Developing the home-school relationship using digital ... - Futurelab

RESEARCH AND POLICY REVIEW2.6 SUMMARY22.6 SUMMARY:WHY IS THEHOME-SCHOOLRELATIONSHIPIMPORTANT INCHILDREN’SEDUCATION?This review of policy, research evidence andtheory points to the importance of fosteringgood home-school relationships to supportchildren’s learning in the widest sense, and tothe need to involve children as active mediatorsof the relationship between their home andschool. The key points to take away from thisreview are summarised below.Parents’ engagement in children’s learningat home is a significant factor contributingto children’s achievement in school, throughshowing an interest, encouraging perseveranceand resilience, supporting educationaldecision-making and demonstrating proeducationalvalues. Parents’ involvementwith their children’s school in itself makesno difference to their children’s achievement,although for some parents this can be a firststep towards engagement in their learning.Where parents are not involved with theschool, schools cannot assume that they aredisengaged with learning at home: engagementmay be invisible to the school.There are several barriers to parents’engagement with children’s learning. Parentsoften feel they do not have the skills, knowledgeor confidence to support children’s learning,especially as children get older. Schools canhelp parents engage with children’s learning:this is most successful when it builds on thepositive activities parents already do and givesthem new ideas they can adapt for themselvesrather than transplanting wholesale activitiesfrom school that may not fit within the familycultures and contexts.Parents play many different roles in theirchildren’s education, making it important thatschools consult with parents to discover theirneeds and aspirations for the home-schoolrelationship and do not adopt a one-size-fitsallapproach. The use of digital technologiescan enhance communication with parents,and is welcomed by many. It is important thatthere are opportunities for two-way ‘thick’communication as well as more light-touch‘thin’ forms of communication, and schoolsneed to consider the most appropriate digitalmedium to fit the content of the message theyare communicating.Bringing school practices of learning andknowing into conversation with homepractices can connect children’s schoollearning to their lived experiences and enablethem to draw on all the resources at theirdisposal to support their learning. Digitaltechnologies may also offer the possibility ofcreating a virtual ‘third space’ where childrenthemselves are able to bring together andconnect aspects of their lives and learning fromhome and school. Bringing aspects of schooland home together is not about making a‘seamless’ connection that leaves children withno independence or privacy, or that reframesthe home as an educational space, but aboutdrawing selectively from the practices of homeand school.Finally, children’s role in mediating therelationship between home and schoolneeds to be acknowledged and supported.By recognising children’s active role inmediating their own learning experiencebetween home and school and furthering theirlearning agendas, the focus is shifted fromthe school’s attempts to extend learning tothe home to how children can be supported tomake the most of the learning opportunitiesavailable to them at school and at home.Through the online reporting and Home Accessinitiatives, digital technologies are beingharnessed to support the parental engagementagenda, to facilitate communication betweenhome and school and to connect learning athome and at school. However, schools need toconsider how digital technologies will play outin the complex landscape of the home-schoolrelationship, thinking about when ‘thick’ or‘thin’ communication technologies are mostappropriate, how children can be involved ascentral players within any system and howthey may create a virtual ‘third space’ wherechildren are able to connect aspects of theirlives and learning from home and school inpursuit of their own learning agendas.30