2. STRONG FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS CENTRAL TO EFFECTIVE SCHOOL REFORM Jan Patterson and Ann Bliss Smarter Schools National Partnerships Key Reform Parental Engagement Project Taskforce May 2012

3. FAMILY ENGAGEMENT FOR LEARNING AND SCHOOLING CONTINUUM OF INVOLVEMENT AND INFLUENCE – Governments, systems/sectors, schools, classrooms, homes – How can we maximise the impact? “From the Cubby house to Canberra”? “From Canberra to the Cubby House”? Focus of this presentation on systems and policy – State/Fed governments level, politicians, departments and agencies; – Systems level: Educations sectors, tertiary (teacher training), peak bodies (eg parents, teachers, principals) – Building from the work of the national project

4. PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT IN SCHOOLING IN LOW SOCIO-ECONOMIC COMMUNITIES PROJECT Smarter Schools National Partnerships – Literacy and Numeracy – Improving Teacher Quality – Low Socio-economic Status School Communities Six National Key Reform (Collaborative) Projects – School performance improvement frameworks – Innovative strategies for small and remote schools – Parental engagement in schooling – Extended service school models – National literacy and numeracy diagnostic tools – School leadership development strategies

5. Jurisdictions and sectors – Develop common goal – Take into account diversity of needs and interests Taskforce members from education authorities and parent organisations – Share and understand the different perspectives – Commit to working together and develop various strategies to do this WORKING COLLABORATIVELY ACROSS JURISDICTIONS, SECTORS AND ORGANISATIONS

6. PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT PROJECT OUTCOMES Areas of work – Development of new resources for school communities – Development and analysis of case studies on parental engagement in 15 schools around Australia – Promotion about the importance of parental engagement – Report to Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood

7. EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN AUSTRALIA Current educational reform and policy context – It is about improving educational outcomes “Raising overall attainment so that all Australian school students acquire the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in society” (Council of Australian Governments - COAG) “Every school a great school” “Every child achieving their potential” Why is parental engagement important? – It is about improving educational outcomes Research shows parental and family engagement = better educational outcomes: Weiss et al 2010; Goodall and Vorhaus 2011 (quoted in Gonski); Harris and Goodall 2007, Kendal et al 2008 “Students are never too old to benefit from their parents’ interest in them” OECD 2011

8. KEY MESSAGE 1 #1A systemic integrated approach to embedding parent and family engagement in education policies, structures and practices across Australia will contribute to improving student outcomes

9. What opportunities exist in the current education reform context for progressing such a systemic integrated approach ?

10. MELBOURNE DECLARATION ON EDUCATIONAL GOALS FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS Parents and families included: – Collective responsibility – Developing stronger partnerships – Strengthening accountability and transparency But – All the key areas in the MD’s Commitment to Action have been systematically addressed (and significantly resourced) via National Partnerships or work of ACARA/AITSL (eg National Curriculum, My School etc) except Developing stronger partnerships with parents and families!!! How can parent and family involvement be embedded and systematised?

11. TEACHER QUALITY What is the emphasis on parents and families in: Professional standards? – National Professional Standards for Teachers – National Professional Standard for Principals Professional development in the education sector? Pre – service training for teachers and other education sector workers? How is parent and family engagement understood and translated into practice?

12. REVIEW OF FUNDING FOR SCHOOLING ‘GONSKI’ REPORT Parents and families invest in their children’s education ‘Engaged parents’ (5.1.6) Rec 7 ‘additional funding provided to schools to overcome disadvantage should be invested in strategies that: … – Encourage parent and community engagement’ How can we use this opportunity to advance parent and family engagement in education into the future?

13. KEY MESSAGE 2 #2We all need to work to create an environment where parental engagement is seen as an integral part of the ongoing educational reform agenda

14. MOVING FROM RHETORIC TO EVERYDAY CULTURE/PRACTICE Culture – values Shared aspirations and goals Environment – enablers Collaborative working relationships Capacity to be involved Resourcing

15. CULTURE WITHIN EDUCATION Increase knowledge of benefits of parental and family engagement to educational outcomes Increase the value placed on parental and family engagement as central to educational improvement and reform Move from periphery (add-on) to core (non- negotiable) through including in all educational statements, policies and strategies

16. SHARED ASPIRATIONS AND GOALS Highlight shared aspirations of governments, sectors, schools, teachers, parents and students Build a shared commitment to high aspirations for all Strengthening the Australian evidence base

17. KEY MESSAGE 3 #3 The value and contribution of parental and family engagement in learning and schooling to improving Australian students’ educational outcomes must be more strongly and widely promoted within education and in the community

18. ENABLING ENVIRONMENTS Embed parent and family engagement as a key component of system, sector and school planning and improvement frameworks and activities Create multiple ways and multiple opportunities for the diversity of parents and families to be involved Increase recognition that developing strong relationships with parents and families are a core competency for school leadership and teaching practice

19. COLLABORATIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS At the school level this means reaching out/ personal contact/ two way/formal bodies such as P&F and boards At government/system level this means collaborative, mutually respected working relationships between Ministers and departments and agencies and peak parent bodies based on this shared vision/aspiration

20. KEY MESSAGE 4 #4 Strong working partnerships built on mutual respect and trust between parents, families and those working in education systems will result in more effective school improvement and reform

21. BUILDING CAPACITY Support to develop necessary knowledge and skills Examples: – For AITSL to work collaboratively with Bureau and peak parent bodies on standards implementation eg training, PD, resources etc – For pre service teacher training providers to include comprehensive training in this area – in theory and in practicum placements Ability to create and take up opportunities – Parents and families – Schools & sectors – Governments

22. RESOURCES At Governments/systems/policy level this means increasing $$ and increasing HR to provide sufficient services for the key players to enable involvement – departments, sectors, school leaders, teachers, parents and families Increase awareness of and accessibility to current resources for school communities, e.g. the toolkit, and development of additional resources

23. KEY MESSAGE 5 #5Capacity and resourcing must reflect the rhetorical value placed on parental engagement in educational reform to enable it in practice

24. KEY MESSAGES #1A systemic integrated approach to embed parent and family engagement #2 Parent and family engagement are an integral part of the ongoing educational reform agenda #3 Promote the value and contribution of parent and family engagement #4 Strong working partnerships with parents and families are key to effective school reform #5 Capacity and resourcing must enable parent and family engagement in practice

25. During this Symposium we ask you to consider: – What is your own sphere of influence? and – What your own role might be in driving forward this agenda? THANK YOU