Parental Participation in Schools (html)

Parental Participation in Schools

Part 3 - Case Studies

How to attract or encourage the support of parents

Parental involvement in children's learning

Training for parents in supporting their children's education

Home-school agreements

Parental involvement in evaluating schools

For more information on any of the case studies highlighted in this section, the reader should, in the first instance, approach the named contact for each country, as specified in the Participants list in Part 1 of this report.

How to attract or encourage the support of parents

France: The relationship between schools and parents from working class backgrounds: the experience of the mediators

Grard Bonnet
Ministre de l'ducation nationale,

Franoise Oeuvrard
Direction de la Programmation et du Dveloppement

General Context

All official regulations on education in France over the last 20 years have strongly encouraged schools to open up to their environments. In particular, they have promoted dialogue with, and the involvement of, parents. As a result, attitudes and practices have changed a great deal. However, the relationship between teachers and parents has come up against French tradition in education where a teacher is not defined as an educator, and lay values which are based on a strict dichotomy between a public place (the school) and a private one (the home).

The 1989 Education Act explicitly introduced the right of pupils and parents to have access to advice and information. As part of the school plan, headteachers must provide appropriate information and arrange for a dialogue with parents to take place.

At the beginning of the school year 1998/99, the Minister for Schools clearly expressed the objective of bringing schools and parents closer together. A national campaign was launched in October with a week of parents in school. There were two objectives.

See the school - parents must be able to imagine their child in class, but they must also feel at ease in the school building.

Understand the school - information about the school's work must be clearly explained and easily understood by parents.

Despite considerable changes, the relationship between schools and parents remains difficult and the commitment of parents in collective representative bodies is weak. In all cases, parents have a consultative role and are in the minority. Representatives are elected from amongst the members of parents' associations.

The participation of parents in the elections for the different councils is relatively low and decreases as the age-level of pupils increases. The proportion of parents involved in 1993 was approximately:

47% in primary schools; and
32% in secondary schools overall, which comprised

-39% in collges (lower secondary schools)

-27% in lyces (academic upper secondary schools)

-17% in vocational lyces (vocational upper secondary schools).

Importantly, middle-class parents tend to be most highly represented in parents' associations.

Social breakdown of parents and members of parents' associations

	Percentage of all parents	Percentage of members in parents' associations
Executives, intellectuals and professional people	15	20
Intermediary professions	19	48
Self-employed and shopkeepers	10	2
Employees	13	22
Farmers	4	1
Factory workers	36	6
Unemployed	3	1
Total	100	100

The clear problem in a number of schools is promoting the collective representation and participation of parents from working class backgrounds. The importance of family commitment for success at school and the fact that the most numerous cases of failure at school are from poorer backgrounds are well known.

It is primarily at school and through the work of the teaching staff in particular, that pupils should find the conditions for success, but this does not mean that parents should be disregarded. Research has shown that parents, even those who are not very educationally aware, can usefully help or motivate their children in school work.

However, the key problem is to avoid transferring to parents the responsibility for their child's failure or difficulties at school and also to ensure that they are not held solely responsible for success.

What commitment is expected from parents?

Since 1989, each school has had to devise a school development plan. Parents are consulted through the administrative council about the construction of this plan but do not intervene in teaching decisions. Almost all these plans include the improvement of the relationship with parents, but the nature and commitment expected are not always specified. The difficulty is that the ways in which parents can be involved in schools, and the expectations that can be made of them, are open to wide interpretation.

The involvement of parents is encouraged in three ways.

1. Involvement in representative bodies in the school

Parents can become involved in the:

school council;
administrative council; and
class council for selecting pupils.

However, who represents whom? Is there the will to listen to parents?

2. Meetings with teachers

Collective meetings organised by teachers are often less well attended than hoped but that does not necessarily indicate disaffected parents. Parents from working class backgrounds generally trust the school and teachers. Some are more wary, conscious of an unequal relationship between themselves and teachers in terms of social standing, command of language, professional opinions etc. Consequently, even though these parents are interested, they are afraid to express disagreement.

In individual meetings, the essential subject for parents is school results. Teachers often concentrate on the child's behaviour, suggesting that it is more important than attainment.

What do teachers try to gain from individual meetings? Are they:

helping parents to choose;
highlighting the role of parents as consumers of school; or
convincing parents of the appropriateness of the school's decisions?

The purpose of meetings must be clearly defined. It is a well known fact that in the class councils there is a tendency to regard as good parents those who accept the council's proposals.

3. Developing an interest in helping with school work

Weak relationships between home and school are often seen as the parents' lack of interest for their children's education. Yet parents, including working class families, may already provide, or be willing to offer the support teachers would like to encourage including:

regular discussions between parents and children;
parents checking their children's homework, even if they cannot always help; and
parents helping their child to understand the importance of school.

However, schools and teachers do not always make clear to parents, in plain language, how they can help their children succeed. If children from working class families need to learn about the school's work in order to learn at school, it is also useful for their parents to do so. Both can then see school primarily as a place of learning and socialisation, rather than as being bureaucratic.

In order for the school-parent relationship to be fruitful, particularly in working class environments, it is necessary to:

explain to parents precisely how they can help their children at school, for example, by asking all parents to check homework weekly if that is felt to be more realistic than every day;
tell parents what help children can expect to receive from the school;
ensure that parents are made to feel welcome in the school, for example, by promoting a welcoming environment and through staff being approachable and helpful; and above all
focus on what makes the school's work easier to understand for parents.

Mediators: encouraging contacts and exchanges

This case study highlights the role of school mediators in helping to bring school and parents from working class environments closer together. This is one of the many ambitious projects devised since 1982 in the context of the Educational Priority Areas. School mediators have been selected to study because:

the experiences are sufficiently numerous and have been running long enough for assessments and reports to have been drawn up;
they have had a positive impact; and
their work has raised many key questions.

The role of school mediators: key points

1. Mediators operate primarily in schools in difficult suburbs: in France, working class and ethnic populations are rarely in city centres but often in dilapidated suburban areas.

2. Originally, they were asked to establish relationships with ethnic families, in particular those from Africa, mainly in order to act as interpreters. They are referred to as relay ladies and even relay mothers in the primary schools of certain suburbs.

3. Very quickly, however, their role moved from translating school letters and helping with administrative tasks, to explaining to parents how the school operated, how it is organised and how it could help their children.

4. The work was soon extended to parents from working class backgrounds, including French parents.

5. Originally concentrated on infant and primary schools, mediators became involved in the collges in the same areas. In most of the difficult suburbs teachers noted:

low participation of parents at school meetings, in elections of parent delegates and on consultative bodies;
difficulty in contacting parents;
that relationships with parents were often tense, and conflicts could arise from difficulties in understanding their respective roles;
that parents had a poor impression of the role of teachers;
parents often showing a defiant or reserved attitude towards schools; and
that information provided by the school did not reach parents and/or was poorly understood.

6. The use of mediators has now become common when social problems arise. The need for mediators has highlighted general weaknesses in school-parent relationships.

Objectives of mediators

Mediators can promote the relationship between inside and outside school, bringing the two parties closer together and reminding each of their role.

The objectives are to:

make school easier for parents to understand;
create places for exchanges and information outside school;
explain to parents the needs of the education system; and
help them to carry out the minimum in terms of helping their child with school work.

The objectives for members of the school councils are to:

explain to teachers how parents of different cultures see school; and
ask questions on behalf of families.

The mediator therefore has a very complex role and selecting the right person is vital.

Who becomes mediators?

Recruitment criteria for mediators include:

a thorough knowledge of the local area and population, including fluency in the main foreign language used in an area which has a high proportion of ethnic groups;
being regarded as neutral to parents and the school;
demonstrating an excellent capacity to get on with people and knowledge of the way the school works; and
showing important personal qualities such as listening and communicating skills, perception, diplomacy and self-control.

What do mediators' do?

Questionnaires filled in by mediators provide a typical picture of their activities.

Type of mediation	Percentage of activities primary schools	Percentage of activities collges
Conflict	8	3
School selection	21	11
Behaviour	44	58
Relationship	18	14
Learning	8	10
"Call for help"	1	4
	100	100

Within each type of mediation, a mediator could be called to undertake the following tasks.

conflict	resolving problems which arise between a school and parents, e.g. where a punishment is not accepted by a pupil or the parents, the mediator tries to re-open discussions with the parents
school selection	helping parents to understand a decision taken by the school, e.g. in sending a child to a specialised school
behaviour	informing parents about their child's behaviour in cases of absenteeism, violence or aggression, and trying to understand the reasons
relationship	making up for poor discussions or communications between home and school; meeting parents who never visit the school
learning	helping to resolve learning problems, e.g. explaining to parents of children with learning difficulties details of the remedial treatment or specific education envisaged
call for help	being contacted to explain the situation to the parents who may be very bitter towards the school, e.g. in a situation which is deadlocked, or where a child is threatened with expulsion

The mediators also visit parents' homes. In suburban areas where the houses are in a poor condition, there are often communication problems (post disappears, addresses are not always correct, families move house frequently) and only someone who knows the local area well can ensure information is delivered. In collges, a pupil may give a false address or telephone number to avoid problems at home.

Evaluation of the mediators' work: key points

1. Teachers, after a period of familiarisation, make frequent use of mediators and have a very positive opinion of them. They enable teachers to get back in contact with families, which may previously have been very difficult.

2. Mediation enables teachers to:

find out background issues which could not otherwise be taken into account;
understand the home circumstances of their pupils as teachers do not usually live in the area; and
understand behavioural differences related to cultural origins and appreciate specific cultural practices.

3. Teachers would like mediators to:

improve the relationships that parents have with the school;
advise and where necessary educate parents;
help parents to help their child;
become the school spokesperson so that parents support their children in ways felt appropriate;
explain to pupils the importance of class rules and that teachers can give specific help on how to work at home; and
encourage parents to be interested in school work.

4. Teachers note that the mediation allows them to change the way they think about pupils and their parents. How a teacher views a pupil has consequences for the motivation of both.

5. The simple fact that letters sent to homes by the school actually arrive can change the nature of the relationship between school and parents. In the past, the absence of response from parents could be viewed negatively by the school, even though a letter did not arrive home.

6. Where the role of parents is under-estimated by the school, pupils may feel pulled in two often incompatible directions. Here, the mediator has an essential role linking the two, which is particularly appreciated by parents.

7. The mediator is a key figure for parents, a familiar face who belongs to the area. S/he has an address, somewhere to meet and is a useful link for parents who find school difficult to understand.

Questions raised by the work of mediators

Those who work in education are generally very favourable towards the role of mediators. However, research and evaluation raise certain questions which are interesting to compare with other countries having similar experiences.

What are the effects on learning in school?

The involvement of mediators always receives favourable comments because it focuses on resolving serious communication problems. However, the results are difficult to assess, particularly concerning the effects on learning in school. Establishing a good relationship between the school and parents is only worthwhile if it improves the child's learning experiences and attainment. Social work is not viewed as the school's first priority.

What should the status of mediators be?

Should mediation be a transitional solution to communication difficulties and stop when the situation is resolved?
Does every school need a mediator to talk to parents from working class backgrounds?
Why could the role not be assumed by the existing parent-teacher associations?
Should the mediator be an employee or volunteer?
Does the role warrant a professional status?

What should the extent of the role be?

This role is very difficult to specify. Mediators require credibility as far as the school is concerned and to have the trust of parents whilst being independent. Criticisms, often formulated by researchers, are that mediators are more a spokesperson for the school than for parents, and that the school does not always appreciate or acknowledge parents' understanding of the system.

Bibliography

BOUVEAU, P, La mdiation cole-famille, INRP, Paris, 1997.

LEROY, D, Etude de dispositifs de femmes relais en tablissements scolaires, Centre Alain Savary, Paris, 1997.

Assises nationales pour la relance des ZEP : dossier prparatoire "Enseignants, parents, partenaires : activit, lgitimit, professionnalit", Paris, 1998.

GLASMAN, D, "Quelques interrogations sur le mot d'ordre d'implication des familles dans l'cole", in Les familles et l'cole, Les dossiers d'ducation et formations, MENRT-DPD, Paris, 1998.

BOUVEAU, P, ROCHEX, J, Les ZEP entre cole et socit, Hachette ducation, Paris, 1997.

BARTHLMY, M, "Des militants de l'cole : les associations de parents d'lves en France", Revue Franaise de sociologie, XXXVI, Paris, 1995.

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