Engaging Families in Schools
Practical strategies to improve parental involvement
Nicola S. Morgan
- 180 páginas
- English
- ePUB (apto para móviles)
- Disponible en iOS y Android
Engaging Families in Schools
Practical strategies to improve parental involvement
Nicola S. Morgan
Información del libro
Engaging Families in Schools is a practical resource that provides strategies and ideas that will contribute to the effective engagement of families and the involvement of parents in their child's education. Parental engagement with school staff has a significant and very positive impact on children's learning, and strategies presented have been extensively trialled in a variety of different settings. Nicola S. Morgan shows school staff how to understand the importance of family engagement and evidence the outcomes. This book has been split into ten easily accessible units:
- Understanding the importance of parent engagement
- Using whole-school strategies to engage parents
- The role of the family engagement officer
- Engaging all parents
- Engaging Dads
- Engaging multicultural parents
- Difficult to engage parents
- Working with parents to improve student attainment
- Working with parents to improve behaviour and attendance
- Working with parents of children with additional needs
This is a must-read guide for teaching and non teaching staff who wishes to bridge the gap between their student's school and family life and understand the effects of positive family engagement.
Preguntas frecuentes
Información
Unit 1
Understanding the importance of parental engagement
Parental involvement and engagement
- Parenting. Supporting and offering parenting skills and training courses for parents. Also providing information about how to best support their child’s learning at home.
- Communication. Implementing effective school-to-home and home-to-school communication systems to ensure that both parties are informed about the child’s progress.
- Volunteering. Providing volunteer opportunities both in school and within the community to help support the school and students.
- Learning at home. Providing information and support about how parents can support their child’s learning at home through homework and/or other curriculum-related activities and decisions.
- Decision-making. Involving parents in decision-making opportunities throughout school – for example, being part of the governing body, PTA (parent teacher association), behaviour management review committee. Home school partnership is not only informed by the assumption of its underlying benefits, it is also driven by the acknowledgement of the rights of parents and their needs as consumers… [P]arents must have a say in the way their children are taught and treated. Parents have the right to know what is going on in school and should be informed about the nature of the education their children are receiving. The general principle is that everyone who is a parent has the right to participate in decisions that affect their children’s education.(Bojuwoye 2009: 463)
- Collaborating with the community. Working with the community to provide resources and services to benefit families, students and school. Also coordinating and providing support within the community to help strengthen causes and programmes. School leaders have a critical role to play in building trust and mutual understanding between schools and communities. Trust is nurtured through relationships, through information and through knowledge.(Riley 2009: 58–9)
The benefits of engaging families
- Parental engagement is strongly positively influenced by the child’s level of attainment: the higher the level of attainment, the more parents get involved.
- Parental engagement in the form of ‘at-home good parenting’ has a significant positive effect on children’s achievement and adjustment even after all other factors shaping attainment have been taken out of the equation. In the primary age range, the impact caused by different levels of parental involvement is much greater than differences associated with variations in the quality of schools. The scale of the impact is evident across all social classes and all ethnic groups.
- Concerns can be communicated more easily and effectively.
- Parents bring skills that can benefit the school and child’s learning.
- Student’s attendance, behaviour and attainment improve.
- Parents can become involved with school decision-making processes.
- Parent–teacher relationships are improved.
- Parents offer more classroom support and presence on school trips.
- Parents provide more support with their child’s homework.
- Students find it easier when they receive encouragement at home.
- Attendance, behaviour and attainment improve.
- Child–parent relationships are more positive.
- Emotional literacy skills improve.
- There are more opportunities to take part in activities inside and outside school.
- Students have a more positive attitude towards school.
- There is an increased sense of security and belonging.
- Students are more likely to continue learning past the age of 16.
- Parents are more able to support their child’s learning and development.
- They have more access to information about their child’s education.
- Parents form support and networking groups with other parents.
- They build more confidence and skills.
- Parent–child relationships improve.
- More positive attitudes towards school are promoted.
- There is better parental understanding of the school process.
- Improved confidence and skills allow parents to help their child at home.
Barriers to parental engagement
- time constraints, especially for working families and single parents;
- lack of information from school or not knowing how to get involved;
- poor health and well-being;
- children attending different schools;
- family circumstances;
- caring for another member of the family;
- isolated home location and limited transport links;
- language and/or literacy barriers;
- social and cultural background;
- negative past experiences of school;
- lack of self-esteem and self-worth;
- parental uncertainty — for example, believing they are not welcome in the school;
- feeling judged by the school;
- suspicion and mistrust.
Strategic planning
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to get to?
- How are we going to get there?
- How will we know when we have got there?
Step 1: Where are we now?
Step 2: Where do we want to get to?
Step 3: How are we going to get there?
Step 4: How will we know when we have got there?
Evaluating parental engagement and gathering evidence
- identifying parent needs;
- auditing current work;
- identifying useful initiatives;
- devel...