parents and principals as partners in creating a culture of learning

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2.20 to 2.23 More than half of the parents (57,5%) agreed that the principal
ought to have a list of the skills parents possess (2.20). However, only
less than a quarter of the parents (22 %) in 2.21 agreed that the principal
is in possession of a list of skills the parents possess. More than three
quarters of the parents (76%) in 2.22 agreed that it is their duty to offer the
skills they possess. More than two-thirds of the parents on average
(67,5%) in 2.23.1 to 2.23.6 agreed that they ought to offer their skills in:
* maintaining the grounds and the buildings (69%).
* serving as relief teachers (64,5 %).
* assisting in the tuck-shop I library I classroom (56,5%).
* assisting with playground duty (65,5 %).
* accompanying pupils on field-trips I excursions (69,5 %).
* assisting with extracurricular duties (80%).
Van Schalkwyk (1990:40) and Kruger (1996:37) believe that for a parent­
principal partnership to be effective there must be a division of tasks that
enables each partner to specialise in the areas or facets of the teaching task
that he or she is best qualified to perform. For real cooperation parents
and principals have to share skills and information with each other and to
do so in an open, honest way which includes a recognition of each other's
limitations in knowledge and expertise. They have to pool their abilities
and skills for the sake of educating the child. Van Schalkwyk (1988: 101)
points out that in a partnership both the responsibilities and the privileges
of the enterprise are shared. Each partner performs part of the task ­
usually the part for which he or she is best qualified. Shared responsibility
implies that both are fully involved in the overall task, even though each
partner performs only a specified part of it. Each deals with a particular
facet of the child's education and teaching, but both are fully involved in
all facets of educative teaching and carry the same responsibility for it