Parental Engagement in Children’s Learning: A Holistic Approach to Teacher-Parents’ Partnerships

Abstract It is acknowledged that parental engagement with children’s learning and education is of vital importance. But, there is a tendency to confuse engagement with learning with engagement with the school. While all types of parents’ involvement can have a positive effect, it is actually what parents do with their child at home that has the greatest impact. However, unless parental involvement in learning is embedded in whole-school processes it is unlikely to as effective as possible. This paper documents an action research study that explores the inclusion of parents and home values in the construction of the teaching and learning environment. This was a small step towards positive parent-teacher collaboration, which allowed an exchange of knowledge, values and cultural background experiences. In acknowledging the ways in which the parents already engaged with their children’s learning, it began to enhance self-efficacy in their ability to directly affect this learning. This work has also provoked reflexive engagement of my influence and understanding of involving parents of children with additional and diverse learning needs. But, it also details the transformative journey that influenced my thinking about how we as a school could begin to develop whole-school processes to directly involve parents in policy development and school activities.

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Resources for Rethinking Parental Engagement in Children's Learning

Museums & Social Issues ◽

10.1179/msi.2010.5.1.143 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 143-151

Author(s):

Kadriye Tezcan-Akmehmet ◽

Aletheia Wittman

Keyword(s):

Parental Engagement ◽

Children’S Learning ◽

Children's Learning

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Parental belief and parental engagement in children’s learning

British Journal of Religious Education ◽

10.1080/01416200.2013.820168 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 332-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. Goodall ◽

K. Ghent

Keyword(s):

Parental Engagement ◽

Children’S Learning ◽

Parental Belief ◽

Children's Learning

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Parents’ Acceptance of Educational Technology: Lessons From Around the World

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.719430 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Eliana Maria Osorio-Saez ◽

Nurullah Eryilmaz ◽

Andres Sandoval-Hernandez

Keyword(s):

Social Cognitive ◽

Cognitive Learning ◽

Parental Engagement ◽

School Closures ◽

Disadvantaged Children ◽

Children’S Learning ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Technological Tools ◽

Social Cognitive Learning Theory ◽

Children's Learning

One of the long-term lessons from the school closures due to the global pandemic COVID 19, is that technology and parental engagement are the best levers to access education so as to bridge the achievement gap between socially disadvantaged children and their peers. However, using technology is not as simple as bringing equipment into the school and home and initiating its usage; these are just the first steps into a more complex and ambitious achievement of using technology as a catalyst for a shift toward new learning models in remote and hybrid settings. A theoretical framework based on the theory of acceptance and use of technology and social cognitive learning theory was used to analyse data from a survey completed by 4,600 parents from 19 countries during the national lockdowns in 2020. Regression models and thematic analysis of open-ended responses were employed to identify factors that contribute to parental acceptance and use of technology in support of their children’s learning. Our results show that parents are more engaged in children’s learning when well-structured technological tools are provided or suggested by schools, and when parents are socially influenced by the opinions of other parents, teachers, children, the general public, relatives, etc. Conversely, they are less engaged when they perceive the technological tools to be challenging and beyond their knowledge or skills. The study’s findings have practical implications for governments and school leaders, who need to be aware of the factors likely to determine the use of technology at home and take action to meet parents’ needs when using technology to support learning.

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Distance Education and Parental Role, in Italy. Evidence-Based Reflections from an International Survey, after the First Lockdown

Rivista Italiana di Educazione Familiare ◽

10.36253/rief-10292 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 179-200

Author(s):

Sara Mori ◽

Silvia Panzavolta ◽

Alessia Rosa

Keyword(s):

Family Relations ◽

Parental Engagement ◽

International Survey ◽

Data Set ◽

Ecological Vision ◽

Children’S Learning ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Parents And Children ◽

The University ◽

Children's Learning

This paper presents the analysis of the data from the International Covid-19 Impact on Parental Engagement Study (ICIPES) 2020, an international survey investigating the ways in which parents and caregivers were able to build capacity to engage with children’s learning during the period of social distancing arising from the global Covid-19 pandemic. The survey was coordinated by the University of Bath and involved 23 partner countries, among which the “IUL- Italian University Line” representing Italy. The domains investigated were parental engagement; school support for parents and children; home-schooling and family life balance, and confidence in the use of technology. The pandemic has shown several obstacles that families had to face daily in their attempt to educate their children, especially in a period where no previous models could be taken as a reference point. Therefore, it represents a unique historical opportunity for researchers and policymakers to understand all the lessons learnt from this global emergency and work closely with families, to support them inengaging with children’s learning. The Authors of this contributions, as well as the other partners worldwide, believe that school-family relations are far from being collaborative and supportive, especially in certain age levels, and that much needs to be done to co-design learning opportunities bearing in mind a more ecological vision, with formal, informal and non-formal learning occasions be intertwined and interconnected. In sight of the abovementioned framework, the analysis shown in this paper focuses on the Italian data set.

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