Parental Involvement in raising the Achievement of Primary School Pupils: why bother? (Updated)

This digest found in

Parents

Authors

Edwards, Anne and Warin, Jo

Publisher

Oxford Review of Education, 1999, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 325-341

Introduction

What is the real role of parental involvement?

Parents' involvement in their children's education is a consistent feature of primary school practice. All schools aim to involve parents, but the research suggests that schools are not always clear exactly why. Early attempts at parental involvement included structured reading improvement schemes and maths programmes that aimed to induct parents into the aims of the school. A more recent focus of parental involvement has been to address the differences between home and school. Both these approaches focus on the aims of the school and tend to regard parents as unwilling or unable educators. There has also been a tendency to overlook the views of the parents and the roles they want to play in their children's education. This study uses evidence from surveys and case studies to conclude that primary schools are currently being obliged to use parents to help deliver an over-loaded curriculum. The authors also point to the lack of recognition of the real role of parents as the child's earliest teachers and as the builders of learning identities on which all learning is based. Further, they suggest that parents are being expected to perform skilled pedagogical tasks for which they are inadequately prepared.

Keywords:
UK; United Kingdom; England; literacy; numeracy; parents; pupils; classroom teachers; primary schools; school improvement; homework; home-school links; teacher attitudes; parent school relationship; self-esteem; parental involvement

Your path: Home > Welcome to The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS) > Themes > Parents > Parental Involvement in raising the Achievement of Primary School Pupils: why bother?ThuJun191655242003
Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction The aims of this study How was the study designed? What did the research find out? Is "getting parents in" to school enough? What were parents asked to do with their children? Conclusions Implications Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Parental Involvement in raising the Achievement of Primary School Pupils: why bother? (Updated) This digest found in Parents Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Authors Edwards, Anne and Warin, Jo Publisher Oxford Review of Education, 1999, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 325-341 Introduction What is the real role of parental involvement? Parents' involvement in their children's education is a consistent feature of primary school practice. All schools aim to involve parents, but the research suggests that schools are not always clear exactly why. Early attempts at parental involvement included structured reading improvement schemes and maths programmes that aimed to induct parents into the aims of the school. A more recent focus of parental involvement has been to address the differences between home and school. Both these approaches focus on the aims of the school and tend to regard parents as unwilling or unable educators. There has also been a tendency to overlook the views of the parents and the roles they want to play in their children's education. This study uses evidence from surveys and case studies to conclude that primary schools are currently being obliged to use parents to help deliver an over-loaded curriculum. The authors also point to the lack of recognition of the real role of parents as the child's earliest teachers and as the builders of learning identities on which all learning is based. Further, they suggest that parents are being expected to perform skilled pedagogical tasks for which they are inadequately prepared. Keywords: UK; United Kingdom; England; literacy; numeracy; parents; pupils; classroom teachers; primary schools; school improvement; homework; home-school links; teacher attitudes; parent school relationship; self-esteem; parental involvement