| Abstract: | Recent legislation by the Department for Education and Employment requires schools to produce written home-school agreements, which should be signed by teachers and parents. Among the benefits expected from this initiative is the creation of a greater sense of partnership between home and school, especially with regard to difficult pupil behaviour. However, research has shown that teachers view parents as being the major cause of pupil misbehaviour, thus creating a potential barrier to a genuine partnership around agreed strategies involving home and school. There is also a belief among teachers that strategies devised for one pupil will lead to negative reactions on the part of classmates. This study examines various aspects of the classroom culture (the belief systems of teachers and pupils) concerning interventions with individual pupils, their teachers and parents. A vignette incorporating elements from two real and successful home-school interventions set up with, and mediated by, educational psychologists, was presented to 206 10 and 11-year-old pupils, and 30 teachers. Analysis of accompanying questionnaire responses allows for the mapping of a range of significant classroom beliefs and expectations, and indicates grounds for some optimism, although careful attention to these 'ecological' features will be necessary before joint home-school strategies can achieve their potential. |
