To consider the involvement of parents and carers in the classroom and school

Aim

To consider the involvement of parents and carers in the classroom and school

Evidence and reflection

Section 4.2 of Reflective Teaching in Schools notes three forms of parental involvement in schools: parents as consumers; parents as resources; and parents as partners. Thinking of parents as resources and partners:

What is your experience of working with parents in these capacities?

How does, or how should, this experience differ from working with professional colleagues?

Are there boundaries to parental involvement in the work of schools? If so, what are they and why do they exist?

Extension

If you were to reconfigure the relationship between parents and professional staff in your school, how would you do this, and why?

More in this chapter

• To examine the classroom environment
• To plan resources to support specific learning activities
• To produce a classroom plan
• To evaluate routine activities to maximise time for teaching and learning
• To monitor an individual pupil to estimate active learning time
• To evaluate the variety of learning objectives, tasks and activities
• To consider the affordances and constraints of a particular piece of software
• To analyse the involvement of pupils in whole class parts of lessons
• To consider grouping strategies from the perspective of the pupils
• To prepare for having parents or support staff working in the classroom
• To develop information sharing systems for support staff and parents
• To consider the pedagogical and practical implications of the classroom use of technology
• To consider the pros and cons of group working
• To consider the working with support staff