What if all of us — parents, carers, teachers, and community members — saw ourselves as children’s learning allies?

As the latest part of the #NewEducationStory Insight Series, I’m delighted to share this article from two fantastic thinkers and doers in the world of education – Rebecca Winthrop who is Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Gregg Behr, who is the Executive Director of the Grable Foundation and a co-creator of Remake Learning, an extraordinary ecosystem for learning in Pittsburgh, USA. 

Rebecca and Gregg both share my passion for helping parents play a bigger role in their children’s learning. We are sharing this article to coincide with the launch of a research report from IPPR that has been supported by Big Change. Looking at the future of education after COVID-19, the report includes evidence and ideas for new approaches to parental engagement.

Read Rebecca and Gregg’s thoughts below on why this is so important, and read more of the report here.

After COVID-19 closed schools in the spring, parents and caregivers quickly added another word to their job descriptions: Educator.

Of course, parents and caregivers have long been the people we’ve learned from the most. They’ve long been the people who — by simply sitting with us at the kitchen table or in the living room — taught us how to be human. But their roles as educators usually stopped there: We learned from our parents, but education came from our teachers.

The pandemic shattered that dichotomy. Parents and caregivers got a firsthand glimpse at digital-age teaching, with all its difficulties and joys. Teachers, meanwhile, peered into kitchens and living rooms and saw, more clearly than ever, what matters to families at home.

What if this up-close clarity were permanent? What if parents always knew what and how their children were learning at school, and if teachers always heard the hopes, fears, and needs expressed by families? And what if all of us — parents, caregivers, teachers, and community members — saw ourselves as “learning allies,” in constant communication about where children are in relation to their ultimate dreams?

The desire is already there. When Remake Learning asked its community how to build a better future, “engaging parents” came up more than any other theme. Likewise, a survey by Learning Heroes found parents approaching this school year unlike any other, seeking stronger relationships and more consistent collaboration with children and teachers alike.

It’s up to all of us to support and uplift those partnerships. That’s why, for the past several weeks, Remake Learning has brought experts in education directly to families to discuss topics from online learning to mental health. And when Remake Learning Days Across America launches on October 13, the yearlong virtual festival will support parents in 16 regions as they explore new ways of teaching and learning alongside children, community members, and teachers.

Nor is this a movement limited to the United States. Around the world, from the Argentina to India, educators and school leaders have been experimenting with engaging parents in new ways due to the pandemic – and parents have been showing renewed support for educators. The Center for Universal Education at Brooking’s recent report, Beyond reopening schools: How education can emerge stronger than before COVID-19, highlights how new forms of engagement have opened up possibilities for parental support, especially from busy, working class parents, that were never tapped before. Think frequent text messages and phone calls to help support children’s learning at home instead of crowded and infrequent gatherings inside the school. Ultimately, working together with parents is key to how we can “leapfrog” toward a time when every child has a safe, good school that helps them develop the full breadth of skills and competencies they need in this fast-changing world. 

What do you think? How can we all become learning allies for children and young people? I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can also find all the articles in the insight series a #NewEducationStory right here.