New research from Becta (the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning) reveals that misunderstandings, a lack of confidence and unclear communication channels are putting children’s education at risk.

The study of 2,000 parents and 1,000 teachers across the country revealed over half of parents are in contact with their child’s teacher just once a term or less and for various reasons are taking a back seat in their child’s education.

Four key issues in the parent-teacher dynamic have also emerged:

• ‘Invisible’ parents: Of the parents who admitted they rarely made contact with their child’s teacher, nearly a quarter (22%) said they did not see the benefit for their child. The majority (67%) of school staff said that these parents simply do not realise how important their support is in their child’s development. And 60% said that these parents often feel their job stops at the school gates.
• Confidence issues: 42% of teachers said the reason so-called ‘invisible’ parents have so little contact with the school is that they lack the confidence to discuss their child with teachers – 43% of school staff admit parents might find them ’difficult to approach sometimes.’ One in five (19%) parents are worried about bothering teachers and more than a fifth (22%) say they don’t want to add to the teacher’s workload, resulting in many taking a back seat in their child’s education.
• Lack of information: More than one in ten (11%) of the parents who do initiate communication said they felt dismissed by teachers as an ‘overly demanding’ parent and a further 11% commented they often feel they are imposing on the teacher’s time. More than a third (36%) of school staff encounter parents who want ‘constant reassurance’ and others (19%) who try to ‘influence everything that goes on in the classroom.’
• Lack of effective communication channels: 89% of parents say technology could help them become better informed about their child’s education so that they can then have more focused face-to-face discussions with teachers. However, despite all schools having electronic communication tools, 46% of parents say their schools don’t communicate with them in this way.

As part of its Next Generation Learning campaign, Becta is leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning. The benefits of technology in schools are twofold: making lessons and learning more enjoyable and rewarding, whilst also keeping parents better informed and involved with their child’s learning.

Becta is urging parents to talk to their child’s school to find out how and if technology is already being used, and how it can help improve regular communications between them and the school in future. For more information on the research and how you can get involved in the campaign, explore the site. The ‘Parents as Partners‘ section also has some useful advice and case studies exploring how technology can help schools, parents and learners to work together.

How do you involve parents in their children’s learning? Do you use new forms of technology? Do you see positive changes as a result of these strategies? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments…

Image – Becta

Alistair Owens Managing Director keen2learn

By the time a parent receives
the end of term or year school report a huge chance to help correct a child’s performance
may have been lost. A recent survey by BECTA* shows 82% of parents want more
information about their child’s progress at school.

The survey involved 1000
children aged 7 -14 years, and 1000 parents. It showed 43% of parents found it
difficult to get to know how their child had progressed at school that day and
only 16% of children talked about their day. Currently 31% of parents felt
“excluded” which can lead to them hassle their child for information, and 24%
of children felt they were under pressure to talk about their school day. Children
reported that:-

 They don’t want their parents to hassle them

• They don’t want to share information with parents
• Over a third found it difficult to speak to their
  parents about their education.

The conventional end of term
report or teacher contact potentially leaves a gap between a problem being
spotted by the teacher and the report publication. Perhaps we should ignore
those parents nights when only a handful turned up. But there is a lot of time
that could have been used by parents to help correct the situation.

The demand to improve the interface
with parents through greater teacher communication needs careful handling. The
information could easily go into electronic overload. To engage parents there
needs to be a common ground where they and their child feel comfortable. Real
support can be given at home from playing the fun based educational games and
puzzles played in class. Learning retention is greatly enhanced just through
practice.

The advice from the teacher can
be given through a simple pupil support form, a
paper document published as the need arises. The document shows simply where a parent
can help – rather than the electronic and highly detailed facility that could
overwhelm both teacher and parent.

There are a number of school
based electronic systems that can link parents to the school. Unfortunately
some are overly complicated, the facts hidden in volumes of detail and jargon.
They also need email links to get the information and – a further rub for
teachers – the system needs continual data input placing an additional load on already
stretched teachers.

Professor Tanya Byron who led
the survey on behalf of Becta said "This report highlights how fundamental
positive communication within and after school hours can help raise
attainment and build a child’s sense of self-worth. By creating a
collaborative, three-way dialogue between parents, school and children; by
harnessing the new and exciting technologies that enable seamless communication
between school and home; and – most importantly – by involving children in
after school communication that is fun, relaxed, open and well timed, we can
all help them to maximise their academic potential and enjoy their school and
further education years."

The ideal outcome is a
positive interface that mobilises parents to support the schooling process, something
the DCSF are keen to improve. The “Every Parent Matters” objective published in
2007 by the then DfES urges the active involvement of parents in the schooling
process. The mutual objective could lead to a huge boost in schooling support
from the 13m parents with school aged children.

* The British Educational
Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) was established in 1998 through
the reconstitution of the National Council for Educational Technology (NCET). A
review showed everyone referred to the agency by the acronym of Becta – now
adopted as it main name. A positive sign that such an organisation can take a
lead in technology and the modern needs of education.