Parents as partners: parents' perceptions of partnership in Northeren Ireland

The introduction of the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs in Northern Ireland has brought to the foreground the issue of parents as partners. Twenty parents of children attending two schools in Belfast for children experiencing learning difficulties were interviewed to determine their perceptions of their role during the process of Stages 4 and 5 of the implementation of the Code. The parents emphasised a sense of anger, frustration and isolation.     

The business of learning: Parents as full,unwilling or sleeping partners

The concept of a partnership between parents and schools or parents and teachers has, for almost two decades, been written into policy documents such as home-school agreements and homework programmes without the term being adequately questioned. As a 'condensation symbol', partnership is persistent and is used to drive ideological initiatives at the expense of those whom it suggests it serves. This article proposes that the partnership metaphor has been inappropriately invoked from a business lexicon and, with little to tie it into the school and home-school context, potentially does damage to those it claims to involve.     

Conceptions of students as partners

Engaging students as partners (SaP) in teaching and learning is an emerging yet contested topic in higher education. This study interviewed 16 students and staff working in partnership across 11 Australian universities to understand how they conceptualised SaP and the opportunities they believed SaP afforded their universities. Thematic analysis revealed three overlapping conceptions of partnership: SaP as counter-narrative, SaP as values-based practice, and SaP as cultural change. The findings are first interpreted through the lens of liminality and an ethic of care. This is followed by a discussion of inclusivity of involvement, resistance, and reinforcement of neoliberal agendas despite good intentions. Finally, implications for cautious enactment of both practice and research are offered.     

Working as partners for classroom reform

This paper discusses a partnership involving teachers and a teacher educator working together to develop teaching and learning practices in Pakistan. The partnership was established in response to the teachers’ need for support in developing their professional practices within the actual contexts and realities of their schools, after they had attended an in-service training course at a university. Providing case studies, the paper analyses the processes and outcomes of this co-learning partnership. The findings suggest that the collaborative process advances the understanding of teachers’ problems, resolves them on the spot, and provides teachers with the confidence and courage to transcend the constraints of their workplaces while developing professionally.     

Parents as cotherapists in think aloud

Results of two case studies in which parents served as cotherapists in a social cognitive problem-solving program are presented. Larry, nine years old, was referred due to distractibility, immaturity, and impulsivity. Robert, eight years old, was referred for aggressive behaviors. Training occurred once a week for 50 minutes for 17 weeks for Larry and for 15 weeks for Robert. Parents were included in training in an effort to promote generalization and transfer of training outcomes. The parents' role included cognitive modeling, reinforcing, providing problem situations from the prior week, and extending training through generalization tasks at home. The following dependent measures were obtained in a pre-post design: Conners Teacher and Parent Rating Scales, Sociometric measures, WISC-R Mazes and Block Design, tests of consequential and means-end thinking, and observations of task-relevant and irrelevant self-verbalizations during Mazes and Block Design: Treatment effects were found for both boys on the parent and teacher versions of the Conners questionnaire. Larry improved in task relevant self-verbalizations, Mazes performance, and consequential and means-end thinking, but he did not improve on the sociometric measures. Robert improved on the sociometric measures, but not on task-relevant self-verbalizations, Mazes, Block Design, or consequential or means-end thinking. While these results are encouraging, limitations of the study limit generalizability of findings. Studies of the long-term benefits of training are needed to determine the cost effectiveness of incorporating parents as cotherapists in social cognitive problem-solving therapy.     

美国学校家长志愿者探析

家长志愿者是美国家长参与学校教育的一种重要形式,有利于学校共同体的发展;为了充分发挥家长志愿者的作用,美国学校既注意广泛征募家长志愿者,对他们进行深入的了解和专门的培训,又注重给他们安排适宜的工作,对他们加以科学的评价.这启示我们要深刻认识家长志愿者的价值,全面开发家长志愿者的资源,大力表彰家长志愿者的奉献.     

Parents as adult learners in family-centered early education

Several concepts from the adult learning literature are described that relate to working with parents of young children who are deaf. It is proposed that an adult learner perspective makes an important contribution to the family-centered philosophy and knowledge base that guide the development of practice in early intervention. Three areas are discussed: the context for adult learning, that is, the life situation of adults, including their social roles and responsibilities and experience; learning related to transitions in the adult life cycle; and transformative learning, which examines the ways people make changes in how they understand their experience. Implications for practice in early childhood education are presented.     

Research on mathematics teachers as partners in task design

Mathematical tasks and tools, including tasks in the form of digital tools, are key resources in mathematics teaching and in mathematics teacher education. Even so, the ‘design’ of mathematical tasks is perceived in different ways: sometimes seen as something distinct from the teaching and learning process, and sometimes as integral to it. Whilst task design has often been carried out by designers or mathematicians (perhaps as textbook authors), the focus for this review article is research that has involved mathematics teachers as partners in the design of tasks. The article provides a state-of-the-art review of relevant literature and is presented under three headings that consider, in turn, the role of mathematical ‘tasks’; the nature of ‘task design’; and the notion of ‘partnerships for task design’ in mathematics education. Subsequently, we present current research that is providing new insights into tasks, task design, and task design partnership. Based on this, we argue that ‘task design’ needs to pay particular attention to what to design, which tools are necessary or beneficial, and under what conditions; digital tools and task resources offer particular affordances that traditional resources cannot provide; and not only do teachers benefit from being partners in task design (in terms of their professional learning) but without their involvement some aspects of task design would most likely be neglected.     

Indigenous Knowledges and native science as partners: a rejoinder

In this response to commentators on our article entitled, How might Native science inform “informal science learning”?, we offer elaboration on the role of Indigenous Knowledges (IK) in informing Native Science. In the response, we argue that IK is not only pertinent to the conversation of Native Science, but that it is a necessary piece in the conversation. Rather than addressing the commentaries directly, we attempt to point to the ways that the commentaries support and challenge our original arguments.     

Students as partners in evaluation: student and teacher perspectives

Most course evaluation in higher education is designed and conducted by university staff and rarely are students given central responsibility for planning and implementing an evaluation. Involving students as partners in educational evaluation may offer them authentic ways to develop professional skills. We describe an ‘education option’ that involved five students in designing and conducting an evaluation of the Virtual Anatomy Tutor (VAT), an online learning resource for medical students, and report both student and staff reflections on the process. The experience gained by the five students can be transferred to other settings which provide opportunities for student designed and conducted evaluation of learning resources.     

A Guide for Parent Workshops: Parents as Teachers

Conclusion Parents want to help their young-ster learn and grow and, if offered the means to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, will assume this responsibility. It is hoped that through the suggestions, source lists, and examples provided here, educators will be stimulated to explore the development of parent workshop programs. This article is based on a series of workshops the author designed and initiated for parents at the Whitney Young Jr. Day Care Center on Staten Island, New York, in the spring of 1977. Edith Barnes is Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, 715 Ocean Terrace, Staten Island, New York 10301. She is a member of the New York City Higher Education Task Force for the International Year of the Child and Chairperson of the Staten Island IYC Committee. She is also a member of the HEW Advisory Committee of Staten Island Children's Community Mental Health Center, member of the Center Policy Committee of Staten Island Head Start, and Founder and Past President of the Staten Island Nursery Directors' Organization (SIND).     

Parents as Trainers About Disability in Low Income Countries

A 5-day workshop is described which was designed specifically to prepare parents to act as trainers for other parents with a child who has a disability. It also aimed to build their confidence and competence in training community groups as well as professional workers such as teachers. Data gathered at the end of the workshop confirmed that these aims were broadly met. Twelve months later, the participants had organised 19 training events throughout Lesotho for families and community groups and they were able to report a variety of tangible outcomes resulting from their training. The key elements to the success of these training initiatives are discussed. This training model could be replicated in other places and resources for doing this are available.     

Principals and teachers as partners in critical,participatory action research

Abstract

This article reports on a two-year study of one principal’s professional learning practices in ‘Transform,’ a professional learning program in Edmonton Catholic Schools, Alberta, Canada. Transform was designed to be a bottom-up, morally-oriented professional learning approach in which principals and teachers worked as partners on critical, participatory action research projects. This article examines the research question ‘How are principals shifting from technically- to morally-oriented professional learning practices in their schools?’ and explores one theme – co-creating social spaces for risk-taking – to illustrate how principals shifted from being managers of teachers’ learning to being partners with teachers in researching and refining classroom practices.