Parental involvement

possibilities and tensions

Felicity Wikeley

Joanna Apps

pp. 311-322

in: Giuseppina Marsico, Marilena Ristum, Souza de Souza Bastos (eds), Educational contexts and borders through a cultural lens, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

Parental involvement and engagement in children's education are terms that hold different meanings for parents, teachers, and policy makers. A large body of research now supports the role of parents in shaping children's educational outcomes, but differences and tensions in perspectives on parental involvement in education are rarely discussed. Set in a UK context, this chapter explores teacher and parent viewpoints on parental involvement in education. Parents now spend more time in educational, extracurricular, and play activities with their children, and they rate themselves as more involved in their children's education than ever before, yet parental involvement in education is increasingly seen as problematic. A very limited view of how parents and children learn together informs the prevailing narrative. The impact of parents on children's learning and attitudes is presented as uni-directional, without consideration of the role of the child and the dynamic nature of learning in a family context. The structural influences that impinge on families are largely ignored, and parents are positioned as paraprofessionals by policy makers and education professionals. Their role is often seen as a support to the work of the teacher by ensuring a child is present, in a physical and emotional state to learn. They are required only to support schoolwork to enable the child to progress towards prescribed attainment targets. "Home learning" is conceptualized without regard to fundamental differences in the ways in which the domains of the home and classroom operate. Learning within families is multifaceted and multifunctional, and the aim of such learning may be more focused on developing values and identity, as well as promoting family well-being and harmony, than academic attainment. Both parents and teachers can be uncomfortable stepping across the boundaries into each other's domains, but greater willingness to acknowledge differences and different roles may be the first step.