How to shift perceptions about parents and their role in education

When I first began the journey through school with my eldest daughter, I was fairly confident that I had prepared her well for what lay ahead. Little did I know at the time that my roles and responsibilities as a parent would change dramatically. I would need to adjust and be flexible throughout the journey with my eldest and each of my children after her.

The role of parents once their children begin school is a huge transition and identity shift for many who may be unfamiliar with contemporary learning and how they can support their children through the many changes they will navigate through their formal education.

Parents are often left struggling to know how to stay connected with their children, how to support their learning and how they can be confident their child will do well at school. It is a familiar story for many parents who find themselves in this new environment - not as a student but now in the role and identity of a parent or carer of a student.

In my experience working with school leaders and teachers to support parents and teachers as partners in education, I discovered that parents are like the silent partners in their children’s formal learning. Often kept at a safe distance, provided with limited awareness of their role in their child’s learning process and progress and minimal information about how to support their children at home to more easily achieve their learning goals at school.

For various reasons this occurs, mostly due to the priorities of the school being solely focused on the students, without realising that parents have the capacity to add value to their child's education. There is little training or support for school leaders and teachers to understand the parent role and how, if nurtured effectively, can impact not only students, but also the confidence and resilience of teachers, not to mention school reputation and enrolments.

Some school leader and teacher perceptions of parents are that they are too quick to do everything for their children, they are trying to be their child's best friend, they are disengaged, too demanding on teachers' time or they are in denial of their child's challenging behaviour.

What if you shifted your perspective to understand why these behaviours in both parents and children are appearing? What if you invited parents to work alongside you to support their child? What if you spent time building a relationship with parents so that you could understand what is really happening and provide them with the capacity to understand their many roles that can support their child's learning outside of school?

It's possible they are seeking significance or meaning in their child's life. Perhaps they are seeking validation that they are doing a good job with parenting or that their child is succeeding. How can you help parents rather than view them as a problem to 'deal with'?

National and international research has demonstrated over five decades that parents have many extremely important roles in supporting and engaging in their children’s learning, yet this is constantly overlooked as a strategy for implementation by government, system and schools for improving student outcomes. This oversight of the value of parents as integral partners has undoubtedly lead to the many issues we are now witnessing.

What is not widely known or shared with parents is exactly what their role entails once their children are learning at school. There are many different roles and responsibilities parents have including;

• encouraging and nurturing relationships between parents and teachers, parent and child, teachers and child, and child and peers
• developing confidence as a parent who is able to support their child at home by actively participating in their child’s learning
• understanding that learning takes place anytime, anywhere and that they have a role to facilitate learning experiences for their children
• being present and supporting their child’s wellbeing by checking in and sharing in conversations to guide them through life experiences and social issues
• connecting with their child’s learning and school community through volunteering, leading by example and networking
• understanding their child’s learning strengths, gaps, goals and how to support these alongside teachers and the child
• advocating for the child should any concerns arise in a positive and productive way
• setting the scene for learning at home by guiding children’s cognitive and non-cognitive skills through everyday activities, games, providing experiences and opportunities for development of interpersonal skills and inter relational skills that are critical for successful learning at school
• co-learning and collaborating alongside teachers and their children
• supporting the teacher to understand their child, their interests and strengths as well as their challenges by sharing parent knowledge of the child.

Most importantly, school leaders and educators need to be inclusive of parents as their integral partners in learning by sharing this information and providing the necessary process conditions that enable parents to develop their capacity for engaging in learning at home.

When school principals do this well, they see a huge shift in the culture of their learning community as well as in their students. When parents are welcomed and included on the journey with their children, there are multiple benefits for everyone.?

Students are more likely to want to attend school as they develop confidence and a positive attitude towards learning. They find learning easier because they are equipped with cognitive abilities that are critical for learning and managing at school or in different learning environments. When parents and family are included and feel valued, students have an increased sense of belonging as they feel supported by all the adults who surround them. When parents and teachers work together they provide positive relationship modelling and opportunities for every child to thrive in their learning.

I explore the value of parent roles in this free guide for you to download 'How to engage more parents in learning by understanding their unique roles', or you may like to purchase my new book ‘Creating Connections - Inspire your child to thrive in their learning’ so you can understand the unique role parents have in their child's education alongside educators. Available at Amba Press, Amazon and Booktopia now.

About the Author

Rachel Stewart is a transformational coach, author, learning facilitator specialising in parent engagement and mother of three. She creates new ways to solve challenges that make a difference in the lives of children. She specialises in guiding educators and families through professional learning workshops, webinars, coaching and courses to embrace a culture of family and parent engagement in learning so that together, they can provide the support and encouragement children need to thrive in learning and in life. Rachel recently published her book 'Creating Connections - Inspiring your child to thrive in their learning' to support parents as they guide their children on their learning journey. You can now purchase the book here from Amba Press.