supply of education and care is required. • Schools ought to develop an outlook on the

harmonisation of education and pedagogical tasks, as well as strategies to continue and improve the dialogue between parents, school, care providers and the local community (‘partnership’).

• Parties involved should also be better equipped to meet these increasingly higher expectations.

• Evaluation of the professionalisation of the contacts between schools, parents, care providers and the local community on an annual basis.


Barriers between parents, school, care providers: willingness

1. Mutual expectations Providing information, home-school-cooperation.

2. Responsibilities of each partner

No role acceptance, no signed contracts which pledges cooperation and outlines responsibilities of each partner.

3. Communication Lack of communication, one -way communication.


Barriers: structure

4. Collaboration Single - dimensional involvement.

5. Teacher’s position vis-à-vis parents

Not addressing each other about capacities. Problems with power and trust.

6. Lack of good communication.

No structural discussions on (the cultural) differences and problems at schools.


Barriers : culture 7. Vision on partnership and

pedagogical approaches ‘Missing families’: parents finding home-school-cooperation to demanding. Differences of opinion on child rearing between parents and teachers.

2. Cultural diversity Not addressing each other about capacities responsibilities and agreements made.


Barriers : skills 1. Parents Lack of skills and

knowledge to interact, negotiate, role acceptance, focus on content in partnership relations.

2. Teachers Lack of specific communication skills to deal with parents with a heterogeneity of foreign cultures, languages and religions.


Wishes parents

1. Better informed about learning activities standards and values current at the school.

2. More involvement, creating two-way communication and more influence on educational ideas of the school .

3. More involvement in governance, decision-making and advocacy.


Recommandations: willingness to participate

1. Parents should be considered less as suppliers of children and more as serious partners, whom schools need to make sure that pupils feel at home and also do well at school.

2. More than they do now, schools should take into account the increasing diversity of backgrounds, wishes and expectations of parents.

3. Parents should be made aware that they have the obligation to maintain contacts with the school in their children’s interest and to collaborate in upbringing and education.


Recommandations: partnershipstructure

4. Parental involvement in education ought to be placed much higher on the policy agenda in the plans of schools and school boards.

5. Education and child rearing should become more integrated; upbringing at school and upbringing at home need to be harmonized

6. Schools have to create a situation in which a school’s vision, views on moral standards and values, the relation between socialization and qualification, mutual expectations of teachers and parents, and tasks and responsibilities are made much more explicit.


Recommandations: partnershipculture

7. Create a learning community. It is essential that teachers and parents are open towards each other, become acquainted with each other’s cultural and religious backgrounds, and consider education and upbringing their joint task and responsibility.

8. Teachers and parents ought be more aware of the fact that they need each other to communicate better about the pedagogical climates at home and at school, and about how to integrate each other’s contributions and develop respect for each other’s contributions to the children’s upbringing and education.


Recommandations: partnershipskills parents

10. Empowerment. Strengthen, reinforce, empower parents to feel competent as partners of teachers and care providers.

11. Support to parents might consist of providing information on the rights and obligations of parents and schools regarding education and upbringing.

12. The goal of training for parents might be to provide them with tools that allow them to improve the roles that they can play in their children’s affective and cognitive development.


Recommandations: partnershipskills teachers

10. Through peer supervision, teachers might help to improve their colleagues’ expertise in this field within the context of their own work situation.

11. Further training of teachers should be aimed at optimizing the communication and interaction between teachers and parents.

12. More attention should be paid to the teacher’s position vis-à-vis parents and also to such aspects as a customer-oriented approach to work, making mutual expectations explicit, and addressing each other about capacities, responsibilities and agreements made.