Parent involvement in education: models, strategies and contexts

In this paper, we explore the conceptual, empirical and strategic literature related to parent involvement in educatio n. Parent involvement in schooling has traditionally taken many forms including parents helping their children with homework, parent-teacher interviews, parent nights, special consultation on student problems, parent councils, and parent volunteer help in the school and the classroom. Some evidence suggests that activities of this nature can have beneficial effects on student learning. From a socio-cultural perspective, however, we will review other evidence indicating that traditional relationships between teachers and parents can also perpetuate a power imbalance in favour of teachers. In recent years, teachers' relationships with parents have become more uncertain and contentious. Parents are becom ing more questioning and critical about issues of curriculum, the quality of instruction and practices used to assess and evalu ate their children. Home-school relationships are changing for a multitude of reasons including greater diversity of the parent population , changes in family structures, increasing school ch oice, more parental involvement in the governance of schools, new methods of assessment and reporting, and special education legislation. These developments have implications for parent involvement and stud ent achievement. Formulating new strategies for inv olving parents in their children's learning is particularly important during this time of profound social change and educational reform in Ontario, nationally and internationally. Since parents are not a homogeneous group, conflicts concerning expectations between parents and teachers, culture between home and school, and institutional barriers are bound to arise. Involving parents as partners requires an understanding of parents' perceptions of schoo ling, their aspirations for their children, their approach to parenting, their expectations of teachers, an d their concept of their role and respons ibilities. We first examine child-parent interactions both inside and outside the home through the theoretical lens of stages in a child's cognitive, emotional and social development, explore the barriers that divide teachers and parents, paren ts and schools, and parents and their children, identify the socio-cultural factors that influence school-parent understanding, and propose strategic approaches that can enhance communication, community and partnerships between parents, teachers and schools. In our consideration of the empirical literature, we paid special attention to exemplary stud ies and models which have received auth oritative recognition in the field and cutting edge research that provides new insights into parent-teacher interaction. We argue that the structures of schooling must sh ift from closed and protectionist to …