Parental Involvement
Professor Ronald Sultana
Development of the concept
In 19th and up to
mid-20th century:
Parents delegate
education to
schools: illiterate,
‘uneducated’
parents trust
children with the
‘experts’, who act in
loco parentis.
Sigismondo Savona
Important developments
Mass education leads
to more educated
parents
Research on school
effectiveness: parental
involvement is a key
factor
Psychology shows:
parents’ involvement
essential for child’s
intellectual growth
Important developments
The 1960s:
democratic
participation at all
institutional levels
Justifying parental involvement
Parents are legally
responsible for their
children’s education
Much education takes place
in the home, especially in
early years
How children learn at school
is related to home
background: equality of
opportunity depends, in
part, on parental input
Justifying parental involvement/...ctd
Parents have a right
to feedback on how
their children are
doing at school
Parents and teachers
have reciprocal and
complementary
responsibilities in the
name of the child
Parents have good
will towards own
children: need to
harness that energy
Justifying parental involvement/...ctd
Parents have their
own expertise,
experience and
knowledge – different
but equally important
to that of teachers:
- Knowledge of child:
understand behaviour
- Life experience:
accumulated wisdom
- Teaching within caring
context
Some parental rights
To know (e.g. philosophy of school…)
Access to teaching staff
To records of child’s achievement
To participate at local / national level
To advice
To action
To open government (consulted…)
To home-school partnership
agreements
Charter of Parent Rights and Duties
European Parents’ Association
Assocjazzjoni Kunsilli Skolastici
Images that teachers have of parents
1. Parents as deficient
2. Parents as meddlers / intruders
3. Parents as consumers / clients
4. Parents as financial and human
resources
5. Parents as equal partners
Levels of Parental Involvement
1.
Exchange of information (e.g. letters,
circulars, reports, visits, etc…)
2.
Personal involvement in educational
matters (e.g. homework, classwork…)
3.
Informal involvement in administrative
matters via parental associations
4.
Formal involvement in school
governance
Pitfalls with Parental Involvement
Will parents only act in the
interests of their own
child/ren?
Government divests itself
from key responsibilities
(funding, texts…)
Undermine teachers’
professionalism
Parents not necessarily
well informed and will
inevitably clash with
teachers
More pitfalls with parental power
Active parents might be a vocal,
unrepresentative, self-select group
Parental involvement can reinforce
the reproduction of inequality
The dangers of ‘parentocracy’, and
of constructing parents as
consumers
Towards the ‘listening school’: from
Paternalism to Partnership
The self-contained school stage:
opens up only in crises
Professional uncertainty:
recognizes importance of parents, but negatively
Growing commitment:
exhortative appeals, but little structured action
School and family/community concordat
signed understanding
Examples of good practice:
Use of parents who have skills/knowledge that
can be shared
Explaining vocabulary that is used in schools
Adviser for home-school-community links
Debating educational policy and issues
Parenting skills, and parental education
Parental involvement in literacy, numeracy,
computing, etc
Practical assistance
More examples of good practice
Running after-school activities
A parent/community room in schools
Parents in classrooms
Putting up drama activities together
Home-school diaries / log books
School-home reading schemes