Culture and Parental Engagement

Completing a Masters' in Education gifted me insight beyond my research thesis. Debating in lectures with over 100 teachers and educators and informal conversations over lunch, helped me to understand how truly unique their points of view are. And why wouldn't they be, they are all different with different life and cultural experiences that influence the way they think and believe things should work.

How does this work in a school context with parents who move from teacher to teacher, sometimes within a single school year? You then have independent or secondary schools where parents are interacting with multiple teachers at any given time. So, if teachers all think and behave differently, how can parents know how to interact? My research on parental engagement clearly indicates that parents want permission and to be told how and when they can interact. How do schools create consistency to eliminate the guesswork for parents and encourage engagement? Culture.

We here at Ali Educational Consultancy, see culture as the thread that consistently runs throughout schools. Staff, pupils and families are familiar with the culture and it is reinforced through every interaction. There are various ways to approach culture change; staff changes, new policies etc., but this is unlikely to be a quick process. Get in touch to find out how we can help measure or improve the engagement culture at your school.

Parental Engagement Research/Surveys

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