During the past ten years, research, both national and international, has concluded that the engagement of parents is vital to the education of children and young people. As they spend only fifteen percent of their time in school, and six times longer out of it, this is hardly surprising.
Consider this small sample of research findings as a starting point:
- Parents and, after the age of twelve, the young people themselves, have the greatest influence on children’s learning. At no time does the school have the greatest influence.
- It is what parents do, not who they are, that counts. Being poor is not a barrier to parental engagement.
The University of Warwick EPRA project in 2007 reported many important findings, among them:
- Shifting the focus of parental involvement from engaging with the school to engaging with their children’s learning.
- Supporting the engagement of parents who are already engaged with their children’s learning, as well as reaching out to the less engaged.
- Using new technologies effectively to support parental engagement.
- Parents and carers that schools describe as ‘hard to reach’ are those who describe schools as ‘hard to reach’.
- The most effective parental engagement focuses on learning activities. Parents talking with their children in the home environment is particularly important.
- The impact of parental engagement carries right through into secondary school, irrespective of the child’s gender, ethnicity or family background.
- Smith, F.M. and Hausafus, C.O. (1998), Relationship of family support and ethnic minority students’ achievements in science and mathematics, Science Education, vol 82, no 1, pp 111-125
- A considerable literature has focussed on the effects of parental background on outcomes of their children such as cognitive skills, education, health and subsequent income. There is little doubt that economic status is positively correlated across generations.
