The role of parents to continue to engage in learning at home

There is no doubt that the recent experiences of learning at home has changed perspectives of education in a broad range of ways. This will be the case for every person involved in the continuation of learning at home for students in Catholic schools. Students, principals, teachers and parents have all now shared an experience where each of us had to work together to make sure children could continue to learn at home, beyond the school gates.

So many learning experiences are available now to continue to improve how we engage with our children's learning especially once they return to school. The decision to close schools at the end of term 1 saw the need for schools to very rapidly evolve to provide remote learning at home. This involved the very important element in a child's learning journey; to engage parents as partners to support learning at home, for teachers to improve communication of learning with parents and to ensure students were engaged and able to learn from home no matter what their family circumstances. 

Over 5 decades of research continues to indicate that the missing piece in education has been the enabling of parents as partners, for teachers to acknowledge and build on the already existing capacity of parents to engage in their children's learning.

So what can we learn from this experience and how can we continue to communicate with teachers, to encourage a partnership approach and to work together for the benefit of student wellbeing and their learning, no matter where it takes place?

When families see value, meaning and relevance in their engagement, there is an uptick in family (engagement). But before any of this happens, we must have a healthy relationship with that family and at the root of the relationship there is trust. (Dr Steven Constantino, The Seven Big Ideas: Pandemic Edition, 19 April 2020.)

The many stories we've been hearing about learning at home during term 2 has certainly changed the perception parents have of teaching and the work of teachers. Many teachers have gone above and beyond to cater for the needs of students during this time. Communication improved, particuarly for parents of children in primary school who needed to be more hands on during the many weeks of learning at home.

The insight to be gained from this experience for parents and teachers:

• Learning happens everywhere and is connected with learning at school. There are many ways that children learn and parents are able to engage, facilitate and enhance learning opportunities and have meaningful conversations about learning with their children - when they are enabled and privy to what their children are learning.
• Some parents experienced online parent teacher interviews and appreciated the opportunity to have meaningful and personalised conversations with teachers about their child's learning - parents felt their increased knowledge of what their child learns, how they learn and what was expected of them as parents made it so much easier to know what questions to ask, how to speak in a shared language with the teacher and to feel supported and enabled as a partner in the process. Remote parent teacher interviews could be a consideration in future particularly for working parents; "The ability to have a conversation without others in the room was appreciated."
• Some feedback from parents showed they had mixed emotions about their children returning to school - while it has been exhausting for parents and teachers alike, it has obviously been a very rewarding experience for some in connecting with their kids, "I will really miss this extra time I've had with them..."
• Creativity has been a major factor in learning at home over the past few weeks as children have been engaged in more creative down time, allowing them the opportunity to express themselves outside of a timeframe or having to complete work before the school bells toll. The time at home has given them a chance to learn new ways to learn, both online and offline, both in their class groups online and independently, with a new ability to adapt to change and to be more engaged in the learning process.
• In a recent article sharing student feedback, some insights included:

“I really liked the aspect of being able to just get into my work after the teacher has explained it and being able to just ask questions if I get stuck.”

“I really enjoyed being able to get the instructions and sent on my way to do my work. I really thrive working independently.”

“(I really liked) ..that my learning is in my hands a lot more and I get more of a choice in what I learn at school.”

“Less time listening and more time doing.”

“Streamlined explanations of topics and more flexibility as to what work for each subject is done when (that is working off a checklist at your own pace after a brief explanation of the key points from the teacher).”

“I really enjoyed the flexibility of working not just in my class periods but when it suited me and when I felt motivated to do the work.”

An opportunity to share parent feedback

CSPV welcomed the announcement by Education Minister, The Hon James Merlino on Tuesday 26th May to hold a summit in late June to examine what has worked during remote learning and how we can continue to improve education.

In a media conference, Minister Merlino said, "Out of every crisis there is an opportunity....our schools have been doing a great job....we need to learn from that and make it a feature of our education system."

As Steven Constantino expresses the need for change: "Family engagement is not about doing more, but doing what we already do, differently. Family engagement is not an add-on or a “nice to have” or a “if we have time.”

Instead of adding more to teacher’s already overfilled plates, lets work on changing what we already do to incorporate families into an active role in learning. Not more, just different.

The way we engage with our children's learning, stems from schools and parents as partners and our willingness to change. Now we have all been forced change, to see things differently, to learn more about how our children need us, how we can support them, how can we continue to build parent engagement in learning alongside teachers so all students are guided and supported their learning, no matter where learning is taking place - now is the time to continue what has been started and to recognise parent engagement in learning as an essential and valued element of a child's whole development and learning.